In 2009, Washington passed RCW 31.45, which enacted stringent reforms on payday lending in the state, including the stipulation that a short-term loan "may not exceed $700 or thirty percent of the gross monthly income of the borrower, whichever is lower".

[7][8] In 2013, Moneytree hired Sound View Strategies, a well-connected public-affairs and lobbying firm, to help create and pass SB-5312, a bill that proposed raising the maximum amount a borrower can take out at one time from $700 to $1,500 with an interest rate up to 36 percent.

[9][10] Critics pointed out that these fees "could push the effective annual rate above 200 percent, according to a calculation by the state Department of Financial Institutions".

[21] Lobbyists for retail financial providers, including Moneytree, claimed that the proposed law was "unfairly targeted" and that the measure could lead to more “underground non-regulated short-term loans".

[21] In 2024, a non-profit called Stop Predatory Lending NV, funded in part by the Sixteen Thirty Fund,[23] filed two petitions for ballot initiatives that would cap annual interest rates at 36 percent on short-term loans like as payday and title loans.

In March of the same year, a Carson City judge rejected the first petition because it was too broad, a decision that was upheld by the state Supreme Court in June.

[28] Criticism of the company and their practices is commonly based on the fact that several of Moneytree's products fit the description of a "debt trap".

[31][32] In 2005, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the University of Washington completed a demographic analysis which concluded payday-loan stores (including those run by Moneytree) were predominantly found in largely-black and low-income neighborhoods.

"[35] In 2010, Moneytree was accused of "skirting" consumer laws which prohibit borrowers from taking out more than eight payday loans in a 12-month period.

A scammer impersonating Bassford send an email to the payroll department requesting names, home addresses, social security numbers, birth dates and W2 information of employees.

[37] In a letter to employees detailing the breach, Bassford said the following: "Unfortunately, this request was not recognized as a scam, and the information about current and former Team Members who worked in the US at Moneytree in 2015 or were hired in early 2016 was disclosed.

[40] Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Moneytree had around 120 stores across five states (Washington, California, Colorado, Idaho, and Nevada) and one Canadian province (British Columbia).

When interviewed by Seattle's public radio affiliate KUOW in June 2020, Dennis Bassford stated that business had decreased by 75%.