The low down on Pay Day loans

Friday, July 19, 2013 - 9:07am

It's quick cash in a flash! They're there for you when you find yourself low on funds, but are so called Pay Day loan stores really there to help or to prey on those who are not financially educated. The big question is, are they doing more harm than good? Na'tassia Finley gets the low down on loan stores.

Judith Wiley suffers from borrowers regret, "It's ridiculous, it's a rip off."

She says she's found herself in a financial bind on more than one occasion and has turned to places like this for quick cash, "I borrowed $300, they loan you $300, they want $300, so that cost me $600 just to borrow $300."

If you're in a financial bind, they can get you out of one pretty quick, many don't even require a credit check, it may be a quick fix, but is it worth it?

"Its almost like putting a band-aid on a broken leg, it doesn't work at all financially speaking, it will never be beneficial to you at the end of the day."

Some of these places charge astronomical interest rates for borrowing their money, "They are not really regulated by any state laws or federal laws right now. Okay, they're finding the loopholes and going around it, so it's kind of hard to just pinpoint them and say this is how we are going to regulate them going forward."

Wiley finds herself back at another loan store trying to finish up businesses related to a title loan, "I borrowed $275, my husband and I did, and they, we missed a couple payments and they jacked it up so high and it cost over a $1,000 to get it back,"

Title loans, Espinosa says, can  be even worse, "If you take a title loan and you don't pay them they can take away your car, that's a possession, that's almost as bad as having a mortgage and you don't pay your mortgage and they take away your house."

Meanwhile, Wiley comes out with good news, she got her title to her pickup truck back, however, "Still I wouldn't advise getting a loan from these people."

Are there ways to take advantage of payday or title loans without getting yourself in trouble?" No. Simple question, no, theres different things the can do with collections."

Something Wiley has learned the hard way, as she drives away in her truck, she promises to never return to a loan store given her experience. She hopes she can keep that promise.

NewsCenter 23 attempted to contact several major chains of loan stores through out Brownsville, to get their side of how these loans really work. No one from any of the district offices returned our calls.

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