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Payday Loans in Florida

Submitted by Mmouze on Sun, 04/08/2012 - 16:32
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I have read so many websites regarding legal/illegal payday loans that I think I may go blind. I need help. I have tried to search the following payday lenders on the FL Department of Financial Services and can not find them licensed....but I may doing it wrong. These are all Internet Payday Loans. Are these legal? They maybe legal and just not registered in FL? Is there a difference? Do the small loan laws in FL apply to Internet lending?

Name / loan amt / what I have payed so far
Cash Cure / 800 / 704
Sure Advance / 700 / 462
Cash Direct Express / 700 / 462
VIP / 500 / 600
Eastside Lenders / 400 / 625
One Click Cash / 600 / 360
Spektrum / 500 / 477
Cash in a Wink / 500 / 300

Best I can tell even if everyone of these are legal and licensed to do business in the state of Florida.....they are all charging wayyyyyy over the FL legal annual rate.


As you have searched the legality of the payday lenders from the FL Department of Financial Services and found out that they are not licensed in your state, so it???s true that they are illegal. You are required to pay them only the principal amount. Ask them for the refund, as you have overpaid some of your lenders. Close your bank account immediately to stop unauthorized withdrawal.


Submitted by Tyler on Sun, 04/08/2012 - 22:57

Tyler

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Cash Cure - Illegal
Sure Advance - Illegal
Cash Direct Express - Illegal
VIP - Illegal
Eastside Lenders - Illegal
OneClickCash - Illegal tribal
Spektrum - Illegal
Cash In a Wink - Illegal

Lenders need to have physical presence within the state to be deemed legal. Therefore 'Internet lenders' are technically illegal. Lenders can't be legal if they are no licensed.

You need to shut down your bank account and open a new account, making sure the accounts are not linked in any way. You need to pay back the principal amount that you borrowed from these lenders. In those cases where you have already overpaid, ask for a refund in writing. If they harass you or refuse to refund you, file a complaint with the FTC and the AG.


Submitted by StevenDoyle on Sun, 04/08/2012 - 23:02

StevenDoyle

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Quote:

Therefore 'Internet lenders' are technically illegal. Lenders can't be legal if they are no licensed.


You have a quote from Florida Statutues stating this?? I cannot find this quote. From the way I read it, internet loans must be licensed to be legal.

or are you making up laws again???


Submitted by SOAPLADY on Tue, 04/10/2012 - 09:56

SOAPLADY

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I went back and recalculated the total amount borrowed and the total amount paid so far to each of these lenders. All except the last three have been "overpaid" based off of the idea of only being responsible for paying back the principal amount. The last three, I still owe $90, $23, and $50 respectively.

I asked BofA if they could close my account and they stated that they could but any of the ACH withdrawals would still post and end up causing my acct to have NSF....thus be charged a $35 fee. And if that wasn't good enough....if BofA paid the ACH withdrawl and my acct stayed in the negative for a period of 5 days or longer I would continue to be charged reoccurring $35 fees. I asked if they could make my account "for deposit only" they said no. Gezzzzz what a frustrating 3 hour conversation.

I can't send out any letters to the PDLs if I can't get my acct closed. There has to be something that I am missing. Help!


Submitted by Mmouze on Tue, 04/10/2012 - 16:36

Mmouze

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Soaplady......yes I did send out the ACH reclama emails to all of them. Yesterday! Oddly enough I have not heard a word back from any of them....not a phone cal nor an email. Interesting. But then again....none of them are due again until the 19th. Does this seem normal?

I plan on talking to a Branch Manager on Friday morning. And I am not leaving there until the account is closed to my satisfaction. I have to wait until Friday because I will NOT know if the change to my Direct Deposit took effect until I get my earning statement on Friday. I just pray none of the PDLs try to do something crazy before I can close it on Friday.

Thank you for all your help by the way


Submitted by Mmouze on Wed, 04/11/2012 - 14:51

Mmouze

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Ok so today was a bit more interesting. I logged into all of my loans online except one (Spekrum) cause their page doesn't offer a "customer login" option. Two the I view said "Paid in Full" but had the wrong loan idea on them. They were loan IDs from previous loans I had taken and paid off. Another one state "you do not current have a loan with us. Click below if you would like to take out another loan"
I did get two emails....from two different PDL's telling me that they were fully licensed in Delaware and that my loans were enforceable and that they would require payment on the due date otherwise the would send to arbitration. I replied back that FL requires them to be licensed in the state of Florida and that if they could supply me with their FL licenses number that I would be happy to follow the FL governing these loans (principal plus interest).
I received a phone call from one other stating that they were calling only because I had stated in my email that I wanted to schedule a payment in full. This is one that I $50 to pay principal in full. I told them to re-read my email. I would be willing to pay $50 ONLY. She said "well that doesn't pay back what you owe". I told her again...to read my email in its entirety and then email me their mailing address but to never contact me by phone again and she hung up on me.
The rest....not a word. And the online accounts still show active. I sent each of them the letter AGAIN. Still nothing.
Here is another interesting thing that I read.....that even if a state requires online lending companies to be licensed in their state.....they didn't enforce it. Especially if payday lending is legal in that state (which it is in FL). They will however attempt to enforce that states cap on interest rates. I think FL is 360% APR. Whats your thoughts on this?


Submitted by Mmouze on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 15:00

Mmouze

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Update....not one single call or email today. All online accounts still say the same thing. Sorta feel like the calm before the storm. Especially since they are not scheduled to deduct anything from my account until the 19th. I think that's when things will really get interesting. I did close my bank acct with BofA but got the "if the ACH Debits hit before the acct is fully closed it could reopen" at which time I was told I could dispute through the Fraud Department. Yeah!!!!! So I called the Fraud Dept to get out in front of this and see if they could put a hard hold on my acct.....they said no but that the branch could do a "forced close". She even tried to call the branches in my area but no answer. I went back to the branch and talked to everyone in the place (including the Branch Manager) to get them to do the "forced close". They all looked at me like I had three heads. Guess I will try a different branch tomorrow.


Submitted by Mmouze on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 13:10

Mmouze

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After much run-around bank finally stated that my acct was in fact CLOSED and no ACH debit could re-open it. I will have to assume this is the case until some company decides to illegally process a withdrawal.

On a much more positive note......I received an email from Cash Yes this morning sting that my account is Paid In Full!!!!!! Yes!!!!!!

No change on the others!!!!!

This site and the members who have posted step by step instructions on how to deal with the illegal lenders are heaven sent. Can not thank you enough.


Submitted by Mmouze on Sat, 04/14/2012 - 07:37

Mmouze

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Received a second PIF email from Cash Cure. And an email from Cash Direct Express stating that my account is being reviewed and would respond in 7 to 10 days.

Nothing new on the others. But I keep sending emails and today I sent emails to them with my attached complaint to the BBB, FL AG office, and to some (those i knew were licensed in Delaware) a copy of the complaint I sent to Delaware AG office. Will see what happens. I will keep you posted.


Submitted by Mmouze on Mon, 04/16/2012 - 16:46

Mmouze

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I also agree that this site has been a wonderful tool for me to get back on track and I appreciate everyone's knowledgeable responses and directions on how to get out of this mess.

I am making headway on some of my loans also. I did want to let you know that I also have One Click Cash and heard they are a bugger to deal with. I also have one from United Cash loans and 500 Fast Pay Day (or something like that). Anyway they are are all tied together along with One Click Cash so I know I have my work cut out for me with those. I am only hoping that the lawsuits that were just filed against Tucker and these groups will make dealing with them a little easier. I guess in the next few weeks I will know. Thanks for you info. shared and good luck!

;)


Submitted by lkvikings on Mon, 04/16/2012 - 20:48

lkvikings

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Received an email from Spektrum today. Sent me their physical address and tod me that although the disagree with my letter I cand send the $23 by money order to pay my principal. Which I did promptly. I stated in the mail I sent back that I consider this payment in full and I expect to receive an email notification stating the same.
Tomorrow will be the day of reconning....it's when all of my PDLs come out of my checking....so we will see how many of them took me serious when I sent the revocation letters. And we will see if my bank did what they said they did when closing my acct.
Some how I think Cash in a Wink and East Side are gonna be BIG pains. I did hear back from the BBB and they have sent inquires to the PDLs.


Submitted by Mmouze on Wed, 04/18/2012 - 16:54

Mmouze

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So far it appears as though the bank acct is ACTUALLY closed. The PDLs usually hit just after midnight. When I log into BofA the former checking acct doesn't show up. I am going to call and confirm today. Just to be on the safe side.

Having my paycheck back allowed me to catch up on all my other bills. Although none of them were more than 30 days past due.....they were starting to get painfully close.

Last week I was just beside myself and feeling like a horrible person for not paying my real bills on time.....today I feel like a million bucks!!!!!! And have money left over to take my child to the movies. What a beautiful day. Tears of joy!!!!!


Submitted by Mmouze on Thu, 04/19/2012 - 03:45

Mmouze

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Thanks OhioGal.....you have helped me more than I can ever say. I followed every step you recommended.

Today is the first day in a very very very long time where I fill like I can breath again.

Out of the four remaining...I am still waiting for a response from the BBB on one, one sent me an email letting me know they are reviewing my acct, another will not let me log in to the acct and last one welcomes me back and states that I don't have a current loan with them. I am sure this is. Not the last I will hear from them.....but for now they are awfully quite.

I will continue to provide updates until these last four sentpd me PIF notifications.


Submitted by Mmouze on Thu, 04/19/2012 - 17:49

Mmouze

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Ok....odd....VIP sent me an email today thanking me for my 500 payment. This was my originall loan amount. To which i have way over paid. This is the first I have heard from them since I sent out the letter to them on 11 April. And I checked with my bank. There was NO payment made to them. The account is forever closed. I will file it away and see if I hear from them again.


Submitted by Mmouze on Sun, 04/22/2012 - 16:03

Mmouze

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And another one bites the dust......two more to go. Had 9 on 11 April. Yesterday I had 3. Today....I only have two left. Just received a certifed letter in the mail stateing that my account was PIF. This is ONLY after I filed a complaint with the Office of the State Bank Commissioner for the State of Delaware. Felt like it took forever....but just wanted folks to know that there is hope. Stay Motivated!!!!!!!!!!!!


Submitted by Mmouze on Wed, 05/09/2012 - 10:07

Mmouze

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