My Story by Gail H.
Around 1996 my father passed, who lived in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. By 1998 I decided to move back to Roanoke Rapids to try to help my mother. I continued to work in Petersburg, Virginia, which made my commute around 185 miles a day. Eventually, my paycheck ran out before the month did. So initially, I saw an ad in the newspaper on advance payday loans. It was just a curiosity, wondering "how did this work?" I did not need but maybe 20 dollars to get me through until payday. So I think, as I recall, I requested around $150.00 and to pay them back, maybe 25 dollars. I used this maybe twice.
A few months passed and the same situation came about that I needed a few dollars before payday. By this time, I passed a business in Roanoke Rapids advertising something similar. So, I did the same thing as before, but I think that it was around 50 dollars, paying back $12.00 for the usage of the 50 dollars. I used that business a couple of times and then did not need their services anymore.
A few months passed and I started using this business again. By that time I started requesting larger amounts, which meant larger fees. Before I was aware, I was using the services more than I had planned. Eventually, I owed them more than I could pay back, due to it was averaging over $200 a month that I was paying in fees. So, this was my great idea: I would go to another payday loan company and pay the original payday loan company. Before I knew it, it had become a vicious circle, stopping by one payday loan company and taking the payment to the other payday loan company.
I began to feel sick about what I had gotten myself into. Not only had I created an extra $200 a month bill (the fees), but I could not afford the new bill. Also, as I went by every payday, I saw the same faces, or rather the same customers. I decided that no matter how much it may hurt, I was going to make one last visit to pay the payday loan and never visit again. By the time I did go make that last payment, 1) they had gone to my bank and cashed my check, 2) they wanted to charge me an extra $25 for going to my bank.
Around 2004, I started to work on my credit. Lo and behold there it was, I still owed Cash Advance $125 reported on my credit. I quickly had to find the business that I owed. By that time, the payday loan companies that I had previously done business with were closed and now it was up to me to find them.
My personal thought is that I blame myself for being so vulnerable, and I blamed myself for getting myself into that mess.
I question who or what organization approves of these types of companies that are able to make so much money off of someone who comes on bad times.
There are probably some points that I missed, due to it was a few years ago. However, each time I pass by the businesses with their flashing signs with the words they use to lure new customers, I get a sick feeling inside that some people may not be as fortunate as I was to get from under that bad situation.