Payday Loans in Pa

Debt consolidation for PDLs is a scam. Do not do it. You are already all paid with these loans if you paid over the principal. Request a refund. The one you have not yet paid, get a prepaid debit card do not give them your new checking account. Follow the link in my signature regarding illegal lenders for more details.

Thank you for your response. I am a little confused though, because one of the people I spoke with regarding this was the man that answered the phone when I called the number listed on your website! He recommended debt consolidation for my situation and reviewed what it would cost me! So, if it is a scam, why is Debt Consolidation Care recommending it? And really, what sre the chances any of these lenders are going to refund me a penny?

Not sure who you spoke with but the fact is, consolidating illegal loans is bad advice. Whoever told you that was trying to make money off you. This site does not do any kind of loans/consolidation, you must've spoken with an affiliate.

The chances depend on who your lenders are. List them out and I can help determine that. Make sure you followed the steps in my signature.

I called the number listed on the Debt Consolidation Cares website (800-DEBT-913) and spoke to Benjamin. I explained everything as I did to you in my previous post (and more) and he advised that consolidation was the best solution. I made it very clear that the loans are illegal in my state! He did not even ask for the specific companies yet, as I told him I needed some time to think about it and would call him back on Monday. My companies are: My Payday Loan, Ameriloan, Ideal Gelt, American Web Loan, Advance Me Today, Cash Web USA, Blue King, and One Click Cash. The current amount "owed" on these accounts (not including all the payments I have already made to them) is about $6,000 total.

Please ignore the information you have been given by Benjamin. Follow the link in my signature line....read the payday loan forum for other people's experience with following this advise/guide. Sign up with this forum if you have not already....we are here to help you.

The advice is appreciated. This is all very overwhelming. I just find it very confusing that when I called the number on THIS SITE to get help, its employee is giving me advice that those on the forum are saying is bad! How is that possible! It just does not make any sense to me! My other issue is time and resources. I am a single parent, I work full time, and I don't have a computer at home (only my phone). It will be difficult for me to do all of this myself. I am also feeling very frightened about trusting anyone because I am getting so much conflicting information. Where do these instructions (like the step by step for dealing with illegal lenders) come from? It says right on the thread that she is not a lawyer, etc. How do I know this is the right way to go? And which "leap of faith" do I take? I just don't want to make the wrong choice and end up in more trouble!

you're welcome to look up your state laws and verify yourself. these lenders can't do anything to you. follow the advice in waffles' sig. you spoke to some idiot at oak view law group ignore them.

Every single one of those loans are ILLEGAL. Do not pay them another cent. You do not need to consolidate anything. I'd like to have a word with this guy Benjamin because he is an idiot to advise you to consolidate ILLEGAL debt! You do not even owe these people a cent legally. Under the eyes of the law they just sent you money. There is no recourse for getting even the principal back; they are LUCKY to get it! And they sure as hell should not be working with some scam PDL consolidator who will be purposely allowing the lender to tack on fees so he makes a bigger buck and costs you more money!! Follow the advise below please and register to the site!


Step 1
First step is to talk to your bank. You'll want to sit down with a relationship manger (the people who have offices or cubicles at the bank) not a teller. Let them know you???re revoking ACH authorization for all/any PDLs you have and will supply them with a copy of your revocation letter if they wish, but want to secure your account before any further activity takes place. If you???ve already overpaid the principal of the loan, fill out fraud paperwork. Explain that you have overpaid the loan and the company refuses to stop debiting your account. If you still owe, tell them you???ve discovered this type of loan is illegal in your state and you need to protect yourself from the illegal lender having further access to your account.

Tell your banker you???d like to keep your business with their bank and ask them to CLOSE the account and open a new one for you. Be sure that the two accounts are not linked in any way. If their policy is that the old account can???t officially close for a certain period of time, have the old account put on ???deposit only??? status until that time has passed.

If the bank is uncooperative, move up the chain of command until you are certain that your new account is not linked with the old one and that no further debits will ???reopen??? the account or cause you to be charged fees. Anything presented after you???ve taken these steps should be returned at no cost to you. Period.

In some cases, you may end up having to open a new account with a different bank.

Closing your account is the only sure way to protect yourself from further withdrawals.

If your banker wants a copy of the revocation email first, go ahead and skip to step 2 but get that revocation to your bank and get your account closed on the SAME DAY you contact the lender.

Step 2
Next, you want to contact your lenders. I don???t suggest bothering with finding physical addresses, sending certified mail, etc. Why spend more of what you already don???t have? Most of these lenders have a customer service email on their website in the "contact us" section. Email is fine; it???s a written record of your communications and you???re more likely to receive a response via email anyway.

You want to notify the lender that you have discovered that these types of loans are not legal in your state. Tell them the reason for the illegality. It could be that they aren???t licensed in your state or even anywhere in the U.S.; it could be that all PDLs are illegal in your state; it could be that their interest rate is too high based on your state???s laws; it could be that they???re ???tribal,??? etc. Do the research regarding your state and tell them why they???re illegal. You do not have to copy and paste the laws of your state. Just keep it simple and to the point. You can find your state???s information in this sticky. (link pending, to be provided asap - still working on it)

In your email, you also want to tell the lender that you are revoking both ACH authorization and anyy wage assignment you may have signed as part of your loan agreement.

If you have not yet repaid the principal (the actual amount deposited into your account), tell them that, although you are not required to do so, you are willing to repay the principal balance of the loan. Then tell them how you intend to do so, on your time, on your terms. I suggest paying using a prepaid debit card account.

If you have repaid exactly the principal, tell them you will be making no further payments and expect to receive an email response noting that your account has been paid in full.

If you have overpaid the principal, ask for a refund of that overpayment. Tell them to send a check to your address on file. If you DO receive a refund check, do NOT deposit it into your new account. Instead, take it to a check cashing store and pay the fee to have it cashed.

Under NO circumstances are you to give any of these lenders access to your new account by any method.

Sample Letters:
Here are a couple sample letters to use as a guideline for your letters. Alter them to fit your situation.

Quote:
Dear Lender,

It has come to my attention that payday loans are prohibited in my state. Therefore, the loan contract that I have with you, according to my state???s laws, is not enforceable. Although I am not required to do so, I am willing to repay the principal balance of the loan. To date, I have received $500 and have made 3 ???renewal??? payments of $120 leaving a balance due of $140. I am willing to repay the $140 balance via credit card in 2 monthly installments of $70 each on (insert date(s)).

At this time I am revoking ACH authorization. You are no longer authorized to withdraw payments from my checking account. I am also revoking any wage assignment I may have signed. I have given a copy of these revocations to both my bank and my employer. Any future attempts to collect funds in this manner will be blocked.

Please contact me to set up payment arrangements as outlined above.
Quote:
Dear Lender,

It has come to my attention that payday lenders must be licensed by the state of (insert state) in order to offer loans to its residents. Since your company has no license in my state, the loan contract I have with you is not valid. Although I am not legally required to do so, I am willing to repay the principal balance of this loan. To date, I received a deposit of $500 on (insert date), and have had 6 bi-weekly withdrawals of $120 debited from my account. This results in an overpayment of $220.

At this time I am requesting a return email acknowledging that my loan has been paid in full. Also, I would like a refund of the $220 overpayment. A refund check of $220 should be mailed to me at the address you have on file.

I am also revoking authorization for ACH withdrawals and any wage assignment I may have signed. I have given a copy of these revocations to both my bank and my employer. Any future attempts to collect funds in this manner will be blocked.
Please respond to this email with acknowledgment that my account has been satisfied in full. Details of when I can expect the refund check, as discussed above, should also be included in the email.
Step 3:
Give a copy of your emails to your bank (if they needed one to close your account) and to your employer???s HR/Payroll department, or whatever department handles ???garnishments.??? This will protect you should they try to invoke the voluntary wage assignment.

Step 4:
Next, file complaints. You should file a complaint with your state???s Attorney General???s office, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and your state???s banking/financial regulatory agency. You can find links to this information in this sticky. (updated link will be added ASAP - still working on it)

Step 5:
Wait. While you???re waiting for your reply, notify your friends/family members/co-workers that you???ve been a victim of fraud and, if they receive a phone call from someone in regard to your personal/financial/legal affairs, they are to simply tell them that they are aware this is a scam and not to call again. Any calls they receive after that first contact, they should simply hang up or ignore.

Sometimes you???ll hear from the lenders immediately. Sometimes they wait until they have tried and failed to get at your money. Whenever they do contact you, if they try to feed you a line about how your state???s laws don???t apply to them, they???re wrong. Don???t let them intimidate you. You???re in the right here. Keep in mind these people are operating ILLEGALLY and they know it. They just want your money and they will try anything to scare it out of you.

Sometimes you start getting calls from people claiming to be from some federal bureau, claiming there is a fraud case against you, claiming they???re going to come to your home or your place of business and serve you a summons or arrest you. This is a scare tactic. Don???t buy it. A fun idea is to give them the phone number and address of your local police department and tell them they can serve you there.

Sometimes you hear from a collection agency (or the lender pretending to be a collection agency). If this happens, tell them to send you something in writing and you will respond accordingly. If they refuse, you know it???s a line of bull. If they actually send you something, simply respond with a debt validation letter. They cannot validate an illegal loan.

Finally:
We do not advocate not repaying your loans. We always recommend repaying the principal balance of your loan, even to illegal lenders. If you still owe money on the loan and they simply will not cooperate with you after multiple attempts on your end, as a final step, tell them that if they don???t want to agree to your terms, then you???ll pay nothing.

If you need further assistance or have more specific questions, please start a new thread and supply the following details:

1. The names of each of your lenders
2. How you obtained the loan (internet, storefront, etc.)
3 What state you live in
4. How much was deposited by each lender
(if you've had and repaid multiple loans prior to this one, add them all together)
5. How much you've been debited by each lender
(again, if you've had multiple loans, do the math and give us a total)
6. Details of any communication you've had with the lender
7. Any additional question(s) specific to your situation

I have joined the community, but when I try to sign in (with user name and password provided) it tells me the information is incorrect. I was going to PM you, Waffles, but it won't let me, so I will just post here. Waffles, do you work for Debt Consolidation Cares? The man I spoke to (Benjamin) answered the phone when I called THIS company! His direct phone # is (916) 745-8150. Feel free to call and speak with him. I hope you are correct and that I do not have to pay any more money. But, that still does not explain why I was not given the same information when I called this company at the number listed on the website. I don't want to have to consolidate or spend another penny if I don't have to, but I also don't want to end up in more trouble. I will be calling my states attorneys office this week to speak with someone there as well. I have read the step by step instructions provided and will begin preparing these documents for the loan companies. I am just dreading what I know is coming on Friday when they are unable to obtain payment because I have closed my account. I thank you for your time and will be curious to know the outcome of your conversation with Benjamin. I believe his last name is Graham. He will be available tomorrow from 11am-9pm eastern time.

OK, Waffles, listen to this! I called the 800 # again to see if I would be given different information. I want the clarify that what was discussed with me was a debt settlement program (not a loan). The guy I talked to today told me that I am still obligated to pay the principle as well as the interest allowed by law in my state (24% APR I believe). They would ne negotiating on the balance currently owed, not taking into consideration any money already paid and if I had already paid above the principle and allowed interest, then they would turn that back over to me to handle. He also said that if it is stated in my contract that I must abide by their state laws and not the state I reside in, or if it is tribal, then I have to abide by that. If I do not believe that to be true, then I could try to sue them. When I asked him who he workred for, he said Oak View Law Group (which I knew was affiliate with this site) and that the forum is just "people helping people" and that does not mean the information is true, accurate, or legal. He advised me to request Debt Validation letters from my companies. He also said I broke the law too because I accepted these loans, even though I did not know it was illegal! I will certainly not be signing on with these people! I will begin preparing the documents in your step by step instructions and I will also be contacting the Attorney Generals Office and the FTC (?) for their advice.

Please stop calling this call center...they are giving you horrible information. Ignore anything they have told you. Any contract you signed is null and void..technically you owe nothing, morally you should pay back the principle only, no interest, no fees. Again..follow the link in my signature line that Ohiogal wrote...if you look over the payday loan forum, you will see hundreds of people we have helped without lining our pockets with fees.

FYI...all the moderators here are not employees of DCC...we volunteer our time and skills. I am a former student loan debt collector and financial aid officer. Waffles works for a major bank....Ohiogal is self taught having gone thru her own battles with payday loans....Skydiver has years of experience on this board and others. We spend hours researching the laws and work at educating people. We have no financial interest.

My suggest is to listen to what this forum is telling you. I was in the same boat a little while ago. I listened to them and three of my six loans have dropped anything left (because I over paid the principal). They will not give me a refund but I am fine with that. The other three that I had was turned into a collection agency, who repeatedly threatened me. This forum got me through that. I almost consolidated but they convinced me not to do it. I'm glad I listen to them. The AG's office was a help also. Listen to these people. Do not consolidate your loans.

I will not be consolidating anything and will follow the steps. I simply called the # again as a "test" to see if they would give me the same advice. I am glad I started reading the information on the forum, or I probably would have consolidated! The debt validation letter requests are for after it is turned over to a collection agency, not with the original lender, right? I feel so bad that my friends, who I gave as references, will now be dragged into this as well with the harrassing phone calls I am sure will come. Thankfully, it is the same 2 friends for all I think. It is just embarassing that they will have to contend with this too! Thank you all for your support and advice as I navigate through this mess I have gotten myself into! How long should I expect this process to take? Will they be harassing me for months? Years? It is all so overwhelming!

Nope, you don't need to send a DV letter. The debt is illegal; you live in a NO PDL state. If a CA contacts you you send them a cease and desist, return receipt requested.

Dear Collection Agency....

I hereby demand you cease and desist any and all calls and contact with me and anyone I am associated with in regards to account #___________, original creditor ____________. Paydays are prohibited in my state of _____________ and as such the contract is null and void. You are collecting on dirty paper.

Govern yourself accordingly...

The first clue that something is wrong with the advice you were given is that they advised you to send debt validation letters to original creditors....It ts shameful how wrong this information is. We as moderators are not employed or affiliated with that company. We are members of this forum and were asked to become moderators here due to our expertise and experience. Thanks for posting this!

And what response do I give when they claim immunity (tribal) or that it states in my contract that I agree to abide by their laws and not the laws of the state I reside in (because I am sure they will try to claim this!). I know that a few of my loans are tribal and 2 are from Costa Rica. I so wish I had educated myself better before getting myself into this mess! But, I never would have imagined that these people would lend to me if it was illegal!

cashcall

I will assure you, whoever you are, that I have spoken with my state dept of banking, who has told me that these loans are illegal and my state is currently fighting and prosectuting these types of companies. I will trust them, rather than some rude, nameless person trolling this site! Your are probably one of the bottom feeding debt collecters trying to intimidate people! I have no issue paying back the original amount I borrowed, but these companies have broken the laws of my state in more ways than one, so I am not responsible for paying the interest that exceeds the law in my state! And, by the way, you can NOT be criminally prosecuted or thrown in jail for unpaid payday loan debt! So says the dept of banking, the FTC and the Attorney General. Take your scare tactics someplace else buddy!

Thank you for deleting that crazy, ranting, and uniformed troller that was before my last post! In doing all this research recently, I read that the original payday loan companies do not have to abide by the FDCA, but once it is turned over to a CA, they do. Is this true? Oh, and FYI, Blue Ridge Law Group was another company I talked to last week regarding a consolidation program (before I found this forum-don't worry, not gonna do it!) and they advised that the first thing they do is send out DV letters, yet none of my loans are even in default yet, and I told them that! Guess they are another company looking to take advantage of people already in a desperate situation. Just thought you might want that info. Thanks again for the guidance you are providing!

The FDCPA only applies to collectors collecting on a debt, not the OC unless you live in TX or CA. Those two states have laws that mirrow the FDCPA.

Any company with the words "law office" have high overhead and the people signing up with these companies pay thru the nose for their services. Keep in mind with most of these companies you are dealing with a call center, not an attorney....unless the courts get involved like in filing a bankrutpcy, you are unlikely to actually speak or deal with an actual attorney.,

Hi All,

We have taken the issue very seriously. We spoke to OVLG very strictly on this issue. They have apologised for this scenario.
They have taken the following steps to prevent this from happening in future..
1. They have shared their payday loan debt process with everybody
( http://www.ovlg.com/paydayloandebt-process.html )

2 They have again re-confirmed their 100% Money back guarantee policy with us. ( https://www.ovlg.com/money-back-guarantee/ )


Regards

To the OP,


As far as your login issue is concerned, I would request you to send me the email address and password that you used for registering in the community. We will look into the matter. You can contact me at [EMAIL="jason@debtconsolidationcare.com"]jason@debtconsolidationcare.com[/EMAIL]



We apologise for your inconvenience.

Jason,

If OVLG is advising clients or potential clients that they need to pay principal plus interest on illegal loans, and/or are taking on illegal PDL debt that has been paid in full or overpaid as a consolidation client, they are WRONG, WRONG, WRONG and you should be ashamed to be working with them.

They're ripping people off.

Thanks for looking into this, Jason. It seems what the bosses at OVLG you are speaking with are being contradicted by their call center agents.

Quote:

If an borrower includes an illegal loan in an OVLG debt program, sounds like they would still be charged the initial $100 per client set up fee PLUS the monthly charge. Wouldn't it make MORE sense for OVLG just to be honest and tell them "look...you owe principal only. Pay them back at your convenience".. (Not that this is likely to happen....they are more likely to rape more fees from the borrower.....) Especially when it is a small loan like $300-$500.

I was looking into debt consolidation as well before I came across this site...main debt being payday loans. A couple of debt consolidation companies I called said that they could consolidate the pdl's payments, the last debt resolution company I spoke with, Freedom Debt Relief, a rep told me that they couldn't help me with payday loans and that I should be leary of any company that claims to work with pdl's on consolidation.

I have been emailing the companies that do not have an easy way to access your loan documents and asking them to email me a copy. One of them (MyPayDay Loan.com), says "Check Advance Agreement." Does this make a difference? Also, this company is out of Costa Rica. Is it still an illegal loan?

Why on earth do you want a coy of your agreement? Just knowing if it is tribal or offshore tells the whole story. ILLEGAL ILLEGAL!!!

Costa RIca?? Yup...they not in the US nor I they licenced. Illegal

I requested them to send to my state AG. They told me to send them any info I could for their investigation. One company told me I had to request in writing in certain format for email or by fax and they would send in. Several others have just emailed it to me. I have read many places online that offshore lenders do not have to abide by state or federal laws. If this is true, then how are they illegal? One of my offshore contracts (Costa Rica) says I could have to pay $25,000 if I default! Just don't want to get myself deeper into trouble!

I'm going to make this sound the least professorial as I can.

How the hell could a company that is not following either US federal or US state law EVER do anything to recover a balance from you? Please think about that for a minute. Then, you will realize why it is illegal.

I appreciate your candor Waffles! I hope you can appreciate my fear in all of this. I just don't want to screw myself even more and I am trying my best to educate myself so that I do not make anymore stupid and uniformed decisions. I would think it highly unlikely anyway that one of these offshore companies would come here to sue anyway, but I don't want to sound like a fool by making claims to them (in my letters) that will come back to bite me in the a** in the end. I am not an attorney, nor well versed in all this legal information. That is why I am trying to do my research and ask questions. If I could afford to hire a consumer law attorney, I would, but I can't. So I am just trying my best to navigate this wisely on my own!

Absolutely and I understand that. but please understand basic principles of law. These people are operating illegally, period end the sentence. They cannot do jack shit to you. You are in the right here my friend. Keep fighting them and do not let them get to you. We have had people in the past fall for their bull in emails and we do not want to see that happening to you.

Hi All,

We just spoke to representative from OVLG this morning and they assured us that such a situation will never occur in the future and Benjamin who was responsible for the issue has been fired.

Well it did happen again.

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183492

Jason,

Please check the thread about this in our section.....

Ok all, just want to run this by you. I got a response from one of my lenders (off shore in Costa Rica) with lots of info in it. Things like all correspondence is copyrighted (which I agreed to when I signed contract) and if information is shared I can be held liable for copyright infringement, disclosure of confidential info and breach of contract. Held liable for liquedated damages of $25,000 per violation and that I agreed to be goverened by the laws of Costa Rica. They quoted cases from the 70's and 80's and said the controlling forum for a contract is determined by the "lex loci contractus" which is the law of the place the contract is made and the contract is deemed to be executed where the final act necessary to make it binding has been completed (i.e. Costa Rica). They said something about comments regarding interest rate caps (which I did not even mention in my email to them) did not apply. They also said it is not a loan becuase it does not accrue interest, by flat fees and that standard usury laws do not apply. That it is no different than your bank charging an overdraft fee. They quoted a balance much higher, but then "agreed" to settle to pay off what they claim is my principle balance. They advised me to abide by contract and contact collections dept within 2 buisness days or they will report to appropriate credit agencies as a default in obligations and turn over to outside collection agency for full recovery and up to 35% of the advance amount for services and fees. This is a company I borrowed a total of $578 from and have paid $800. They actually owe me a little over $200! They are asking me to pay them $500 more! I know live in no PDL state and they Re an offshore lender, but is there any truth to any of this info? How would you suggest I respond?

They are just trying to confuse you...

Dear__________

I have educated myself on the laws of payday loans and I will not listen to anymore of your garbage. I am not a resident of Costa Rica and quite frankly have no intention in visiting Costa Rica. I am most definately not subject to the laws of Costa Rica. I am a resident of Pennsylvania and the laws of Pennsylvania and the USA are the ONLY laws I am subject too. You are not licensed in my state or any other state in the US and my state specifically states that payday loans are PROHIBITED in my state.
So the contract I signed is null and void. I owe you NOTHING...in fact you owe ME a refund.

Sure, you can place me into collections but I will immediately cease and desist them, informing them that you are an illegal lender in the US and that the contract is unenforceable.

So do yourself a favor, mark my loan as paid in full. You are not getting another cent from me.

Govern yourself accordingly.

Thanks for the response Soaplady. So basically, it's all BS? Even the stuff about the copyrighted corespondance? Or does none of it matter at all because the contract itself (with all those things included) is null and void? I figured it is all just part of their scare tactics to try to force payment, but I just wanted to check. By the way, she (woman from company who sent email) ended her rant with "govern yourself accordingly." Did you steal that from them, or they from you? Is that a phrase these companies frequently use? I have only heard back from one other company so far. A tribal lender who told me I must have "misunderstood" the terms of the agreement and tried to feed me some tribal law/immunity BS. I am trying my hardest to stay strong and not be bullied, but the crap they come back at you with messes with the mind!

It is a common legal phrase, to change your behavior based on the facts presented.

Next time you answer capitalize YOURSELF :)