Payday loan harrassment on us and the references

cornelius - welcome to the site!

First, let me ask you something - are these storefront or internet PDL's? (PDL = Pay Day Lender)

If they are storefront lenders, they are quite likely operating legally in your state, and yes, they can call your references in order to find out why you are not returning their calls. They can't reveal the nature of their call (such as saying "he owes us money and we need to contact him"), but they will most likely say its an important matter related to personal business.

Now, with that said, let's move on to your PDL's. If you can provide us with the following information, we can give you some advice that will help you get out of the endless payday lending cycle:

-state you live in
-names of the lenders you are dealing with
-whether each one is an internet or storefront lender
-how much you borrowed from each one (principal only, no fees)
-how much you have paid each one (include everything you've paid, including any fees or interest)

With that information, we can give you some advice, based on your state laws.

Welcome to our forum. First of all may I ask what state you are in?? And are these internet loans or store fronts??

They always make us put down references when we apply for the loan..traditionally they only call them when they can't find you or you are not responding to their attempts to reach you. With internet loans you can send a letter asking them to stop calling and to email or postal service letters to you only...but that doesn't always insure they will stop. Some loan companies are more agressive than others. If you care to list who you are dealing with, chances are someone here has also and can give you more insight.

All of our loans are storefront and we live in Missouri. 3 of the loans were taken out over a year ago, and we have no clue how much has been paid to them. Way more than the principal, thats for sure!

The loans are:
Quick Cash #1 (Corn)--$500, old loan, past due
#2 (Kim)--$400, 2 months old, past due, paid interest for one month only.
Payday Advance $300, old loan, past due
Advance America $500, old loan, past due
Check Into Cash #1 (Corn) $375, 2 months old, have paid one months of interest, due October 3.
#2 (Kim) $225, 2 months old, have paid one months of interest, due Oct 13.
Ready Cash, #200, new (yeah...we know...stupid), due Sept 27th.

Corn & Kim

I'm posting your state pdl law for you to see what we're talking about here. Unfortunately, I have to say your state pdl law sucks (excuse me). They permit rollovers/extensions. They can take criminal action if you close your bank account or stop payment on the checks. Wow. They really suck. Let's take a look. :wink:

You will find the Payday loan Missouri here (just select your state),

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/paydayloan/explain-pdls-laws.html

Yeah...And we are glad we researched it...used to think it was like a regular bad check and it was a felony to bounce it...but its not...but we were told to stop payment...which we are glad we didn't do! We are trying to increase our income and all the new will go to debts. (Trying to do the Dave Ramsey plan.) But the pay increase won't be recieved until November. Our primary concern now is what to do about them harrasing our references even though they have spoke to us already and know whats going on.

Corn & Kim

Yes, whatever you do, do not close your bank account or stop payment on those checks! Lord! As far as them contacting your references, I would try this. I would write each a letter (but I'm big on documentation) and tell them to cease contact with your references and only contact you regarding these loans. Tell them you are "notifying them in writing to cease communication with any and all references listed". Give them a telephone number of which they can reach you at, and if they call you, take the calls. If they can talk to you, it might prevent them from calling your references. I'm not promising this will work; however, it's certainly worth a shot. What's a couple of letters? Nothing. Write them, send them, give them your contact phone number, and take their calls if they call you. It's when you don't respond to them that they start calling references trying to "find" you. If you keep in contact with them, they will most likely stop calling your references. They think you're "hiding" if they can't get ahold of you.

cornelius-take cannrs advice. Unfortunately the laws are not much help here. Let us know if you might need help with letters.

Cornelius,
A big welcome first of all to the forums! You are with people who are also going thru and have been thru PDL hell. Everyone has given great advice and the benefit of their hard-earned wisdom to you. We've all "been there and done that", believe me.
I would also like to recommend possibly going through consolidation by signing up with a company that deals with PDL's. If you have someone who has legal expertise and can look out for you, that would be a big step in the right direction. They also take all the harassing phone calls from the PDL's, which improves your peace of mind, believe me.
You can research the different companies people here have used and then go with one that meets your needs.
Good luck and we are just a mouseclick away.