NOFEAR – Have you actually had a payday loan? If so, how do you figure that they don’t have morals? Weren’t they there to help you out when you needed it? It sounds to me like you either never had a PDL, or you didn’t read your whole contract and you’re still trying to make excuses and point the finger at someone other than yourself for getting into the bind that you did. You say that they should keep out of the states that they are “prohibited†in. Are they actually in your state? How do you know where they operate? Did you actually go in to a store in your state to get your loan? No. Actually, you went online to the World Wide Web and applied for a payday loan. You had no idea where they were located. You found them by searching on the internet. They didn’t find you. Yet you still filled out that application….
bflow30 – My sister-in-law didn’t know everything about PDL’s when I first went to her for advice – she did her research and concluded that it was my responsibility to abide by my contract. I’m afraid you didn’t fully read my first blog because I specifically stated the following: “Most contracts have clauses on them stipulating that you as the borrower are responsible for complying with the laws of your state, so if you took a loan out over the internet and didn’t do any research, complaining to any agency could result in disciplinary action against you for taking the loan out in the first place.†I am unsure what your expertise is in the PDL industry, but I really think I would be more willing to trust an attorney than word of mouth. That can get you in trouble, kind of like playing that game “telephone†that we played when we were kids – the more mouths that the statement goes through, the more twisted it becomes. By the time it reaches the last person, the whole statement is completely the opposite of what it started as. As adults, I think it’s our responsibility to stop playing these games and own up to our own responsibilities. Your statement comparing PDL companies’ licensing and lawyers’ bar exams is like comparing apples to oranges. One is an industry – the other is a profession.
I don’t know what websites either of you applied for loans at, but here is a little resource for both of you (and anyone else interested in abiding by the law) that I found on the website that I applied while doing my research. Keep in mind, this is not something that I read prior to filling out my application because I didn’t think it was important. But guess what? It was. There was a link to the “Legal Disclosures†at the top and side of the home page of the website. Here is an excerpt that I didn’t read before I got the loan:
“Regardless of where you may be viewing or accessing this site, you as the borrower are responsible for complying with any local statutory obligations that may exist in your state or area with respect to this transaction. The Federal laws governing this consumer loan agreement may differ from the laws of the state where you reside. If you do not want to enter into a consumer loan agreement with us under our terms, then you should apply for a loan at a provider located in the state where you live.â€
You may want to check the websites that you applied at and see if they have similar disclaimers. If so, you’ve got no argument, just like I learned, unless you want to be prosecuted for failing to abide by your state’s laws.
Everyone else - You know, I’ve noticed that a LOT of the people on this blog say that they have 3, 4, 5 or more PDL’s with different companies. Obviously you had to know at some point what you were getting in to if you kept on applying for the loans. It is hard to believe that anyone would be so naïve that they wouldn’t even read one contract after applying for that many loans. It’s pretty clear that those of you that did apply for that many loans knew what you were doing and planned on getting over on the companies that you applied for loans with because you “knew†how to do it because you applied for more than one loan. It’s plain and simple – you were in debt, found a lender, took their money and tried to find any way you could not to pay it back. Then you’d apply for another loan and try to find a way to get out of paying that loan off. Then you’d find yet another lender and try the same. This is where I question morals. For those that don’t fit into that category, the only advice I can give to you is that loans are not free and contracts are legal documents – read them before signing them.