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Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:09 am Subject: PDL Assistant

I have 6 payday loans, 3 I have made payments towards and 3 I haven't made a payment to yet. I have closed my bank account on the advice of PDL Assistance, a company I have paid $200 to in order to settle my loans. They did not initially inform me that they could not settle with the companies I have not made payments towards. Now, having closed my bank account, I have missed initial payments to them. Is there anything I can do about this? Does anyone know if PDL Assistance is legit? I am new to this forum (or any forum for that matter) so I apologize if I am asking questions that have been answered. Thank you!

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:32 am Subject:

I've not dealt with them personally, but according to some of the other members who have, they have been thrown a few curve balls here and there. I think the one thing that bothered me the most about them is the fact that they won't even begin making payments until they have all the money owed on hand? Not sure if that is true, but I read it from one of our other members somewhere. Anyway, hopefuly someone who has experience with them will be along to give you a hand. Good luck! Smile

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:50 am Subject:

Welcome! You should read this informtion to make sure that you have all of your bases covered regarding your closed bank account:
http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/paydayloan/close-account.html

Good luck!

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:52 am Subject:

I started the process with PDL Assistance, but have decided to handle the loans on my own. There are a few things that did not set right with me.
First of all, the difference between PDL Assistance and Langhorne is that Langhorne will allow you to handle the money yourself in your own account until it is time to pay them each month.
PDL Assistance makes you open an account with another bank.
PDL Assistance gave me a LOT of mixed information that caused greater stress and confusion, for example, the original rep told me there was no way I would have to close my bank account. He told me this 4 times. I told him the rep from Langhorne told me up front that the first thing I needed to do was close it. He said "They don't know what they are doing, see we're better!" I should have stopped there...

They lowered the amount of the fee from $200 to $150 for me. He said if I paid the money that day, they would send out the "welcome kit" right away. The welcome kit consists of information that can all be found right here.

I did not get the kit for almost 2 weeks after that. So in the mean time, I was forced to close my account, which I should have done anyway. When I called to complain, the phone ran busy for 2 solid days. I was in a panic by that time and started doing research on PDL Assistance and that is how I found this site: In a google search! I sent several emails and finally got a call back on the 3rd day. But by then, I was very leary.

Weigh it out and think about very seriously before you make the decission. I am sure they do what they say they do, but I for one didn't like the idea that I have to call the Payday loan companies and tell them that they must call PDL Assistance.. Langhorne will call them for you. I also don't like the hidden fees. They tell you it's a one time $150 or $200 fee upfront, but they almost half of the "settlement" amount is a service fee. $96 a month for mine.
It might be worth it for some people, but for me it wasn't. Not with the help I got here. So I can say at this point, it looks like this wonderful site has saved me $170 a month for the next 6 months... that's $1020!!!!

Take your time and think about it. I'm very happy I did!
Jen

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:57 am Subject:

Thanks, Jen. I am re-thinking the PDL Assistance, however, I am a little overwhelmed with what would be necessary to take care of these outstanding loans.

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 11:02 am Subject:

Leslie,
I completely understand. I was exactly where you are now about 2 weeks ago. I mean exactly. I had not missed any of the payments to the pdl's until I had signed up with the company.

The people here are friendly and helpful. It's a great community. I've not been here long, but I'm thrilled I found them! That money I would have paid PDL Assistance is going toward paying off my gas bill so I can lower my budget amount!!

Check out some of the other threads and post all your information so they can help you here. That much doesn't cost you anything and you might find out something that saves you a lot of stress and money Smile

Jen

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 11:06 am Subject:

Here is typically what you would do wither you hire PDL Assistance or Langhorne or any other pay day loan settlement company or if decide do it on your own.

First you would want to go into you bank and speak with the Branch Manager and have them put a ACH block " also known as a Hard Hold " so these Pay day loan places can`t get any more money from your account.Eventually you would want to close that account , but the hard hold will stop the pdl places till you can close the account.
These accounts will have to be delinquent typically for the PDL places to negotiate.

PDL Assistance or Langhorne or any other pdl settlement company will work with you to establish a savings program that will be used to pay off your debts over a period of usually 6 to 12 months. Both PDL Assistance and Langhorne hold the money in another account so they make sure you don`t spend it when you need to be saving it to use to eventually settle with the pay day loan companys. You will have one monthly payment and the amount you will pay back is typically between 30% and 60% of the amount owed when you joined the program. These companies have bills to pay just like you so yes they charge some fees up front and it could take 60-90 days sometimes for your first settlement. You will save more money doing this on your own and this site has all the info you need if you want to try and do that.But if you don`t want to deal with the hassle of settling on your own you may want to hire a company like PDL Assistance or Langhorne to help you but expect it to take a little longer to rid your self of the debt because you will pay some fees to these companies who do all the dirty work for you.

Either option is good depending on what you want to do. Very Happy

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 11:16 am Subject:

mooreleslie79 the good people here in this community are very knowledgable and willing to walk you through the process of getting these loans taken care of, however, that is a decision only you can make for yourself. Whatever you choose to do, we will still be here for you. Take good care, and good luck! Smile

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 11:18 am Subject:

I want to take care of this and stop this awful cycle. How do I start?

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 11:28 am Subject:

Furnish us with the following information, then we can figure out a good course of action for you. Since you have already closed your bank account, we know your money is safe and secure. The next step is to list the following information so we can research whether you are dealing with licensed or unlicensed pdl's. Smile

-Name of pdl
-Internet or Store front.
-How much you borrowed
-How much (in total) you paid back
-The state you live in.

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 11:34 am Subject:

I certainly don't want to give the wrong impression. Things always look worse when you're under a lot of stress. I do think those assistance companies are good for people who don't want to deal with it on their own. I just wanted to share my experience. I do think that in some cases it is worth it to pay someone else to deal with these people. They can be awful to deal with.
Jen

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 11:57 am Subject:

-Name of pdl:

Ace Cash ASAP - Internet
Little Loan Shoppe - Internet
Pay Day One - Internet
Pay Day Max - Internet
Think Cash - Internet
Cashnet - Internet

-How much you borrowed & paid back:
Ace Cash - $400 / 0
Little Loan Shoppe - $300 / 0
Pay Day Max - $600 / 0
Pay Day One - $1000 / $556.85
Think Cash - $1250 / $1414.05
Cashnet - $1500 / $547.28

-The state you live in. Texas

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 12:03 pm Subject:

Oh boy, Texas, the state I always have problems decyphering the CSO's from the PDL's.

Don't mind me, I get all confused about the CSO and PDL thingie. OK, let's start with your laws below. Here they are, and you may need them to copy and paste into emails you will need to send some of these pdl's. Smile

I am placing a link here, this link is to search the licensee data base to see if these pdl's have a license to lend in your state. Although, I'm not sure, they may only need a license anywhere in the US and still be allowed to lend to Texas residents also, anyone know about this? Please jump in and clarify if ya will.
http://168.39.159.59/default.asp

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 12:20 pm Subject:

I may not know how to do the search on the license because none of these PDL's are showing as having licenses in Texas.

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:05 pm Subject:

Welcome, fellow name sharer! I too considered having someone "negotiate" for me but I didn't like the way it would be handled and I didn't like the attitude I was getting. On top of that it was going to cost me big bucks to settle 5 PDLs, 2 of which were already PIF. I jumped in and within 3 months I had all 5 cleared. It does take determination and time but it can be done. I have never gotten into the interpretation of state laws so I always leave that to those who have. Follow the step by step on here and you will be okay.

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