Lanier v. Associates Finance, Inc.

After paying the balance of an installment loan in September 1983, eight years prior to its due date in 1991, plaintiff Alma Lanier instituted a class action against defendants, Associates Finance, Inc., and its alleged parent corporation, Associates Corporation of North America. Plaintiffs class was comprised of persons who had prepaid, or were currently parties to, credit obligations entered into with the defendant Associates Finance, in which the credit agreements computed interest payments according to the Rule of 78’s. The plaintiff contended that use of the Rule of 78’s to compute…