I borrowed a Loan for $460.00 from Ace Cash Express a store front lender in DC, i live in Washington DC as well.

I fell into some hard times and couldnt repay the loan back in the time i was supposed to.

I received a call this morning from a law office letting me know if the amount was not paid by 1pm EST. today i would be arrested for Check Fraud.

I am terrified, i offered to have them take my rent money next friday so i dont get locked into a check fraud system and arrested BUT they declined. Just like the Lender declined to take small payments until the loan was repaid in full.

What am i to do? I am scared to death and worse i cant go to jail. They verified all my information including the city i live in and the law enforcement office that would pick me up this evening. He even said i could turn myself in BUT get a lawyer first. PLEASE HELP! i dont know what to do....I have no one to loan me $400.00....

Is this real? Can I be arrested for default on payday loan?

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What was the name of this supposed law office? I also doubt they will have you arrested today. They just can't call the police and have you picked up.

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DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR RENT MONEY! You need to pay rent, that is important! They are lying to you to try and scare you into paying up. They cannot have you arrested for defaulting on a loan. Period.

It is not real - If you were to call your local police deptartment and tell them the situation, they would laugh and say that if they arrested everyone that defaulted on a loan, they would have to hire a whole lot more people and build a ton more jails . . . .

So unless you did commit fraud (BTW - Taking out a loan legally, and not being able to afford to pay it back is NOT fraud) you will be fine. They use this lie regularly, and not one person has actually been arrested for not paying.

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Also how was this loan handled? Did you give them a post dated check?

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They go by the name of "Legal Mediation practice".

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I would call:

Where to Complain, Get Information:
Regulator: D.C. Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking
Address: 810 First Street, NE, Suite 701 Washington DC 20002
Phone: (202) 727- 8000
Fax: (202) 535-1197
Regulatory Contact: Howard Amer,, Director, Banking Bureau

And talk to them. If this is a storefront loan then they are regulated by the above people. They can tell you exactly what they can or can't do to you.

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My account was closed do to them debiting me so much where i was accumilating too many NSF's. I Loaned back in October 2006, the loan defaulted in May of 2007. I retuned all their calls and even made payment arrangements in whcih they declined. They told me the contract i signed prohibits payment arrangements, it was either in full or legal action was to be taken.

So now this collector "Legal Mediation practice" asked me to get a lawyer and prepare for Jailtime as i commited fraud especially because my account was closed before they could get their cash. So thats where the FRAUD comes in. They claim i wrote a check to them that was a bad check....

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Did you close your account? Or did the bank close it?

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Okay legal mediation practice is not a law firm and they broke the FCPA by telling you that. Did you write an actual check to the store front company? If so what is post dated by chance?

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The way it goes is.

Your write a check for your next paydate whcih would be 2 weeks out. They give you the cash and on your paydate, you either go in and pay the amount in full or your refi and write a new check for the next pay date. If you do not go in on your paydate, they give you a 5 day extension in which they call you to see what is happening. If the 5 days passes, they then deposit the check to get their money. if they dont get their money, they start calling all your numbers to collect the amount in full. They decline payment arrangements so if you cant pay in full, you automatically go into collections THEN legal mediation.

I received a message from them in whcih i called back. When i called this is when the gentleman informed me what it was about and what steps i needed to make.

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OH My account was closed due to Secret Cash Card debiting my account multiple times and Ace Cash express debiting leaving me with too many NSF fee's. When i filed the Affidavit with my bank regarding Secret Cash Card, They informed me that i was in danger of loosing the account, so they closed it anyway and i filed the affidavit to get my money back from Secret Cash card. So i do have proof why i had to close the account despite the NSF fees.

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Do as Guoudah says and call the DC numbers he listed to find out what they can legally do. Also in DC, a check casher cannot have you post date a check. That is prohibited per their check cashing statute. If they had you post date the checks they were in violation.

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YES< this is what they do. Example, if i walked into a storefornt tomorrow to borrow. The lender will ask me to make the check out for my next paydate which is 7/20/2007 not tomorrow's date instead...

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Plus, you have proof of unrelated fraudulant charges on your account as the reason it was closed. They cannot prosecute you for that. If you had taken out a loan, then immediatly closed your account, then maybe. But in this situation I really doubt it.

For your own peice of mind, please call the Dept of ISB - They can tell you everything you need to know - And they are the people that regulate these places, so if they are doing something wrong you will be able to start filing complaints against them.

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Thanks Goudah, i received a call back already from D.C. Department of Insurance, Securities and banking, She asked me for all my information and said she would call them directly and get back to me. In the meantime she asked me to complete a complaint form and fax back to her....

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

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Don't worry they are not going to have you arrested today, they love to tell people that to get you to pay. Also, I'm not sure what kind of fees they are charging but here is the statute that regulates their fees

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