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Plaintiffs ask Tenth District Court of Appeals to order state to take all steps necessary to preserve FPUC unemployment benefits

In the News

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DannLaw, Zimmerman Law Offices file motion after state appeals Common Pleas Court ruling ordering the state to secure and distribute $900,000,000 in federal FPUC funds

Reacting to the state of Ohio’s decision to appeal Judge Michael Holbrook’s ruling in favor of thousands of Ohioans unjustly denied nearly $1 billion in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefits, attorneys from DannLaw and Zimmerman Law Offices today asked the Tenth District Court of appeals to order Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Jobs and Families Services (ODJFS) to take all action necessary to obtain the funds from the U.S. Department of Labor and deposit them with the Clerk of Franklin County Common Pleas Court. The motion is designed to ensure that the funds will continue to be available as the state’s appeal proceeds. You may read and download the motion here: Bowling Candy 2025 02 20 Motion for Injunction WITH EXHIBITS

“Once the funds are deposited with the Clerk of Courts, they will be available for distribution to Ohioans who need and deserve them when we ultimately prevail,” Marc Dann said. “If, for some reason, our victory is overturned, the money will simply be sent back to the federal government. Given the current status of the case, what we are proposing is the most equitable path forward.”

In the motion the plaintiff’s argue that “time is of the essence and there is a compelling need for this Court to grant injunctive relief to prevent manifest injustice because federal policymakers have publicly expressed their intent to use unspent pandemic emergency money for other causes.”

“Congress is already talking about using unspent COVID relief dollars as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling and the DOGE crew is turning over rocks to find and repurpose unspent money,” Dann explained. “The governor can preserve the FPUC funds with the stroke of a pen by signing a letter to the Department of Labor requesting the money.”

“Of course, he could use the same pen to abide by the orders Judge Holbrook issued on February 12. Even though he and the Tenth District Court ruled that the Governor has a legal obligation to secure and distribute these funds to eligible Ohioans, he continues to fight against the people he was elected to serve,” Dann said. “Because he refuses to do the right thing voluntarily, we are forced to protect our clients by asking the Court of Appeals to order him to do so.”

The motion notes that the Appellate Court has “…the power to issue an ‘affirmative injunction’ as necessary to “prevent manifest and extreme injustice where all or some part of those rights [obtained by the trial court’s judgment] will otherwise be irrevocably lost to appellee, and the appellant has little or nothing to lose.”

“That certainly applies in this case. Our clients could lose $900,000,000 while the state has no real interest in the FPUC funds and are merely the conduit that passes the money from the federal government to Ohioans,” Dann said. “The state’s continued defiance of court orders and refusal to abide by their legal obligation to secure these funds makes injunctive relief appropriate and absolutely necessary.”

In their motion the plaintiffs ask for an order that directs the Defendants to:

(1) take all action necessary to reinstate Ohio’s participation in the FPUC program from June 26, 2021 through its expiration;

(2) to take all action necessary to obtain Ohio’s share of FPUC program benefits from the U.S. Department of Labor;

(3) deposit the FPUC program benefits with the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, Franklin County Ohio, pending resolution of this appeal; and

(4) for all other relief this Court may deem just and proper.

For additional information please contact Marc Dann at 330-651-3131

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Franklin County Judge rules Governor DeWine violated Ohio law when he rejected fully federally funded Federl Pandemic Unemployment Compensation payments

In a landmark and long-awaited decision, Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Holbrook today ordered Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS) to immediately reinstate Ohio’s participation in the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program and take all action necessary to obtain Ohio’s share of FPUC program benefits  from the United States Department of Labor (DOL). A copy of the decision is available here.

Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, whose law firm, DannLaw, originally filed suit in July of 2021 on behalf of thousands of Ohioans who were denied $300 in weekly supplemental unemployment benefit payments due to Governor DeWine’s unwarranted decision to end the state’s participation in the fully-federally funded program on June 26, 2021, hailed the ruling as a major victory for his clients and the state of Ohio.

“Today, Judge Holbrook validated our contention that Governor DeWine and ODJFS were required by Ohio law to accept and distribute the FUPC payments to Ohioans devastated by COVID-19,” Dann said. “The Governor’s decision to deny federal aid to families in crisis was arbitrary and unconscionable, and illegal. It is our sincere hope that he will now honor his obligation to obey the law without delay.”

According to Dann, eligible Ohioans will receive an estimated $900,000,000 in FUPC benefits as a result of Judge Holbrook’s ruling. “The payments will both enable people still reeling from the effects of the pandemic to rebuild their lives and significantly boost the state’s economy,” he said. “We’ve never understood why the Governor would leave nearly a billion dollars sitting in an account in Washington, D.C. rather than allowing that money to flow into Ohio’s 88 cities, townships, and villages where it will fuel sales for local businesses and generate tax revenue. Aside from being cruel, refusing funds made no sense from an economic standpoint.”

“We’ve been assured the money is there, it’s far past time for the state to ask for it on behalf of citizens who desperately need it,” Dann continued.

Judge Holbrook’s Judgement Entry reads as follows:

1, Pursuant to  State  ex  rel Candy Bowling  v. Mike DeWine,  2021-Ohio-2902, FPUC is one of the “available advantages” described in R.C. 4141.43(I) that the General Assemble requires Defendants “secure” to the citizens of the State of Ohio.

2. Defendants acted  in  violation  of  R.C.  4343.41(I) when  they  terminated participation in the FPUC program prior to its expiration.

3. Defendants are hereby ORDERED pursuant to R.C. 4343.41(I) to take all action necessary to reinstate Ohio’s participation in the FPUC program from June 26, 2021 through its expiration; and

4. Defendants are hereby ORDERED pursuant to R.C. 4343.41(I) to take all action necessary to obtain Ohio’s share of FPUC program benefits  from the United States Department of Labor.

Dann acknowledged that decision could be appealed, but noted the 10th District Court of Appeals had already ruled against the state. “The law, Judge Holbrook’s ruling, and the opinion from the 10th District Court of Appeals are crystal clear: the state is required to obtain and distribute these funds. But, as we’ve now proven multiple times, if the Governor refuses to abide by the law, we will fight and we will win,”

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CFPB Complaint DatabaseOver the Weekend President Trump fired Rohit Chopra the Director of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) and today replaced him with Treasury Secretary (and hedge fund oligarch)  Scott Bessent.

Within hours Bessent directed the Agency to halt all work on pending regulations and enforcement actions.

While many of our clients, friends, family and neighbors voted for President Trump, I’m pretty sure that their primary objective in supporting him was not to allow debt collectors, payday lenders, credit card companies, banks and mortgage companies to be given license to cheat them.

This is sad to watch because the CFPB has established itself as a strong independent regulator of financial services companies, mortgage companies, small business lenders, banks and non-bank lenders.

This is particularly important right now because most of the contracts offered by many of these financially predatory companies force their customers to private arbitration and prohibit participation in class action lawsuits against them.  This means that if companies choose to cheat a little bit from a lot of people it’s even more difficult for private lawyers like those at DannLaw  to hold them accountable in a meaningful way.  If the CFPB is gone as a line of defense companies will have more license to cheat.

The consumers protected by the CFPB include all of us, even the CEOs and shareholders of the bad acting financial institutions.   But it is critical to remember that the lack of accountability for bad actors in the financial services world also punishes ethical businesses who are trying to compete with the businesses that  are cheating their customers.  It’s often more expensive and less profitable to follow the law than to find ways to avoid doing so.

Actions to scale back the CFPB’s enforcement and rulemaking efforts are going to cost millions of consumers billions of dollars over the next four years and limit the remedies available to consumers who are wronged. This is not a political opinion. This is a fact.

Fortunately for homeowners and many of our clients, federal law still prohibits arbitration provisions in mortgage contracts.  And for those who are subject to arbitration agreements we have been a leader among lawyers in using the arbitration process to protect our clients.

In light of this week’s news our Lawyers, Paralegals and support staff are committed to doubling down our efforts to use the courts and the law to hold financial predators accountable and seek justice for consumers who they victimize. Our job in protecting consumers is more important than ever and I know we are up to the challenge.

DannLaw provides representation to consumers in the following fields:

Foreclosure Defense

Mortgage Servicing Litigation

Consumer Protection Claims

Consumer Class Actions

Student Loan Litigation

Data Breach Class Actions

Lender Liability

Bankruptcy Litigation

Consumer Arbitration

Business Litigation

Lawyer Referrals are Welcome

By

DannLaw founder Marc Dann
Attorney Marc Dann

Marc Dann and the entire DannLaw team is dedicated to protecting consumers and holding unscrupulous lenders accountable for their actions. That is why Marc is testifying against HB 182 during a hearing of the Ohio House Financial Institutions Committee on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. The hearing will be broadcast live and archived on the Ohio Channel: Ohio House Financial Institutions Committee | The Ohio Channel.

If you believe, as we do, that this legislation threatens consumers, please contact your state representative and tell them to oppose HB 182.

Marc’s testimony follows:

Chairman LaRe, Vice Chairman Pizzulli, Ranking Member Dell’Aquilla,  and Members of the House Financial Institutions Committee:

 I’m Marc Dann. Both as Ohio Attorney General and in private practice I’ve dedicated my career to protecting consumers from financial predators including non-bank lenders.  At my firm DannLaw we have represented hundreds of working- and middle-class Ohioans who have been buried in inescapable consumer debt.

On behalf of the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) and all Ohio Consumers I offer this testimony in opposition to HB 182.

House Bill 182 would harm Ohio consumers by giving non-bank, virtually unregulated consumer lending companies free reign to gouge and take advantage of Ohio consumers. In addition, the legislation will open a gaping hole that will bring the scourge of predatory payday loans back to Ohio.

Let’s remember that everyone in this room is a consumer, including the members of the committee, your staff, the lobbyists who are promoting this bill and each and every one of your constituents.

There is so much wrong with this bill that it’s hard to find a good place to start today.

But, perhaps the worst part of this bad law is the Bona Fide Error provision that  will give lenders  a free pass when they are caught cheating their customers.

This ill-conceived “Free Pass” language creates an incentive for unscrupulous lenders to cheat their customers because they will face neither risk nor consequences for adding extra fees and costs to loans, misreporting customers’ delinquency status to credit reporting agencies, or for suing borrowers who are not actually behind on their obligations.  Combine that with the fact that most of these contracts contain one sided Arbitration provisions that bar consumers suing lenders in court or bringing class action cases over these small dollar loans, and one can only conclude that HB 182 will declare open season on Ohio Borrowers. If you are determined to pass this bill, at least consider an amendment that will prevent lenders from including arbitration provisions and class action waivers in their contracts.

But that’s not the only anti-consumer provision in the proposed law. While loan sharks in the old days were more than happy to charge desperate friends and neighbors 25% “vig”, even they would be embarrassed to demand 36% interest for a short-term loan. Coupled with fees that are often assessed with these loans and language in the bill that will permit lenders to add the interest due on the loan up front and the actual cost balloons to nearly 50%. One of the best days I spent in a legislative hearing room like this was in 2018 when representatives and senators of both parties worked together to pass one of the best payday lending laws in the country, which among other things limited interest on payday loans to a more reasonable 28%. Now short-term lenders propose to gouge consumers 8% more for loans that are underwritten to be more likely to be repaid.

Allowing lenders to charge unlimited fees to refinance or renew these short-term loans is another feature of this bill that will return Ohio to the bad old days of predatory payday lending that existed prior to 2018.  This is another feature that would make these loans more like pre-2018 push your friends and neighbors into an unsustainable cycle of debt that many of us thought were banished once and for all from our state.

The upfront interest provision would allow lenders to collect interest on interest when a borrower defaults on the loan. This is something that is not legal for virtually any other lender.

And a separate provision–unprecedented in lending legislation–allows lenders to collect fees and penalties first instead of applying any payments received to principal first and interest and fees second.

Finally, unlike other consumer protection laws in Ohio this proposed revision of the Short-Term Loan Act would enable lenders to charge for attorney’s fees that are not awarded by a court. That is unfair and will erect another barrier that will make it incredibly difficult for borrowers who have fallen behind to catch up on their payments.

This bill was crafted to create financial products that set up consumers to fail, default on their loan and ultimately force them into bankruptcy.  While that might be good for lawyers or the lenders who charge high fees and interest that will almost certainly generate a profit for companies before consumers default, this bill does nothing to improve the lives of Ohioans or fill an actual marketplace need.

In sum, Ohio consumers would be best served and protected by maintaining current state law which provides reasonable limitations on short term lenders–not by creating an open door that will lead to the restoration of predatory payday lending in Ohio.

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Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Holbrook ruled today that a class action lawsuit filed by DannLaw on behalf of Ohioans impacted by Governor Mike DeWine’s decision to terminate fully federally-funded Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) off payments in May of 2021 may continue. In a 16-page order Judge Holbrook denied Attorney General Dave Yost’s motion to dismiss the suit and said the plaintiffs had “…sufficiently plead claims for declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and petitions for writs of mandamus. He also scheduled a status conference for Tuesday, April 9, 2024, at 1:30 PM. Judge Holbrook’s order may be viewed here:  Bowling 2024 03 11 Order Denying Motion To Dismiss and Granted Amended Complaint

“We are pleased that Judge Holbrook agreed with us on a number of critical legal issues, and we are eager to continue to pursue justice on behalf of the thousands of individuals and families who were needlessly harmed when Governor DeWine cutoff these desperately needed benefits in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” former Ohio Attorney General and DannLaw founder Marc Dann said after reviewing the decision.

Originally filed in July of 2021 by attorneys Marc Dann, Brian Flick, and Andrew Engel, the suit asks the Court to order Governor DeWine to reverse his decision and notify the U.S. Secretary of Labor that the state would accept and distribute $300 in weekly supplemental benefits made available under the CARES Act to eligible Ohioans. According to Dann, those affected may be owed as much as $900 million.

“As I said when we originally brought the suit, in addition to jeopardizing the personal and financial well-being of Ohioans who were and are struggling to recover from the pandemic, DeWine’s callous, politically-motivated decision to terminate the federal benefits represents a willful and blatant violation of Ohio law,” Brian Flick said. “We look forward to having the opportunity to prove our case in Court.”

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Ohio Bankruptcy LawyerI appreciate everyone’s patience with the slow progress of our case seeking payment of the Pandemic Unemployment Supplemental Benefits that were denied to Ohioans by Governor DeWine and the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services.  As an FYI, I emailed Judge Holbrook’s law clerk today and asked if there was anything we or opposing counsel needed to do to enable the judge to rule on the motion to amend our complaint that we filed on behalf of the plaintiffs in March of 2023 and/or the motion to dismiss the complaint that was filed by the State AG at about the same time.
That means our position is, unfortunately, no different now than it was when the motions were filed last spring.
As of this writing, she has yet to respond.When/if she responds or when/if the judge rules on the pending motions we will share that information with all of you immediately.There is another issue that I wanted to bring to your attention. Recently the Ohio Attorney General and the Department of Jobs and Family Services have begun to attempt to collect what they perceive to be overpayments to pandemic unemployment recipients. If you have received such a notice please make sure you note that there is a short period of time to appeal this finding.  Our expectation is that many of the repayment notices are inaccurate.If you’ve received one of these notices in error and are willing to speak out about your situation please email me at [email protected] and I will connect you with folks at Policy Matters.Here is the Alert that we recently shared on our Facebook Page from Policy Matters Ohio:ALERT:
Ohio has begun retroactively denying unemployment benefits to some Ohioans who received them during the COVID-19 pandemic and demanding repayment.Did you get Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)? The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) recently began sending email alerts to some recipients telling them to check their PUA account for new notices. These notices may say you fraudulently received PUA and have to repay those benefits—including interest and late penalties—because you didn’t provide required identity documents. If you received PUA during the pandemic:
1. Check your email and PUA accounts immediately. ODJFS will send the alert to the email address you used when you applied for Unemployment Assistance. To log into your PUA account, visit:https://pua.unemployment.ohio.gov/Claimant/Core/Login.ASPX
2. If you did get a notice, file an appeal by the deadline and include a copy of the required identity documents. For what documents are required, see: https://jfs.ohio.gov/…/identityverificationchecklist
3. File your appeal online at https://puaa.jfs.ohio.gov OR call 877-574-0015 to provide the needed information. Call volume is often high, so we recommend filing online if possible. You can visit your local Ohio Means Jobs office if you need to access a computer.
4. If you miss the deadline, don’t panic! You can still file an appeal, but you may need to prove you had good cause for missing the deadline.
5. Once you file your appeal, watch for new notices in your PUA account and check your mail for a Scheduling Notice with a hearing date.
6. You have the right to be represented on an appeal and should arrange representation as soon as possible. If you cannot afford a private attorney, your local legal aid society or legal services program may be able to provide help at no cost. Contact your local legal aid office at 1-866-LAW-OHIO (1-866-529-6446) or visit https://www.ohiolegalhelp.org to search the legal aid directory.
7. If you didn’t get a notice, be sure to check your email frequently and log into your PUA account to read any new notices.
Marc