Help with Sonic Cash re: response to ACH Revocation Letter
Date: Fri, 08/17/2012 - 09:59
I sent an ACH Revocation letter to Sonic Cash which I am including below as well as their response. Any/all help is welcome on this subject. I have put a stop payment on them since it is close to when they will hit my account giving me time for my pending transactions to clear so that I can close my account and open a new one.
This is the letter I sent to them:
August 15, 2012
Sonic Cash
No Known Address
After doing research regarding Internet payday loan laws in the Commonwealth of Virginia, I have found that your Internet payday loans are actually illegal. I have also found the following laws to be true applying to payday loans in the Commonwealth of Virginia in general:
Quote:
Virginia State Information
Legal Status: Legal
Citation:
Payday Loan Act, §6.1-444 et seq. of the Code of Virginia.
Loan Terms:
Maximum Loan Amount: $500
Loan Term: Minimum 14 days, dependent upon pay cycle (term is double the pay cycle)
Maximum Finance Rate: 36% simple annual interest rate
Loan Fee: 20% of money advanced (i.e., $20 per $100 borrowed)
Verification Fee: Not to exceed $5.00
Debt Limits:
Maximum Number of Outstanding Loans at One Time: 1
Rollovers Permitted: None (cannot refinance, renew, or extend)
Repayment Plan: Allowed, Once in any rolling 12-month period (even if you obtain loans from different lenders or locations). Under an extended payment plan, you are permitted to repay the amount you owe in at least four equal installments spread out evenly over a term of at least 60 days. You will not be charged any additional interest or fees in connection with an extended payment plan, and interest will not accrue during the term of an extended payment plan.
Virginia code specifically states the following regarding licensure and Virginia's laws governing payday lenders apply to any entity making a payday loan to a Virginia resident.
§ 6.2-1801. License requirement
A. No person shall engage in the business of making payday loans to any consumer residing in the Commonwealth, whether or not the person has an office or conducts business at a location in the Commonwealth, except in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and without having first obtained a license under this chapter from the Commission.
B. No person shall engage in the business of arranging or brokering payday loans for any consumer residing in the Commonwealth, whether or not the person has an office or conducts business at a location in the Commonwealth.
I hereby revoke any and all ACH authorizations with your company from debiting any of my personal accounts, per Federal law, Regulation E Section 205.10 Preauthorized transfers. I also revoke any and all wage assignments I may or may not have signed with your company. I no longer authorize you, your company, or your affiliates to attach any part of my wages or contact my employer for your collection purposes. I have notified my employer about this matter so any attempts to do so on your part will be rejected.
The legal amount that could have been charged to my first loan was the principal amount of $ 200 + $5.52 Finance Fee + $40.00 Loan Fee + $5.00 Verification Fee for a total of $ 250.52. Through debit entries to my account, I repaid $ 742.50. The legal amount that can be charged on my current loan is the principal amount of $500 + $13.81 Finance Fee + $100 Loan Fee + $5.00 Verification Fee for a total of $618.81. Through debit entries to my account, I have repaid $125.00. Based on this information, I overpaid $491.98 on my first loan and am due a refund. However, I do still owe $ 493.81 on my current loan and will pay the difference of $1.83 via a prepaid Debit card, MoneyGram or Western Union on August 24, 2012. Please provide instructions on the preferred method via email.
I prohibit you or your affiliates to contact me via telephone at my place of employment or my home telephone number. I also prohibit you from calling my references listed on my loan. Once I inform you of this, you must stop telephone contact immediately or you will be once again breaking the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia. I demand that any contact be made through US Postal mail or email only. I will need everything in writing to keep accurate records of all communication as per instruction from my Attorney General's Office.
Due to the fact that Internet payday loans must be licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia to be a legal and binding contract, your company should NOT issue loans to Virginia residents at all. I am requesting that you send me your license number which enables you to offer loans to Virginia residents.
I must also inform you that I will be filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Virginia Attorney General's Office.
I expect a response from your company no later than 5 days from the above date regarding this matter. This response may only come via US Postal mail or email. No telephone contact is permitted.
Sincerely,
Sara Garrett
This is the response I got back from them:
[FONT=Times New Roman]Dear Sara,
Regarding your question if this is legal and of jurisdiction, in your signed loan agreement you acknowledged that we are a Costa Rica company that registers and operates under Costa Rica law which both parties have contractually agreed to abide by. As was specifically stated in your loan agreement, the loan was provided in accordance with the Laws that govern licensed lenders in Costa Rica and the loan was approved and funded in Costa Rica.
Regarding of your mention of jurisdiction, this is a Costa Rica company. Costa Rica and the United States are both parties to the General Agreement on Trade in Services, a treaty which specifically permits companies in one country to make consumer loans to citizens of the other. Under the treaty, we are only obligated to follow the federal laws of the United States. We are not required to obtain state licenses and individual state laws do not apply since the federal laws adopting this treaty supersede any state's laws on the subject.
Thank You,
Customer Support[/FONT]
This is the letter I sent to them:
August 15, 2012
Sonic Cash
No Known Address
After doing research regarding Internet payday loan laws in the Commonwealth of Virginia, I have found that your Internet payday loans are actually illegal. I have also found the following laws to be true applying to payday loans in the Commonwealth of Virginia in general:
Quote:
Virginia State Information
Legal Status: Legal
Citation:
Payday Loan Act, §6.1-444 et seq. of the Code of Virginia.
Loan Terms:
Maximum Loan Amount: $500
Loan Term: Minimum 14 days, dependent upon pay cycle (term is double the pay cycle)
Maximum Finance Rate: 36% simple annual interest rate
Loan Fee: 20% of money advanced (i.e., $20 per $100 borrowed)
Verification Fee: Not to exceed $5.00
Debt Limits:
Maximum Number of Outstanding Loans at One Time: 1
Rollovers Permitted: None (cannot refinance, renew, or extend)
Repayment Plan: Allowed, Once in any rolling 12-month period (even if you obtain loans from different lenders or locations). Under an extended payment plan, you are permitted to repay the amount you owe in at least four equal installments spread out evenly over a term of at least 60 days. You will not be charged any additional interest or fees in connection with an extended payment plan, and interest will not accrue during the term of an extended payment plan.
Virginia code specifically states the following regarding licensure and Virginia's laws governing payday lenders apply to any entity making a payday loan to a Virginia resident.
§ 6.2-1801. License requirement
A. No person shall engage in the business of making payday loans to any consumer residing in the Commonwealth, whether or not the person has an office or conducts business at a location in the Commonwealth, except in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and without having first obtained a license under this chapter from the Commission.
B. No person shall engage in the business of arranging or brokering payday loans for any consumer residing in the Commonwealth, whether or not the person has an office or conducts business at a location in the Commonwealth.
I hereby revoke any and all ACH authorizations with your company from debiting any of my personal accounts, per Federal law, Regulation E Section 205.10 Preauthorized transfers. I also revoke any and all wage assignments I may or may not have signed with your company. I no longer authorize you, your company, or your affiliates to attach any part of my wages or contact my employer for your collection purposes. I have notified my employer about this matter so any attempts to do so on your part will be rejected.
The legal amount that could have been charged to my first loan was the principal amount of $ 200 + $5.52 Finance Fee + $40.00 Loan Fee + $5.00 Verification Fee for a total of $ 250.52. Through debit entries to my account, I repaid $ 742.50. The legal amount that can be charged on my current loan is the principal amount of $500 + $13.81 Finance Fee + $100 Loan Fee + $5.00 Verification Fee for a total of $618.81. Through debit entries to my account, I have repaid $125.00. Based on this information, I overpaid $491.98 on my first loan and am due a refund. However, I do still owe $ 493.81 on my current loan and will pay the difference of $1.83 via a prepaid Debit card, MoneyGram or Western Union on August 24, 2012. Please provide instructions on the preferred method via email.
I prohibit you or your affiliates to contact me via telephone at my place of employment or my home telephone number. I also prohibit you from calling my references listed on my loan. Once I inform you of this, you must stop telephone contact immediately or you will be once again breaking the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia. I demand that any contact be made through US Postal mail or email only. I will need everything in writing to keep accurate records of all communication as per instruction from my Attorney General's Office.
Due to the fact that Internet payday loans must be licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia to be a legal and binding contract, your company should NOT issue loans to Virginia residents at all. I am requesting that you send me your license number which enables you to offer loans to Virginia residents.
I must also inform you that I will be filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Virginia Attorney General's Office.
I expect a response from your company no later than 5 days from the above date regarding this matter. This response may only come via US Postal mail or email. No telephone contact is permitted.
Sincerely,
Sara Garrett
This is the response I got back from them:
[FONT=Times New Roman]Dear Sara,
Regarding your question if this is legal and of jurisdiction, in your signed loan agreement you acknowledged that we are a Costa Rica company that registers and operates under Costa Rica law which both parties have contractually agreed to abide by. As was specifically stated in your loan agreement, the loan was provided in accordance with the Laws that govern licensed lenders in Costa Rica and the loan was approved and funded in Costa Rica.
Regarding of your mention of jurisdiction, this is a Costa Rica company. Costa Rica and the United States are both parties to the General Agreement on Trade in Services, a treaty which specifically permits companies in one country to make consumer loans to citizens of the other. Under the treaty, we are only obligated to follow the federal laws of the United States. We are not required to obtain state licenses and individual state laws do not apply since the federal laws adopting this treaty supersede any state's laws on the subject.
Thank You,
Customer Support[/FONT]
Dear Sonic Cash Customer Service You are mistaking me for an un
Dear Sonic Cash Customer Service
You are mistaking me for an uneducated idiot....save you garbage for someone else. You know as well as I do that the only laws I am subject to are the laws of MY state and the USA, regardless of the crap you have in your prom note. I am not a resident of Costa Rica and I don't ever plan on visiting it and thus I am NOT subject to your laws. You will mark my account paid in full immediately and I expect never to hear from you again.
BRAVO !!!! Good for you..I am assuming you did pay back the amo
BRAVO !!!! Good for you..I am assuming you did pay back the amount you originally borrowed.
I actually overpaid on the first loan and am willing to pay back
I actually overpaid on the first loan and am willing to pay back what is legally obligated on the second.
They are harrassing me now though and won't stop. They're calling me at work and on my cell even though I sent the letter. Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions on what I can do to get them to stop? I'm ignoring the calls and they're leaving messages, but it's driving me nuts.
I'm not sure why the previous post shows as Unregistered, but it
I'm not sure why the previous post shows as Unregistered, but it's from me....so frustrating on here sometimes...I'll be logged in, but when I try to post, I have re-login...:confused: