BBB warns consumers about payday loans and fraud in new study

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RALEIGH, NC (September 28, 2022) – As consumers lost their jobs and struggled to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic, many have turned to payday loans and other solutions to short term, with an increase in online solutions.

The Better Business Bureau of Eastern North Carolina (BBB) ​​would like to warn you that this has not only allowed predatory lenders to thrive – many borrowers still face exorbitant interest rates and opaque fees – but has also created a fertile environment for scammers, according to a new in-depth investigative study by BBB.

Payday loan laws are managed from state to state among the 32 states in which they are available, and a complex web of regulations makes the impact of the industry in the United States and Canada difficult to understand. follow. The BBB study, however, finds a common thread in the triple-digit interest rates that many of these loans carry – camouflaged by interest compounded weekly or monthly, rather than annually, as well as significant rollover fees.

From 2019 to July 2022, BBB received nearly 3,000 customer complaints about payday loan companies, with a disputed dollar amount of nearly $3 million. In addition, more than 117,000 complaints have been filed against debt collection companies at BBB. Complainants often said they felt ill-informed about the terms of their loans. Many fall into what consumer advocates call a “debt trap” of racking up interest and fees that can force customers to pay double the amount originally borrowed. A St. Louis, Missouri woman recently told BBB that over the course of her $300 loan, she paid over $1,200 and still owed an additional $1,500.

The scammers haven’t missed an opportunity to take advantage of consumers either, with BBB Scam Tracker receiving over 7,000 reports of loan and debt collection scams representing around $4.1 million in losses.

Posing as payday loan companies and debt collectors, scammers use stolen information to trick consumers into handing over banking information and cash. In one case, BBB discovered that hackers had stolen and released detailed personal and financial data for more than 200,000 consumers. News reports indicate that this is not an isolated incident.

This month, a Durham resident said he was contacted by a scammer who claimed to have been approved for a $4,000 loan. The scammer told the victim that he would receive deposits in increments and return them immediately to “increase” his credit rating in order to later receive the loan. Instead, the victim lost $451 along with his banking information. Earlier this year, another North Carolina victim said she lost $15,000 to a scammer.

Regulators at the federal level have passed tougher laws to combat predatory lending, but those regulations have been rolled back in recent years, leaving states to set their own rules on interest rate caps and other aspects of lending. on salary. More than a dozen states introduced legislation last year to regulate payday loans, but the landscape of legally operating payday lenders remains inconsistent across states.

Currently, payday loans are not allowed in 18 states, according to Pew Charitable Trust. In addition, the Military Loans Act sets a rate of 36% on certain payday loans. When it comes to fraudulent behavior, law enforcement is limited in what they can do to prosecute payday loan scams. Some legal payday lenders have attempted to prevent scams by educating consumers about the ways in which they will or will not contact borrowers.

The BBB study advises consumers to thoroughly research all of their borrowing options — as well as the terms of a payday loan — before signing anything for a short-term loan.

The study also includes recommendations for regulators:

  • Cap consumer loans at 36%
  • Educate more people about no-cost extended repayment plans
  • Require lenders to test whether consumers can repay their loans
  • Require Zelle, Venmo, and other payment services to offer refunds for fraud

Where to report a payday loan scam or file a complaint:

For more reliable information, visit BBB.org.

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