Florida questions

As far as I know, all these payday loan companies are illegal in the State of Florida and so they cannot sue you. To know how to deal with illegal payday loan companies, you may visit http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/paydayloan/illegal-pdl-dealings.html .

Thanks SC! Now yesterday I got a letter in the mail from "The Office of the President" of Avantis Financial which looked like a copy of a letter directed to my employer stating that they were going to garnish my wages. Is this legit? I am giving my payroll dept. copies of my C&D letter to Avantis, is there anything else I can do? It says they can take 20% of my check! The original loan was for $500, I have since paid back around $80. I dont have a problem paying the balance, I owe it, but 20% of my check is a lot. I make the most out of my wife and I but I have daycare and other bills each month, this would hurt us big time... advice anyone?

Florida is a non garnishment state. Wage assignments are also illegal in Florida! Go into the search box and put in Floridaconsumerlaw and you will find a Florida Consumer Advocate Attorney that can help you! Please inform your employer of Florida law before they give your pay away illegally.

A creditor can never garnish your wage unless they sue you to the court and bring judgment against you to recover the debt. I think that you should check your credit report for any default judgment. If there is no judgment against you, then it may be an attempt to frighten you.

If a lender is not licensed in the State of Florida they cannot collect a debt here. That is in the Florida Consumer Financial Act section 516

Thanks Frogpatch for the info. I am really learning a lot from this forum.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions but post them here also.

I thought all IPDLs were Illegal in FL.

Here is what I received as an email today :

This letter is in response to the correspondence received on 5/11/09.

Directly responding to your concerns, Avantis Financial is confident that it has not violated any Florida statute or loan limitations. All loan applications, credit checks and loan approvals are conducted within the state of South Dakota, where Avantis Financial is a registered limited liability company and maintains a Money Lending License through the South Dakota Department of Commerce & Regulation. As you read on the documents you signed, there are clear and conspicuous disclosures made on both the Avantis Financial website, and also within the Note and Disclosure Agreement stating that all transactions are conducted in the state of South Dakota, and that South Dakota law applies to all matters therein. You agreed to these provisions in order to receive a loan from us.

Avantis Financial does not operate a store or business in the state of Florida, nor is any employee of Avantis physically present in the state of Florida. All transactions are conducted under the laws of the state of South Dakota as so stated in our contracts. Our contracts are drafted in the state of South Dakota, accepted in the state of South Dakota and are executed in the state of South Dakota. Under the general principals of conflicts of law, our contract and business is deemed to be conducted in the state of South Dakota.

It appears that you are concerned about the Assignment of Wages inquiry made to your employer. We are more than willing to work with you to satisfy this debt. If we can agree to a firm arrangement that is kept, we are willing to accept just the principal amount that you owe which current sits at $390. (three payments of $130 made over the next 2 months) This would obviously halt any other collection efforts on the account.

We await your response to our proposal.


Sincerely,



Steve Holtz
Director of Operations
Avantis Financial, LLC
605.444.8012

So had your employer truly got the garnishment stuff?

They received the "wage assignment" letter from Avantis, and forwarded them a denial letter, as my Payroll Dept. also stated that the only way they "assign or garnish" wages is with a court order. So, they sent back a letter stating that they denied the request to "assign wages" from them.

Wow so an illegal PDL contacted your employer to garnish your wages....Frightening as I start this battle.....

They are saying that they are doing business legally in Florida because by "signing and faxing paperwork" you are assumed to be doing business in South Dakota, in their office... Anyone had dealing with this company? I obviously have no problem paying the balance of my principal, but I want ot make sure I go about it the right way so I dont get screwed more in the long run...

Yes, your employer has to deny it since the creditor does not have any judgment order with them from the court. Since they have made an illegal attempt to collect the debt, I would suggest you to file a complaint against them with the FTC.

Quote:

Got this email this afternoon from Arrowhead...

" I respect a consumer who researches the services to which he/she uses. With that being said when you applied for and agreed to the terms of the loan it would have behooved you to read the complete contract you were agreeing to. You are a citizen of the state of Illinois; however the contract was not made in the state of Illinois. The contract was completed via the World Wide Web; the governing law (clearly outlined in your contract) which you agreed to by your legal e-signature is based in the isle and providence of Nevis West Indies Bahamas. When you spoke with our representative on 10/09/2009 at 9:01AM CST, she clearly outlined how the loan works and what the finance charges were, yet you still accepted the loan.


With all the information at hand I am still willing to work out arrangements for the principal that is still owed on your account. We will cease debiting the finance charges of $90, however the account will not be marked ???Paid in Full??? until the principal amount of $300.00 has been satisfied. You may contact our Customer Service Department 8am-5pm CST Monday-Friday. Our toll free phone # is 1-866-355-7308.


If you have any questions do not hesitate to call or email.


Thank you,"

Like I said before, I have no issue with the principal balance on these, but how are the West Indies Bahamas related to the law for Florida? Am I totally off base here? THanks for all the info and help everyone... it is a big relief to have folks who know what to do helping out with info.

Tell them to go pound sand. When you become a resident of the West Indies, then and only then, would you be subject to their laws. Fortunately, you're in the USA and bound by state and federal law.

That's what I was thinking, but then, as I looked more closely to the "letter" as it was attached to an email, it is originally addressed to a woman in Illinois... wth? The woman from Arrowhead sent the email to me with this attached as "revoked pull letter"... so I dont know if this is supposed to be a "form letter" that they just screwed up with or what... now Im more confused...

Got this today from Loan Point USA... :

"Thank you for your email to Customer Service for at Loan Point USA. I apologize; I can not discuss legal advice. However; the contract you signed is legitimate. We expect you to adhere to the terms and conditions of this loan. If you need further assistance regarding this matter, please contact Customer Service. The office hours are Monday thru Thursday 6am to 5 pm, Friday; 6am to 4pm Mountain Standard Time."

Got one of my ACH C&D letters back undeliverable : B&L Marketing / Pack Management Group LLC...

Try searching for a new address here on the boards. I will try looking for an address as well, hang tight.

I had a PDL company contact the check cashing agencies that I gave them bad checks. Now I cannot cash a check any where, how do I handle that?

Quote:

So, just got a call from a Mr. Hamilton with Cambridge Huxley & Assoc.... man was VERY rude and wouldnt answer any questions about if I could have their mailing address to send them a debt validation letter, was very rude about "me not wanting to pay money I owed, they were filing litigation against me TODAY if I didnt give him a routing number and account number RIGHT THEN" and all this stuff... So, once he would no longer even speak and just sat there silent on the phone, I hung up... called back and asked the receptionist for the address of the company. I even asked this guy, repeatedly, if they were a CA and he avoided the question like the plague... nice way to do business guys... the amount they were telling me was due is way more that the original amount borrowed anyway, and they were taking out their "rollover fee" every 2 weeks anyway... hes almost pooped a cow when I told him my account was closed.

Oh yeah... the original creditor is CMG Group LLC

Ok, so I have previously sent out all of my letters and such, have received some of them back as "undeliverable" or "Not Able to Deliver" Continue t oreceive emails from some of these companies, some asking me to "Go to our SECURE website and make your payment there" some stating that the contracts are legal as they were signed electronically presuming that "since it was signed electronically, that I am held to the laws of the state that they reside in". and more... one of them actually being in the Bahamas I think?

My next question is this, since some of them have not accepted my letters or even the ones who have and I got the signature cards back for, what is the best way to go about paying off the rest of the pricipal I DO owe on some of these? Do I send MO to the address I sent the letters? This is my next level I need to breach.

Thanks again so much for all of your help... Im getting there!

J

Well do not send anything without a written agreement. Continue to email the lenders and stick your ground.

Thats kind of what I figured, but I wanted to see what process others have used. I am up in the air on the ones whose addresses I couldnt find or the ones who came back undeliverable... guess they can wait the longest...

Remember they are at your mercy not the other way around :wink:

Make sure you take care of the homefront first, the PDl can wait.

Ok, got a call from The Loan Shop today... said I had till the 15th to pay $577, even though the loan was for $200... told him I wasnt using the account anymore and that any debits from it would be returned.. told me to use Money Gram... anybody done this before? I told him I was paying the $200 only and he got all beligerant.. ugh...

Stick your ground and only pay that $200.

You can use moneygram, but ensure you get confirmation the money was sent nd received. I used it to pay of 3 of my PDLs in the past, cost me $8 a pop I think.