A new investigation from ProPublica has found that the loan company Oportun Inc. sued thousands of people struggling during the coronavirus pandemic that had fallen behind on payments.
Yahoo Finance reached out to Oportun (OPRT) for comment, but didn’t receive a response by the time of publication.
The company says they ”serve the approximately 100 million people in the United States who are typically shut out of the financial mainstream because they don’t have a credit score or have limited credit history.”
Oportun, which offers personal loans and auto loans, operates in 12 states, billing itself as a friendly and more affordable option to predatory payday lenders. The company, whose name is short for “oportunidad” or “opportunity” in Spanish, has a primarily Latino immigrant client base.
As coronavirus has impacted low-income and front-line workers the most, Oportun’s client base are part of the community most vulnerable to the pandemic’s impacts on the economy.
According to the report, Oportun, based in San Carlos, Calif., sued borrowers that fell behind on their payments over 47,000 times between May 2016 and July 2020. Over 5,000 lawsuits have happened since the pandemic exploded in mid-March. On average, the report noted, that’s 30 lawsuits daily.
The high number of lawsuits makes Oportun the most litigious personal loan company in Texas and California, only rivaled by large firms like Capital One and Conn’s HomePlus.
In a recent blog post, Oportun CEO Raul Vazquez stated that the company has used “the small claims legal process as a mechanism of last resort,” to go after customers that have fallen behind in their payments “and not answered our calls, letters, texts or emails for several months to reengage with us.”
While the company is one of the most litigious, Vazquez wrote that lawsuits were filed against “less than 6% of all the loans we have originated,” continuing that a case was pursued to judgment in only about 2%.
“If a customer was unemployed and could not repay us, we also did not proceed with the case,” Vazquez stated.
The coronavirus pandemic caused over 40 million workers to lose their jobs — about a quarter of the American labor force, according to the Labor Department.
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HOUSTON, TX - JULY 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) A member of the medical staff speaks to a patient who is treated with a helmet-based ventilator in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked since Texas reopened, pushing intensive-care units to full capacity and sparking concerns about a surge in fatalities as the virus spreads. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
A casket carrying the body of Lola M. Simmons is removed from a hearse at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery following a double funeral service for her mother Lola M. Simmons-Jones at the Denley Drive Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas on July 30, 2020, who both died of coronavirus. - Lola M. Simmons-Jones passed due to the coronavirus on July 15, her daughter Lashaye Antoinette Allen passed away from the coronavirus on July 20. Dallas County reported a record number of COVID-19 related deaths in a single day at 36, according to local health officials. This brings the total to 658 confirmed deaths since the first one was reported March 19. (Photo by Bryan R. Smith / AFP) (Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - JULY 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Members of the medical staff treat a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked since Texas reopened, pushing intensive-care units to full capacity and sparking concerns about a surge in fatalities as the virus spreads. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - JULY 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Members of the medical staff treat a patient who is wearing helmet-based ventilator in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked since Texas reopened, pushing intensive-care units to full capacity and sparking concerns about a surge in fatalities as the virus spreads. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - JULY 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Members of the medical staff talk to each other in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked since Texas reopened, pushing intensive-care units to full capacity and sparking concerns about a surge in fatalities as the virus spreads. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - JULY 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) A patient who is treated with a helmet-based ventilator lies on a bed in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked since Texas reopened, pushing intensive-care units to full capacity and sparking concerns about a surge in fatalities as the virus spreads. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - JULY 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Members of the medical staff change bed sheets in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked since Texas reopened, pushing intensive-care units to full capacity and sparking concerns about a surge in fatalities as the virus spreads. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - JULY 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Members of the medical staff treat a patient who is wearing helmet-based ventilator in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked since Texas reopened, pushing intensive-care units to full capacity and sparking concerns about a surge in fatalities as the virus spreads. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - JULY 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Members of the medical staff treat a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked since Texas reopened, pushing intensive-care units to full capacity and sparking concerns about a surge in fatalities as the virus spreads. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
The caskets holding the bodies of Lola M. Simmons-Jones and her daughter, Lashaye Antoinette Allen, who both died of coronavirus, are placed next one another before burial at Lincoln Memorial Cemeteryin Dallas, Texas on July 30, 2020. - Lola M. Simmons-Jones passed due to the coronavirus on July 15, her daughter Lashaye Antoinette Allen passed away from the coronavirus on July 20. Dallas County reported a record number of COVID-19 related deaths in a single day at 36, according to local health officials. This brings the total to 658 confirmed deaths since the first one was reported March 19. (Photo by Bryan R. Smith / AFP) (Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT - A casket carrying the body of Lola M. Simmons is placed into a hearse following the funeral service at the Denley Drive Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas on July 30, 2020, who died of coronavirus alongside her daughter Lashaye Antoinette Allen. - Lola M. Simmons-Jones passed due to the coronavirus on July 15, her daughter Lashaye Antoinette Allen passed away from the coronavirus on July 20. Dallas County reported a record number of COVID-19 related deaths in a single day at 36, according to local health officials. This brings the total to 658 confirmed deaths since the first one was reported March 19. (Photo by Bryan R. Smith / AFP) (Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)
A man in a car waits to be tested for COVID-19 at a drive-thru testing site at Camping World Stadium on July 22, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. On Wednesday, Florida recorded more than 100 new coronavirus deaths for the seventh time in two weeks, and is tied with Texas for the worst current daily average in the nation. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A City of Orlando employee holds a COVID-19 test sample at a drive-thru testing site at Camping World Stadium on July 22, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. On Wednesday, Florida recorded more than 100 new coronavirus deaths for the seventh time in two weeks, and is tied with Texas for the worst current daily average in the nation. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A couple wearing face masks waits to be tested for COVID-19 at a drive-thru testing site at Camping World Stadium on July 22, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. On Wednesday, Florida recorded more than 100 new coronavirus deaths for the seventh time in two weeks, and is tied with Texas for the worst current daily average in the nation. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A man who arrived on foot is tested for COVID-19 at a drive-thru testing site at Camping World Stadium on July 22, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. On Wednesday, Florida recorded more than 100 new coronavirus deaths for the seventh time in two weeks, and is tied with Texas for the worst current daily average in the nation. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
EL PASO, TX - JULY 21: A nurse pulls out a testing swab at a newly opened mega drive-thru site at El Paso Community College Valle Verde campus on July 21, 2020 in El Paso, Texas. As coronavirus deaths surge past 4000 in Texas, overwhelmed hospitals are being forced to plan for extra refrigerated storage to hold deceased patients. (Photo by Cengiz Yar/Getty Images)
EL PASO, TX - JULY 21: People wait in their cars at a newly opened mega drive-thru site at SISD Student Activities Complex on July 21, 2020 in El Paso, Texas. As coronavirus deaths surge past 4000 in Texas, overwhelmed hospitals are being forced to plan for extra refrigerated storage to hold deceased patients. (Photo by Cengiz Yar/Getty Images)
MC ALLEN, TEXAS-July 20, 2020-Sonia Aguirre, right, and 9-years-old Abdiel Sanchez pays respect to his great grandfather Fernando Aguirre, who passed away at age 69 from COVID-19. Fernando's wife is struggling for her life with coronavirus. The coronavirus is spreading rapidly through the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where people of all ages are getting infecting at family gatherings. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
MC ALLEN, TEXAS-July 20, 2020-Deacon Joe Vargas, age 43, is conducting three funerals a day, while wearing an air purifier around his neck to help protect him from getting the coronavirus. He is the youngest deacon in the Diosese of Brownsville, Texas, which is why he is so busy. The coronavirus is spreading rapidly through the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where people of all ages are getting infecting at family gatherings. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
EL PASO, TX - JULY 21: The El Paso County Office of the Medical Examiner on July 21, 2020 in El Paso, Texas. As coronavirus deaths surge past 4000 in Texas, overwhelmed hospitals are being forced to plan for extra refrigerated storage to hold deceased patients. (Photo by Cengiz Yar/Getty Images)
MC ALLEN, TEXAS-July 20, 2020-Two day-old David Alejandro Vega was being treated in the neonatal intensive care unit at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in Edinbug, Texas. His mother, Mayra Vega, who tested positive for COVID, had been unable to hold or see him except via video. Mayra Vega, his mother, tested positive last month, and it resting in the maternal coronavirus ward at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in McAllen, Texas. The coronavirus is spreading rapidly through the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where people of all ages are getting infecting at family gatherings. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
MC ALLEN, TEXAS-July 20, 2020-The brother of the groom, Noe De Leon, right, and his wife Jessica Forquer-DeLeon, left, watch with several dozen masked guests during Nichola De Leon's wedding Saturday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Mission, Texas.The brother of the groom, Noe De Leon, and his wife ???, watch with several dozen masked guests during Nichola De Leon's wedding Saturday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Mission, Texas. The coronavirus is spreading rapidly through the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where people of all ages are getting infecting at family gatherings. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
MC ALLEN, TEXAS-July 20, 2020-A COVID-19 patient is placed on her stomach to help breathing while on a ventilator at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in Edinburg, Texas, where hospitalizations and deaths have spiked this month. The coronavirus is spreading rapidly through the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where people of all ages are getting infecting at family gatherings. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
MC ALLEN, TEXAS-July 20, 2020-Catrina Rugar, 34, a traveling nurse from Florida, responded first to hospitals in New York City, then Texas' Rio Grande Valley this month, where she was treating COVID patients at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in Edinburg last week.The coronavirus is spreading rapidly through the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where people of all ages are getting infecting at family gatherings. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - JULY 17: Medical workers from New York wearing personal protective equipments handle test samples at temporary testing site for COVID-19 in Higher Dimensions Church on July 17, 2020 in Houston, Texas. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo dispatched medical workers from New York State to assist with the spread of COVID-19 in Houston, and particularly in the hard-hit communities of color. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
Registered Respiratory Therapist Niticia Mpanga walks into a Covid patients room in the ICU at Oakbend Medical Center in Richmond, Texas, on July 15, 2020. - The latest modeling projects the number of COVID-19 deaths in the US to increase further, even as one research team suggests the near-universal use of masks could save 40,000 lives between now and November (Photo by Mark Felix / AFP) (Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)
A healthcare worker answers the phone in the ER at Oakbend Medical Center in Richmond, Texas, on July 15, 2020. - The latest modeling projects the number of COVID-19 deaths in the US to increase further, even as one research team suggests the near-universal use of masks could save 40,000 lives between now and November (Photo by Mark Felix / AFP) (Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)
A healthcare worker talks to a patient in the ER at Oakbend Medical Center in Richmond, Texas, on July 15, 2020. - The latest modeling projects the number of COVID-19 deaths in the US to increase further, even as one research team suggests the near-universal use of masks could save 40,000 lives between now and November (Photo by Mark Felix / AFP) (Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)
A healthcare worker walks down the hall of the ICU at Oakbend Medical Center in Richmond, Texas, on July 15, 2020. - The latest modeling projects the number of COVID-19 deaths in the US to increase further, even as one research team suggests the near-universal use of masks could save 40,000 lives between now and November (Photo by Mark Felix / AFP) (Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)
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In response, Oportun launched a special hardship program that postponed payments for “one month to customers who indicated they had been economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.” Oportun announced that it could consider deferrals of payments for up to 90 days.
As the pandemic continued, so did the delinquencies. Oportun reported seeing an increase of two-week delinquencies by 2.2% compared to the year prior. Month-long delays in payments by customers increased 1.5%.
In his blog post, Oportun’s CEO acknowledged the company was too litigious, and said it didn’t align with the company’s “objectives.”
“That is why, effective immediately, we are dismissing all pending cases, suspending all new filings and committing to reduce our future filings by more than 60% from current levels,” he wrote.
The ProPublica analysis found that even with a reduction of 60%, Oportun would remain one of the most litigious debt collectors in Texas, due to the high number of lawsuits.
