If i close my bank account?

And the payday loans try to submit the check I wrote them, what exactly will happen? Does it depend on what bank I have? We have Bank of America and have actually opened a new account but the Bank Of America account is still open with a $0 balance. I have called 2 of the 3 payday loans i have and they will not work with me. I have no other choice but to close the account...and hope my job does not fire me due to this situation, since they have already called my job. These are storefront loans. I just do not have enough money to pay these, the fees alone between all 3 are over $350. $350 every two weeks..its insane! Please help

What state are you in?

Did you tell them to NOT call your place of employment? If so, they shouldn't be calling you there anymore. I would suggest closing your account so they don't try and cash the checks and put you in the hole owing the bank money. Unless, you have an OD limit sufficient enough to cover the checks you wrote to the storefront lenders. If that's the case, you could try letting them get their money (they would be out of your hair), and try and work out arrangements with the bank to pay them back so they don't close your account and charge it off. It's really up to you. ultimately, I would talk to the branch manager at your bank. See what your options are with them.

The other problem is...if it is a store front you are going to have to make payment arrangements with them. I think I have read that once you default on a staore front then go to collections..the fee's stop and do not incur additional. Can you tell us which ones they are?..we probably have more info on them here in the forums.

if this is a storefront loan DO NOT close your account yet. What state are you in? This can determine whether to do it or not. It is not always a good idea to close your account, it could cause serious repercussions and possibly criminal charges.

Please listen to Fins advice - You are protected for nsf's, but if you live in a state that allows for prosecution on a closed account, you could make a bad situation much worse by closing the account.

Can't store fronts claim "fraud" if you've closed your account & they try to put the checks through? However, here's another question, if your account is NOT closed, but has a debit block on it, is it the same thing? Because, technically, you didn't put a debit block on it for them specifically - you put a debit block on it because of unauthorized charges. So would that be different? The account is not CLOSED - just has a block on it??? Just curious.

I don't think you can be prosecuted for a block, but I can't honestly answer that one for sure. That's a really good point, and I hope someone comes along who knows the answer, because I'm curious too!

That's an interesting question . . . . . I would think that if you had unauthorized charges on the account you'd be fine. I don't think the law was made to force people that have theft on their account to keep them open. But - That is just my guess. I would think it's possible for the answer to be different for every state.

I was asking because I would think that the account is still technically open. It is an active account. Yes, there is a debit block on it, so the debit/check would be rejected; however, it wouldn't be because the account was closed. Like when you get a check returned and it's stamped "Account Closed". They would just get it returned - maybe like there wasn't enough funds to cover it so the bank rejected it? So I was thinking - man, if you have to put a debit block on for unauthorized charges - what else can you do if a store front turns a check in? I wouldn't THINK that would be fraud because you didn't run out and close your account. It's still open and active. Anyone else have any thoughts regarding this???

Im thinking in regards to the intent of the law - Which is to stop people from taking out payday loans and then making it so that the company cannot collect, an argument could be made for both sides. A lot of states that have laws against closing the account also allow for prosecution of stop payments too. That opens it up a bit and makes prosecution for a block not so far off . . . . .

I think it would also depend on the circumstances surrounding the situation. If there were unauthorized charges like you said in your question, I would think that you wouldn't be prosecuted, because that is not your fault. But if you managed to get a block on your account and there weren't any unauthorized charges, the block was just to keep out the payday loans, then I think an argument could be made that the intent is the same.

I'm going to make some calls today and see if I can get any other opinions . . . . .

Thank you, goudah. Please do post what you find now. Now I'm getting worried. I appreciate any help!

Why would you be worried? Isn't prosecution prhobited in your state?

Actually, yes! It says prohibited. So am I getting all freaked for nothing? LOL! I swear, sometimes I lose my mind with all this stuff!

Yep! You have nothing to worry about! This would only apply to states that do allow for prosecution if the account is closed or a stop payment is made.

I have a couple emails in to states that do allow for prosectution, so hopefully I'll get a response back soon enough!

Thanks, goudah! You're always there to straighten me out when I get CONFUSED! I start reading all this stuff and think it pertains to me & actually it's another state! Lord.......