My Tale of Woe...

Amanda,
Welcome! You came to the right place. We all have been and are currently where you are right now.
First things first: You need to take care of your basic needs first; and by this I mean rent, food, lights, car, etc. Notice that PDL's were not on this list? That's right. Take care of those basic needs first, then work on the PDL's.
Second: you need to go to your bank, TODAY if possible, and revoke ALL authorizations from these PDL's to debit your account. Ask if they can even close your account if possible and get a new one. Trust me, this is the only way you will take back control of your finances. I've had to do it myself.
Third: If you've signed what's called a Voluntary Wage Assignment, which gives work the permission to garnish your paycheck should you default, you need to revoke that in writing IMMEDIATELY!!
And lastly, figure out how much you've actually paid these PDL's and if it's way over your original loan, demand that they mark your account PIF and send you a letter to that effect.
Let us know what's going on, OK?

Ok, thanks for the info. I probably won't be able to get to the bank until monday. I work as a server, so I bring home all of my cash, I do not really get a check that often, if I do it is for 30 bucks. So, back to the paying over the original loan, the fees that they take out every 2 weeks, what are those for? Like I said, I want to pay these back, but I need to be able to pay my rent and stuff too. Im confuzzled.

Thanks,
Amanda :)

kscornell---What is a voluntary wage assignment? Is it something you sign at work? Please explain---I have never heard of it--or I have and didn't pay attention (more likely :D ).

Hey Lori,
A Voluntary Wage Assignment is a form that alot of IPDL's make people sign saying that if they default, they have the right to garnish their paycheck without going to court. Sonic and their friends are well-known for this little ploy.
And Amanda, I think those fees that you're talking about aren't for anything but outrageous profits for the IPDL's. They are to ensure that the IPDL owners can drive their Jags while you're on your feet at work, if you get my drift. All you are responsible for is the principal of the loan (what you originally borrowed), plus a legal interest rate in your state. And no, 3000 percent is NOT legal!! Keep us posted and get to the bank soon, OK? My daughter is a kitchen manager at a restaurant and works herself to the bone, so I have a soft spot in my heart for you! :D

Where does she work? I work at Outback, my sister also works for the co, for Bonefish Grill, although she is a FOH mgr. I also work at my local hospital at a privately owned cafe, as a barista. I just started the cafe, and between the two, I am working my ****off...I am glad that I like what I do. LOL

Thanks,
Amanda :)

[color=Red]****Adult term removed - Jason[/color]

She works at a Houston's restaurant and the last time I saw her, her arse was almost non-existant--b/c she'd worked it off!! The restaurant business is definately a hard one!!

Make sure that when you go to the bank and revoke their ach debit make sure you write down that it is for " & all amount" especially for MTE Financial (they have many different names, for example, ameriloan is one of theirs>so you have 2 loans with MTE and they are very sneaky because they will try to debit your account for any amount,or any other of their aliases so do not forget to put down the following names (MTE) ,Ten Dollar Payday, Emergency Cash, You are approved for 1,000, Quickest Cash, United Cash Loan, One Click Cash, 500Fastcash, Paycheck Today. I can't remember all of them but if you read some of the thread in here you might find references to the rest of the names.

I'm hoping that your bank with cover the debits from Cash Transfer because they are horrible to deal with once you default with them. If you go to your bank on Monday, explain the circumstances to them. I did this with my bank when I closed my account before I went into default with my loans. I have dealt with MTE before and they can be pains too. How much have you paid on these loans so far? I think CashNetUSA will probably be the only one licensed in your state. Please feel free to ask any questions and welcome to the forums :-) And like Lorri said, you need to take care of your basic needs first.

I am so sorry to hear about your troubles, but how are the three cats doing? :lol:

Seriously, you need to either close your checking account or fill out a form called a statement of unauthorized debit on your checking account which blocks the company entirely from debiting your account. A stop payment will not work because it will only stop the payment amount, a certain amount, but not the company entering a different amount. You need to stop the company period.

Next, I would sit down and calculate all of your debts and how much you are willing to pay for them. You need to also contact each of these companies and work out some kind of payment arrangement with them that you can afford. You can use the Do It Yourself method found on this website which has great information and sample letters that you can send to these companies. And always ALWAYS keep copies of any correspondence that you send to them or they send to you.

You might also want to consider debt consolidation with a company. There are a lot of great companies on this message board that are willing to work out a debt payment plan with you. Be forewarned that there may be a fee involved to get started with the program.

I hope that this helps you out. If you need anything else, please let us know.

kscornell---Are you saying I should be a waitress like your daughter, so I can get rid of my "junk in the trunk"? :D I'd better work at TWO restaurants if thats the case!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the info on voluntary wage assignment. I must not have had that with any of my PDLs or I am sure I would have heard of it by now.

Wow this is a lot of information to process. I am not sure where to begin. I know I need to go to the bank and revoke the ach on all, but...ugh. I can't close my account because I am afraid that I will not get a new one. Big idiot that I am, I have info in chexsystems that I refuse to pay, long story short, my mom had a foster kid about 4 years ago that stole my check cards and had a field day. My gullible and stupid mother said that it was ok because he was a troubled kid...so, what about my graphing calc., cd stereo from my car, and other misc. things he took from me????

Thanks so much for all of the info!!

Amanda :)

Amanda - Check out my posts here about banks that still allow you to open accounts even with chexsystem reports. It also has banks that don't even use chexsystems.

I'd also recommend that you talk to your state's attorney general's office and banking dept. It says on the website for the PA banking dept that an out-of-state company is not required to be licensed pursuant to the CDCA in order to extend consumer loans to Pennsylvania residents from an internet site, provided that the company is licensed under its home state law to make such loans and does not have a physical presence of any kind in Pennsylvania.


The link to that page is here then click on laws and regulations, then interpretive letters. You will see the info regarding this about a third of the way down the page.

Write a letter to each of your payday loan companies and let them know that you revoke authorization to debit your account and take copies of these to the bank. If you can email the companies do it along with sending the letters certifed, return receipt. You can include about revoking authorization to garnish your wages, contact you at work or your employer. We had to show proof that we had notified our pld places that we were revoking our authorization.

As kscornell said ~ take each account and go through your bank account and figure out how much you have paid them compared to how much you have borrowed. That will give you a place to start.

Know that it will be ok....several of us have been there and are still there, but are working our way out. Don't get overwhelmed. Take things one step at a time. It will all work out. You will find a lot of help, advice, encouragement and support here. Don't be afraid to ask questions and keep us posted. It will get better, but do understand it won't happen over night, but it will happen quicker than you think. I actually have had one full payday with NO pdls coming out and NO overdraft charges and it feels good!! Hang in there! :wink: