March 16, 2026 – Washington’s Nick Brown and 12 other state attorneys general on Monday announced a lawsuit against OneMain Financial, alleging the company ran a bait-and-switch lending scheme that charged consumers hundreds of millions of dollars in hidden fees and interest.
OneMain Financial is a personal loan company with offices across the United States, and the attorneys general allege they target, in particular, people with poor credit.
According to the Washington State Attorney General’s Office (AGO), the company sold more than $100 million dollars’ worth of add-on products in Washington alone, and finalized more than 200,000 loans with people in the state.
The lawsuit claims OneMain advertises high-cost installment loans with “clear, upfront terms,” but then fast-tracks those loans with little time for consumer review. The attorneys general allege the company rushes consumers through 50 pages of fine print “legalese,” where they hide add-on products, insurance policies and junk fees to inflate the cost of the loans by hundreds or thousands of dollars.
The coalition alleges that OneMain often hides or misrepresents these add-ons, or even charge consumers who reject them.
“OneMain lures people in with promises of straightforward credit terms, but leaves Washingtonians saddled with extra debt they didn’t want and never agreed to,” said AG Brown. “Paying the bills is already a balancing act for many people across our state. That’s why I will do all I can to hold predatory lenders accountable and fight for the rights of consumers in Washington.”
The details of the OneMain lawsuit
Dig deeper: According to the lawsuit, OneMain is accused of a detailed bait-and-switch scheme.
There are claims that OneMain does not advertise its add-on products, and features written policies that purport to prevent unlawful added fees, but then renege on those promises by financially pressuring its employees to pack those add-ons and then fast-track consumers through the loan closing process.
OneMain is then accused of burying the fine print in dozens of pages of documents, and then preventing consumers from reading those documents before signing.
What’s next: The coalition of attorneys general is seeking restitution for consumers who were unlawfully charged, as well as a court order to block OneMain from continuing its loan practices and to withdraw any negative information on its customers sent to credit agencies.
If restitution is granted, OneMain could be forced to pay out several hundred million dollars.
By Rox 13 Seattle
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