Remember the good old days when, if you needed money, you’d go to your local banker? Like in the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, you’d go to the corner Savings and Loan, and borrow money from the Baileys to buy a home, and for whatever you’d need. It’s not so wonderful any more. It’s “buyer beware” for home loans and for other loans too. Nowadays, in many towns, there are “payday lenders” who give short-term loans, so if you are in a crunch between paychecks, you can pay them back when you get your paycheck. It’s a high interest rate, but it is regulated by local laws so that the interest rates for “short-term” loans cannot be too high, and, so that everything is disclosed.
For some time, people have been turning online for loans, and it has been like the “Wild West” out there. The only regulation is from the Federal government. Now, the Consumer Finance Bureau has woken up to these problems, and is charging Integrity Advance with violating certain protections for borrowers. They are alleging that the lender required automatic checking withdrawals, which is not allowed, and wouldn’t stop them when requested. And, the lender overcharged the borrowers without disclosing all of the charges. A $300.00 loan would result in $765.00 in fees!
It is important to be aware of these tricks and traps before getting a payday loan or an online loan. These are the most expensive ways to borrow money. If you already have these high-interest loans, there are ways out, and we can talk about them. Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy stop these abusive collection terms.
We can help you. We are on your side.
Daniel J. Winter
BankruptcyLawChicago.com
Offices in Chicago, Gurnee, Oak Lawn, and Skokie, Illinois
