FastBucks New Mexico Loan Restitution Program

Banking & Credit · Claims Open

Current Status

Claims are open. A claim form must be submitted online by November 24, 2026 at 11:59:59 p.m. MST, or mailed and postmarked no later than that same date.

This is not a class action settlement. It is a restitution program running under a Final Judgment the First Judicial District Court for Santa Fe County entered in 2016, in a case the State of New Mexico filed against FastBucks Holding Corporation and related defendants in 2009. There is no certified class, no opt-out right and no fairness hearing.

The notice says approved payments are expected to begin during April 2027, after claims are reviewed, and that the schedule may change. No payment amount is promised, and receiving a notice does not guarantee that a specific amount is owed.

What Changed Recently?

The State of New Mexico sued FastBucks Holding Corporation and related defendants in 2009, alleging the lenders reworked their products to get around the payday-lending reforms the Legislature adopted in 2007 and steered borrowers into costlier installment loans instead. In 2016 the First Judicial District Court entered a Final Judgment concluding that the FastBucks defendants should pay restitution to consumer borrowers who appeared in the loan data the defendants gave the State and were adversely affected by the business practices at issue.

The New Mexico Department of Justice announced in November 2016 that the judgment came to roughly $32.25 million in restitution. That money did not reach borrowers at the time. The restitution notice says the State later recovered funds through related proceedings and negotiated agreements, and that those recovered funds are what this program distributes.

The program itself is what is new. The Department and EisnerAmper, named in the notice as the Restitution Administrator, opened a notice and claims process in 2026, working from the available loan data, mailing and email records and address research to identify people who may be eligible. Claims run through November 24, 2026.

Who Qualifies?

Eligibility turns on the program's own records rather than on a class definition. A person may be eligible if program records show they were a consumer borrower identified in the consumer loan data the FastBucks defendants provided to the State, and that they were adversely affected by the FastBucks business practices at issue.

In practical terms, the notice tells anyone who took out one or more loans through FastBucks Holding Corporation between 2007 and 2016 that they may be eligible. Two routes lead into the claim process:

• A notice arrived with a Claim ID Number, in the format ABC-1234567. That number goes on the claim form and lets the administrator match the filer to the program's records directly.
• No notice or no Claim ID Number, but the person believes they borrowed from FastBucks. They can still file, and supply loan information on the form so the administrator can verify they were an adversely affected borrower.

Filing on behalf of someone else is contemplated too. Part 3 of the claim form covers a deceased borrower, an estate or a legal entity; the filer names the borrower or entity, states their relationship and their legal authority, and may be asked for documentation confirming that authority.

The administrator may also reach out if a filer's identity, address, representative authority or entitlement cannot be verified from the records already on hand.

How Much Can You Get?

No amount is promised, and none is published. The notice puts the gross recovered funds associated with this matter at approximately $964,000, based on information from the New Mexico Department of Justice, and says the net amount available for payments will be set under the final program rules after approved administrative expenses and any required adjustments.