Florida Internet Payday Loan Help

Both loans are illegal in FLorida. You should have had your bank return the funds to MassStreetGroup as soon as you discovered it.

Again...there is NO SUCH thing as a hard block...it is not a banking term.
You may put your check on "Deposit Only"

Follow the link in my signature line info on dealing with illegal loans. You need to close your account ASAP!!

Yes, both the companies are not licensed in your state. Pay back the principal amount to both the companies. Talk to the bank regarding the closing of the account. Fill out the requisite forms and handover the ACH revocation letter to the bank. Open a new account. If the 2 pdl companies harass you, then file a complaint to FTC or SAG.

I just spent the past 15 minutes chatting online with a Bank of America representative. I want to post the information given to me, for future use by any BoA customer in a similar situation.

To fully close an account, the balance must be $0, and all transactions must go from "pending" to cleared. I'm waiting until my work direct deposit Friday, which should also give me time for any pending transactions (restaurant tips, gas purchases, etc.) I have to fully clear. At this point, I'm going to visit a local branch, withdraw all remaining funds, and have the account closed. The representative did confirm, in line with some posts I've read on this site, that an ACH debit attempt could potentially re-open the account.

But he also advised me, that it typically takes about one business day following the start of the official closure process for the account to be fully closed by the bank. As this is Bank of America, take any time range with an extra large grain of salt. The rep told me that after this process is officially completed, the account is considered fully "dead", and as long as I bring the letters I'll be sending to both PDL companies revoking their ACH rights to my account, this should officially close any avenues for these companies to access my funds. The other reason he said this is likely is because the account close process should begin Friday (3/23/2012), but the debits are not scheduled for two weeks after then (4/6/2012).

I do still have some questions for someone with more experience in these issues, particularly if they are familiar with Florida statutes. If the loans are considered illegal in the state of Florida, do I have any REAL legal obligation to pay back the principal loan amount? Or is that instead just considered the appropriate moral action, and also undertaken to (at least hopefully) lessen the resolve of the PDL companies to attempt to undertake further action against me?

Morally, I do intend to repay the principal amount for the Pepper Cash loan, if not the exorbitant finance charges that are illegal under Florida statutes. But as I only viewed, and did not electronically sign the Mass Street Group agreement, nor never spoke to a representative, or really in any way considered the second payday loan, I don't feel morally wrong about not returning money I never asked for in the first place. So for that one in particular, is it still the right thing to do? And perhaps more importantly, am I legally compelled to do so? Thanks in advance!

We all agree that it is morally correct to pay back only the principle of the loan nothing more than that. As for FL law since they are unlicensed the loans are noncollectable and unenforceable. Make sure that you file complaints with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation on both. They will not help with refunds but they will help by sending notices to the lenders stating the loans are illegal in FL. Last thing as you pay them the principle make sure they give you an address to send a money order and demand that this is the only way you pay them, if they state they will not take that form of payment tell them its either that or nothing.

"We all agree that it is morally correct to pay back only the principle of the loan nothing more than that. As for FL law since they are unlicensed the loans are noncollectable and unenforceable. Make sure that you file complaints with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation on both. They will not help with refunds but they will help by sending notices to the lenders stating the loans are illegal in FL."

Actually Fla. OFR no longer sends notices to any lenders. I made this assumption as it appears from prior post that they used to in the past. However, I recently have dealt with them (Feb and March of this year) on 6-7 PDL in Florida (illegal) and they only will send the consumer (me) their form letter. It is up to the consumer to make sure they mail/fax/e-mail each of the Florida OFR letters to each PDL company. I even confirmed via phone that they do not send anything to the lender.

(Again, this is for illegal PDL as if a company is legal in Florida, then as they are legal and regulated obviously Fl OFR is their license regulator - ie can assist)

Some companies left me alone after the initial email I sent, some took 2-3, others took many more...one went to collections, however as the collection company was licensed in Fla, I was able to file a complaint w/ Fla OFR who intervened on that one and told them to leave me alone as they cannot act as a collection agency for an illegal PDL!

I have just started this process recently ( I am in Fla ) and this thread does help me. I did go to FLOFR to check the PDL places I have so stupidly should have never done in the first place to check the whole "license" issue. I was wondering though, that what if the initial name of the pdl I went to falls under some sort of actual different name than what company you actually applied with so you can't see if they have a license in Fla? For instance (Advantage cash group or MB proccessing LLC). I am all for doing the right thing but I have paid alot of money (LOTS) on interest and payoffs for quite some time. It has ruined Honestly, a good year of my life.
I have to give Kudos to this site and to OhioGal1 otherwise I would not have had the strength to just say no I want my life (and money) back.
Thanks,

Hi, Mitch. Thanks for the kudos. They're always appreciated.

When I searched your lenders, I check both names (just in case). None were licensed.

Generally, the key is to check for licensing for the time you signed your contract.