House Speaker Cameron Sexton appointed John Cheadle, a lawyer for payday lender Advance Financial whose firm has sued thousands of Tennesseans over 279.5% loans, to the Metro Nashville Airport Authority Board.
Cheadle is a Nashville-based lawyer whose firm is the primary representative Advance uses to sue borrowers for defaulting on loans with triple-digit interest rates. The firm, which includes him and several attorneys, specializes in consumer debt collection.
Sexton has a strong professional relationship with Advance and its owners. The payday lender is one of the top financial contributors to his campaign account and political action committee. He fought to protect the Advance owner’s sports gambling company and helped usher in legislation creating a new payday loan at the company’s owner’s behest…