PLEASE HELP $4,650 Due April 1st to Payday Loans in CA

First I will post the Payday loan laws for California here (just select your state),
http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/paydayloan/explain-pdls-laws.html

Have you read the sticky regarding closing your account. It is on the top of the pay day forum. please be sure that your bank will nt force open the account when the ach debits hit. Some banks do that. Also will your bank charge you nsf fees when they hit and are returned? Have you paid anything against these loans yet? How much? I can tell right off the bat that United Cash loans , and cash Transfer centers will not be licensedx in your state , so on those you are only morally obligated to repay the principle amount borrowed. Do you know if the others are licensed to lend in CA?

Thanks,

I have had previous loans (paid off) with all of the companies except PayCheckToday. I have paid nothing towards the current loans becuz no payment is due until April 1st.

I don't know how Wells Fargo will handle the PDL. The bank does like to rack up the fees. Is there a post on how to deal with your bank? I did read the post on closing your bank account and as a result have not closed the Wells Fargo account (but have changed my direct deposit to another bank).

Should I request that Wells Fargo stop payment on the PDL? Is this enforceable?

What does it mean if a PDL company is not licensed in my state? Does this help or hurt me? How should I deal with the PDL companies? Should I contact them before I default or after?

Thanks

Stop payments never work. These companies have so many different names, they will just use another one to get into your account. Account either needs to be closed or a hard debit block put on it. It is the only way to be safe. Never contact a PDL until your account is closed. If you do, they will go in and take everything. It is a good thing if they are not licensed/legal in your state.You are only morally obligated to repay the principle borrowed.

Quote:

Thanks for the thoughtful replies! Sorry for my delayed response but I had surgery last week, followed by some minor complications. Onward to my continuing PDL saga.

Can I close my Wells Fargo account while it is in overdraft status? From what I'm reading the account needs to be closed in order to prevent more NSF charges from the PDL.

My account is currently in overdraft - can I close it and owe them the amount of the overdraft? I will be able to pay off the overdraft on April 1st?

What is a "hard debit block"?

Thanks

Sorry, the previous post from "Guest" is really from me. Gotta remember to sign in!

mik, you're going to need to put a HARD DEBIT BLOCK on that account. Since it is in the negative, they will not close it. A hard debit block on it means that NOTHING will go through. No ACH debits, no electronic checks, no paper checks, no ATM machine, nothing. All debits will be rejected. You need to do this ASAP. Go to the bank, speak to the manager. Tell them you are aware that you are in the red, agree to make payments to get it back to a positive or zero balance; however, in the meantime you need a hard debit block put on it to prevent the pdls from hitting it again and the bank adding their fees to it.

Help WFB won't place a HARD DEBIT HOLD on my account

I have gone back and forth with Wells Fargo Bank in CA and the telephone people (who cost $2 to talk to) say that they can't place a hard debit hold on my account. They (WFB) MAY return the PDL for insufficient funds and charge me $34 for each return. Or they may pay the item and charge me for each return. I can place a stop payment on each item for $25 each, but some may still slip through.

She said that I have to go into the branch and say that my checking account number has been "compromised" in some way. I don't know what to say to the banker so that they will not honor the PDL debits and charge me additional OD fees. Please Help!

mik, yes, you have to go to the branch and speak with the manager. You honestly can't do this over the phone with customer service, and you can't have a teller help you. You need to physically go to the bank, speak only to the manager, and get this taken care of ASAP. You can not do stop payments on these guys. You have to have a block put on that account. Now, when you go to the bank and talk to the manager, do whatever you have to do to get this done. Cry, get emotional, whatever. Tell them someone stole a book of your checks. Tell them someone got ahold of your account number. Tell them whatever it takes. Hell, I told my bank manager that I had a lawyer who was helping me get my 'situation' straightened out. Worked for me. Whatever you have to say to get this account blocked, say it. Claim your purse/wallet was stolen, your checks were stolen, a so-called "friend" got your bank account number, WHATEVER. Just tell them to put the block on it now. Now. Now. I can't stress the importance of this. I know from experience that customer service won't do crap for you. Tellers won't do crap for you. Only the branch manager can do this for you. You don't have to go into major detail with them. Just tell them whatever you have to. Someone at work stole your wallet. Whatever. I'm sorry that I have to sit here and tell you to lie to your branch manager; however, some banks force us to do this. They won't cooperate any other way. I had to throw the "lawyer" in my speech because they wanted to drag their feet regarding my account. As soon as I said "I have a lawyer working with me", it was about two seconds and the account had a hard debit block on it. Please, please go to the bank and speak to the manager. And, please, keep us posted as to what's going on.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

I went to the bank today and told my sob story. The bank assistant placed a debit lock on my account. She assured me that NOTHING will go through, including ACH payments. I also contracted with the Oak View Law Group to provide debt settlement services for all of my payday loans. (I'm going to work with Superior debt relief* to handle my credit card debt.) I found both companies on this website. Between these two companies, I will get the debt monkey off my back.

Thanks again for your advise and support! I'll report in periodically on my progress.

*I'd originally signed up with a company called Freedom debt solutions to obtain debt settlement agreements for all of my unsecured debts (credit cards, installment loans and payday loans). I've decided to cancel that agreement and go with Superior. I decided to cancel becuz I could never reach the Freedom people and they didn't return my phone calls. When I finally reached them - panicked about my payday loans - they told me to consult an attorney! Yet, part of my fee was based on them negotiating the payday loan debt. Thanks to this website, I seemed to know more about the payday loan companies than did my Freedom account manager - scary! Superior called me and asked if I'd conducted a BBB search on Freedom (of course, I hadn't). Turns out they've been in business less than one year! I kinda think experience matters in this field. So, I'm switching teams. Shouldn't be hard, 'cuz I haven't paid them yet and they clearly haven't done any work on my behalf.

mik, great news on your bank! :D You got the first step taken care of! And, if you're using a company to help you get out of debt (pdls included), then more power to you! Soon you will be debt free!

Let me ask, though. Since you found out "too late" regading Freedom, did you research both Oak View Law Group and Superior debt relief? I know you got the names off this site; however, I'm sooo paranoid! Just check them out on the BBB or do a google search or anything you can, just to be on the safe side. Congratulations to you! Please pop in and let us know how you're progress is going!

Cannr thanks again. (can't say this enough)

Here's the latest in Mikala's debt saga:

First the good: yes, I did check out Superior Debt Services via the BBB and they've been in business since 1998 and belong to the Intl Assn of Debt Arbitrators and the US Organizations for Bankruptcy Alternatives. I was impressed by their knowledge of what debts they could and could not settle based on their 10 yr history.

Likewise, I was impressed with the Oak View Law Group because they are local (northern CA) and walked me through their BBB membership as part of the new client intake process. I was also impressed by their knowledge of the (il)legal status of my payday loan companies.

Now onto the bad news: Freedom debt solutions is not a member of the Better Business Bureau. They have been in business since May 2007 and have 1 resolved credit/billing dispute on file. I called Freedom Debt Solutions to cancel my account with them today. My account manager said ok and emailed me a cancellation form. Then he said that per my electronically signed contract with them, that I may have to pay 3 mos. of their service fee. This amounts to $1,607 for zero services rendered. I mentioned our last conversation in which I confessed my concern about the payday loans and he suggested that I contact an attorney. He said that he only suggested an attorney if I planned to sue the payday loan companies. (This is not a correct reflection of what he said or meant during our previous conversation.)

I said that I considered the financial aspects of the contract a wash since no services were actually provided and I have not made my first payment. He countered with no services were provided because I hadn't submitted the notarized power of attorney form to them.

I sent a packet of financial information, including the power of attorney, to them early last week in their free UPS return envelope. Unfortunately, this packet gives them power of attorney and access to my new checking account information. I called UPS and tried to intercept the package (due to be delivered tomorrow). UPS will not return the package to me because I used the UPS slip provided by Freedom Debt Solutions and therefore they are listed as the official sender, not me.

So any advice on 1) how not to pay the $1,607 in "service" fees to Freedom Debt Solutions and 2) how to stop delivery of the UPS packet to Freedom Debt Solutions.

CRAP! :shock: Is there any way you can revoke that Power of Attorney?

So far UPS has refused all of my offers to "lose" the package en route. So I guess I can't count on it falling off the truck...

I am going to fax my signed cancellation form to Freedom debt solutions tomorrow and I'm going to add the following hand-written note to the bottom of the form:

"I hereby revoke the power of attorney granted to Freedom Debt Solutions on March 25, 2008. This revocation is effective upon receipt of this fax on April 1, 2008. Furthermore Freedom Debt Solutions and Global Client Solutions, LLC as agent for Rocky Mountain Bank & Trust is not authorized to deduct any funds from any checking/savings account owned by (name removed. cannr)."

I'm also going to contact Global Client solutions via phone, fax and email with the same "not authorized to deduct" language. I hope this is enough.

Any suggestions?

Actually, that sounds good. However, is that good enough? I'm worried now. Will that be enough to "end it" with them? Actually, post a thread on the debt consolidation forum, mik. Just go to that forum, start a new topic, and post what happened and ask if Power of Attorney can be revoked and if that's all you have to do. There are many people on that forum who would know if you need to do more than just send that letter. I mean, I'd hate to see you pay that kind of money for NO SERVICES. That's insane!

Thanks, its posted!

Awesome! I know they have more knowledge about that kind of thing. You'll more than likely get some good responses. I just want to make sure you don't have to do anything 'special' to revoke that authorization. They will know. Keep me posted!