PayDay Loan Alternative..

There's a difference in making a profit, and being downright illegal and charging over the TOP fees. There are many companies that still turn a profit without having to charge such fees. Im not sure what your point is with your post, but blaming people who get caught in the trap for the high fees doesn't settle well with me and im sure others who have found themselves in the payday loan mess.

What companies are these? My point is simple, what is the alternative to these loans. It seems as if people are upset because they get caught in this 'trap' but what is their alternative? You would be surprised the markups of products that you typically buy, is it right that companies markup as high as some of them do? I am not bashing the people who are getting these loans rather trying to understand the alternative.

Yes, of course personal responsibility is important, but I seriously doubt that people take payday loans to finance their Disney World vacations. Where do you turn when banks do not give you a loan and friends cannot help and you are simply short on money to pay your bills? I guess, in most cases it starts with one payday loan and a good will to repay it. However, if the situation does not improve before the loan is due, most people need to borrow more because the payments are just too high. And after that, there is no way to turn the tide. Most people take these loans with a hope that it will help, that in two weeks something, somehow will be different. And it probably does help at least for the first week or so. But the frequency of the payments and the amount of the payments will almost certainly mean, that the next month will be worse. And the next one even worse.... And that's the trap. Do you really think anyone in his right mind would take a loan with 600+% apr? But people these loans are designed for are not in their right minds, they are, as you adequately put it - desperate. But hopeful. After few payments cycles with payday loans, they are just desperate......

There is always a dollar store or WalMart where you can do your shopping. But the only alternative to payday loans is a regular loan. But people who take payday loans are generally not qualified for regular loans. So what's the alternative? What do you sell what services can you cancel fast enough to see the money you need NOW? There is no alternative, at least not if you don't want to become a criminal.

For some people, myself included, there IS no alternative. I still feel as you are blaming people who get caught up in it with the fees being so high. That's just NOT true. These companies, and if you want to know which ones, just browse around the forums and you will find MANY names, charge the outrageous fees because they can. They are ILLEGAL. Im not saying they are ALL illegal but most of the internet ones are. They think they do not have to abide by federal laws. Why? what makes them so special?
Maybe I am taking your post and comments the wrong way, but I am going through hell because of these loans that has effected my life in everyway and am struggling to get out of the mess.

Laura. . you are not misinterpreting the post. The good, decent people on this board are here to support those seeking help, not to judge or criticize. I do agree that defaulting on ANYTHING causes higher prices but if the PDLs were charging a competitive rate, their customers would be able to repay those loans and the cycle would not continue. The PDLs have created this situation for themselves. There is no place else to put that blame. They give new meaning to the old phrase that you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. Hang in there. . . .

before the Internet and PDL's we had loan sharks. When you didn't pay them, body parts were broken.

I'm sure the very 1st PDL didnt start out charging 35% interest and then, over the years, raise it to 900% because people defaulted.

What scares me the most? I can't remember where I read this, maybe the rip-off site, but someone said some PDL's may have connections to terrorist groups. True? Probably not, but who knows?

Furthermore, what happens in an emergancy with these companies? You call them and say, "I was in an accident and I won't have a paycheck this week," and they got right into your bank account and start debiting, taking every penny they can get.

There will be an influx of people finding and joining this forum over the next several months. The economy just can't support PDLs today. We've been in this cycle FOREVER and always willing to pay back the loan with the fees. But when it comes down to paying a company who has broke the law (of my state) vs paying my rent so my family has a place to live, guess which choice I'm going with?

What about the fact that these payments are deducted as soon as my salary goes into my accout? If I get up real early and go to the ATM machine, would I be able to get my money on my hands before PDL does? I know it sounds crazy, but I am at the breaking point with this situation I got myself into because I needed help. The sad part is that even if there is not enough money when they withdraw, my bank allows them to deduct the amount owed and then I owe the bank that amount plus 35 NSF fees!! :x

I like many others fell into the PDL trap by accident then realized what a nightmare it has become.It becomes an endless cycle of debt.I have learned my lesson and hope I
will never use these kind's of loans again.I have often wished
that I could go to a bank and take out a loan and pay off all
of my PDL's and credit cards but that's just not going to happen.No bank that I know of will loan money to anyone with
bad credit or a bad credit score.Coming on this site and bashing people for getting into this mess is not what we are about here.We have come here for help and advice and take that knowledge and put it to work paying off our debts.
When it comes to paying back unseccured debt or paying rent,
utilities and the basics of life unseccured debt comes last.But
of course they are the first to come calling because there is
no collateral for them to take.

What are the alternatives to PDL's? How I wish there had been one or is one--but the reality is for most people on the boards there isn't one.
I think it's easy for desparate people to fall for the PDL sales pitch. "Need an advance till payday? No problem! Write us a check and we'll hold it till your next payday!" What is too good to be true is--and I never stopped to realize that this PDL would be putting me further behind...

llw1995... it is a huge misinterpretation of my post. It was interesting to seem some PDLs finance numbers for the ones that are publicly traded. Their profit margins seem fairly low compared to other industries and that is with charging the fees that they do. I think they would become not-for-profit if they lowered them. I really enjoy what this website does in helping people out who have gotten them into the situation (minus google ads for PDLs, kind of a contradiction.) It just amazes me how there are not other alternatives for these people and none of them can come up with other alternatives. In essence no body is falling for any type of PDL trick but rather having no other alternative.

I think that there are good payday loan companies out there. They are not all evil, bad places.

They do supply a legitimate service to people in need. It's the bad companies that give the industry the bad name. The good companies make sure the customer knows exactly what they are getting into before they sign, and follow all the laws.

There is an element of personal responsibility with payday loans too.

The example I used before - Fast Food. Just because you went out and ate a Whopper, a Big Mac, a Double, a $6 Burger, and a Super Star, doesn't make it the resturants fault that you are fat. You had freedom of choice.

People have to realize their part in their problem and take that personal responsibility.

Personally, I beleive that if the loans were used "right" and there were only legally abiding lenders out there, it would not be a bad industry.

I know most people on this board hate pdl's, but there are at least 2 sides to every story. I know that there are illegal companies out there that loan you money then make it impossible to contact them to pay it off. Those are the bad companies.

Overpriced goods and services are nothing new. Just take going to the movies and paying $5 for a soda. But they make sure they will not make it impossible for you to come back. They charge a lot, but they do not include tactics that would make you pay them for watching the movie once, but paying for it again and again. On the other hand, payday loans are there in time of your desperation and they do whatever they can to make sure you cannot leave them, thus keep paying and paying. Remember, rolling over your payday loan is not a new loan (though that's how they classify it). You are not getting any more money from them. In fact, you already made a payment and thus paid a hefty amount of interest - already. Yet you have to pay the same hefty amount again and again, without them making any further investments or offering any new service. They simply charge you these outrages fees for your inability to make the payment in full. That is simply not right, that is an abuse of people's desperation.
The purpose of every business is profit, but it also should be a service to the community. If that is not the case, if the only thing that remains is seeking profit, than the business is just driven by greed, and as such, creates havoc in the communities they 'serve'.

Not all payday loan companies operate the way you describe - There are many that do not allow rollovers.

Honestly, I never met one. In fact, most of the ones I dealt with advertise the rollovers as the "easiest and best part of the loan process". I mean, I always new that these fees applied, I knew how the rollover process worked. But they would not even try to make some payment arrangements with me if I was allegeable to have a rollover. In other words, the only arrangement they were willing to if I could not pay the loan in full at the moment, was to offer a rollover. That to me is very shady approach.

But that doesn't mean that is how all companies operate.

I have to disagree. I PDL'd for a long time (almost 10 years, off and on) and I never ran into a PDL that wouldn't let me take out a new loan, seconds after I paid off the old one and was still standing in the store. And this also applied to online PDL's. They never called it a rollover, but if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's a duck. Are there good people working in the front lines at these places? You bet--but I think it's a flawed business model fundamentally.
How are these places going to make a profit unless they get you to loan with them? There's no way to do it otherwise!

I have seen some pdl's that were good - That charged way less they they could, and that stuck to their own rules about no rollovers, customer education, and waiting 7 days between loans. They do exist.