California Payday loan action plan help/advice?
Date: Sun, 08/08/2010 - 13:26
I have gained a lot of GREAT advice from this site and now I finally feel in control of my financial future and am ready to take on these pirates of the PDL industry myself with all the tools i found on this site.
I am however curious if anyone can help me make sure I am doing everything correctly (and hopefully this will help some others in the future too).
I currently have out 3 PDLs...
1. nationalpayday.com 3/15/10 (yikes!)
Principal $ 300
interest : 25% (illegal in the state of CA, max of 15% of principle amount)
total paid: $943.20
2. unitedcashloans.com 4/26/10
Principal: $250
interest: 33% (though the debits from my account change every two weeks)
total paid: $825
3. ameriloan.com 6/14/10
principal: $350
interest: 29.14% (though the debits change every month)
total paid:$ 420
California state laws regarding PDLs:
1. Must be licensed in CA to be legal
2. Maximum interest cannot exceed 15% of face value of "check" (amount loaned)
3. Maximum term of 31 days for entire loan
4. Maximum of 1 PDL loan out at one time
So currently as I see it..
1. NONE of these websites are legally licensed with the California Dept. of Corporations as required by law (source: California Dept. of Corporations Website Search Feature: corp.ca.gov/FSD/licensees/default.asp?flag=1&srchtyp=contains&licstatus=active&busname=Rio+resources&id=&lictype=&city=&state=&zip=)
2. The Maximum interest on each and every one of these loans has exceeded 15% which is illegal
3. Each of these loans has been in term for more than 31 days, also illegal
4. The second two loans issued to me should never have been allowed because according to CA law a maximum of one payday loan is allowed at a time. Hence, Illegal
My Plan of action:
1. Close my bank account (or ask for completely new account numbers, checks, debit cards etc.) to stop them from taking any more of my money. Demanding all ACH (automated clearing house) transactions be frozen.
Once bank account is closed..
2. Call CA Dept of Corporations to verify that none of these companies are licensed in my state
After Verification of this information
3. File a formal complaint with my Department of Corporations and the States Attorney Generals office
4. Send a letter using the template illustrated in this post ( source: THIS WONDERFUL WEBSITE : http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/paydayloan/illegal-pdl-dealings.html) to each one of my PDL lenders informing them of my intent to stop paying
After all of that I think I will be set. My question is... Is there anything else I should be doing or any flaws in the plan or schedule I have laid out here?
I have concerns over identity theft knowing that these slimey creeps have my Social and address. Now that I will soon be free from this nightmare I will have the money to pay for a service like lifelock or something similar is this a good investment? I haven't heard of anyone having too many Identity theft problems after telling their PDLS to stuff it, but it would seem like a reasonable idea. Suggestions?
Thanks for any and all input I greatly appreciate it..this website and paydayloaninfo.org (link to PDL laws by state: paydayloaninfo.org/legal.asp ) have turned my life around in literally 24 hours. I have now fervently become an consumer advocate against these predatory and ILLEGAL lenders and will help others in any way I can!
Hi guest, It's great to hear from you. I must say you've planne
Hi guest,
It's great to hear from you. I must say you've planned it superbly. Don't let these illegal lenders take a penny more from you. You can also ask for a refund since they're not licensed in California.
Identity theft is a growing problem in our country. So, I'ld advise you to get a life lock. Best of luck and keep us posted.
Definitely ask for a PIF letter and a refund of your overpayment
Definitely ask for a PIF letter and a refund of your overpayments to these companies. You only owe them the principal amount borrowed, which you've WAY overpaid. You should also file complaints with the BBB and the FTC.
Regarding LifeLock - I personally don't think they can do anything for you that you'd can't do for yourself for free. Also, I've not heard of identity theft being an issue with PDLs. The major issue has been continuing debits to your account (which you have safeguarded) and annoying collection calls, which go away after a while (once they know you've got their number and aren't playing their game).
Thanks!
Original poster here :)
Thank you for the kind words and your help with this ridiculous situation.
I have certainly gotten way in over my head and it is a great thing to finally be rid of this debt.
I had not heard much about these illegal things causing identity theft issues either so that is good news. I'm hoping thats the case.
My only other question was if there was any impact on my credit scores from these illegal PDLs? Does the fact that I've met my legal obligations and these loans were illegal to begin with mean that they will not effect my credit report?
Thank you again for all the help!
