Please help me!

Goudah posted these pdl laws for pennsylvania:

Pennsylvania State Information

Legal Status: Prohibited

Citation:
Check cashers are specifically prohibited from making payday loans under Check Cashing Licensing Act of 1998, ???? 505(a). Otherwise, consumer discount company act applies. 7 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. ???? 6201 et seq.

Small Loan Rate Cap
$9.50 per $100 per year discount or 24% per year

Where to Complain, Get Information:
Regulator: Pennsylvania Department of Banking
Address: Market Square Plaza, 17 N. Second Street Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: (717) 214-8343
Fax: (717) 787-8773
Regulatory Contact: Jim Keiser, Administrator of Non-Depository Institutions
http://www.banking.state.pa.us/banking/site/default.asp



Emails to and from PA Banking Dept

Hello,

I have a question about payday loans in Pennsylvania. Does the small loan rate cap of $9.50 per $100 per year discount or 24% per year apply to these loans? I took out a few on the internet and am trying to figure out how much I legally need to pay. For instance on a $200 loan would I be legally responsible for paying back only $248?

Thanks!

Response:

Dear Ms.:

The 9.5 discount and the 24 % simple interest refer to calculations that can be used by companies that are operating in Pennsylvania and are licensed under Pennsylvania????????s Consumer Discount Company Act. With a number of exceptions, a lender that is located inside of Pennsylvania and who does not have any special lending authority (i.e., a special license or charter) who is making smaller loans not secured by real estate can only charge interest at a rate of 6% simple.

A lender that does not have a physical presence in Pennsylvania but who has lending authority from some other state can generally charge the interest rate and finance charges allowed by that other state.

The Department may or may not be reviewing this policy and I would not count on this e-mail as an interpretive opinion before starting any lending or business operations.

James Keiser | Administrator Non-Depository Institutions

17 North Second Street, 13th Floor | Hbg PA 17101
Phone: 717.783.8242 | Fax: 717.787.8773
jkeiser(at)state.pa.us | www.banking.state.pa.us

What does this mean?

There are no storefronts in PA. They are illegal.

Internet lenders can lend legally to PA residents as long as they are licensed in another state. They would need to follow the laws of the state in which they are licensed.

Other people will be along shortly to advise you further. Before you close your account due to the pdl's please read this thread closing your accounts due to pdl's first. The only way that you are going to get them to stop withdrawing from your account is to close it. Do you know what state these pdl's are operating out of?

Provide this information and someone will be able to check and see if they are licensed to lend out of their state so unless paydayone is licensed in their home state they lending out money illegally is how I interpret it.

The first thing to do is find out if Paydayone is licensed ANYWHERE. If so, then they are legal to lend to PA residents. If not licensed, then they are illegal and you have overpaid them.

Do you know where they are based out of? Anyone?

According to their website they are licensed in Delaware - like so many others of course! But, I looked at the state by state licenses on their site...and PA is not listed as regulated. Not sure what that means but I guess I will start with the complaint contact info at the top of your post.
Thanks for your info, I feel better just knowing I am not alone in this ridiculous battle!

Call them and say you are thinking about taking a loan but need to know if they are legally licensed to lend, where are they licensed and can they provide a license number.

If they say they are licensed in Delaware, then check there to see if they are licensed. If they say Texas, you need to check there. They MUST be licensed SOMEWHERE in order to be legal to lend.

Also, search this web board and see what other information comes up for them.

If they are not licensed anywhere, then we now know how to proceed to get this resolved!

From what I've just pulled up in old threads, unfortunately paydayone is legal. :evil:

There has to be a way to reconcile though, $1,783 is way too much to pay for $850. This is insane! I can never afford to pay more than the finance fee...and that in itself is still keeping me from paying my other bills on time.

To my knowledge PaydayOne is licensed in several different states.

Well, I did some more digging through old posts on here, and I found several ppl said paydayone accepted a 5 pay payment plan once you have gone ridiculously out of control. So I called to give it a shot. "Casey" was not willing to help at first, but I pushed on. He kept saying "please hold". Eventually, after I would not back down, he agreed to a 5 pay period payoff plan. No more interest from this point! (I know that is not great considering what I've already paid...but it is something!) Starting this Fri. I will pay $192.00 for 5 pays and my account will be settled. I was paying that much in finance fees alone and not getting anywhere. So, even though I am still in debt the next 5 pays I'm at least sighing a little relief here.
The down side is, I don't have anyhing in writing. He asked me to call back Thurs before 4 pm to verify and then I'll get something?? hmmmm...

Even if it is settled, I think I will stick around there's a lot of good info on here!

Thanks :)