payday loans

Hi Smokeyj - welcome to the forums!

I'm in Michigan as well. Are these all internet lenders, not storefronts?

Here's the payday lender law for Michigan:

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/paydayloan/explain-pdls-laws.html

It sounds as though you know precisely what you've been loaned and what you owe, which is a good first step to getting out of this situation.

-Sit down and figure out how much you have paid in total on each of these loans. Calculate the interest according to Michigan's law shown above. You may have already overpaid them.

-If you have overpaid them, including the principal and Michigan's allowed interest rate, send them a certified letter revoking their access to your bank account, and requesting to be marked paid in full. There's an excellent letter on pollyandsays' blog on this site.

-Find out if these lenders are licensed in Michigan. Chances are pretty good that they're not. Most internet lenders aren't. File complaints with the BBB and our state's financial regulator, listed in the law above.

-Also, close your bank account and open another. These companies are well known for debiting your account under another name, or using a different amount if you simply put a stop payment on them. Then you end up out of the stop payment fee AND the amount they debited you for...and no further ahead in stopping them. Closing your account and starting over with a new one is really the best way to regain control of your finances in this situation.

-Don't let these companies intimidate you - especially if they are not licensed in Michigan. They have to follow the laws of Michigan when they lend into Michigan, and they have to be licensed here to lend here. They will try to tell you otherwise - especially the internet based lenders. They can't have you arrested, put in jail, charged with fraud, etc. They will try to tell you so.

You'll soon be on your way to being PDL free! Post any other questions you have, and we'll be happy to help!

Welcome to the forums Smokey. There are many of us who are or were in the same boat as you are. If you have registered you will be getting a call from a credit counselor, it is free and they will go over your options. I am not familiar with cash call, but I do know nationwide. If you go to the google bar in the right hand corner of this page and google nationwide there are many threads on this company. Just remember you are not alone and and the information on this forum is priceless. I would have lost my mind without all of the good advice and the friends that I have made here.

I actually am coming up on first payment of the 2 $390 ones and my second on the cash call-those two will total $800. I was just wandering around on the net when i came across this site and realized what kind of trouble i could be in. I guess im not really understanding the laws that someone posted for me-havnt been feeling well and alot of other things going on as well. Its not possible for me to close my accounts...everything from insurance to irs comes out of the accounts and our paychecks our direct deposited...i would actually have to get paid really late if i did this...disastous. I have a hobby that i was counting on to pay this junk off...i breed dogs and right now they are just not going so fast! In fact-i will only be able to pay off one of the cash calls $2,600. One is in my name and the other is in my husbands. Was lending me $2600 illegal in michigan?? They are all internet lending. Thanks for replys...maybe someone can expain it reallllly simply-stressed!!!

Smokeyj - the Michigan law states the maximum loan amount is $600, so yes, lending you $2600 exceeded the legally-allowed amount.

If you are not able to close your bank accounts, you need to talk to your bank manager and explain the situation to them. Put pride aside and sit down and explain the whole situation to them. Chances are, they've probably heard it before, from other clients. Ask them if it's possible to put a block on these companies, and have them watch your account for any future debits from them.

Include your state's Attorney General and the Attorney General in the state which each company is located with those complaints going out. My AG's office helped me alot. Got most of my results by the end of the day when I had only filed the previous night online.

I have looked over my stuff and the 2 places that require a $90 fee each pay period ($180) is going to be hard to do...havnt even made the first one. But its the cash call one. It says that it is an intranet cashcall payable to the first bank & trust of SD. The interest is 98.93 percent. I really cant close my account. the amount financed is 2525. and i will have paid $9191.11 by the time im done and this is only one of 2!! This is an actual bank and i signed via cashcall a promissory note-feeling sick.

will this place that is going to call me be able to help me figure out what to do? I also have 11 credit cards...when it asked me my debt-i just said the cash places

where do i find these blogs? Like the pollyann one mentioned?

You will need to close out your account, otherwise the unlicensed pdls are going to continue to take your money under different company names, they are well known for this. Just give Cash Call your new banking information so that you can continue making payments to that bank.

And if your paycheck is direct deposited, stop this with your payroll department, and have them cut you a paper check. I would also open another account somewhere and deposit your check into that.

Smokey, I have warned about CashCall in several threads. No its NOT ILLEGAL for them to loan you the 2600. They are backed by a bank. Thats why this company is so dangerous. You can never dig out from this type of interest. I would definately contact the Attorney Generals office and complain. The consumer division maybe they can help. Keep us posted. KYSIDE38

Kyside - thank you for the pointer on that. I didn't realize CashCall is one of those companies. They aren't listed as being licensed in MI, that's why I thought they weren't. But if they aren't a Deferred Presentment Company, like other payday lenders are classified in MI, then they must be finding another way around that law - which is probably the bank backing thing you mentioned.

I apologize if I gave out any incorrect information.

If I read the laws right, is it correct that you are not allowed any rollovers?? If so, wouldn't you have to pay back the principal and the finance charge at the end of the 2 weeks??

That's the way I read the law, nat. If you're not allowed a rollover, you have to pay the whole thing back in 2 weeks. And that's the way my PDL with Advance America worked - I had to pay it all back on my next payday, no rollover. But they were always quick to offer to do another one right away, upon payment of the previous one. They'd always say "want to take out another one?"

Suebee, You didnt need to apologize. This is a kind of new one that has cropped up. Like I put in another post they are dangerous. I didnt mean to correct you but I just thought everybody should know. KYSIDE38

I was just wondering b/c in the first post by smokey, it said that they were paying $90 every 2 weeks on some of them. Shouldn't they calculate how much they have paid in rollovers and deduct that from the principal amount??

Yes - I hope I made that clear in my post, Nat. I tried to explain that they should sit down and figure out how much they have paid, in total, to these loans, and see if they have paid the principal plus the state-allowed interest back. It's possible I didn't word it clearly. Sorry if I didn't. Let me know if it's not clear, and I'll edit it to make it easier to read - I was kind of typing in a hurry this morning.

Thanks, kyside - I didn't take it that you were correcting me - quite the opposite - I took it as a clarification of facts.

There's always room to learn more about these companies! The last thing I wanted to do was misinform someone, which is why I apologized. I really appreciate you posting the info. :D

Open another account at another bank, I let all my payday loans default and then they started to deal with me on a descent payment plan. They don't charge that ridiculous fee anymore, they are on my turf now. They would not work with me until I let them go to default. Sad but true.

As far as the credit cards and the bank loan can you contact a credit counselling agency in your area or on the internet that will deal with consolidation and a descent payment plan. The credit cards should.

That cash call seems way out of this world, what bank banks this kind of theivery? This is ridiculous. Is it a secured debt? You may have to contact a consumer credit agency on this one. I am sure there is a way out. What part of michigan are you from. I will do some leg work for you?

smokeyj686
Found these guys in Michigan, they are a non profit, may be able to help you with the credit cards and the cash call.
You can get started right on their site. Check it out, we have these types of agencies in Pa. I googled Michigan Consumer Debt agencies and this was the first non profit I found.
greenpath.com/

fedup - smokeyj has mentioned (either in this thread or another, sorry, I can't remember!) that she doesn't want to close her bank account, that it will make things difficult for her.

I'm hoping that she'll be reading these threads and realize that's really the only way she's going to stop the debits from these companies - they won't stop with just a simple stop payment. Not trying to tell her what to do with her money, etc., but we've all been there with the payday lenders debiting our accounts under different names or using different amounts to get the money out of the account. They're very hard to deal with, and they don't care if they leave you with little to no money left in your account to pay other bills, like your mortgage or to get groceries. They're heartless.

Not only heartless but devils. They will get to your money one way or another. It does absolutely no good to block the ACH debits because they will pull the paper check routine. Send a check thru numbered 1 or 9999. MTE aka Rio is famous for this one. KYSIDE38

I agree, kyside - they're terrible. I've never seen such shady practices before.

It is really the only way that I got their attention. They acted like it was a race to get to my bank account and pull different amounts, some would pull three different amounts in the same day, causing me three more overdraft fees. and to be honest, the bank really did not care, those overdraft fees are money in their pocket. They won't let you close your bank account till it gets to a zero balance, which it never will with these jerks yanking money out all the time. So I did what I had to, to survive. Had to go to another bank and open another account to pay my bills to live.
I will be caught up with all this crapola in a little while, but in the mean time "a girls got to eat, pay her mortgage, electric, & etc" Bottom line is, I had to regain control. Didn't need my mortgage company breathing down my neck, electric shut off and freeze my family out. It got to the point where it was Me and my family or THEM. Well, my family and home took priority. I am a little more in control, less stressed and I am paying them, but on more sensible terms. MY TERMS, thanks to alot of help and support from all of you. You have empowered me and I am so greatful.

Fedup, You did exactly what you had to do. Now you are helping others and you truly deserved the title Debt Samaritan because you have been there and you care. KYSIDE38

The Bank is called First Bank of sd-but they are contacted thru an internet company called cashcall. It is an unsecured loan. But 98.99 % interest. I cant close my account-tied in with another loan. However I think I maybe able to pay off the two before the end of next month. The other cash call that my husband has is thru a different bank and that one i will close after i talk with debt couselors since it is thru a bank....thank you for all your imput-it is really appreciated!!

Smokey, Thats the bank thaty backed our only storefront store here in WV. First American Cash Advance. Our Attorney General and the FDIC shut them down no longer any storefronts here. YAH!!! I am so sorry that you got mixed up with this one. Anything I can do to help just PM me. KYSIDE38

kside38-how do i pm you in here? I am not use to this sight and how everything works!

Smokey, do you see the PM button under Kyside's post? Just click on it and this will take you to the messaging box ready to PM kyside. When she replies you back, you will see this in the members area., "You have 1 new messages" Give a try!

I found that pm button after sending the last message-to funny....its been a long week. Well i contacted the AG and they hooked me up several places to call and from each of them more numbers to call. This place is bad but may be legit. The reason we couldnt find the bank was because it is under a different name-The First bank @ Trust of milbank south dakota...be ware. im not sure that there is really anything to do!! Im going to do consolidation. They are a legit bank regulated by fdic....unbelievable at 98.99% on 2525.00.

It has taken me 3 months to get 1 offer of refund back from Arrowhead/Westbury Investments. Tremont has marked my account "P.I.F." but they are only 2 out of the 7 payday loans I had, so I feel everyones pain. The main thing is to be persistant, if you have overpaid your states interest allowed, then get your letters started emailed, and regular mail. Keep copies of every payment, bankstatement (especially after you close your account) and any phone calls you begin to receive.
When contacting your states Attorney General's Office ask for the enforcement office, do this after you file a complaint on line. Remember to keep copies of everything!
Good luck to you and refer back here for more assistance

taki2u ~ just look at it this way, that is 2 less than you had before and that is good. Keep it up!

thank you 2nband, if it wasn't for this forum and wonderful knowledgeable people I wouldn't be this far!

That is how I have felt too. I have got 3 down and 3 to go, plus received a refund from one and am hoping to get a refund from a second one, but that one I am not sure of considering where I am having to send the request, West Indies!

I am really happy I stumbled across this forum, I have referred them to everyone I know. Credit issues or not you can learn so much from here.

smokeyj, I cannot help you with issues in your state, but I encourage you to continue with the forum because just from the short time I've been with the community, just knowing that others care and have rowed side-by-side in the payday loan boat is a big lift to one's well being!