HELP!!!!! Blocking account withdrawals from payday lenders

Easiest and safeest way is to have your bank close the account and open up a new one for you.

Right now it's not an option for me to close my account due to all 4 of my husband and my direct deposits going to this account. We also have our car payments tied to this account as we got our loans through this account. Is there a letter that I can write to the lenders also that will or might stop them from debiting? If so please post a sample.

ask your bank to block all electronic debits - period. They won't offer the info that you can do that, but will tell you it can be done when asked about it specifically. i called my bank 3 or times askign them what i could do and they said "nothing but put stop payments on the companies" the problem there, , as you will read ont he forums, is the payday loan companies are sneaky - they will change the amount they debit by a few dollars here and there to get the debit through...
I wish i would have been advised to do stop all electronic debits....my account at Washington Mutual, due to payday lonas and subsequent bank fees, is 2500.00 overdrawn, and the bank closed the account on me...lovely, right? thank God i got a new account at a new bank prior to that happening..i suggest you do the same asap...it wont take long to get your stuff switched over to the new bank.

What I did was go to the bank and did stop payments for those debitors. I had to pay a stop payment fee for each one. Normally when you do a stop payment you give an amount of the payment, but my bank left it blank so no matter what amount they tried to debit it would not go through. I waited a couple of months and then had the bank change my account number. I notified my payroll department and other auto debitors of the account number change, due to a "problem with my account". This all went pretty smoothly. Hope this helps

that's great! Washinton Mutaul said the amount had to match exactly...I absolutely despise that bank...they would not offer me any advise when icalled them for hlp in blocking the Payday copmnoes, except the option that made them money off me (the stop payment fees)

Have you ask them about changing account numbers.

Thank you kathryn and rkai93! I think that I will ask that the bank put stop payments on the debitors first and if they are able to hit my account affter that, I will block all electronic debits. I am so nervous about this but I know that it's going to work out.

I agree, I would close that bank account and reopen another one with a different account number. If you just put a stop payment on the debit the company may change the name that they debit under and it will go thru. I had a couple of places that changed their name and amounts and they went thru.

I closed my account and open another over the phone,they moved any debits that I still wanted to the new account,(internet service,car insurance),they also transfered my direct deposits until I could change them at work.It didnt cost me a dime.This is the best way to go.If the bank stops debits,it will only be temporary,these payday people will wait it out and debit your account months from now without any notice.

A couple of the companies I had loan with had several different names so I ask the bank about if they tried to debit with a different name. According to my bank, the companies have some type of automatic transaction number so even if they have several names the actual stop payment is for the automatic transaction number assigned to them.

Just be careful with the stop payments..That's what I did before I broke down and changed my account. First of all, my bank charged $26 per stop payment, and it was rather embarrasing, as the teller had to go through her computer to get the info, then read the names back to me. Also, one of my lenders found a way around the stop payment and debited the rollover fee plus a late fee and nsf fee. these creeps will do anything. Changing your account is easy and free. If you do decide to do the stop payment, though, make sure you keep track of the dates, because you are going to have to do another stop payment immediately when that one ends, there's no room for error. Good luck.

I agree, it was very embarrasing to stand there and have the teller look them up. My bank left the amount of the stop payment blank so that all the transactions from the payday companies. I have my utilities debited from my account, so I didn't want to close it.

But you can also just change your account number.

iloveteaching

Changing account numbers is your only option, as JJ said. You'll have to notify everyone that uses your old account, and give them the new account number. This includes any payroll deposits, and car payments that are automatically made.

The thing with ACH debits, is that they are not tied to any check number. Therfore stopping a payment on them is very difficult. The bank will need the exact amount of the debit, and this will only stop one. So if the payday lendor debits twice each payday, they'll be getting at least one through.

Stopping payments also cost you somewhere around $25 for each transacation that you are stopping. This also becomes quite costly.

Notifying everyone that is currently dealing with your account should only take about 20-30 minutes. It's surely a reasonable amount of time when you consider what the payday lendors can come out and do to your account.

Regards-
Mike

i still think the best bet would be to ask your bank specifically about blocking ALL ACH transactions...then open a new account, get your payroll etc deposited there, and the "good" ACH" debits to come from this new account...when al lthe payday loan stuff is resolved...close the old account

by blcoking the ACH stuff, you will save so much money in fees and NSF, etc...trustme, I wish I would have known i could do it that way

A financial institution cannot block all ACHs. This will become extremely costly to the account holder. Plus, iloveteaching stated that their car payments are automatically debited from their account. So blocking all ACHs is not an option.

Regards-
Mike

I went to my bank today to do the stop payments and they gave me a hard time. I called T&C and my counselor told me if worse came to worse, go to the bank and tell them that you have lost your wallet and you are very nervous about having all you checks, etc. in your wallet and can't find it. I did and they changed my account number with no problem.

I did a stop payment on all automatic withdrawals - payday loans and other ach debits. My bank didn;t charge me any stop payment fee ia mlucky because it was over 18 ach debits! I also had the bank put a deposit only on my account - in other words it froze my account so nothing will be taken out or they try to debit my account. thanks to these payday loans and Sonic Payday (which is paid in full)I am now a negative 500+ on my account. I opened another checking account at a different bank and none of the payday or other ach debits know that. See if your bank can put a deposit only on your account.

iloveteaching

You financial institution should not have given you a hard time over this. Usually it only takes the first time dealing with a payday loan company before learning that they will attempt many debits over the course of several weeks, and stopping ACH's only stops one attempt (since no check numbers are involved).

Also, please do not forget to inform everyone who is tied to this account that either deposits or withdraws on it. Your ATM/check-debit card should not be affected.

oh2benc2

Changing your account number with the financial institution that is currently tied to all the payday loans could be a better idea for you. Since you stated they put a deposit only on the account, I don't see why you just don't change account numbers. This actually puts your account at least risk of getting hurt by the payday loan companies.

I'd first like to say that changing account numbers doesn't hide you from the fact that these loans taken out are still owed. They only put you in a safe zone, while you get your finances in order so you can take care of each of them. Changing account numbers protects whatever funds you have that are getting deposited, and keeps you from getting NSFs from your financial institution. Although I do recommend this as a safe option only, I also recommend getting the loans paid as soon as possible. Payday loan companies charge extremely high interest rates, which can hurt you if ignored.

Mikey,
It's not my intention to not pay my loans. I have already sent my payment and contract in to T&C. I just need to make sure that the loan companies don't keep taking so much money from my account so that I can pay them off.

iloveteaching

I understand that changing account numbers was for the best interest for your situation. But in my last statement, I wanted to make it clear to any person who thought changing account numbers would advoid them...which is definitely not true. The loans are still owed regardless, but changing account numbers gives you a headstart in repaying them.

rkai93

Getting a new acccount number will stop any transactions pinned to that account. Stopping ACHs are harder, because you'll have to do each payday, and will only stop for one (for the amount of the repayment per your loan).

this is the letter I drafted to my bank today..wishme luck and I will keep all of you posted:

March 21, 2006

Washington Mutual bank
ATTN: Customer Relations
P.O. Box 834 Mailstop ??? CPC1201
Stockton, CA 95202


RE: Rachel Kaiser - Account #XXXXXXX



To Whom it May Concern:

My account was recently closed by WAMU with a negative balance of 2555.00. I am writing because to date, I have received no cooperation or satisfaction with your Loss Recovery Department regarding the circumstances leading to this closure. So some history:

I had authorized a few internet payday loan companies to take predetermined amounts from my account electronically through ACH.

This started in June ???05. As the months passed, these companies began to take unauthorized amounts from my account and at different dates. If you review my account all the way back to July, you can see the detrimental affect this began to have on my account. To be clear, what was once authorized by me was now out of control and in breach of my agreement with said companies. Soon I was drowning ??? as soon as my paycheck was deposited, it was taken out and I was overdrawn again. I could not maintain a positive balance for more than 24 hours because of these companies and their unauthorized charge amounts. I finally got some professional help to pull myself out of this. But this process is a long and arduous one. If you have any knowledge of internet payday lenders, you will know they do this often ??? taking unauthorized amounts from people's bank accounts at unauthorized dates. This is a nationwide problem, and they are being banned all over the country. Many of the companies hitting my account are operating without a license, are in trouble with the Attorney General's offices in many states and are close to being shut down. Class Action Lawsuits are being filed, etc. But again, all of that takes time, so I was counseled to ask my bank for help ??? to explain the situation to you and have you help me change my account number or SOMETHING.

I began to call WAMU customer service and the Loss Recovery Department for help in this matter. I inquired as to what my options were. I was informed that the ONLY thing that I could do was issue stop payments (expensive) to each company for a specific amount only (at 18.00 each). No, WAMU could not change my account number, no, WAMU could not block the charges/companies/any and all electronic debits (absolutely untrue I later learned). This was a weak option, as the companies in question were varying the withdrawal amounts (they know how to get around stop payments), and WAMU needed the exact amount as well as the company name. Nonetheless, I called back and issued a number of stop payments ??? this served to make me even more overdrawn than I already was, but what could I do?

As suspected, the stop payments did little good, and I called again to try and enlist the help of you, my financial institution. Again, I was told stop payments were my only option ???period.

Then I was informed by outside counsel that there WAS another option: I could have stopped all ACH debits from my account ??? all electronic withdrawals could have been blocked. By this point, I was already 2300.00 overdrawn and my account was going to be closed by you and I was going to now be submitted into the Chexsystem.

I am absolutely dismayed by this situation. When I called to speak with representatives of your bank, my financial institution, and asked over and over again what I could do to stop these unauthorized charges, I feel as though your loss department was negligent in providing me with information that could have helped me ??? I should have been informed that I could stop all electronic debits. It seems now as though WAMU was interested in taking my money in fees and had little interest in how this was impacting me, the customer.

In my final conversation with Sandra in Loss Management, on 3/17/06 (in which she yelled at me) she did finally concede that yes, I could have gone into a branch and stopped all electronic debits - little good that does me now. Had this even been mentioned as an option at any point, I would have immediately taken care of the problem, got my account into a positive balance, and changed account numbers. No-one wants to live like this, accruing bank fees and constantly being overdrawn. I tried to help myself, but without knowing my options, what could I do? I am not versed in banking laws and policies ??? I am/was your customer though, and entitled to know what could have been done to protect myself and my income.

I am a person who pays my debts???however, I feel as though the 2555.00 ALL in bank fees that could have been avoided is exorbitant at best. At the time, I had no idea about Article E, but I do now and I feel as though your Loss Recovery Department was negligent in helping me with a real problem. I implore you to reconsider this amount owed???it is something that could have been avoided and now has the potential of ruining my credit and having a severely negative impact on my life.

As well, before sending this letter, I called customer service to verify the correct address: to add insult to injury, it turns out that Sandra (the one who yelled at me) in fact gave me an incorrect address: she provided me with the following:
Customer Fullfillment
P.O. Box 201079 Mailstop STA2LOS

Maryanne in customer service, who was an angel, (and verified that all ACH debits could indeed have been blocked), filed a complaint letter against Sandra for her unprofessional demeanor in dealing with me and providing me with an incorrect address to which I could forward my case to you.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide me in this matter.




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