California Payday Loan Laws

California requires Internet based pdl's to be licensed by your state. If they're licensed elsewhere they aren't considered a legal lender in your state. If you will list your lenders, whether they are Internet or Store front, amount borrowed and paid, we can help you plan a course of action and better answer your questions. :)

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A growing number of interfront pdl's are also being banned in California. To find out if yours are on the list, go to the California Dept of Corporations website (there is a link at the California.gov site) and look for this section on banned lenders.

Thanks for your replies. I will follow up later today.

PDL DATE AMT. PAID

B.I.G. 05/20/08 275 500
Cash Direct Express/GECC 06/10/08 400 676
Acc/Cashspot 06/11/08 300 502.5
Impact Cash 07/11/08 300 360
Instant Cash USA 07/24/08 300 270
Loanpoint/Centurion 07/01/08 400 480
NetCashUSA 06/25/08 500 450
PaycheckToday 06/27/08 300 500
Payday-Loan-Yes 07/03/08 350 420
Total Lending 08/12/08 300 90
United Cash Loans 05/15/08 450 1190
USFast Cash 06/19/08 150 195
USFast Cash 07/16/08 300 270

The columns are: PDL Name, Date Loan Taken, Amount of Loan, and Amount Paid as of Today. The formatting got lost with the cut and paste.
Regarding USFast Cash - the initial loan with them was paid, then another loan taken.

I see that United Cash Loans and USFast Cash are the same company. Since I've paid too much to United Cash Loans, but still owe USFast Cash approximately $30, can I tell or suggest to USFast Cash that they take the balance due from the overpayment to United Cash?

if payday lenders leant me more then the maximum under california law, what can I do?

The legal maximum in California for a PDL is $300. This is why if you get a storefront here, usually the most you can get is $255, with a $45 fee going to the PDL.
If you are loaned more than the maximum, this is an illegal loan in CA. We do recommend that you payback what you borrowed and no other fees.

I defaulted on a loan at a storefront here in CA . I have had good history with them, but circumstances arise that caused for my payment to return. I contacted them immediately and made an arrangement that I will pay on 10/23. The lady there was so nice when I first started business with them and been like that for a few months, then this happened. She said to me over the phone, in a very calm, yet sarcastic tone: "Yes, that is okay..you have to pay $360 though..300 for the loan, 15 for the returned fee and 45 to hold it that far" . I dont mind the 45 addtl , but I asked her if that is even legal to charge that. I have other PDL storefront and they would only charge me 15 returned fee regardless of when I pay.. She said that it is legal and then she followed that with ( in a calm , yet sarcastic again) " either that or we can just do a short claim..send the paper works to your company and then garnish your wage..I answered her back with " you know I wont let that happen" then she goes, " that's why.. Im basically doing you a favor" .. so the ending was I promised I would go there on the 23rd. Just the way she talked to me in that manner pissed me off! i know it is my fault, but customers deserve respect too. is that even legal to charge me that fee??? thanks for your help.

The legal maximum in CA is $300--but most lenders get around this by only allowing you to pocket $255 and then hitting you with a $45 fee, hence $300. How much did cash did you actually walk out of the storefront with when you loaned? If only $255, then all you owe is $255, plus a $45 fee. Some lenders do charge a returned check fee, so you probably would have to pay that. If they loaned you $300 and then charged you a $45 fee, they've exceeded the legal limit by $45.

I read this thread, and does CA have any kind of maximum allowable interest rate? I took out a $225 loan from an internet lender who isn't licensed in CA, and they were charging me $50 for every $25 borrowed!

hello again-

yes, they only gave me $255 and I had to pay back 300 plus the 15 charge for returned fee. To top it all, I was originally going to have to pay another 45 for holding it to a certain date , heck i complained and told them that I am aware of the CA policy ( thanks to this site haha) so the lady there was like : Oh okay, then you can come with 315 only. im like what the.. so if i didnt know about that, they would rip people off? .what pissed me off was that the lady on the phone said that I am able to re loan when i pay it off, but guess what, she changed her mind after i paid it off!! which obviously put my other bills on hold.. they are bitches! they even look like that.. they act all nice and sweet but good heavens!!! theyre bitches!! sorry for the term.. but i couldnt find other adjective to describe them!! anyway, i realized later on that that works out in my favor because i would not want to see their faces ever again! thanks for all your help here..

Does any illegal PDL out there isreasonable enough to accept a payment plan?

Is it legal in the state of California, that when a defaulted payday loan goes to collection, the collection company can threaten to have a person arrested for non-pay?

no they can't threaten that.what bottomfeeding pdl or CA told you this.debts are civil matters only.

I am being charged 150.00 to extend my 500 loan out til next payday. on top of that they are charging me $150 worth of interest
since I live in CA can I only pay them 500 and close my accounts?

What is the name of the pdl? I'm sorry to tell you this, but there is only one sure way to stop the withdrawals, and that is to close your account. If that isn't an option, then tell the bank to put a hard debit block on your account. Before you close your account, read this information at the link below. http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/paydayloan/close-account.html

Please do not let any of these pdl's know you are going to close your account, until AFTER you have done it!

Is this an online PDL? We can also check to see if it's licensed in CA or not.

Has anyone had any experience with a PDL garnishing wages? Can they do that legally? And how would someone go about preventing that from happening? Its frightening to know they can garnish wages!

a pdl can only garnish after they take you to court and win.they can try a WAGE ASSIGNMENT.that is voluntary and revocable.if you give a wage assignment revocation letter to the pdl and your employer.they would have to go to court.i highly doubt an internet pdl will do that.

I have been called repeatedly at work by two payday loan companies. These companies kept hitting our bank account until we owed so much in insufficient fund fees that we had to close the accounts and make a settlement with the bank. Now we can't even have a checking account at that bank until our settlement loan is paid. Just today I recieved a "settlement offer" from one of them:

PROPOSAL
Paydayonline
3336 E. 33rd Place
Suite B
Yuma, AZ. 85365



Attention Mr. xxxxxxx:

TOTAL BALANCE DUE: $420.00
SETTLEMENT: $300.00

1. PAYMENT 11/13/09 $100.00
2. PAYMENT 11/30/09 $100.00
3. PAYMENT 12/11/09 $100.00 paid in full!!




Customer agrees to pay the settlement of $300.00 Payable in (3) separate payments as stated above. If customer defaults on either payment, the original amount of $420.00 will be due therefore forfeiting the settled amount as agreed.

**************************************************************************
Note: YOU WILL RECEIVE A REMINDER CALL 1 WEEK IN ADVANCE PRIOR TO YOUR SCHEDULED DUE DATE. A 2ND REMINDER CALL WILL BE MADE THE DAY BEFORE YOU ARE DUE. A 3RD CALL WILL BE MADE ONLY IN THE EVENT YOUR "PROOF OF PAYMENT" IS NOT RECEIVED ON THE DUE DATE AS SCHEDULED. PLEASE REMEMBER IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU CONFIRM THESE REMINDERS WITH OUR ASSOCIATES. YOUR ACCOUNT WILL STAY IN GOOD STATUS BY MAKING YOUR PAYMENTS IN Its TIMELY MANNER AS SCHEDULED.
**************************************************************************

Ms. Karina Lopez
Debt Consolidation Specialist for Paydayonline
800-928-3161 Ext.110
800-970-5311 Fax
[EMAIL="Legal@paydayonline.us"]Legal@paydayonline.us[/EMAIL]

I asked them to send me the payment history but they refused (I believe I have paid at least $300 in what they refer to as "interest". The other loan is the same thing although they have told me that I have paid $315 in "Fees" to that company: Payday loan yes. They also tell me I owe them a total of $650 due to the overdraft fees the bank charged them. Do I have any recourse? I have read the previous posts but still don't know how I should proceed at this point.:confused:

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I got a call today from a guy from The Law Offices of Mark Carey in NY. They said I owe $1200+ for a pdl I took out from WebPayDay at the end of 2007. The original loan was for $500. The guy I spoke to said that a civil suite was going to be charged against me. Can you please tell me, A. Is this debt valid? I went to the CA Dep of Corporations site and found this document: http://www.corp.ca.gov/ENF/pdf/2008/WebPayDay_dr.pdf Also, B. If this debt IS valid, can they take me to court??

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California requires them to be licensed to lend in our state. If they are not they can not do so even over the internet. And if they are licensed there is a cap on what they can charge you. So The only thing you should pay back to a illegal internet Payday loan is the principal you got from them. Now if you over paid that then I would take the time to write them demanding a refund. Now this might just get them to close you account as paid in full to avoid giving you back any money. some people have gotten refunds but I would settle for a PIF.. May sure you file complaints with the Attorney Generals office, Depart. of Corps, FTC, BBB and www.ic3.gov. This is the only way we can stop them.

Yep, what she said^^^

After reading the link from the CA Dept of Corporations, this loan is illegal, because CA has ordered the lender to "Desist and Refrain", which means stop lending to California residents now! The lender never bothered to get a license, so the chances of it trying to sue this person in Calif. court are slim and zero.

I have payday loans with numerous companies such as loan shop, pdl.now, 500fastcash, usfastfash,and loanpointusa. I am trying to find out if these companies were legal in the state of california.

Go to the link below and check and see if any of your PDL's have licenses to lend in California. Chances are they dont and also there is a cap on what they can lend and charge. The Depart of Corp website is a great place for information and if you have further question you can also call them. If you find your PDL's are illegal all you owe is the principal amount. There are steps you will have to take to being getting rid of your pdl's. There is alot of help here so please ask questions as you go.
http://www.corp.ca.gov/FSD/licensees/default.asp

I started my process in Nov. 09 and I could not be happier with my choice. I was getting sick from the nightmare I had started. But there is hope.

I am having the same issue with this company. After calling them for the last 4 months trying to fing out why they have charged me over $1090 for a $200 loan and not recieving any calls back I had my bank account closed out. Now I am getting a call from someone else (who said shes heard that they don't call back) but that they are going to be sending information to my employeer to hold remove funds and on top of that sned me to some report that I wont be able to write a check for 7 years. It wasn't check systems but sounded like it. She said the amount if they do that is $500 something. When I asked if I could just pay the loan she said it was going to be $844. That was when I started to get worried. I dont want to not be able to write a check for 7 years but after reading through the laws of the state of CA this seems like illegal activity. Any help would be great.

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I have a few payday loans out there. My bank closed my account so all of my ACH withdrawls have been stopped. Now I'm wondering if these people are even legal and if there fees are legal.
Advance me today $300
247 Greenstreet $400
Four Seasons Cash $1000 extension fee of $198
Also how do I get them to stop calling my work and human resource office? I'm happy to pay them back but right now my bank won't mail my cashiers check for 10 days...so pretty much have no money.

Check out website to see if they are legal http://www.paydayloaninfo.org/state-information/12
Note that payday loan maximum is $300

So if a loan is taken out in the amount of $300, and then you repay it with the fees and it comes to over $300, that's an illegal loan?

if the lender has no license in that state yes most illegal.

Well, in the state of California, the max amount for a payday loan is $255 with a $45 fee.

The storefront Ace Cash Express I am not so worried about after reading California Laws in this very informative and excellent thread. Much appreciated and thank you for all of your hard work.

The one that irks me the most is Cash Central. The first call I got from them was a threat. Claiming to be the Law offices of Thomas and Williams LLC. Of course in searching for this law office there is no information to be found. I had taken out a $255 pdl, medical conditions ate up every penny I had and I was in no condition to even worry about anything else but my life. I have finally recovered and am back in the workforce. I have every intention to pay all of my loans but this threatening call from people claiming to be investigators and charging me with check fraud got me a worried. First I spoke with a woman and when I asked how much I owed she passed me along to a stern voiced male who said I owed well over $800 dollars and when I asked for a letter showing me what I owed with their address on company letterhead, he said it's on its way first thing in the morning but of course it has been 3 weeks and nothing. What options do I have at this point. They will not stop calling me.

whoever is calling is breaking the law with the check fraud threat.they are nothing and can do nothing but call.first file a police report as again the law was broken.then when these losers call hang up without a word.that is the least they deserve.btw only if nothing was debited by cash central you only owe the 255.00.if they want to act illegaly in collecting it.that's too bad.do that and ignore them,or just let it go to v-mail.just know they want someone to argue with.don't take the bait.

Thank you for the quick response, much appreciate it. Thanks to this site I do not feel so small against these folks while maintaining my health recovery.

I will keep you posted on the situation.

:p

How would I file a complaint against these people If they will not give me an address and they have 4 different numbers they are calling from? Also with whom should I file the complaint with?

Thanks.

In California, you actually would file the complaint with the Dept of Corporations. Go to the California.gov website, click on the Dept of Corporations page, and I do believe the form is there.
A few things jump out here. First, since Ace is a storefront, they are legal--but this means that all you owe them is $300, which is the max legal amount in California. You most assuredly do NOT owe $800, so forget that.
If it was me, I would work on a plan to pay the $300, if you have not done so already and tell them where they can put the remaining $500. I can tell you from my personal experience in doing this that when Jerry Brown and Bill Lockyer were the AG's of the State, they were very agressive in pursuing these illegal lenders: even having several banned from doing business in the state. Good luck and keep us posted.