Payday Loan Harassment

mslisa66,,I would complain to the State Banking Authority. You over paid on this one. Write the same letter you wrote here. You did the right thing in closing your account. Also complain to the BBB.org website. As far as the harassment goes, send The Cash Store collections department a cease and desist letter (Someone from this site will help you with that). These guys are breaking the law on all fronts by over charging, and on top of that harassing you. Let these guys know that further harassment will be reported to the FTC for the violating of your rights under the fair 1.
Also let this site know what State are you from, so that they can give you some further information about PDL loan laws.

PS - THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL YOU SHOUD PAY OVER $1000, FOR A $580 LOAN THIS IS ILLEGAL IN ANY STATE. I JUST HAD TO GET THIS OFF MY CHEST :evil: SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!:x (I don't EVEN know you and I still mad over this)

I'm just concerned that when I took out this loan for the $580.00(120-day) I signed their stupid contract. It does state that I am required to pay the interest bi-weekly. Then at the end of the 120-days you make the final payment of what you borrowed plus the interest. If I didn't go into the store to pay this every other week, they automatically deducted it from my bank account. I went into the store once and did pay $200.00 on this account, of course the biggest part of that went to the interest--very little to the principle. After that is when they started taking out the $72.84 bi-weekly from my checking x5, until I didn't have the money in the bank to pay that weeks interest, so I closed that bank account to avoid an overdraft and keep them from continually sucking me dry. Can they legally pursue me for the $560.00?? Like I said before I borrowed $580.00 and paid back $654.10, of course they are claiming that the money taken out of my checking account and the $200.00 that I went in and paid was all interest. So, do I still owe them what they are saying? They told me that I did sign the contract and I do owe them this money. Answers please!!!!!!!! They have called my house 4 times just today!!!!

I forgot to mention that I live in Illinois.

Hi Mslisa. Here are the laws for Illinois:

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

So, this is a storefront, correct? If I am understanding you correctly, they deducted interest only from your bank account? This would constitute a rollover, if I am not mistaken...which is illegal, according to your state laws. It seems as though they should have made you come in bi-weekly and pay the entire loan off and then re-borrow. If this was supposed to be a 120 day loan, then they again have broken the law, if I am interpreting it correctly. According to your state's law, after 45 consecutive loan days then you have to wait 7 days until you take out another loan. I would start to make some complaints to state officials if I were you. Start with the AG office and go from there. Someone may come along shortly who interprets the law differently, but if I am reading correctly then they have certainly not followed the guidelines that they are supposed to.

Thanks eleroo, I've seen the laws on here for Illinois, I just don't understand them I guess. Am I in the wrong, or are they regarding my situation?

To me, it seems like they are in the wrong because of them allowing rollovers and this being a 120 day loan. This is specifically a payday loan and not an installment loan, right? If it is an installment loan then we have a completely different monster to attack. But, we can work through it, no matter what. :-)

Yes, the money that was directly taken out of my checking account was for the interest only. When I first got the loan I wrote them a check for $580 plus the interest which was $89.90. They told me that if I didnt come in or was not able to come in bi-weekly that they would just automatically deduct the interest from my checking account. When I closed my bank account, they tried several times to try and get that interest payment, then they went ahead and tried to put my check thru. Of couse, they didn't get a dime, but they called me and said that I owed them $25.00 for the returned check.

eleroo is sayiing (and I agree) that roll overs are not allowed in Illinois. Rollovers are when they charge you interest continuosly every payperiod several times and then collect part or all of the principle with another set of interest. That sounds like what they are doing to you and that is against the law. If they were following the law...they would make you pay off the whoile loan every 2 weeks and then re loan it to you minus the interest payment. So they are collecting the debt wrong and charging you more than they should. I would definitely call the State Attorney's office on Tuesday and tell them the situation...ask advice, etc. I am sure they can give you some advice on what to do next.

How many times did they attempt to present the check to your bank? According to your law, they are limited to only two attempts to cash the check.
Also, they are definitely in the wrong, as the interest only deductions constitute rollovers which are prohibited. It looks like you have a very strong case against them. Now it is time to start contacting you atty. general with this information. Send them a cease and desist letter via certified return receipt mail and specify that you are only going to communicate with them in writing. This way you will have proof to send to the AG if necessary. Also, let them know that you reporting them to the AG unless they cease all contact with you and mark your account paid in full.

Thanks Morningstar. :-) I was hoping that someone would be along to agree/disagree with my interpretation. These laws can get so confusing sometimes. :-)

I think its a payday loan. Its thru The Cash Store/Cottonwood Financial. They have a website, but it won't let me post it here. Check it out and let me know what you think, and btw.....thank you so much for taking the time to help me with this!!!!!

Yes, the money they took was for the interest only, not one penny went to the principle. I'm not sure how many times they tried to put my check thru, I could check my bank and see if they have a record of that. Another thing they do--which my bank told me they are notorious in doing--if the customer puts a stop payment on them, The Cash Store will try putting it thru again, but they will change the amount to be deducted.

Wow! They are very crooked! Unfortunately, this is an all too common practice among pdls. I took a look at the website, and it looks like they do payday loans and title loans, correct? I didn't see anything mentioned abotu installment loans, so you are absolutely justified in your complaint! I'm sure they they have taken advantage of many people so turning them in would be a service to your community! I hate it when these companies take such advantage of people. Luckily, you are armed with the knowlege to fight back. :-)

http://www.dfpr.state.il.us/dfi/ccd/ccd_payday_loans.asp
Copy and Paste the above link to your address browser for information (IL)
This will help you

Hi Speedy. Thanks. :-) That was great information you posted. I wish that all states would create a payday loan reform act that would help consumers.

Yes, the store here does payday loans, I'm not sure if they do title loans at the store here in town. I know on the wall there they have a breakdown of how much interest per $$ amount you do borrow. They have it broken down for 14-day, 30-day, and 120-day. I had questioned them about the 14-day loan and they told me something along the lines that Illinois had changed thier laws regarding payday loans and they no longer could do the 14-day loans anymore, that I would have to do the 120-day loan. If I paid more each time I could pay it off sooner. What a bunch of crap!! When I went in and paid my $200 at the store, I figured that I had paid down quite a bit of what I had borrowed. They called me 2 weeks later to remind me of my scheduled payment, I asked her then what my current payoff was--it was still well over $500. I just don't understand how that could be--if I borrowed $580, had paid $290some at that point, how I could still owe them over $500!! The more I found out about this the madder I am getting. Then they have the GALL to call my home 5 times today wanting me to make arrangements to pay off what they claim is the balance of $560some. CRAZY!!!

Another thing that worries me, can they take me to court to try and collect this debt?

Well I got another call this evening from The Cash Store claiming that I still owed them $560. I informed them that they were breaking the law, that Illinois payday laws state that there are no rollovers and that the duration of a payday loan is between 13-45 days. I told them that they had been automatically deducting the interest from my bank account every 2 weeks for this loan which constitutes as a rollover, and furthermore the payday loan that I was set up with was for 120-days which is illegal. She tried to tell me that I renewed this loan every 2 weeks. In order to renew a loan, don't you have to go in, payoff the exisiting loan plus the interest and sign a new contract?? Which I never did. She also told me that I needed to get this paid off this week, and that I better have proof or receipts of all of this, and that they will continue to call me until this debt is taken care of. I did tell her that I would be filing a complaint with the BBB and I was going to contact my Attorney Generals office and let them know what The Cash Store here is doing. Pardon my language, but the **** who called me actually laughed at that, then hung up on me!!!! Any advice??

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

mslisa66,
Send out those letters and complaints. All they can do is laugh. They know they wrong. DO NOT let them take anymore of your MONEY. Any wage assingments can be revoked! If they call tell them you are waiting to hear back from your Attorney Generals office, LET them laugh at that!!

I went into my local Cash Store today to get another copy of my contract (I couldn't find mine). According to my contract it is for a 140-day installment loan--I didn't know this, and I didn't know they even did installment loans (I thought it was a payday loan). I take it that this is a whole new ballgame--payday vs. installment? What are my options now?

I think I replied to this on a different thread. This is indeed an installment loan. PDL law would not apply to an installment loan. I do believe I posted an answer on another thread.

I took out a loan for 700$ and was able to pay back that much so far.I understand there is interest that is to be paid ,
but had an unexpected event happen finnancially and havn't been able to pay it in a few weeks.I want to come to a settlement ageement but they now say i owe them 1200.00$
Thats almost triple the amount!. How do i obtian a cease and desist letter. I need help, Thank you

The C&D letter will not do anything to a 1st party collector. This means that is they are collecting thier own debt, the C&D will not apply. You did not state who the loan was with, but you need to speak to someone higher than the store staff. I would suggest that you locate a number for the Corp Office in order to make arrangements. If you post the company name, I would bet that one of us can steer you in the correct direction.

Pay Day Loan store in Oaklawn .il This is the company name on the store front.
Thank you

They are PLS Financial and I believe that they are located in Oaklawn also.