CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Attorney General Darrell McGraw's office has settled with a group of payday lending companies, recovering more than $305,000 in fees.

The attorney general's consumer protection division announced the settlement with FFD Companies, which operated at least five payday loan websites, on Wednesday.

In November, the agency filed a civil complaint against FFD Ventures LP, DFD Ventures LP, First Fidelity Inc., and five subsidiaries operating websites called Cash Supply, Web Payday, Payday Services, Payday Yes and Paper Check Payday. The suit alleged that the companies were not properly licensed to make loans in West Virginia, and that they were illegally issuing loans with annual percentage rates between 600 and 800 percent.

The loans, often for periods as short as two weeks, were typically secured by a post-dated check or an agreement allowing automatic withdrawals from a consumer's checking account, according to a news release.

"Payday loans are not solutions but treacherous traps that can lead to financial ruin for the many West Virginians facing difficult financial circumstances," McGraw said in a prepared statement. "We will not rest until all payday lenders agree, as the FFD Companies have now done, to stop marketing these predatory payday loans over the Internet to West Virginia consumers."

Under the agreement, the companies agreed to pay $305.446.53, as well as provide a database of every loan provided to West Virginia customers.

The firms also agreed to cancel any active debts, and to notify consumer reporting agencies to remove all references to the loans from their credit records.

As part of the settlement, the companies denied any wrongdoing on their part.

Kanawha Circuit Judge Jim Stucky signed an order finalizing the agreement on July 14.

Since McGraw's office began looking at payday loans in 2005, it has secured almost $2.5 million in refunds and cancelled debts for West Virginians in settlements with 107 Internet payday lenders and their collection agencies, according to the release.

Consumers can file complaints or alert McGraw's office to unfair or deceptive practices by calling the Consumer Protection Hot Line at 800-368-8808, or online at www.wvago.gov.

Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1723.