Other Pay-Day Loan Programs
The listings that appear at the top of Google search results for "payday loan software' are 'paid ads' which are usually proffered by vendors offering very high-priced programs. In effect those who purchase their programs are paying for the ads. This will be especially true of 'web-based' software which carries a never-ending payment which often results in paying over $1,000 per year just to use software. Currently the names of the domains with paid ads are loan-servicing-software, trandotcom, openclose and nortridge. Conversely the website listings appearing below the paid ads are ranked by Google's algorithm and have absolutely nothing to do with software evaluation and cost. Those listings currently include ecashsoftware, introxl, echecktrac, smallloansoftware and idealfinancialsoftware. Don't bother with 'Capterra' - a 'software-review site' that has probably never even downloaded a software program let alone 'reviewed' it.
Help Me Choose a Payday Loan Software Program
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Naturally every software developer claims to have the best solution for every single payday business in the universe but as a practical matter that just isn't going to be true, not so much because payday lending is so much different from one store to the next, or one state to the next, but because budgets are different and special considerations must be taken into account before big chucks of money are committed to a long-term relationship with a software developer, most of whom obviously are desirous of getting as much as possible from each store for their wares.
Let's first assume that any software program is going to get the job done - keep track of individuals and their transactions, print agreements and process reports. If faddish bells and whistles aren't needed there's certainly no sense in paying for software features that cost more.
A first thing to note is that Google as well as most 'software review sites' have not downloaded much less evaluated any software program. The order in which websites offering software appear in Google (or other search engines) have absolutely nothing to do with the price, quality or reliability of the software vendor or program. Likewise comments published on review sites may have been made by actual users but by now we all know that fake reviews are a widely-known problem: Competitors write bad fake reviews. Software providers pay their customers (one way or another) to write reviews (because most people aren't motivated to write about good experiences) so it's common for them to be offered freebies, discounts and other incentives to make the effort. It is also widely known that friends, relative, employees et. al. of the software vendor are often eager to write fallacious comments.
Unlike days of the past another option that didn't exist is software that resides 'in the cloud' on a computer somewhere that is accessed through the Internet using a browser. The software is NOT installed on the shop computer where the shop owner has control and can still pay once for the software. Before considering a web-based program it would be advisable to check with regulatory authorities to confirm that Internet software is allowed. (Some jurisdictions may disallow it for security concerns.) Perhaps the loudest objection to cloud programs is the concept of renting the software - endless monthly payments as well as increases in payment for additional users, multiple locations, added features and the passage of time - such pricing requires thorough investigation before getting locked into the software. (Locked in? Yes, every program has a learning curve and once conquered, shop owners and employees are reluctant to go through the strain of learning yet another program just to get away from escalating software costs.)
Also it was more true in the past that an old, well-established business might have been more reliable, dependable, likely to be around in the future - important for software because changes in technology and software improvements require that the program in use be updated to keep up. Because software code is proprietary it's unlikely that any other programmer could access much less understand the workings of another. In any program there are literally tens of thousands of lines of 'code' that may not necessarily follow a set pattern, hence the reference to 'art' when programmers describe their coding talents. One man's 'art' may be another's nightmare.
A grave disappointment to many who purchase software is the discovery of fees after purchase that either weren't disclosed at all or that were quietly mentioned underneath the barrage of sales hype. It would be nice if choosing the right software program were a simple process free of buyer's remorse, but in general, those pushing the hardest are after the highest flow of funds from your shop to their bank account.
Also it's obvious that no major software developer offers payday lending software, leaving the niche industry somewhat under watched by regulators so it's not surprising that derogatory comments about competing programs is part of some sales pitches. It might be safe to say that such behavior may be an indication of the way of doing business and how you might expect to be treated after the money-back period.
Take some time to outline what you would like for a program to do. Do you really need to send emails from within the program? If so at what cost? What's the cost of 'mobility' and can that kind of flexibility be found through free services? Especially with payday loans, the transactions are simple enough so should be the software and in turn, the price should be reasonable.
It seems necessary to point out the long-term cost of any program that is open ended, i.e., payment never ends for as long as the software is in use. How long do you anticipate being in business? How many months? Multiply that by the cost per month (now) and what the cost per month could be in the future to get the true cost of any software program. Odd how people who take on the business of running a payday loan can have a difficult time adding up the cost of software over time and such individuals will surely get no help from software salesmen intent upon playing down the cost to win the sale. Software 1. Payday business 0.
And a final thought - if it's your intention to one day sell the business, it would certainly be a selling point to have software in place and show the prospective buyer how easy the program is to use. The complication that may present itself is the ongoing obligation to continue payments. Look for a program that is available for a one-off payment and a reasonable yearly software maintenance charge for software updates. Otherwise your prospective buyer will be faced with the additional challenge of researching new software, learning it and converting the data (if that's even possible).
We all want things to be simple and easy. They aren't so much when it comes to software for a payday business because:
- There are several offerings.
- Sales hype clouds the issues.
- Personalities guide buying decisions.
- Software reviews can be/are worthless.
- Potential buyers don't know the questions to ask or the truthful answers.
- Store owners often task someone else to do the 'research'.
Nortridge Pricing and Cost
Looking for prices of Nortridge Loan Servicing Software? On the FAQ page (not linked from the home): "For as little as $340 per month...". That's all that can be found about pricing on the website with a cursory investigation. All roads link to a demo offer and a phone number so if you want to know more, it looks like exposure to a sales pitch is necessary.
How long must the monthly payment be made? For as long as the software is in use. It's 'software as a service' (SaaS), a notion that software developers have become eager to latch onto as a means of deriving a forever stream of income from software users to software company.
Can the monthly payment be raised? That's an important if not frequently-asked question which ironically is not disclosed on the FAQ page. Generally if no promise is made in the software contract (End User's License Agreement or Terms of Service) it's likely that the provider reserves the right to hike it up and of course you could quit at any time, buy and learn another software program and hope that your data could be transferred. Software vendors, having been around that block many times over, are keenly aware of the circumstances that can and do unfold once a business is locked into the software. Not making accusations - just pointing out an important question that needs to be posed.
Software providers looking to lure new customers offer pacifiers like this from Nortridge: "Nortridge is available as Software as a Service (SaaS), meaning you don't have to buy an up-front license..." So it's better to pay a minimum of $340 per month than to make one payment for a simple program like Best Payday Loan Software (currently $595) - if the latter processes payday loans (It does.) and that is basically all that is needed to manage and service your loans.
Payday Loans in Mississippi
The payday loan maximum in MS is five hundred dollars ($500). The borrower may write checks from multiple accounts but the total cannot exceed $500 and there must be a Delayed Deposit Agreement for each.
Each individual on a joint bank account may write checks in an amount not to exceed a total of five hundred dollars ($500.00) per person. A Delayed Deposit Agreement must accompany each.
The longest allowable loan period is thirty (30) days for amounts up to two hundred fifty dollars ($250). For loans ranging from two hundred fifty ($250) to five hundred ($500) the loan period is twenty-eight (28) to thirty (30) days.
The maximum finance charges in MS are:
- Up to two hundred fifty ($250) - twenty ($20) per one hundred ($100)
- Two hundred fifty ($250) to five hundred ($500) - $21.95 per one hundred ($100)
Other Charges
Thirty dollars ($30) may be charged once for insufficient funds when cashing the borrower's repayment cheque.
These are sample loan schedules from Mississippi:
- $50 to $200 bi-weekly (14 days) and APR of 521.43%
- $50 to $200 monthly (30 days) and APR of 243.33%
- $250 to $400 monthly (30 days) and APR of 267.06%
The State's formula for APR computation is fee ÷ loan amount x 365 (or 360) ÷ days in loan period = APR.
On loan documents (agreements) interest is disclosed and expressed as an Annual Percentage Rate (APR) - perhaps an attempt by law makers to emphasize the usurious nature of the cost of payday loans - 521.43% interest! Who would pay that? ('Usury' is (illegally) lending money at unreasonable interest rates (synonymous with 'extortionate money lending', 'payday lending', 'loan-sharking' or 'shylocking').
Sample Contract Wording
You promise to pay us the Amount Advanced, the Service Fee and other permitted charges, according to the terms of our disclosure set forth below. You acknowledge and agree that you are indebted to us in the amount of the "Total Payments" that you have agreed to pay. The Service Fee and that the amounts set forth in our disclosures are not in dispute and that you do not have any defense to make payment of such amounts. On the date states in your payment schedule you will pay us the amount stated at the address indicated above or at such address as we direct to you in writing.
Customizable Payday Loan Agreements
Payday Loan Software includes 'text files' which it reads to know where and what to print on the loan agreement. The files can be edited to change print location and the information to appear on the agreement. When editing it's best to use a simple text editor like Notepad to avoid having unwanted characters and formatting that can happen with editors like Microsoft Word.
There are 6 text files resident in the program folder for payday loans, cashed s, pawn, buy outright and pawn due-date reminders. They reside in the program folder which by default is located at C:\PPSS. The default payday ticket is named payday-ticket.txt. Clicking on that file should open it in the default text editor designated in Windows.
A typical line of code in the file might look something like this with values separated by '~' (tildes):
9~~2170~~9180~~315~~1290~~~~7~~0
- The first number (9 in this example) is the number of the line - mostly meaningless except to keep the code organized.
- The second number (2170) is the distance from the top of the page the content of the line will appear when previewed or printed. The typographical unit of measure is a 'twip' (short for 'twentieth of a point') which is 1/1440th of an inch, so it takes a lot of 'twips' to move a line appreciably. In this example line 9 will appear on the page 2170 twips (or 2170/1440 = 1.5 inches) from the top of the page.
- The third value (9180) is the distance in the same unit of measure from the left side of the paper. What is contained in this space (content) will appear on the form 6.375 inches to the right. (more on 'what' will appear in a bit)
- 'Content' is contained in an invisible 'box'. (If the last number in our example (0) were changed to a one, the borders of the box would be displayed in preview and print.) '315' represents the height of the box, in this case a little more than .2".
- 'Content' is represented by a number (assigned by programming to the value that is to appear in the box). In this case '7' has been assigned to the customer's phone number.
- The last character (0) instructs Windows to not show the box's border.
When the software user instructs the program to print a ticket, the program looks to Program Setup to know which version of the contract to use then reads each line of code to know where to place what information.
Multiple variations of any ticket can exist. The ones to be used by the program are designated in Program Setup > Pawn Etc.
Naturally those in the payday-loan business are not expected to master formatting agreements and tickets. Each can be customized to meet legal requirements and include verbiage required by shop owners.
How do I start a payday loan business online?
An online business will be considerably more difficult largely because there is far more competition for 'keywords' related to payday loans. Even before considering operating on the WWW it is possible to research the degree of ease or difficulty in ranking highly for the words potential borrowers would use to find your webpage.
To experiment, go to Google and search for payday loans. As of today there are 43,400,000 (forty-three million +) websites that contain those 2 words. Put quotes around those 2 words ("payday loans") so only sites with those words together will be returned in the search results: 12,700,000 indicating that there's probably no way the average person with little SEO (Search Engine Optimization) knowledge could appear in the top 100 so don't expect website traffic from 'payday loans'.
Add words that will narrow the scope, like "payday loans in Alabama". Competition is reduced to 60,800 so the chances of ranking highly for that longer group of words is higher, but why would someone in another state want to rank for loans in AL? Because your loan-lending business is online and you may be able to do business there. "payday loans in Montgomery Alabama" - 64 results so it comes down to the target location and how much time and resources are available to create 'landing pages' that focus on specific areas. Still, as of today, 22 websites have 'payday loans' and that city in the titles of their websites.
Another factor is 'the sand box'. New sites are generally not allowed to rank at all for approximately six month (to keep low-quality spam sites from clogging up search returns). It's very likely that spending that amount of time developing a website will result in futility.
Assuming an online payday proprietor could achieve some traffic (website visitors) lets ask, "Just who would be looking for loans on the Internet?". The worldwide web may be the future but it has also brought the pond scum out from under their rocks trolling for opportunities to sit behind a keyboard and run a wide variety of fraudulent SOYA schemes (sit on your axx). Lending money face to face takes away the anonymity and miles, increasing the chances of getting loans repaid. Anyone pushing forward with the notion of lending money in the cloud should factor is a multiple for losses related to unpaid loans.
Loan Defaults
If a customer fails to repay the licensee may accept a payment plan, keeping track of payments received which are not to exceed the original amount plus interest. A borrower's wages cannot be encumbered by a wage assignment but law does not prevent the garnishment of wages granted by a court order.
Payday Loan FAQ
Should I Get a Payday Loan
Only if you're really desperate. No other choices? Relatives? People who owe you? Rob a liquor store or 7-11? How about the mob? It's possible that they charge less than payday-loan sharks but there is the breaking of legs if your don't repay.
If you're thinking of conning with lies (fraud) then you're setting yourself up for criminal prosection, because deceiving someone for financial gain is the definition of fraud.
If you forge ahead, then of course know that a payday loan is not going to be cheap. Said another way it's going to be expensive (by definition of APR) to the extent that most states have banned payday loans in the interest of protecting persons who apparently can't figure out for themselves that they are getting ripped off with usurious rates..
Whatever. If it's just necessary that you have cash now at the expense of paying out the nose later, then go for it. On average you might pay $20 for a $200 loan for a two-week period. That's some ungodly interest over any period of time. Again, back off if you're thinking of grabbing some cash on a lark. If you have an established job and you're an honest buyer of a loan, then determine the terms of the loan, know what you're doing and getting into. Get the Benjamins, do your thing, and come back to repay with a huge amount of interest.
Seriously explore other alternatives but keep in mind that because pay-day loans are considered by the majority of society to be 'predatory' (out to screw you) that you will be protected from civil prosecution (but not criminal prosecution if you falsify loan-application information (like 'I have a job' or 'I've been working there longer than i Have been' or 'My pa is less than I say it is') in that the business cannot purse legal action against you if you default.
Is the Payday-Loan Business Profitable?
Of course several factors must be taken into consideration to answer this question. Your jurisdiction is going to dictate how much can be charged for interest and fees. Checks with authorities because payday loans are prohibited in several states (to protect citizenry from the usurious rates associated with payday loans).
As with every local business, location will play a key role. Better locations demand higher rents so putting some available space to use might be preferable to paying for a landlord's real estate.
Location is still applicable to considering online payday lending because that piece of real estate is plenty crowded. The competition for garnering a potential client's attention is far more difficult than local advertising, a local presence and word of mouth. Conducting a search (in Google) for 'payday loans' plus your location (state, region, county, municipality) and taking note of the number of websites returned in the search results will give some indication of the level of difficulty in breaking into the top 10 but really, top 3 is necessary to make this effort worthwhile.
If you're set in one place and don't want to move, a drive around local communities and a purview of search results for payday lenders in your area would be a good place to start a demographic analysis. Hint: If there's a Walmart or McDonalds nearby, they have already determined that the local population in large enough to make their businesses profitable. A drive over to the poor side of town (where most payday loans are rendered) might also yield some useful data.
Where there is no competition - Where there in only one such business that is charging the maximum allowable - Those might be potential locations for a new payday service. Keep in mind that if you show up down the street and the competitor has a book of business and a healthy income stream from it, he or she may be willing to wage a price war to force you out before you can get on board.
Visit such businesses within 100 miles or more of your location. People who know you wont' be setting up shop next door may be a good source of how they got started and how you can avoid problems they encountered. If they are in your state, that may be the quickest route to knowing of requirements.
What Does Payday Loan Software Do?
In order to evaluate and understand the benefits of software for payday lending, it's first necessary to know what a payday loan is, which is a loan granted against the collateral of employment and the likelihood of getting a next pay check. Essentially the beneficiary of the loan is getting an advance (getting 'paid' in advance) by the stakeman on a payroll check.
Payday lending software uses a database to record 1) information entered by the loan company (employees) and 2) data computed by the software.
Entered information includes the supplicant's identifying information (full name, address, residential, cell and employer phone numbers, place of employment, length of time at the current job and forms of identification like drivers license, green card, passport number in addition to pictures of the person and IDs. In some jurisdictions fingerprints may be taken. Of course the date and amount of the loan and the due date are recorded.
Data computed and add the database are the finance charge and any applicable fees for returned checks, late payments, etc. A loan contract may be resident in the software program and auto completed with information about the participating parties, the terms of the loan, rights, responsibilities, fee and finance charges, disclaimers as well as disclosure of the actual cost (on an annualized basis) and warnings about the exorbitant cost.
Software may include features like alerting the store owner to payments coming due, notices to loan petitioners of upcoming payments due, automatic application of fees for late payments and a means of keeping track of daily loans against the day's starting register balance. (A lending store usually starts the day with working capital stored in the shop's cash register and loans are decimated from those funds. Software can compare the total of loans at any point in time during the day against the total in the register 'till' as a means of auditing the business in real time.)
Depending upon the software program, transaction may extend to pawns, buy outright, consignment, check cashing, layaways and title loans. A simple example would be lending store that sells concessions on the side or converts an area of the store to display merchandise to walk-in traffic.
How can I get a payday loan?
Payday loans today are more readily available thanks to the Internet making them obtainable online so the first objective is finding a reliable provider, either locally or on the worldwide web.
The easiest way to find lenders in the cloud is by searching with your favorite search engine for 'payday loans online'. Search services have gravitating toward listing companies at the top of search results based upon your location. For expanded or different results try asking questions like 'Can you get payday loans online?' or 'What is the best payday loan online?'.
At this location the first listing is cashnetusa.com which suggests in its advertising that it is possible to receive funds 'the same business day' if the application is received early in the day and approval is granted. Likely that is the exception and the process of providing documentation for an online loan will take considerably longer as online moneylenders don't have the advantage of face-to-face transactions and the borrower's local presence (residence, employer) as security. checknogo.com isn't quite as aggressive in soliciting for your attention by saying "Upon approval, funds are deposited in your account as early as the next business day* with the asterisk leading to the qualifier, "Approval depends upon meeting legal, regulatory and underwriting requirements".
- In Alabama the maximum loan amount is $500 and the loan period can be from 10 to 31 days which can be extended once if requested at least 2 days prior to the due date. Requirements include verifiable income, an active checking account and a working phone number.
- California loan granters are governed by the California Financing Law and the Deferred Deposit Transaction Law. The loan max is $255 with the longest loan period being 31 days. The minimum number of days for an online loan is 10 days and an in-store loan is 5 days. Loan extensions are not allowed.
- Delaware is the pay-day loan wild card, allowing grants up to $5,000 pursuant to § 2203 of the Delaware Code. The daily rate is the contract interest rate divided by 365 and additional charges are allowed for rubber checques and late payment. Repayments may be made BCSS Intro-weekly for up to seventeen installments.
- Florida's loan limit is $500. Online and store minimum loan periods are 10 and 7 days respectively with 31 days as the limit. Florida has a '24-hour cooling-off period' between loans and extensions are not permissible.
- In Hawaii the max loan is $510 and extensions are not permissible. A viable alternative may be a small short-term loan from Hawaii's state federal credit union. Charges may be less and application requirements may be less stringent.
- The Idaho Credit Code of the Idaho Department of Finance regulates consumer credit for personal, family or household loans up to five thousand dollars. Payday lenders with a valid license and who only grant payday loans are not required to secure a regulated lenders license.
- Illinois law enforces a 7-day 'cooling off period' after a forty-five day loan period. There's a 14-day wait for those who had an extended payment plan and had an outstanding transaction during the extended-payment-plan period.
- Indiana has a different approach permitting loans of the lesser of six hundred five dollars or twenty percent of gross monthly income. Loans are allowed up to thirty-five days and can be consecutive. Borrowers must wait seven days after a fifth consecutive loan transaction before requesting additional money.
- Kansas - The Kansas Consumer Credit Code of Office of the State Bank Commissioner of Kansas limits loans amounts to $500 and disallows loan extensions. Statute 16a-3-202. (UCCC) is a notice to consumers of a written document requiring or providing consumers' signatures evidencing a credit transaction not of open-ended credit. The document must be clear and the printed notice must be read by the signatory prior to sign in acknowledging he or she is entitled to a copy and can prepay at any time without penalty. Notices to consumers: a) Do not sign before reading b) You have a right to a copy of the document c) Prepayment of the loan is allowed without penalty.
- Maine is a bit more protective of its citizenry, limiting payday loans to just $250 while extending the repayment out to 40 days. The APR may be the lowest in the nation at 260.71% or twenty-five dollars on a $250 loan.
<>li>Michigan's Deferred Presentment Service Transactions Act requires that payment through lenders accepting ACH payments (automated clearing house bank payments from checking accounts) keep the loan open until a) 4 days after the effective ACH date or b) the borrower provides proof that the payment has cleared the bank account. The loan period shall be no more that 31 days and as little as fourteen days. The finance charge can be no more than 15% on the first one hundred dollars, declining in percentage with each $100 down to eleven percent. The ceiling for APR is 369%. As with most states the limit on interest charged to military personnel and their dependents is 36% APR. There is no current pending bill addressing legislative restrictions as a federal law proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is anticipate in 2020.
- North Dakota allows loans up to five hundred dollars with as much as forty-five days to repay. A loan cannot be extended.
- Texas loans are originated by a 3rd-party usurer with restrictions. Some antiquated TX homestead laws may make it more difficult to obtain a payday loan.
Payday loans are tantamount to loan sharking and loan backers go to great lengths to warn of the excessive cost of such loans. For example, with an APR (annual percentage rate) of 390%, borrowing $100 and not repaying it until a year later would require $390 to pay off the $100 original loan amount.
Can you go to jail for not paying back a payday loan?
centraltexasbankruptcy.com: "Debtors cannot be jailed for failing to pay a debt. Our U.S. Constitution prohibits imprisonment for debt. Our bankruptcy laws are federal laws that enable debtors to file for bankruptcy protection when they are unable to repay their debts. Furthermore, debt collection is a civil law matter, not a criminal matter."
Ah but lying on a loan application for the purpose of securing money through a loan (to which this question may elude) is fraud, a felony with six months to five years in the pokey, depending upon how many times you've been around the crime block. Any misleading statement on a loan application could be construed as intent to commit fraud, so there you go - civil and criminal charges - the latter getting you cuffed and in orange.
Can I get a payday loan with a prepaid card?
Searching for a 'yes' or 'no' answer to this question brings up a lot of chatter on websites trying to beat a word count to rank highly for this 'search phrase'. The simple answer is that payday loans have nothing to do with a secured (prepaid) debit card. Payday loans are granted on the assurance that you have a job, will keep the job during the loan period and repay the loan by making your payable to the granter post-dated for the date upon which the payday loan is due. Now, can you get 'a loan' against your prepaid card? Only if you can find a lender who is to believe that once you walk out the door with cash in hand you're not going to run to the nearest ATM and zap the prepaid card for all the cash that was to secure the loan. Short answer: Not! And why would anyone want to put up a prepaid card for loan collateral when it's cheaper and much easier just to cancel the card and wait for a in the mail?
Can I get a payday loan with poor credit?
Surely! You're putting up your pay as collateral. If you fail to pay the payday casher has the legal right to secure a court order to force your employer to withhold a portion of your pay each pay period until the indebtedness and additional fees (late charges, attorney/court costs, etc) are satisfied. Generally your employment will be verified by calling your employer and digging deeper: How long employed? Is this person trustworthy? Show up on time? Work hard. Get along with coworkers? You might get the loan, despite poor credit, if the lender can be convinced that you are worth the risk. The loan period is usually short, 2 to 4 weeks, so the risk associated with time is limited.
What are some alternatives to payday loans?
There is such a thing as a signature loan is a personal loan offered by some lenders who trust the borrower so much that they are willing the lend money solely based upon the borrower's promise to pay. Such loans often require an established relationship with the lender because there is no equity or collateral appended to the loan arrangement. Essentially such loan is a 'good-faith loan' dependent solely upon the lender's assessment of the borrower's, character, willingness and ability to repay. This type of loan is also known as a 'character loan' or 'good-faith loan. It's basically a personal loan granted to those with established good reputations.
Can you be denied a payday loan?
Of course! No lender is obligated to part with his money on the risk that money lent will be lost in the event the loan is not repaid. The qualification for obtaining a payday loan is the security of a pay so it's quite easy to falsify a loan application, give phoney employer information (including a phone number of a friend perhaps working at the place of business of the alleged employer). Because there is considerable risk in granting loans secured by pay checks, lenders have the right to deny requests. Also because of the risk the amounts charged for these short-term loans is very high on a annualized-percentage basis, often into the hundreds of percentage points, like 500% in some cases.
Can Wages Be Garnished?
In order for a payday lender to gain legal right to your employment wages, the payday lender must file and win a law suit against you, be granted a court order (judgement) and get a garnishment order against you which will allow the lender to require your employer to hold back a portion of your wages until the debt is satisfied. The amount to be paid may include legal costs, attorney fees and added 'late fees' imposed by the lender.
If a law suit is field against you and you don't show up, the court will grant the judgement. Quitting your job may not circumvent the order if you have a bank account or credit-union account that can be tagged (if allowed by state law). The Bank or union could hold funds for the collector or lender. Laws (and exemptions) are different of course from state to state.
Federal law does prohibit absconding with your federal funds although a court appearance may be required. These sources on income are allegedly protected: Civil Service and Federal Retirement, Disability Benefits, Compensation for Injury, Death, or Detention of Employees of U.S. Contractors Outside the U.S., Federal Emergency Management Agency Federal Disaster Assistance, Foreign Service Retirement and Disability Benefits, Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Death and Disability Benefits, Merchant Seamen Wages, Military Annuities and Survivors’ Benefits, Railroad Retirement Benefits, Social Security Benefits, Student Assistance, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Benefits, Veterans’ Benefits
Fed benefits could be seized for back income taxes, student loans, child support or alimony.
There are several actions that could be taken if legal action is threatened. Private attorneys will likely be expensive if not ineffective, adding to your indebtedness. A consumer-protection group or a legal-aid service might offer some useful advice.
Depending upon your location a written notice to you may be required if a garnishment order is issued and may inform you as to what to do if you believe your money shouldn't be locked up. In some areas there is no such heads up.
Perhaps the best thing to do is communicate with the payday lender, disclose your financial situation and ask for his/her cooperation in working something out.
The contents of this website are provided for informational purposes only. Legal advice and regulatory guidance is not intended or offered. This information is updated occasionally. Links and other references to 3rd-party destinations may be included but we do not endorse them or guarantee their accuracy or performance.
Check Cashing is integrated in Pawnbroker Pawn Shop SoftwareTM. It is unique in its class, combining reliability, functionality and ease of use with all basic pawning functions, and now including the ability to accept items on consignment without cash outlay.
Check Cashers Software
The check-cashing module in Pawnbroker Pawn Shop Software helps cashers operate, manage and scale business effectively. The program can be customized to suit individual needs but for most shops in the check-cashing business, the basic format of the software is quite sufficient particularly given that the shop owner owns the software for lifetime use without ongoing charges for support or software updates.
The basic program includes flat-rate and/or percentage entries for fees and interest per transaction cashed with a provision for an extra charge for first-time customers (where permitted by law). Set up fees and loan schedules in Program Setup (Under File). Click on the tabs named Pawn Fees, Pawn Etc. and Payday.
Checkcashers with more sophisticated fee and interest schedules can enter a variety of formats by APR, flat fee, late fee or late %, first-loan fee or % and variable loan periods. For each processed the applicable fee schedule can be selected from a drop-down menu on the entry form.
The transaction is printed on plain paper and can be edited to include all required information as well as the casher's terms and disclosures. Multiple copies of each transaction can be printed.
Cashing Checks
To enter a cashed item, press F2 or go to the Pawns Work Area. Select New Check from the Quick Links Menu. Select a client and click OK. On the New-Transaction Screen enter the Client Name, Today's Date and fees (set in program setup) will be auto-entered. Enter a location for the store, if applicable. (Some pawn shops have more than one location.) The Date and time may be changed. The drop-down arrow in the date field produces a calendar. Enter the Value and a Percentage Fee. The Net Paid Out will be displayed. It is the amount less all applicable fees. (If the fees are incorrect, change them in Program Setup or edit the amounts here on this screen.) When a cashed item clears, nothing else is required in PPSS. Records will show the amount paid, the amount of the check and the profit made.
Check-Cashing Tickets
Select a Record in the Main Table then click the Print Ticket button to produce a Cashed- Ticket. The Ticket for the item selected will be presented in a 'Print-Preview Screen' for inspection prior to printing. The ticket will include the shop's name and contact information (if entered in Program Setup) along with the customer's information (that was entered in the customer's record). If any desired information is missing from the form, edit the customer's record, the loan record and/or shop information in Program Setup to add or change the information on the ticket. Print the ticket by clicking on the printer icon on the Print-Preview Screen. Clicking the printer icon will open Window's Print Setup screen where you may choose to print more than 1 copy. The ticket may be emailed by clicking on the email icon just to the right of the printer icon, or by clicking on the Mail button on the Print Setup screen (requires Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express).
Search services might also be used to locate local brick-and-mortar stakemen. Depending upon your state, loan companies might be known as Cash Advances, Check Cashers, Deferred Deposit or Payday Advances so use the applicable term and append your location to the search phrase like 'check cashers Biloxi MS'. Keep in mind that 'loans online' may bring up websites owned and operated by businesses with local shops.
In many states the lender lends an amount of money equal to the amount of the loan minus the finance charge. In Ole Miss the borrower receives the full amount of the loan and writes a draft for the amount of the loan plus the finance charge. The payee of the draft is the lender and the date is post-dated to the due date of the loan. Rolling loans over, renewing or extending them is not permitted by law.
In MS payday lenders are also known as 'check cashers'. The lending accord might be referred to as a 'Check Advance Agreement' or a 'Delayed Deposit Agreement'. Checkcashers are controlled by the Department of Banking and Consumer Finance which regulates licensing and protects its citizenry through supervision of financial institutions and examination of their business practices for compliance with rules and regulations. The Mississippi Check Cashers Act clarifies existing laws pertaining to cashers. Source: Miss. Code Ann. §75-67-501; Miss. Code Ann. §75-67-515(1); Feb. 2003
In 2001 the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation started bucking the trend in New England states by allowing 'check casher'loans (up to $500 with a minimum term of 13 days, no limit on the loan term, two rollovers and no more than three outstanding loans at once for a total of one thousand five hundred dollars). Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont do not allow such loans and the federal government prohibits such lending to the military and their families. In Rhode Island APR can be as high as 261% and lenders are limited to charging no more than 10% of the loan amount in finance charges. In 2018 the Rhode Island Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights dubiously concluded that payday lenders 'target' African Americans, citing that lenders set up shop in 'poor communities' where people of 'color' predominate. Interesting that the conclusion was about race and not just about demographics.
Wyoming under the Wy. Stat. 40-14-362 et seq. (Wyoming Uniform Consumer Credit Code) keeps a tight lid on payday loans (referred to as 'post-dated check casher') by limiting them to two hundred dollars. The loan length is limited to one calendar month with no designation of the minimum term. Finance charges are limited to $30 or 20% per month. The borrower can rescind the contract before 5 p.m. Mountain Time of the following business day by returning the loan in cash or a cash equivalent in full. No fees or cost will apply. This provision must be disclosed in writing to the consumer by the moneylender and the borrower must sign an amendment to the agreement. If the loan cannot be repaid upon the due date the debtor can extend the payment plan once in every twelve-month period which is measured from the date the loan is paid in full.
The most outstanding feature of this program is affordability. The purchase price is hundreds of dollars under competitors.
The advanced simple design allows easy, precise data editing and reporting. Over 300 reports are available with a 'filtering system' that focuses report output on specific pawns, loans, checks, inventory, pawners, customers, sales and disbursements.
Why is Our Check-Cashing Software Best?
Simple economics! This software is complete yet it is priced well below other programs. It is purposely engineered to eliminate the expense of unused functions. There are no hidden add-on costs after purchase.
Free Loan Servicing Software
There are no known commercial-grade software programs for servicing loans of any kind (auto, home, personal, payday, etc) but there are existing programs either on your computer or in the cloud that might be sufficient IF no degree of sophistication is required.
Check the computer for a spreadsheet program provided by Microsoft called Excel. If it is not available look into openoffice.org, libreoffice.org or Google Docs, all of which are free.
Using any spreadsheet program, open a new file and save it with a name of your choosing, like 'loans'.
In the first cell (called A1) enter 'Date' (without quotes) which will be the date that the loan was granted. In the next cell (B1, column B, row 1) to the right, type 'Name' which will be the name of the borrower. In C1 enter 'Amount' then enter 'Due Date' in D1, 'Rate' in E1, 'Interest in F1, 'Loan + I' in G1.
Complete a practice loan in row 2 by entering a date (in A2), borrower's name (in B2), loan amount (in C2). If the due date is always the same number of day, enter this formula in D2 (assuming a 30-day loan): =a2+30. Enter the rate as a decimal value in E2. (20% for example would be entered as .2.) In F2 enter this formula: C2*E2. In G2 enter C2+F2.
In columns where entries will be the same as the those in row 2, using Excel, hover over the lower-right corner of A2 (for example) until the cursor changes to a plus sign then drag the plus sign down to autofill cells below A2. In other programs it may be necessary to hold down the Control Key to autofill. If the interest rate will always be the same, hover over the lower-right corner of cell E2 and drag down.
This will serve as a simple spreadsheet for keeping track of outstanding loans. It will be necessary to add other columns for things like late fees, lost-ticket fees, gun fees, etc. If the police require reporting, they may be satisfied with having the spreadsheet email to them, otherwise, a more sophisticated commercial software program may be needed. If so, to avoid very high long-term cost, avoid 'web-based' programs that charge a monthly fee forever. Take a look at Pawnbroker Pawn Shop Software, available for one payment up front and a small annual software maintenance fee starting in year 2.