Car repo'ed due to PDLs/need help in AL/$300 a month in fees

I forgot to mention that my husband recently added a hundred dollars to his loan at Express Cash which started the whole eight month pay down plan over again. That was done on Aug. Third. He also increased the loan with Adv. Amer. in July. That was a $50 increase.

We pay 17.5% each month per $100. for our fees. So this is what it all breaks down to in case anyone needs to know. In March of 2008, I got a loan for $500 at Adv. America. In March of 2008, hubby got one at same place for $400. In March of 2008, I got loan at Exp. Cash for $350. Hubby got one at same place for $300. For April, we paid the loan amounts plus the fees. Just the fees were $271.25 all together in April. For May, we paid $271.25 all together for fees. For June, we paid $271.25 all together for fees. For July, we paid $271.25 all together for fees. Then, hubby increased loan at one place from $350 to $400 at Adv. Amer. In August, $280 was paid in fees. And, that month, hubby increased the Express Cash loan another $100. On Sept. Third, we will have to pay $297.50 in fees.

Pennyhm, you need to save your house and get that car back!

I would call a bankruptcy attorney ASAP so that they can get the car back and stop the forthcoming foreclosure. You need to secure your living situation, mortgage, car, food, gas first before paying any unsecured creditors.

Seeing as you are on disability, you might be able to file BK for little or no cost.

The other options are to see if you can borrow from friends or family, but I understand that this is usually not an option.

We'd have to come up w/ about $1500 to get the car back (three months in payments, towing and storage).

Unfortunatly, this is not a good situation to be in.

All the loans are legal loans. And, in your state, there is the chance of bad check charges for closing your account with outstanding payday loans.

It doesn't look like these places are breaking any laws with the loan terms you've described.

That being said, you need to stop paying on these loans before you lose anything else. These are unsecured consumer debts, and are not worth paying over your house payment. Worse comes to worse, you will have a judgement on your record.

Pennyhm, under BK, they can work something out to get the car back. Chap 13 will let you repay your arrears, and under Chap 7, you can sometimes re-work your loan. Please call a BK attorney so you know what your options are.

Just b/c you talk with a BK attorney doesn't mean you have to file BK - they'll assess your situation and advise you on what options you have.

Without the $300 a month in PDL fees, would you still even be able to afford the house and car? On an income of $1200 a month, with secured debt (house) there is chance you could lose your house through BK if you are not able to keep up with the payments plus trustee fees on a CH13.

We did not close out the checking account due to these loans. We were going to provide the new checking account information when we went back in September. What happens with situations like this? What are the usual fees and processes? Will we go to jail?

My understanding was if the car has already been repoed, a BK would not get it back. You would have to file before the repo to stop it.

Not necessarily. In some states there are provisions that the car can be returned if it is not sold already. For instance, some states require a 20 day waiting period if the borrower had paid more than xx amount on the loan. Usually once a car is repo'd it IS more difficult to get back. That's why many BK attorneys say to hide the car, etc.

More important in this situation is saving the house...with 3 months delinquent, the bank is going to foreclose soon and then where will they live?

Just speaking with an attorney won't hurt. It may give them options. I agree about letting the PDL's go and taking care of the necessities first. I wish them well in their situation and hope everything works out.

Another option...

Call your mortgage lender and ask them if you can be put into a hardship program. Sometimes they lessen the interest rate and re-amortize the past due amount. Talking to them may save your house. It's better than doing nothing.

I called our mortgage company and have worked things out w/ them. Will be paying a payment with what would have normally gone to the payday fees. Have realized that the house (mobile home) is more important than those loans. Mistake we have been making for months thinking otherwise and thinking we could do it all, etc.

I still have some questions though. What happens when you just let a PDL "go"? What will happen with the PDL people when we don't come in to pay and they send the checks thru and the direct debit thru and they do not go thru since we closed the account a few weeks ago? We do not want to go to jail! Will the one place that has a direct debit authorization use our new checking account since the old one was closed out? Can they do that?

If your accounts at the same bank are linked, then yes it can overdraft to next account with availible funds. Make sure your accounts are not linked ASAP!! :?

BK would be your best option. Under BK, they cannot foreclose on your house, it holds all trustee sales, that'll buy you some time to get some things in order

It has become increasingly difficult to file BK and even through BK, if it cannot be shown that BK would resolve the financial situation and create a situation where payments can be made on time again,then BK is not neccesarily the answer.

Dane-BK will "buy time" as you put it, but if the payments via CH13 cannot be made or if the house is reaffirmed via CH7 and the payments arent made thereafter, then yes, they can foreclose.

I called our bank (Regions Bank) and talked to the assistant manager to get some answers on the ACH/debit situation. I was told that if a transaction comes thru under our old, closed out account with them, then it should go back to the merchant as closed account, even if it is an electronic debit/ACH. As a side note, we had actually tried to go in to the bank last week to open it back up by making a deposit and their system would not allow it. That account was closed on 8/11/08, by the way.

I verified w/ the asst. manager that it would not do anything w/ the new accounts (checking and savings) we had set up with Regions a few days before we closed out the other account.

Pennyhm, glad to know that you worked something out about the house. As for your car, unless you pay the $1500 +, you probably won't get it back. I don't know how else to help you there.

As for the PDL's, IMHO, let them default and when in-house collections calls, set up a minimal repayment plan. Like $30 every month. Something that is do-able for you!! Not for the PDL company.

Make a budget of your expenses, house, car, food, gas, utilities, etc. Whatever is left over is what you have to pay on the PDL's. If there is nothing there, then there is nothing there. Sorry for the PDL's. Other than having additional income coming in, then you may just have to let the PDL's end up suing you. It's my understanding that social security benefits cannot be garnished. If I am wrong, someone here please correct me.

Of course I'm no lawyer, but bankruptcy doesn't always save a home, it sometimes more "stalls" it. But buying time might be worth it. I have filed bankruptcy before and did it because it's what I have to do.. so I'm not against it or anything. I'm just saying to look into all facts and get really solid legal advice before making decisions.
This is a horrible sitatuion and you are really in my thoughts - please feel free to come here for any advice, this board is really good at helping people.

Sounds like she was able to work something out with her mortgage company. Now she just has to work on her budget and figure out a repayment plan. It may be tough at first, if at all, but the answers will come to her.

My thoughts and prayers are with you.

bea2ls ... thank you for your thoughts and words. I don't think bankruptcy at this time is something we have to do just to save the house. We are working w/ our mortgage co. and they are working w/ us.

desp.sk.sanity .. thank you for your post as well. Thank you for the repayment tips .. I would not have had a clue. Hopefully Soc. Sec. can't be garnished. And, it has been tough for us since March.

As for a vehicle, we are hoping to get a vehicle w/ a lower monthly payment somewhere my mother in law recently got one from. I will be getting a check from my old job for profit-sharing and such that totals about $1500. We hope to use some of it for a down payment and get lower payments on another vehicle at a local car lot. Buy here pay here type car lot.

Our house payment is basically what we pay each month in pdl fees. SO, that should not be a problem now that we've decided it's best to NOT pay them.

See! Things are already looking up!! :)

Hugs!

A little better ...

we were going to use the profit sharing check to catch up the house and the car but then what after that? we'd still have a $560/month (for car and insurance) bill that we probably couldn't pay if i could not find a job.

It is possible for the pdl's to take you to court, either as a civil suit, or on criminal bad check charges.

To avoid this, you need to kee up communication with the lenders. You will have to pay them off eventually, they won't just go away. As they are legal loans and legal lenders, they do have recourse to collect on the debt once you default. But it's better then losing your house.

Right Goudah! As long as she is communicating and paying on the loans, she should be okay. If they do decide to sue her, she can show the judge that she is making payments the best she can. Also, I think SSI cannot be garnished. (Not 100% sure.)

SSI can't be garnished in most cases, but their bank account or assets can be attached. Then you'd have to go through a process to prove the money in the account is SSi income. You wouldn't have access to that money during that time.

Seriously, the best advice you can take is to just keep up communication with all these places, payday loan companies, mortgage, etc. Be honest with them. Tell them the situation, what you can pay, and when, and be realistic. Stick to it, and don't ignore their calls and you should be fine.

Since she stated that she last worked in March, if she can get a job, ANY job thru the end of 2008, that will help her when she files her taxes in Jan/Feb. She should qualify for Earned Income Tax Credit, so she'll get a bigger refund. If she files the Feb 1st electronically, she can have her IRS refund in less than 2 weeks (direct deposit into her checking ;) ) and that should help in paying off some of her bills and PDL's.

Search the IRS dot GOV website about the Earned Income Credit. It will show the tax credit tables and you can figure out what it will be.

Now go get that job :) and know that Feb is right around the corner! Hugs again!!

If she does get sued, then she can show the judge her income, budget, etc. With proof that she has been paying the bills, what more can a judge do?

And if it does get to a lawsuit/court, can she request that SSI just send checks instead of direct deposit? That way they can protect the SSI income from being snatched.

The more I think about it, the more I say February Tax Time may be her saving grace here b/c if they try to sue her, it may take longer than that to get to court.

Have read the recent posts and wanted to find out what steps we should take now w/ the PDL places. We are due to go in to the two different locations on Sept. 3rd. Should I call them beforehand and let them know we can't come in? Should I let them know the accounts have been closed? Should I go ahead and ask them for some sort of repayment plan or wait for them to sue us or ... ?? Or, should I let them present the checks/debits and then they are returned due to a closed account and then wait for them to call us?

Pennyhm (but didn't set up password and site will not log me in or email me new password)

Hubby and the kids are getting social security disability, not SSI. That is supplemental security income. If it matters....

Section 207 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 407) protects Social Security benefits from assignment, levy, or garnishment. However, the law provides five exceptions:

Section 459 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 659) allows Social Security benefits to be garnished to enforce child support and/or alimony obligations;

Section 6334 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 6334 (c)) allows benefits to be levied to collect unpaid Federal taxes;

Section 3402 (P) of the Internal Revenue Code allows beneficiaries to elect to have a percentage of their benefits withheld and paid to the Internal Revenue Service to satisfy their Federal income tax liability for the current year;

The Debt Collection Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-134) allows benefits to be withheld and paid to another Federal agency to pay a non-tax debt the beneficiary owes to that agency: and

The Tax Payer Relief Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-34) authorizes the Internal Revenue Service to collect overdue federal tax debts of beneficiaries by levying up to 15 percent of each monthly payment until the debt is paid.


The Social Security Administration's responsibility for protecting benefits against legal process and assignment usually ends when the beneficiary is paid. However, once paid, benefits continue to be protected under section 207 of the Act as long as they are identifiable as Social Security benefits using normal banking practices. For example, only social security benefits are deposited into a particular bank account.

If a creditor tries to garnish your social security check, inform them that unless one of the five exceptions apply, your benefits can not be garnished. You also may want to provide this same information to your financial institution and seek legal assistance if you believe it is needed.

good to know about soc. sec. just wanted to find out what to do about the pdl locations...wait on them or go ahead and forewarn them.

Should we, after the Sept. checks, have Social Security mail the checks to us or continue w/ the direct deposits?

I was reading another thread about someone in Alabama who closed their account and the PDL will/can press charges, etc. So, I am very concerned now about this. What is going to happen when the PDL storefronts submit the checks and they come back as account closed? Will we be arrested? Do we need to go in and talk to them? Call them on the phone or what? I thought there was a little shred of hope but now I am back to being worried/scared to death.

I would go into the stores and talk with a manager about the EPP plan (extended payment plan) or set up a repymt schedule that you can adhere to. Do your budget first so you'll know what you can committ to and stick with it. If you make payments, chances are they won't do anything (sue). When you are in the store, negotiate that they won't deposit the checks. Remember, pay what you can afford. Even if they say you have to pay (for example) $100 and you only have $30 to pay, just pay the $30.

what if the pdls say they can not do an epp??? very worried here about them pressing charges.

If they say no, that's okay. Just pay them what you can (they usually won't turn down a payment). As I mentioned before, if you default and it goes to internal collections, you can set up pymts then. As long as you are paying on the account, they should not do anything. If you are still unsure, I suggest you call the DFI or AG of your state and explain the situation and see what they say. In my state, IL, the DFI said no prosecution for a returned check on a PDL. If you still are unsure, call a lawyer. They usually won't charge for a 10 minute phone call consult.

I want to thank you so much for your help. I have one final question for the night and then I think I am off to bed....maybe someone will respond before then LOL

Should I tell the PDL places that we have closed the checking account?

That depends on if you have a game plan lined up. If you have a payment plan offer for them right on the spot when you call, then YES. if you still need time to sort your money out and get things straight, then NO. I will tell you that they are going to find out anywayz, and the calls will begin once they do :?

I will caution you and say it is just best to be honest UPFRONT. I had a PDL with a storefront and called them 2 weeks in advance notifying them my bank account was closed due to fraud (internet PDLs). Offered to prepay the loan on the spot. They were happy that I kept things clear with them and were happy to help.

good luck with everything and please keep us posted. this board is full of great advice. things do seem to be looking up for you. a lot of people are suffering right now and people really will relate, if that helps.