Is my plan sound?
Date: Thu, 04/05/2012 - 19:41
I have two Internet payday loans. One is from a dba, UnitedCashLoans.com, owned by the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. The principal is $450 with a monthly interest payment of $135. The second is from a dba, 500FastCash.com, owned by the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma. The principal is $300 with a monthly interest payment of $90.
I've been robbing Peter to pay Paul for the last year with these loans and, being on SSD, it's starting to catch up with me. I'm now behind on medical bills as well as credit card bills and I can't do this any more. In the last 4 months I have paid over $900 in interest alone to these two sharks.
I have contacted the office of the NY State Attorney General. They sent me a complaint form to fill out and submit since this type of loan is illegal in NY state, as far as I can tell. However, the fine print on both loans claim that (paraphrased) "as sovereign nations so recognized by the US Government we are not bound to state laws under which such loans are held to be illegal, etc., etc.." So I'm not sure where I stand on that point.
I want to pay off these loans but I cannot do so with this interest. So, here's my idea about what to do:
:idea::idea::idea::idea::idea::idea::idea::idea::idea::idea::idea::idea::idea::idea::idea:
I'm changing my Direct Deposit to my other checking account. It takes effect May 3, 2012, when my next SSD payment will be deposited. Then, I am placing stop payments on my current account for the amounts of my next interest payments (One is past the interest "renewal" and I have to start paying it down at $50/month plus interest). After that, I am going to close that bank account.
I would close it first and save myself the $78 in stop payment fees, but I don't know just yet whether the direct deposit change will take effect by then. I hope to receive notice from SSD soon that it's all a done deal. I'd close the account so fast it'd make my own head spin :D but until I know for sure, I can't risk it.
Next, I am sending, via Priority Mail (with delivery confirmation), letters to each "lender" explaining my actions and including a money order for the following amounts:
$50 to United Cash Loans
$35 to 500 Fast Cash
I'm sending money orders because I read in my loan docs that if I send them a check, I authorize them to automatically debit that account for the full amount due.
These payments will be repeated 11 more times for a total of $600 to United Cash Loans & $420 to 500 Fast Cash. (I feel that's more than fair given how much they've made off of me in interest alone and damn the loan agreement!) And
if they decide to be jerks about it, I will cease making any payments, file the complaint with the NY AG and see what happens.
I would appreciate any and all thoughts, ideas, opinions, directions, suggestions and any other constructive input on what I've outlined here.
Thanks to all of you in advance and God bless!!
Jack
PDL's are illegal in NY state....follow the link in my signature
PDL's are illegal in NY state....follow the link in my signature line. Send ACH revocations ASAP and then close your account. Give a copy of your revokation your bank. You do not need to pay for stop payments....
I'm guessing from the figures you have mentioned here that you h
I'm guessing from the figures you have mentioned here that you have already paid back these illegal lenders the principal sum you had borrowed from each of them. If the lender is illegal, you are not liable to pay back anything other than the principal amount that you had borrowed, no interest, no financing fees, absolutely nothing.
DO NOT send out those checks, keep them to yourself and send these lenders a letter demanding to be refunded for the amount that you have paid over and above the principal.
As a pre-emptive measure, file complaints with the AG and the FTC. You are going to start getting calls from these illegal lenders soon enough.
No, your plan is not sound. As Soap said, follow the step by
No, your plan is not sound.
As Soap said, follow the step by step advice in my signature link.
You owe nothing more to these crooks. They owe you a refund of anything you've paid over the principal balance. Don't bother with certified letters, just email them. File your complaints and have that old account changed to a deposit only status until you can shut it down.
Thanks Everybody!!!
[SIZE="2"]Sorry it has taken me so long to reply. Have had a bad spell with my kidneys and Diabetes.
I am so grateful to all of you who responded to my plight. I am closing my bank account tomorrow and I have written proof from a bank representative that once an account is closed, any outstanding transaction that is presented (ACH or otherwise) will be returned with "Account Closed" status. I had read somewhere that some banks will actually re-open a closed account to pay an ACH debit that is presented after the fact.
I have decided not to contact the lenders until after I have closed the account, just in case they decide to try to sneak in an ACH debit for the full amount I owe them. I hope I'm not too cautious in doing that.
I have, in the last four months, paid far more in interest than the principal owed but I'm not going to pursue a refund, foolish though that may sound. I feel it's a small price to pay to be out from under that umbrella of misery and it's enough to remind me never to make that mistake again!
I'm going to fill out the complaint forms for the NY State Attorney General's office now.
Thanks so very, very much for your help! I will let y'all know how it turns out and also plan to try to help others out on this forum as much as I am able.
Sorry, your "shameless plug" is against the Terms of Service and has been shamelessly deleted. :) ~OG1
Sorry, OG! It never was my intention to offend. I worked as a pr
Sorry, OG! It never was my intention to offend. I worked as a programmer and in PC repair & training for 15 years before Renal Failure forced me into early "retirement," not to mention the fact that I'm just a plain ol' geek. When I find a valuable free utility I tend to tell everyone I can about it. Just got a little carried away. Won't happen again!
Well, as it turns out, the old adage about opinions still applies in abundance. In trying to close my bank account, I've talked to a couple of other "Telephone Bankers." It is this bank's policy, for a period of 30 days after the account is closed, to re-open the account and pay any ACH debit presented. Yippee-kye-yaaaay....cow pattie (If anyone out there remembers the Jim Stafford song from the 70s!!) I should have closed the account when they moved out of Buffalo! Coulda-shoulda-woulda!!!
Was reading my loan contracts again last night and today. I was looking for mailing addresses for the AG complaint forms. I noticed a couple of statements that made me wonder. In essence these passages state "You authorize [Lender] to ACH Debit Your above-listed bank account(s) until You terminate Your authorization." That is paraphrased, to be sure, but that's pretty much what it says.
My question is this: If I revoke authorization to automatically ACH debit my account, they legally have to stop? I mean I know they're going to start pestering the life out of me and my references in attempts to re-gain access to my money but can they not debit my account using another name, per their "and/or our associates" clause used elsewhere in the contract?
Thanks so much again!!
JG