Pay Day Loan Repeated Hell

Welcome! And you are NOT stupid, OK? Trust me, I and many others had even more PDL's than you when we started, so you are not alone here. Being PDL-free can be done, but it's going to take some work on your end.
The first thing you need to do is what you mentioned, which is stopping your direct deposit--then I would go in and speak with your bank's branch manager if needed and see if they can close your account and open up a new one for you. And once this happens, you do not give out this account number to anyone! This is the first step back towards getting control of your money. These companies will be very sneaky and try and get it, but don't fall for it, because you'll be right back at square one. I know this from personal experience.
The next thing I would do is write a letter to your payroll department saying that you are revoking any automatic wage garnishments you may have signed to get your loans. This would give them permission to garnish your check should you default.

Sorry, my computer acted up! In this letter, explain that you are revoking all automatic garnishments you signed immediately.
Now for the real work: on your state government website, you should have a section on business licenses. In California, we have the Dept of Corporations, for example, which has a database of every business with a license in the state. I would plug your businesses in there and see if they are licensed.
If your PDL is licensed, then they go to the head of the line for repayment--but if they are not, then we advise only paying back the principal (what you actually borrowed) on the loan and
not a dime more.
So: Close your bank account first, stop your direct deposit and write your wage garnishment revokation letters. Once your money situation is under control, then start contacting your PDL's. Only do this after you have a new account, because once they know that you're having issues, they will immediately try and hit the account they have. Take care of your money first !

Thank you so much! I will be spending the evening researching & tomorrow preparing letters. Monday I will go to the bank to close my account. I will update as I go, I need the friendship of this site because it has felt very lonely dealing with all of this. My husband has been great but it's hard to deal with all of it.

Floridahope! I am in Florida and I must tell you that you are in a great situation as scary as it might seem. There is a light at the end of this tunnel. The Florida Consumer Protection Act section 516 requires all lenders to be licensed in the state. If the lender is not licensed in Florida the loans are non-collectible. What this means is that any internet loan you have, unless they are credit service organizations, which I do not believe any of your loans are, cannot be collected in the state of Florida! You are also in a non garnishment state! If you are the head of househould, of which there can be two, you are, pretty much, judgement free! So do not lose sleep over this! If you need any help with an attorney or just to get you into a comfortable position, I am here to help you! PM me or email me at [email]frogpatch@gmail.com[/email] I really can ease your pain!

Thanks Frogpatch. I was hoping you would respond, I've looked at your website & read many of your responses. I just have had trouble finding out if they are CSO's or licensed in Florida. Thanks again for the encouraging words. I need a lot of that right now.

Here is my email www.frogpatch@gmail.com I know its strange but thats me! From what I have seen none of these are legal in Florida. KS Cornell is extremely knowledgable. Please listen to what she is telling you. KS and I will take you through this, Do not hesitate to email me!

Here is my preliminary letter & I want your thoughts-have I covered all the bases?

To Whom It May Concern:

After doing research on internet payday loan laws in the state of Florida, I have found that your internet payday loans are actually illegal. I have also found the following laws to be true applying to payday loans in the state of Florida in general:

Florida statute 516 of the Florida Consumer Finance Act, as well as
Florida Statute 560 below:
Legal Status: Legal
Citation:
Fl. Stat. Ann. ?? 560.401 et seq.; Rule 69V-560.901-912
Loan Terms:
Maximum Loan Amount: $500
Loan Term: 7-31 days
Maximum Finance Rate and Fees: 10% + verification fee
Finance Charge for 14-day $100 loan: $15
APR for 14-day $100 loan: 390%
Debt Limits:
Maximum Number of Outstanding Loans at One Time: One
Rollovers Permitted: None (cannot rollover)
Cooling-off Period: 24 hours
Repayment Plan: Yes
Collection Limits:
Collection Fees: All charges imposed on the lender by any financial institution; lender not entitled to treble damages
Criminal Action: Prohibited


I have contacted the Florida Office of Financial Institutions and the Florida State Attorney General's Office regarding your internet payday loans and was informed they are indeed illegal in Florida and was advised to pay what is due according to principle amount only of the loan.

To date, I have paid $______ DOLLARS on my $_______ DOLLAR loan. The legal amount that could have been charged to my loan is the principal amount of $_______ DOLLARS even if your internet pay day loan was legal in Florida. I have paid $________ DOLLARS on this loan by your debits of my bank account. Please mark this account as PAID IN FULL. I fully expect to receive a refund of my overpayment to your company in the amount of __________

I demand that any contact be made through US Postal mail or email only. I will need everything in writing to keep accurate records of all communication as per instruction from my state Attorney General's Office.

I prohibit you, your company, any sister company, parent company or your affiliates to contact me via telephone at my place of employment or my home telephone number. I also prohibit you from calling my references listed on my loan. Once I inform you of this, you must stop the telephone contact immediately or you will be once again breaking the laws of the state of Florida.

You are also hereby notified that I am revoking any & all voluntary wage assignment I may or may not have signed. I no longer authorize you, your company, any sister company, parent company or your affiliates to attach any part of my wages or contact my employer for your collection purposes.

I am hereby revoking your right to withdraw funds from any account that I hold regardless of the withdrawal instrument being used; this includes but is not limited to the use of any electronic funds transfers, ACH debiting, or facsimile of a paper check from my account any longer. You, your company, any sister company, parent company or your affiliates are not authorized to debit my account at all. Please be aware that I have informed my financial institution of this situation and they will also be receiving a copy of this correspondence. Any further attempts at debiting my account will be rejected by my financial institution.

I must also inform you that I have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and my state Attorney General's Office.

I expect a response from your company no later than ________, regarding this matter. This response may only come via US Postal mail or email. No telephone contact is permitted.

Thank you,

You did a great job! The only suggestion I would like to make is a minor one--and that concerns the first part of the letter, where you say PDL's in Florida are legal. In reading that, I had to stop and think a minute and wonder if you meant that THAT PDL was legal--so I think a PDL would say OK, we're legal, so cough it up (or words to that effect). I would delete that part, but otherwise, right on, good job!
Now I would get a small notebook and have it by your phone, because I wouldn't put it past these people to call you anyway. You need to document dates, times names and who said what. Also, make sure your account is closed and rolled over to a new one, because once word gets out, they will start debiting the old one faster than a New York minute.

Thank you, I certainly understand that point & will remove it. I'll set up that notebook too & get my account closed. I will Keep you all up to date. I really appreciate the help. You have been awesome!

Thank you, I will definitely take that advice because I see exactly what you are saying. Thanks so much for the help. I will keep you up to date. You all have been awesome!

Sorry about the duplicate message. My computer jumped & I didn't think the first one took.

Your in good hands with kscornell and Frogpatch. Good luck to you, I am sure you will get through this jus fine.

I appreciate the support. I am so glad that I stumbled onto this website. I have not had a free paycheck since Dec 2007 & I am so looking forward to feeling like I am working for my family instead of payday loan companies. Things are certainly looking up.

I found 2 links to Florida Consumer Finance Act but can't post them here. I will send them to Frogpatch & possibly he will be able to forward if he finds the info valuable. These were very enlightening. I hope these can help someone else in Florida with these illegal ipdl's.

Thanks to all of you that support us on this website. Frogpatch & KC you are both a God send to me.

Ok, my direct deposit is all taken care of. I will go to my bank in the morning to close the account (hopefully, they will be helpful vs. not). I have my letters all ready to go but do not want to send them until I close the account just to be on the safe side. My next due date on the loans is 5/8/09 so I have time to get those out beforehand. I know I may sound like a broken record but KC & Frogpatch~YOU ARE THE BEST!! I am already feeling like a load is beginning to lift & no matter what the future holds with phone calls, etc. that is NOTHING in comparison to almost losing everything I own. After having ipdl's take every dime plus that I have made for the last year & a half...the rest will be like breathing again!! God Bless!! I'll let you know how it goes with the bank.

You sound like you have a solid plan. Definatly wait on the letters until your account is closed.

I hope you bank is easy to work with. Some can be bears!

Keep us updated.

Wow, sounds like you've come miles! I am really proud of you! This will get better, trust me. Keep us posted--we care, as we all have been there.

Hello, I kind of half way have the same problem as FLHope, the only difference is at has been maybe 6-9 months since I closed my bank account and have not heard from Ameriloan. I am in the process of paying off all of my debt and did not want to leave anything out as to it may catch up with me when it matters the most, ex. when I purchase a home or new vehicle, but my question is I was in Texas when I initially received and applied for a loan through Ameriloan. I called and spoke with someone a few days ago in order to get some basic info. about my account. The last time I spoke with someone about it was in the fall of last year and they were offering a settlement of around $305, well long story short the loan amount was $450 and I called and spoke with a representative on yesterday and he told me that they could settle for $650 and I was like WHAT and he was ranting on and on how my balance has now jumped to over $6,000 because of their policy and all that jibberish, so I kindly asked him for their mailing address and he gave it to me and then asked do you plan on filing bankruptcy and I answered maybe and he said either you are or not and I said maybe and he was like ok and we hung up. Would someone help me generate a letter to them because the only type of letter that I have gotten use to typing is letter of deletion. Any advice is appreciated. Thannks

What kind of letter are you looking for?

There is a letter you cans send them stating they are illegal and you only owe the principle. Is that what you are looking for?

I went and closed my bank account today-that's a story but I will have to tell everyone tonight because I have to leave for work now (hey, I am going to be working for ME!!) but I will come back tonight. This is for Tan....I have many letters I have come up with for those I owe & those I do not. I will place one of them on here tonight. I say to anyone in this situation, there is hope & light ahead. I am no authority because I am just starting the process but I don't have ipdl's taking every dime I make anymore so I AM IN CONTROL OF MY MONEY & MY LIFE!! Woo-Hoo!! What could be better?

Good for you. I for one would love to hear the bank story. So many have trouble getting their bank to help them close the account.

Hey Nohiogal and FLHope, I guess what I am looking for is something that I will only pay the principle, but I did start back paying on the loan at the given time, I am not sure how much I actually paid them, I would have to go back and look at bank statements. Thanks for replying back so quickly.

You can use this letter. Scroll to the 13th post to find it. You need to change it to your information and state laws.

Hanna, you are great!!!!! I have another question, I am trying to find out whether Ameriloan is a legal pdl company or not, where would I need to look?

Ameriloan does not have a license in any US state.

I have been helping floridahope away from this site and a thrilled to see the progress. She is a model of how it should be done. I am still waiting for a clarification on the Florida 516 statute from floridaconsumerlaw who is a sporadic member here! I will post it when I get it!

Thanks for the kind words, Frog. I don't know about being a model of how to do it but I did start with a step by step plan. My story from the bank yesterday....BOA didn't have any problem in closing my account but the bank mgr wasn't available to help me. When I explained to the personal banker what was happening & that I needed to close the acct and/or place a hard debit hold she said closing would take care of it. I asked about the acct. being forced open by ach transactions, she said it could happen within 2 weeks of the closing but since it is closed they should just return them. I told her I knew that when these pdl's get the letters they will start debiting & that will definitely be within the 2 wks. time-frame. I repeated my concern over illegal pdl's. She said, 'oh, i've never heard of internet pay day lenders'. I even took a letter fully explaining & documenting steps I am taking. She barely looked at it & gave it back to me with the closure paperwork. She's in a banking industry-where has she been? I asked again for a hard debit hold & she said it would not be necessary that the closing will keep those from going through, they would be returned. I said that I would rake up fees with BOA & I have other accounts that I don't want being "related" so that funds would be withdrawn from those (not that I have much in those accounts since I got involved with pdl's) & I also want to keep a good banking relationship with BOA. I have opened an account for my payroll at another bank altogether. Anyway, the account was closed, no one else available for me to speak with so I felt I had to do something. I just was not feeling good about the situation. I went back home & got online for my accounts & I no longer could see the acct. I closed. I decided to try sending a secure email so that I could get something on a permanent record with the bank regarding my concerns so I would have some type of documentation to fall back on if I needed to dispute anything with the bank. While I was starting the email, up popped a live operator asking if she could help me through a secure live chat session. I thought that would be a perfect opportunity to go in documented detail (those are saved by BOA-so I found out)& explained my concerns to her. She pulled up my accounts & said that one was open but was blocked for closing. Final closure takes 2-3 business days, which I was NOT told while in the bank. (Thank goodness, I did find that out because I am withholding sending out my letters by an extra day so there wouldn't be any chance that any will be received b4 the final closure) She said there had not been any notes placed on the account regarding ach/electronic withdrawals. Once a block is placed for closure the ability for her to add anything is gone but she did have me get on the phone with customer service where I spoke with a manager that was able to place notes on the account. She put a note stating: "ach/eft, paper checks, simulated paper checks or any other instrument used for payment on this account needs to be returned due to illegal activity." I have both names & they have assured me that even if any fees are placed on the account now that I have closed it & made them fully aware of the situation that they will happily reverse those charges & I am all covered. I am so proud of myself for not letting it go with just my visit to the bank. More steps to go but well on my way....
I will put some of my example letters up but I am not at the computer I have those on, so I will come back later. Everyone keep up the hope & faith!! One way or another, we can win in the end!!

I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

BoA is a bear and they could care less about helping their customers. They say they close accounts but they let the ACH open them back up so they can rack up fees.

I hope they really did close it.

ESTA AGENCIA ?? FALSA EMPRESA DE EMPRESTIMOS, ?? GOLPISTA INTERNACIONAL. VC ENVIA A TAXA DE EMPR??STIMO PARA A PESSOA QUE OS CRIMINOSOS INDICARAM. DEPOIS ELES CONTINUAM COBRANDO A TAXA DIA AP??S DIA, E AINDA MANDAM VOCE ARRUMAR ADVOGADO. DEPOIS QUE VC RESPONDE QUE A AGENCIA DE REMESSA COMPROVOU QUE O CRIMINOSO RECEBEU O SEU DINHEIRO, ELES PARAM DE ENVIAR AS MENSAGENS DE COBRAN??A, E VC. DAN??OU, PERDEU A TAXA QUE PAGOU E N??O RECEBEU BOSTA NENHUMA DE EMPR??STIMO. CUIDADO. N??O CAIA NESSA FRIA. ESSA ?? UMA EQUIPE DE GOLPISTAS INTERNACIONAIS.

Florida hope how is it going?