One Question - why are payday loans still legal

I cant say why they are still legal, maybe because not enough people have spoken up?? I can say (and this forum is a prime example) that people are beginning to realize what a downward spiral this industry represents, and are raising their voices, demanding strong regulation of the industry.

Will PDL's be out lawed? I sorta doubt it, not on a national scale anyway. However the regulation many states are beginning to impose on the industry are such that before long it will no longer be economically beneficial for them to continue in business

Those payday loan places are like loan sharks. I wish the government would do something about them.

I think the words have been started to spread around that how bad they can be. This forum has educated many people already. Now it's our responsibility to make people aware how much costly payday/installment loan could be if they are revolved.

I am in a big pickle right now. I don't know who's online, but I made the fatal mistake of giving cash today limited my husband's new account information. well, they informed me that they could not process the next payment until the 14th (today) they hit my old account, and since I have decided to consolidate with T & C. They had made payments arrangements, and now, cash today limited hit my husband's account for $158.00. I don't know what to do. My husband fliped out on me for taking out this loan, no crap. Does anyone have any good advice? I faxed them a cease and desist letter. The phone calls at work stopped, but also in this letter I clearly stated not to debit any and all accounts they have knowledge of.

I also told them to delete the new account information as soon as I realized that they tricked me into giving it.

I doubt if they will delete it. Contact your hubby's bank and immediately put a stop payment, if possible.

I called the bank, they put out a fraud alert on the account. He actually has to go into the bank and make that information known to them, to make the stop payment i guess or whatever. I guess he may have to close the account or at least freeze them from taking money out of the account.

That's correct. I suppose you are under consolidation program. Inform your counselor about this too.

Wait a minute!! Who said all payday loans are legal?

If you are dealing with a payday lender licensed in your state who's operating according to your state's rules as to fees, charges, interest, maximum loan amount, etc., THEN it's legal. Not otherwise.

Also, it's a crime in most states to do business in that state without a business license and registration of a business name / corporate entity name.

And CashToday is one of the worst. If they took money out of your husband's account without his authorization and he didn't make the loan, that's larceny. File a written dispute with the bank so they can back out the charge immediately.

I have to agree with Virginia Legal on this issue because the majority of online lenders are not licensed at all and do not follow any rules except their own. I have gone through so much crap with them over the past few months but I continue to fight my way out of it. I didn't have any store front lenders on my debt consolidation program because I stopped using them a long time ago. I felt embarassed going into them all of the time. I discovered the ones on the internet and they were much easier to get. I had a ton when I entered into debt consolidation in December. I had three left on my program with T &C and decided to end my debt consolidation program because I am taking these lenders on with my own fight. I discovered two were not licensed at all, one was licensed in their own state but not mine. My state requires that they be licensed, internet or not. The one company that is licensed has broken laws in their own state. I have filed one complaint against them already and in the process of filing a second complaint with a different regulatory agency there. I have over paid these companies by hundreds of dollars and I have said enough. Now I am fighting United Cash loans and well but I'm having some help in this fight. Thanks again to Polly :-) It's easy to get into this cycle but hard to get out of, I think many of us on this board can attest to that. I felt ashamed and didn't want anyone to know I was in this type of trap. It has been a long financial and emotional recovery for me but my family knows about the situation now. I do not feel the embarassment or shame like I once did because I can use my experiences to help others going through the same thing. We are here to help each other to recover from this sick, sad cycle known as predatory lending. More states are either banning them or making the laws tougher, which I'm glad to see. If we keep on this path, then we will have a hand in making a difference against these type of lenders. It won't happen overnight but changes will be made. I can feel it :)

Payday Loan Avenger, very well said. We are all here in this mess together to learn from our mistakes and support each other in recovering from the messes we made. We will also recover from it and we will be better people in the long run!! :)

Thanks for the advice Virginia. My husband went to the bank and he took care of that. I have tried to make everything right. This has been eating me up inside. Thanks to everyone in this forum who has been so informative and supportive. I now know I am not alone in this vicious cycle. Thank god I only had one payday loan.

how do I find out if they are licensed in my state NC since I found out that NC has made payday loans illegal?

There is a lot of rumbling about payday loans, esp about how they concentrate around military areas and lower income areas. I've seen many articles in various newpapers, all showing PDL for the scum that they are. And some states are cracking down on them, and others are battling back and forth tightening legislation on existing PDL (Virginia did so last year). I think what may be needed it federal intervention but the PDL have a pretty good lobbying group already.

You know, no one I've met on this forum is a stupid person, we just made decisions that at the time we thought were the best solution. And now we can go forward, knowing better, and maybe help prevent others from falling into the same trap.

For all of those that haven't done so, I encourage you to contact your state licensing company, that oversees payday lenders, and file written, formal complaints about the unlicensed operations. The state Attorney General can't do anything if they aren't aware of how large the problem is.