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Nicholas Financial sued for violating debt collection laws

Sarah Edwards | April 29, 2024

Sarah Edwards
Legal Expert
Sarah Edwards, BS

Sarah Edwards is a professional researcher and writer specializing in legal content. An Emerson College alumna, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Communication from the prestigious Boston institution.

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Hannah Locklear
Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Summary: The law protects consumers like you from unfair or deceptive collection tactics. Unfortunately, collectors don’t always follow the law. Recently, Nicholas Financial faced a class-action lawsuit for violating debt collection laws. SoloSuit explains what you need to know about the case and what to do if you owe Nicholas Financial money.

If you’ve ever had to deal with a debt collector, you might already know how stressful it can be if a collector sues you. So when you hear about a collector being sued, it might seem as though karma has finally caught up.

While it’s not technically a debt collector, Nicholas Financial — a consumer finance company that specializes in car loans — was recently sued because it violated consumers’ rights when it attempted to collect their loans or repossess and resell their vehicles.

If Nicholas Financial administered your car loan and repossessed your vehicle (or tried to collect on your loan), you might be owed part of the settlement money.

What is Nicholas Financial?

Nicholas Financial is a consumer finance company that has been in business for 39 years. It’s headquartered at 2454 N McMullen Booth Rd Ste 501B Bldg C, Suite 501B, Clearwater, FL 33759-1341. If you need to get in touch with the company, you can call the Nicholas Financial phone number at (727) 726-0763. You can also visit its website.

As you might have guessed, Nicholas Financial reviews are not flattering. Many consumers said the company sold their car loans to other businesses that would not send the car titles once the loans were paid. One even said a representative came to their home and blocked the door until the consumer made a payment!

Why was Nicholas Financial sued?

The lawsuit, Nicholas Financial, Inc. v. Jeremiah T. Gross (Case No. 21CY-CV02148-02 in the Circuit Court of Clay County, Missouri), alleges that the company didn’t give customers enough notice before repossessing and selling their vehicles. It also claims the company did not include sufficient explanations after selling those vehicles.

You might benefit from the settlement if you got either a presale notice or post-sale explanation between April 1, 2015, and December 1, 2022. However, you’re excluded from the settlement if any of these apply:

  • You filed for bankruptcy after the company resold your car, and that bankruptcy ended in discharge (not dismissal).
  • Nicholas Financial sold your loan before February 21, 2024.
  • Nicholas Financial obtained a financial deficiency notice against you.

You don’t have to do anything to receive benefits from the settlement. However, if you accept them, you give up the right to sue the company yourself about the same issue.

Are you considering bankruptcy? Check out SoloSuit’s video Q&A with a bankruptcy lawyer:

What’s included in the settlement?

The Nicholas Financial lawsuit ended in a settlement, meaning the company agreed to pay a certain amount of money to avoid having the case get to a courtroom. The company did not admit any wrongdoing, but it agreed to pay $750,000 in damages to the people affected.

If you’re an eligible member of the “class” (the consumers impacted by the company’s actions), you might receive a settlement and other benefits, including:

  • Part of the $750,000.
  • Having your balance written off (Nicholas Financial agreed to write off $86.1 million in deficient balances).
  • Deletion of negative marks on credit reports that came from your deficient balance.

Unfortunately, as of April 24, 2024, there’s no available estimate of the amount of money you might receive. The class-action suit website includes valuable information for anyone who thinks they might be eligible for compensation.

What if you owe money to Nicholas Financial but can’t be part of the class action suit?

If you’re struggling to pay back your car loan and are worried your car will be repossessed, don’t despair! You still have options. Creditors (and debt collectors) often get a bad rap, but the truth is that if you reach out to them and explain your situation, many of them will work with you.

Ideally, you should reach out to them before you miss a payment. If you’ve already missed a payment on your car loan, reach out as soon as you can. To see how you might be able to negotiate with them, let’s consider an example.

Example: George's car is financed with Nicholas Financial. He hasn’t had an issue making payments until now. However, he just lost his job. He thinks he can get another soon. But just in case, he calls Nicholas Financial and explains he’s worried about missing payments. The company agrees to let his skip the next two payments while he gets back on his feet. Now George can get back to job searching without worrying his car will be repossessed.


Bear in mind that because Nicholas Financial is not a debt collection agency, you can’t negotiate with them as you could with a collector.

For example, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) allows you to ask a collector to validate your debt before you pay it. In many cases, Nicholas Financial is an original creditor, so they do not have to validate your debt.

Make debt collectors validate your debt before they call again.

The Nicholas Financial lawsuit: Sending a message to creditors everywhere

All too often, big companies like Nicholas Financial think they can get away with violating consumer rights. The new class action settlement proves that when creditors try to trample your rights, someone is going to hold them accountable.

If you’ve had your car repossessed by this company, you may have some recourse. Even if you don’t, it’s still wise to keep an eye out; if you owe money to other creditors and collectors, there might be a suit that applies to you in the future.

As always, SoloSuit is here for you. Keep checking our blog for news on the latest creditor and collector lawsuits!

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