Some Help in Illinois Please with PDLs....

Hi everyone! Happy New Year to you.

Over the last year, I have had to, for the first time, rely on some Pay Day Loans to get my husband and I through some hard times. He was out of work with an injury and my hours got cut. We both ended up working temp jobs with no benefits and didn't get paid for the holidays and our bills were piling up. I am not proud of this, and have learned a hard lesson.

Here is the breakdown of the loans I have and what I still owe:

Speedy Cash - Loan was $200.00 and I have paid 63.74 so far
East Side Lenders - Loan was $700 and I have paid $225.00 so far
247 Green Street - Loan was $295 and I have paid nothing back yet
Integrity - Loan was $300 and I have paid $90 so far
Advance America - Loan was $650 and I just paid it off
PayDay Max - Loan was $700 and I just paid it off too
Pay Day One - Loan was $1000 and I have paid over $2000 back and still have 2 payments left on it according to them. :(

I am glad to have 2 of those paid off, but at this point, the interest on the more "shady" loans like East Side Lenders is killing me. According to what I found on this website, the max interest they can charge per $100.00 is $15.50....East Side should charge me $108.50 for the amount I borrowed, but they charge me $225.00 every two weeks for interest alone.

I am getting buried. Advance America charged the flat interest rate and then allowed me to make payments, I really liked working with them...they are the exception to the general rule here. I have too many loans and can no longer pay my regular bills as every week there are loan payments/interest coming out, and I am getting more and more behind and falling into the trap of paying one off and having to take it back out immediately. :(

I called Eastside today to see if they would work with me and they refused. She told me that I could either stop the payment or let the auto debit be refused and THEN they will call to set up payment arrangements. REALLY?! You won't work with me when I call you and ask for your help?

So...I opened a new account at a different bank, and I have changed my paycheck and my husbands check to be deposited into the new account. I am going to the old bank in the morning to close the account. I asked my bank vice president whether the bank account can be "reopened" when the PDLs try to get their money and she said no.

I want to make it clear, I have no intention of NOT paying what I owe to these companies. I am fine paying the principal and the interest allowed by law, but that is all I am going to pay. Rolling it over and over and over has killed me and made my situation worse.

I am excited at the idea of having my check and my husband's check deposited in a "clean" account and I can get back to paying my rent, power bill, phone bill, etc and not have to cry every week because I pay PDL interest and have $20 left over to buy gas and food every week. *Sigh*

I was just curious whether anyone had any experience getting out from under these loans in Illinois.

Thanks for letting me share my story with all of you. It's nice to have a place to go where people don't label you as an idiot for taking out payday loans. Some people have no choice. Due to a bad previous marriage, my credit is crap and I have no family or friends to borrow money FROM. I really had no other options and that is sad. I have worked hard all my life and due to circumstances beyond my control, I needed to reach out for a little help.

Thanks again,

Tiffany