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Queenie

Hello,
First of all, i am very impressed with your forums and the detail and efficiency of the help you offer to victims of payday loans! Thank you in advance for any help with my situation.
I took out a payday loan with Ace Cash Express in Frisco Texas. I do not have the paperwork with me at the moment, but the original amount financed was $600 and the total payoff was over $700 with the interest. i defaulted on the loan, and my check was deposited a total of two times coming back NSF. I came upon hard medical times and was not able to pay for a while. I went into the store shortly after and paid an amount around $300 to the store itself bringing balance down to around $400. I have not since been able to pay anything with the holidays and economy being the way it is. However, i continue to get stern and threatening phone calls from a man by the name of Mr. Simon at their corporate office. he calls my work and leaves messages for my supervisor and myself as well as my cell phone. I donâ€™t mind the contact with my cell phone but he has repeatedly called my office when my company does not allow this and embarrasses me to my coworkers and supervisor. I called him back and asked him not to call me at work and he said that he is not a debt collector and therefore the law about debt collection does not apply to him. he said he is left with no choice but to file suit against me for fraudulent check writing and felony fraud. I told him to file what he needs to file but to not contact me at work again. He told me yesterday 12/2/08 that someone from his office (an attorney) would be coming to my office to have a meeting with my HR director. he said they would be meeting with my company to get me to pay this debt. first of all, is this allowed? second of all, is it legal for him to call my company and leave messages addressing my supervisor and giving her the details of my case? I have sent them a cease and desist letter in mail and email advising of NO further contact from them. my company's attorney also sent a letter to the president of Ace to advise they will peruse legal proceedings if i am contacted here again. I would like to know my rights and what I can do here. I have looked up the Texas State Information and it doesnâ€™t seem they are in compliance with this information if it is valid. on my contract it says they are charging me a 700%+ interest annually. Can someone please assist me with these people? they are brutal and horrible. I was paying them and now will not pay the remainder of my balance with the threats and intimidation i am receiving from them. I am willing to hire someone to represent me and investigate any legal violations they have made if need be.
thank you again!

Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:43 am Subject:

I cannot answer your question but I hope someone else can. Hang on someone will be by to help.

Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:49 am Subject:

Sorry for the double post. I am a newb and posted this before i registered. this can be deleted as my post is now under my registered name. so sorry Sad

Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:57 am Subject:

No, this is not legal. (Not as far as I'm aware) first and foremost, send a c&d certified letter TODAY not one day latter.

2nd Ace checking is a store front no? See if you can work out a payment plan with them.

3rd, i'm not sure of laws of closing your checking account regarding store front loans.. someone will come along with that info.

4th. I'd talk to HR just to give them a heads up they may be able to give you some more info.

Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 3:19 pm Subject:

I have already paid half the loan down, and so i am pretty sure they cant file bad checks against me. the thing is, I never signed or wrote a check. they took a blank check from me after i signed the contract, but I never wrote on it or signed it. so How can that be fraudulent check writing? I am not sure how this all works in Texas. I am furious about the way they have treated me and my company and and want to get them in as much trouble and cause them as much frustration as possible! I am not at all trying to get out of the loan and had they been respectful and courteous i would have paid the rest in full. I do still plan to pay eventually, but this is rediculous.

green82 · Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 7:00 pm Subject:

I had one with them too,in Mckinney.I was only for 400,renewed once and then was unable to pay.That was over a month ago,haven't heard anything out of them but two letters in the mail.

wwdutchs · Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 9:17 am Subject: They are awful

I went in yesterday to try to make a payment on a defaulted loan and they told me that they could not take it. It was all or nothing and that I could get a new loan to pay the old loan. I was on the phone with a lady from corporate when I asked her what there address was she said we don't have one. Then she put me on hold and called my boss and later called on of my references and gave her my case # and told her that I must call by 4. They are unworkable.

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 9:41 am Subject:

Send a C&D letter. Regardless if they are a collection agency, or not they are still collecting on a debt, therefore they have to follow the fair debit collection act. File BBB complaints, and complaints with the department within your state that handles financial matters.

missy_may · Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:56 pm Subject: I can help

Hi there! I used to work for this company, and you're right, the collectors are horrible. They claim to be from the corporate office which makes them sound important. They are actually located in the corporate building, but they work in the "collection department". If the main "corporate" people found out how they treat people, most of them would not be working there. To answer your question, they 1st party debt collectors and must abide by the Fair Debt Collections Practices. They cannot call you at work after you have notified them in writing not to. They are under NO circumstances allowed to discuss this debt with ANYONE but you. I can tell you that they are allowed to take legal action against you and it is a felony to default upon a check over a certain amount ($250 in most states). But this company rarely does anything more than file for wage garnishments. By making a partial payment, you have just angered them more as they cannot file wage garnishments if you are making payments, even small ones. Because they are a first party collector, they can refuse partial payments, but in most cases if you just go into the store, the teller will accept your payment. The store employees dislike the collector's behavior and poor treatment as much as you do! If you wish to complain, you can file a complaint with your state's attorney general. This is a very serious legal matter that should be brought to their attention. You can file your complaint online in most states. Hope this helps.

Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 6:26 am Subject:

Actually Missy, most states are not felony. They have specific state laws regarding payday loans. And in Most states (from statues I've seen posted here) they strickly prohibit criminal action against them. Most stating "Criminal Action: Prohibited (per ..., a check given to secure a loan isn't "worthless")

PDL Owner · Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:06 am Subject:

Beli's correct. We give up our right to criminal prosecution due to the fact that we are knowingly taking a bad check Also, the fdcpa was specifically written for 3rd party collectors, not 1st party.

Straight Up · Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 12:47 pm Subject:

Dear Queenie,
You can report them to the FTC - Federal Trade Commission. File a complaint. I have had the same thing a run of bad luck, loss of income. I can bet you the man that is calling you is the same man who is calling me. He says his name is Mr. Paul. Now he is trying the same thing. I have reported ACE twice now in a months time. Every time they call file a complaint with the FTC. I told them today I had reported them.

Straigth Up · Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 12:51 pm Subject: ACE

Report them to the Federal Trade Commission ecery time they call you at work, at home, call your personal references. Itis against the law for them to threaten you and harass you like this.

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