Letter stymies payday empire of Chattanooga’s Carey Brown

Carey V. Brown

Carey V. Brown thought he was safe.

Since at least 2005, he’s paid lawyers from Canada, Nevada, Georgia and Tennessee to craft an interlocking web of businesses that shielded his online payday loans from legal scrutiny, allowing him to charge interest rates in excess of the legal limit in many states, according to lawsuits filed across the United States.

Brown believed he was immune from state laws because he was operating from the nebulous world of the Internet, triggering the Interstate Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution that gives Congress — in the form of federal agencies — the sole power to regulate him. The 50 states, Brown was convinced, could do nothing to stop him.

Brown had the situation under control. He had all the angles covered. Except one.