Okay here is my situation. I keep stumbling across this forum in my search for a way out of this mess I have gotten my family into.
I handle all the finances in the household - not something I want to do, but something I have to do because my husband wants nothing to do with it. He tried it for 2 months and it was a total nightmare, with bills going completely unpaid and the checkbook not even balanced once. He told me he never wants to hear about our finances unless there is a problem that they will garnish his paycheck. He said to just pay the bills and he will make the money. Okay - well that is easier said than done sometimes, right? I keep all the burden on me and sometimes I get stressed and can't find a way out.
I took out four (yes FOUR - I'm an idiot!) payday loans, thinking some miracle would help us out. At first, it was no problem keeping up, and I had a payment plan figured out in our budget that would pay off one a month. Well that was great - until we had to get a new car with a MUCH higher note than we had before and our insurance also went up, so now our budget is completely out the window and I had to create a new one. The new one does not leave much wiggle room. I'm 8 months pregnant and can't get a job to help out right now, so we are dependant upon his one income.
This is what we have, and I live in Louisiana:
United Cash Loans (online) - Paid $0 so far on $350 loan (Payback is $455)
Ameriloan (online) - Paid $105 so far on $350 loan (Payback is $455)
ImpactCashUSA (online) Paid $180 so far on $300 loan (Payback is $390)
Payday-Loan-Yes (online) Paid $210 so far on $350 loan (Payback is $455)
I've read of people mailing letters to the lenders telling them that they no longer have authorization to debit the account and giving a copy of the letter to the bank - would this work in my situation? I'm so embarassed to go into my bank and try to solve the situation - they are a small town bank and have known me since I was born - but I will do anything at this point.
I tried getting a loan to consolidate them, since we could make a payment each month of about $250, but our credit is shot, thank you Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. How we got the car loan, I'll never know.
Also - one more note - hubby knows NOTHING about these and they are in HIS name. Could that by any chance get us out of paying the debts - or would that just get ME into hot water legally? I'm scared out of my mind to tell him, we have enough stress right now with the baby coming and I was really hoping to take care of these. I have been selling left and right on ebay and thinking of every possible way to make money, but every time I get a few hundred, something comes up - like a downpayment on a car we had (truly HAD) to have, or a broken radiator, or who knows what else.
I'm so stressed I can't sleep at night. We have other debt too, but I was getting it completely under control until I went crazy and did this.
HELP! Please! I feel like the worst person in the world right now and I just want to get us out of the mess I got us into without causing more problems in our marriage.
We can help you here. Please tell us what state you live in.Please do not contact any of these lenders while your account is still open. they will go in and take everything. We will guide you throug all of this.
If these are in your Hubby's name, how can he not know about it? Did you use his checking account? where did the money go? Inti his account or your account? _________________ Money is a lousy way of keeping score
I live in Louisiana, sorry thought I had put that in my post.
It was very easy to get PDLs in his name, everything we have except our home is in his name. I have all of his information, and he has mine. Our checking account is a joint account, and he's offshore about 21 days out of the month, so he doesn't know half of what goes on around the house - good or bad. He has told me numerous times that he doesn't want the stress of dealing with our finances, so I do the best I can to keep that to myself.
erin - first and foremost, you are not an idiot. There are other people here who have had MANY more outstanding payday loans than you do now, and have gotten out of the problems and are now PDL free.
I will let Kashzan come back and help you, but wanted to just interject that - you are not an idiot - you realize you made a mistake and are looking to correct it. _________________ A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step...and becoming debt free is a journey!
Sue, thanks for mentioning that. We do not judge anyone here, and we are all here to help. Let me first post the laws for your state, and we can take it from there. _________________ Money is a lousy way of keeping score
Loan Terms:
Maximum Loan Amount: $350
Loan Term: 60 days
Maximum Finance Rate and Fees: $5 documentation fee + the greater of 16.75% of check or $45 (After default: months 1-12: 36% per year; months 13 and beyond: 18% per year)
Finance Charge for 14-day $100 loan: $25
APR for 14-day $100 loan: 650%
Debt Limits:
Maximum Number of Outstanding Loans at One Time: Not Specified
Rollovers Permitted: None (cannot renew or rollover but licensee may accept partial payment of 25% of amount advanced plus fees and enter into new loan)
Cooling-off Period:
Repayment Plan:
Collection Limits:
Collection Fees: One NSF fee of actual bank charge (if disclosed) + the greater of $25 or 5% of check (if disclosed); Court Costs; Reasonable Attorney's Fees
Criminal Action: Prohibited
Where to Complain, Get Information:
Regulator: Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions
Address: P.O. Box 94095 Baton Rouge LA 70804
Phone: (225) 925-4660
Fax: (225) 925-4548
Regulatory Contact: John J. Braud,, Deputy Chief Examiner
Regulator Website
Licensee Database (On Home Page, select "Non-Depository" from blue menu at left, then "Payday Lenders," then "List of Active Payday Licensees")
Complaint Instructions: (On Home Page, select "Complaints" from blue menu at left)
Complaint Form Link
_________________ Money is a lousy way of keeping score
Sue, please feel free to pop in .
First United cash loans is part of MTE and not licensed to lend legally anywhere. All you are obligated to repay is the principle amount borrowed. I need to check on the others, but I dont believe that they are license in your state. _________________ Money is a lousy way of keeping score
None of your lenders hold licenses to lend in your state. All you are obligated to repay is only the amount borrowed.All you owe is the dufference between what you borrowed and what you have already paid. Example amerilon all you owe is 245.00.
The first step is to close your account so that these lenders can not get any more of your money. after your account is closed you can make arrangements to pay them what you owe. You can open a new account, but do not give that number to anyone. Once your account is closed we can give you a letter to send to your lenders.Please read below regarding the closing of your account. _________________ Money is a lousy way of keeping score
Before you close your bank account due to payday loans eating away at your paycheck, please read this.
Some banks have a policy regarding ach transactions that allows them to force open closed accounts if any ach transactions go through within a certain time frame after the account is closed. This can leave you owing a legal bank $1,000's and reported to chexsystems, instead of owing barely legal (or not at all legal) payday loan companies. Not a good thing. Ask your bank what their policy is on ach transactions on closed accounts before you close the account. It's best to go in person and talk to a branch manager.
If your bank does have this policy, tell them your situation. Don't be embarrassed. Take letters with you showing that you have revoked authorization for each of your payday loan companies to debit your account. Tell the bank to put your account on deposit only, an ach block, or a hard hold before they close the account. Your bank can do one of those, don't take no for an answer. This will prevent any payday loan ach's from reopening the bank account.
It'a always best to close your bank account. Leaving it open gives ways for the payday loan companies to continue to take money out. These companies have many different dba's, so blocking them won't work. They will also produce paper checks and run them through your account. Closing the account is the best way to prevent these companies from taking money out of your account.
Some state laws do allow for prosecution if you close your bank account, but that is usually in cases of fraud. But it's always best to check with your state's attorney general or department of financial institution before you close your account. You want to make sure you are not causing more heacaches!
Last edited by goudah2424 on 17 Jul 2007 15:25
_________________ Money is a lousy way of keeping score
Way to go Kashzan - you've got it handled! _________________ A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step...and becoming debt free is a journey!
I am in NY, and had 7 loans. They are not legal at all in my state. I did argue with myself about repaying the principles, and in the end I did pay what I borrowed. After all , they gave me the money and I did use it. As Sue stated, I did sleep better knowing I did what I thought was right. It is however a personal choice. _________________ Money is a lousy way of keeping score
Right - I have no problem paying back the principal of what we owe - but them taking $400+ per check is kicking our butts. My husband gets a bonus check once a month and I could gladly pay off one per month and send the others something as well out of that check without affecting our budget. But the stress knowing that we now have a $450 car payment, an extra $150 a month insurance, AND $400 in payday loans on the next check is killing me.
I guess I will head down to Gueydan tomorrow and close my account and open a new one and then cancel the direct deposit on hubby's check and get a paper one until this is all taken care of. I am so mad at myself for this, and we had done so well financially, for a while. We got into this mess around December, when we took out a payday loan (he knew about that one) to help with Christmas, and we were going to pay it in January. Well -- three days before our first payday in January, we get a letter from his company saying that they are changing their pay schedules, so we had to wait an extra week without a paycheck (not cool right after Christmas - right?) and then the check was $400 short because somehow (and I still don't understand how, I'm pretty sure we are getting shafted some way or another. The secretary explained it to me 3 times and neither one of us understands, nor do several other of the wives) when they restructured the pay schedule, they restructured their salaries. They said we will get an extra check this year so it will work out, but that didn't help at the time. So, basically I robbed Peter to pay Paul, blah blah - paid off everything, but then once I did that, we had mechanical problems on both cars in the same week, so I ended up taking out more... and it snowballed. It is so stressful, I wish we could just get a loan like regular people, I live for the day when our credit will be repaired.
Thanks for all the advice, I'm reading it and soaking it all in so I know exactly what to do.
You can have the check rerouted to the new account. Please do not give that account number out.Once your account is closed and they can not withdraw money, we will give you a letter and you can begin paying them in a manner you can afford. We will walk you through it all. Do not worry. _________________ Money is a lousy way of keeping score
UGH! So it's too late to cancel his direct deposit for this payday, it has to go into that account. Is there any way that the bank can stop those ACH debits from coming out? I can open up a new account and then next paycheck will be deposited into the new account, but as for now, the secretary told me it was too late, payroll was turned in last Thursday to Houston.
Someone mentioned a letter that I could send to the PDL's... where would I find that? Also - two of them don't have any physical address that I can find, only fax numbers, emails, and 1-800 numbers, so would faxing their copy work? I am going to let them take their payments out of Friday's check - that will put me one payment closer to paying them all off - then I am closing the account, having his DD sent to the new account, and sending out the letters and I will start paying them off and be done with that. I slept through the entire night last night and even had a feeling that it was all going to be okay. I hope it is, I'm sure it will be. I am going to pull a little out of what we do have in savings (not much, but I can put it back later) to cover our bills for this check so we don't fall behind and I'm doing some massive cleaning out to get ready for the baby, so I'm going to sell as much as I can on ebay and then put every cent I make into the savings to cover what I borrow Friday. Thank you for all your help, and I'm sure I'll be seeing you on other boards, as I have more questions regarding other credit issues. I've been trying to clean up hubby's credit for a while now and haven't even looked at mine recently - I know mine is horrible, but his isn't that bad, so I started there. Thank you all so much, now if you could just tell me more about this letter I need to send to them, I'm horrible at writing stuff up. _________________ Register today to encash debtcc points.
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