Collection for payday loan
Date: Mon, 10/23/2006 - 18:28
I'm in Clearlake, California and I took out a loan with a local company called A1 Check Cashing. I closed my bank account and tried to make payment arrangements and they refused. They demanded payment in full. I could not do that. The loan was for $300 and they charged a $15 return check fee.
Now I've been getting calls from Legal Enforcement Procedures and spoke with Diane. She said that they will not send debt validation because they've already sent it. She said "Your bank notified you, A1 notified you, and we've notified you. We don't need to do it again." I asked what address they sent these letters to and she gave me my home address which we do not receive mail at. Almost no one in our county receives rural mail. It must be delivered to a post office box. I informed her of this and she refused again then put me on hold.
When she came back I asked for a breakdown of the debt and she said "you only owe $315." I said "Okay. You just said it was $401.39" she replied "Yes that's correct because we're adding our fees to the balance. It's a bad check." I told her that the payday loan company knew it was a bad check so why are they sending it to collection? She said "Because they can. It's a BAD CHECK and we will sue you in small claims if you don't pay it!"
I asked for validation again and she refused to provide it and then said "Look, can I go now? I have a lot of calls on hold!?" I said okay.
We're really scared about this. We don't want a lawsuit on our hands. Can this place really do this to me? Also, I forgot to mention that when I told her I was disabled and receiving social security she said "Oh good good good!" I asked what she meant by that and she refused to answer and put me on hold.
Is all of this legal? I've tried working with the payday loan company and they refused!!
Please help!
Thank you
She's just trying to scare you when you mention you are on socia
She's just trying to scare you when you mention you are on social security. If you are sued they can not garnish your disability check. She is being vague in an attempt to try and scare you. Althoug they can take you to small claims court to get a judgement, but like I said they can not garnish government disability checks. You can contact the original pdl and attempt to settle again with payment that are realistic for your budget, you can also just send money orders on a regular basis until it is paid off.
Hi Richard, Welcome to the forums! It's good to see another Nor
Hi Richard,
Welcome to the forums! It's good to see another Northern Californian here. In answer to your question, I can tell you first that defaulting on a payday loan in California IS NOT a criminal act, so if anyone calls you and says it is, they are lying. However, small claims is a civil issue, so this is another matter.
The company that you are working with; are they internet or storefront? This is important, because if they are internet-based, more than likely they are not going to do anything if they are not licensed in CA. And the maximum interest they can charge in CA is 15 percent. This is why you see alot of storefront loans for $287.38, for example.
So what I am saying is, if they are charging you more interest than this, and are not licensed, chances are that they probably will not take you to court.
If they are storefront, this means that they probably are licensed and are charging correct amounts of interest, so paying the balance off is more of a priority, as you can see.
My advice to you is to send them as much as you can afford on a regular basis--because if they cash your checks, this means that they have accepted your arrangement!
Hope this helps--and let us know how you are doing!
payday loan
Thank you for your help!!
It's a storefront loan place. I'm just so confused. I don't understand how they can send me to collections when I've been trying all this time and they refused.
I will post more on this. Thank you again!
Yes, please come back often. Let us know your progress and share
Yes, please come back often. Let us know your progress and share your experience. It could help others.
pdl loan
jacrcg, Welcome to the forum. I know this is storefront because I regonzize the name. In Ca. the maximum interest rate is 15 percent of the check. Here is where you may have a leg to stand on. There are no rollovers permitted. Also Criminal Action is prohibited. And according to law you should be able to set up payment arrangements. collection agencies will scare you to death. Thats there job to collect. Call your Attorney Generals office. Consumer and antitrust division and speak to someone. You are not going to jail. They may try to take you to court. But at least there you will get payments you can probably afford. Good Luck Hope this helps. Kyside38
I understand your freustraiton with the payday loan industry and
I understand your freustraiton with the payday loan industry and hopefully we can hel you here. If you haven????????t already registered then go ahead and do that, someone will be in touch with you to help you sort this mess out. I myself got mixed up in the PDL industry I think sometime late last year or early this year. I was pretty good at getting them paid off but then in June I lost my job and that whole idea went kaput. So anyhow I am now working to pay these off by the year 2016 lol. My advice to you is close you bank acct and open a new one, do NOT give out your new banking infroation to anyone ever again as they will ALWAYS put their hands in your cookie jar and bleed you dry. Also if you can get your phone number changed thus the irritating collection calls will stop. This is a total pain I know but it will take the pressure off you. If you need to send them a cease and desist letter but use it with caution. I copied and pasted here the one I used and it seemed to work. There are many people here to help you so go ahead and post away but first call your bank and get that acct closed so you will have food money at the end of the week. Good Luck
Quote:
Company Name Company Address City, State & Zip Date Re: Account No. If Available Creditor: If Available Dear Sir/Madam, This is to request you to CEASE and DESIST from your efforts of collecting debt payments on the above referred account. Also you are now no longer authorized to debit my (type of account) with (name of bank) ending (last 4 digits of acct). I would like to work with the original creditor of the account rather than collection agencies. You are hereby instructed in accordance with the federal and state laws, to stop all collection efforts immediately or face legal sanctions. Cordially, Your signature Your name and address |
jagrcg, since it is a storefront you will need to pay them back,
jagrcg, since it is a storefront you will need to pay them back, have you attempted a payment arrangement with them yet? I know they can be difficult to come to an agreement. Storefronts are usually licensed and operate according to the laws. They can take you to small claims court and get a judgement. Just be honest about what type of payments you can make, you don't want to agree to a high payment schedule you know you will default on. And original creditors do not have to abide by the cease and desist letters, you can send one but I doubt they will abide by it.
