Few questions about PDLs and Collections

bestideayet -

If this is a storefront, you should go to the location where you made the arrangements and talk, in person, to the employee you made the arrangements with. Have the manager present when you speak to her, unless she is the manager herself. Explain what "corporate" told you, and ask about the payment arrangement. Make a payment right then and there, of whatever you can afford at the time, to show that you do intend to pay it off. Whatever you do, don't ignore it - storefront lenders most generally follow the law of the state they are located in, and they will pursue you with legal action, including judgement and garnishment of your wages to get their money back.

Please see what you can do to get the payment arrangement back on track before you think of filing bankruptcy - bankruptcy has a bad, long-lasting effect on your credit score, and is definitely not a quick, easy, or cheap fix to your problem. The problem with your payment arrangement with the one PDL may simply be a miscommunication and could be worked out.

Let us know what you find out!

.. And get a copy of arrangement done after you have spoken with the lady and the manager. If something like this happens again, you will be ready to show documentation.

ricjil - thanks for adding that! I overlooked that part! :oops:

I always believed that storefront lenders are always easier to deal with. I am just wondering how come this lady hot listed your account with a payment of $245 when you never agreed for it. Can you ask them for a recording of the conversation with you? I know most companies have the option for training their new staff or for any legal purpose. You need to backfire on the point they say you have agreed to.

I would ask them to show proof of when you agreed on the $245. You might be surprised to learn that a lot of the individuals lie to people to get their money. I had that same thing happen to me and I demanded proof. They told me that they didn't have to show me proof. Well, I told them to either show me some proof or they will have to face legal ramificiations.

They "allowed" me to speak to a manager who confirmed that they had my information written down incorrectly. Make sure to throw out the fact that you have legal on your side as well and not just their legal is really collection people. You might be surprised to learn what can happened.

I did have a PDL with Advance America, which I have since paid off, thank god. What I did was make arrangements with the branch manager, which she accepted--but I would periodically get these nasty grams from their corporate offices demanding the whole thing. I would call the manager and she would straighten it out. So I think that nine time out of ten, corporate doesn't know what the store is doing and vice versa...

kscornell - I had the same situation with Advance America - I have to agree with your statement that corporate or "legal" doesn't know what the store itself is doing. I had a manager tell me she was going to lose her job because of me, that I was a liar, that I knew I wasn't going to pay the loan the day I took it out, etc. She would threaten to "go legal" one day and the next day tell me we could work something out. She would tell me one day I had to pay $100 every payday, then a week later she would call and say she talked with her boss and I could pay $40 and we could work things out. I had no problem with making an arrangement to pay the debt off, but the fact that the story and arrangement kept changing is what bothered me.

I know this manager will give me a hard time, he is pretty agressive. But I am to the point that I don't give a crap, he says that I have to 2/9 or I will be in big trouble. I learned along time ago not to be intimidated by threats. Either you work with me or you don't get crap. My credit report is already shot from past problems, I can only go up from here. He will either give a descent payment arrangement after that date or he will invest alot of man hours chasing me. It will benefit him to be a little more cooperative. I know he can not garnish my wages and I sincerly doubt the company would take me to court for $500 if i am willing to pay $100 a pay. I am pissed that he thinks he can bully me. He said if you pay by the 9th, you can borrow again, you would only be out $100 dollars. You know what I am out a hell of alot more than that already. I may be wrong, but I have had enough. I have let my house payment go, my car payment go and failed to put food on the table to pay these jerks on time for a year now. Now they can either work with me or get nothing!

I agree,
And if they give you the standard line of raising hell at your work, tell them that if you get fired, then they're not getting a dime, cause you haven't got it, so they can shut up, toe the line and everyone will get paid.

Fedup--

I've had the same problem with Advance America. They would tell me that if I paid in full by a certain date, then they could reloan to me. I think they had forgotten the fact that I was trying to be out of the mess and not reborrow. I paid them $100 every payday until I paid them off. Even though storefronts can take you to court and get a civil judgement against you, you need to take care of your everyday living expenses first, such as putting food on the table, and keeping a roof over your head. I am making payments to another storefront and the girl that works there had told me that as long as I continue making payments, it would be harder for the company to get a judgement against me in court b/c the judge would see that I'm making an effort in paying it back b/c I've been making payments.

That's right, Brownsugar. The PDL would look pretty bad in front of a judge if they did that!