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Commitments and Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies

Note 9. Commitments and Contingencies

The Company is involved in certain claims and legal proceedings in the normal course of business of which one, if decided adversely to the Company, would, in the opinion of management, have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations.

Specifically, the Company has been sued together with several other defendants, in a lawsuit styled: Nicholas Financial, Inc. v. Jeremiah Gross, No. 21CY-CV02148-01, 7th Judicial Circuit, Clay County, Missouri. On March 9, 2021 the Company filed suit against Jeremiah Gross for a deficiency balance owed the Company following the 2018 surrender and sale of his motor vehicle which secured a loan from the Company. On April 22, 2021 a default judgment for $7,984 was entered against Gross. On December 22, 2021 Gross filed a motion to set aside the default judgment. The Court granted his motion on March 23, 2022. In his answer he asserted a class-action counterclaim against the Company seeking to represent a Nationwide class of the Company’s customers who received allegedly deficient notices regarding the sale of their vehicles and whose vehicles were recovered and sold by the Company, and on behalf of Missouri customers who received allegedly deficient notices from the Company regarding the sale of their recovered vehicles and the calculation of the deficiency owed the Company. The Company filed its answer to the counterclaim on May 13, 2022. On September 9, 2022 the Company filed a motion for summary judgment as to all counts of the counterclaim and Nicholas Financial, Inc.’s claim against Gross. The motion was argued on February 16, 2023. On March 27, 2023 the Court entered an order granting the motion in part and denying the motion in part. The Court found in favor of Nicholas Financial, Inc. as to the counterclaim regarding presale notices and prejudgment interest and in Gross’s favor for the counterclaim as to post-sale notices. The Court also denied Nicholas Financial, Inc.’s motion for summary judgment as to its claim for a deficiency against Gross. The remaining claim related to post sale notices sent to Missouri customers. The parties, including the Company’s insurer Gemini, settled the case and the Court entered a Final Approval Order on May 15, 2024 which found the Agreement to have been entered into in good faith and approving the Company’s assignment to the Class of the Company’s claims against certain insurers, brokers, and agents. Further, the Court approved the settlement as fair, reasonable, and adequate as to, and in the best interests of, each of the Parties and the Settlement Class members and in full compliance with all requirements of the laws of Missouri, the United States Constitution (including the Due Process Clause), and any other applicable law. The Court directed the parties to the Lawsuit to implement and consummate the Agreement pursuant to its terms and provisions. Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, the Court entered a Final Judgment against the Company in favor of the Class. In the Final Judgment, the Court held that other than the funds to be paid by Gemini Insurance Company on behalf of the Company, the Company had no obligation to satisfy the judgment, and that any remaining amount may only be satisfied from the Company’s Insurers and Insurance Agents other than Gemini Insurance Company.

On May 15, 2024, Gross filed on behalf of the Class, as assignee of the Company, a Cross-Claim in the underlying lawsuit against American Zurich Insurance Company (“AZIC”), American Guarantee and Liability Insurance Company (“AGLIC”), and Zurich American Insurance Company (“ZAIC” and collectively with AZIC and AGLIC, “Zurich”), for breach of contract, breach of the duty to defend, and bad faith failure to defend or settle (“Cross-Claim”). On June 14, 2024, Zurich filed a Motion to Amend the Final Judgment and a Notice of Removal of the Cross-Claim, seeking to remove the Cross-Claim to federal court in the Western District of Missouri. In its Notice of Removal, Zurich acknowledged that the Company is no longer a proper party to the Lawsuit “because all the claims against it are resolved by the Final Judgment.” On June 24, 2024, Zurich filed a Notice of Appeal of the Final Judgment. Because of the motion to amend and notice of appeal, however, the judgment is not yet final. Armstrong Teasdale LLP advised that it (1) does not expect the court of appeals to take any action on the Notice of Appeal at this time because the motion to amend postponed finality of the judgment; and (2) expects that the federal court will more likely than not remand the case to state court and that the judgment will ultimately become final, either as it is, or in a slightly modified version.