Karah's Story
I got a payday loan last May to pay for an emergency. That’s when the horror started.
Immediately, it was clear that I could not pay the first one back without getting another payday loan. So from May until October, I was paying $500.00 (principal) plus $75.00 (interest) every other week. It was like I was borrowing my own money just to stay afloat with the lender!
In early October my husband got ill and could not work. We are relying solely on my income. At this point, I just could not pay back CheckSmart because I couldn’t afford the interest. So I called CheckSmart and wrote them a letter, telling them I honestly wanted to pay them back. I asked the customer service rep on the phone if could I pay them installments of $150.00-$200.00 a month. The gentleman (if that’s what you want to call him) was incredibly rude and told me he was going to get me hauled away in a Sheriff's car for stealing.
When I told him my lawyer said I could consider filing bankruptcy, he told me, "your quack lawyers don’t know anything in VA.” Next I told him I was going to call Governor Kaine to which he replied “go ahead and call your Governor – I don’t care, they don’t know anything either.” He called me a thief and a stealer. I told him I ran into hard times, and that I had written an explanatory letter to CheckSmart. He said to me, “yeah I got your letter and ripped it up and threw it away."
I was so scared by the end of the phone call I was crying, because I wasn’t familiar with the laws and I thought I was going to jail for sure. He told me I could get locked up. Thanks to some wonderful advice [from VaPERL members] I feel safe again. With my payday loan, I felt like a mouse in a trap crying to get out but couldn't. These people are not out to help anyone – rather, they are out to hurt people and destroy their lives.