Oasis Legal Funding, also known as Oasis Financial, is one of the biggest lawsuit lending companies in the industry. For nearly 20 years, they’ve been assisting people who are waiting on their cash from a settlement. But should you go with them?
We browsed web reviews of Oasis Legal Funding and came up with some surprising complaints. Some of these complaints may make you want to think twice before approaching them for a lawsuit loan. Here’s what we discovered.
Colorado Sued Oasis Legal Funding
First, let’s get the big fight out of the way. In 2010, the Colorado Attorney General counter-sued Oasis Legal Finance for failing to comply with state loan regulations. In the case of Oasis, the company was charging fees during the loan process for case servicing and review before they issued payments.
The suit also claims that Oasis customers paid APRs ranging from 60% to 125%, and that many of their customers in the state had to pay a multiple of the fronted funds depending on how long it took to complete their case.
Colorado law requires licences and adherence to certain regulations if a company offers an APR of over 12%, and Oasis was not licensed with the state at the time.
Did Colorado Win?
The countersuit was in response to a lawsuit by Oasis saying that Colorado was improperly regulating them as lenders under that state’s Uniform Consumer Credit Code. Colorado won their lawsuit in 2015. It is uncertain what changes Oasis made since then to comply with these and similar laws.
What Do the Reviews Say?
In our reviews of lawsuit loan companies, Oasis is certainly the company with the greatest number of web reviews, but they have a higher percentage of reviews three stars and less than other companies.
Many of the complaints point to these extra high interest rates and additional fees as a problem, including fees required to get their checks delivered or deposited. To Oasis’ credit, they are responding to many of the negative reviews and trying to make things right.
There are also accusations that the company is inflating their positive review count somehow. This is possible in theory, but very hard to prove in practice. We leave it up to the reader to decide. Here are Trustpilot’s web reviews of Oasis Legal Funding.
The Trouble With Compounding
The biggest red flag is the compound interest. It’s impossible to estimate how long a case may take to finish. If a case goes too long, the interest amount could quickly overwhelm the amount of money in the settlement.
Maybe this is why Oasis advertises that their maximum loan amount is $100,000. If they are charging compound interest, a lower loan amount increases the chance that the final amount paid will still be in the limits of the settlement.
Our Verdict
Given these legal troubles, and the continued evidence of high compound interest charges, we must say that you should seek a better option. Plaintiffs in personal injury cases are at a low point in their lives. Forcing fees and usurious interest rates on people who desperately need money isn’t ethical.