Payday Loan Tips: Tip #1 – How to Pay Lower Fees
Jun 25th, 2007 by PDL
Finding really low fees on payday loans is somewhat impossible, but there is no reason why you should have to pay exorbitant, over the top fees that some companies want to charge. When it comes to borrowing large (or even small) sums of cash in a short amount of time, there will always be a high premium to pay. That doesn’t mean that consumers should have to break the bank to get quick money in a pinch, though.
State governments have stepped up to the plate recently in protecting consumers from excessive fees. Though there is no federal standard for how much payday loan companies can charge you, more and more of these local governments are set on making the payday loan business a more affordable and regulated one. New Mexico, for example, has recently passed legislation limiting how much payday loan companies can charge their companies for loans. If your state is one of the many states jumping on board, then you are in luck. To find a complete listing of the state by state laws regarding payday loans, visit payday-loan-laws.info.
Recent regulation of the payday loan industry has produced a fairly standardized listing of finance fees among these companies. You will likely pay about the same finance charge regardless of which payday loan lender you choose. These companies are looking to hit consumers hard with other fees, though. One of the ways that these companies can get around state laws regarding fees is to come down hard on folks who write a bad check. The Consumer Federation of America released a report detailing some of the ways that payday loan companies avoid regulations in this press release - consumerfed.org: Internet Payday Lending.
Though the repayment process is made much easier by giving a check or a bank account number to the payday loan company, this also opens the door for ridiculous fees if you fail to pay the debt back immediately. Payday loan companies are not allowed to prosecute you criminally if that check doesn’t clear, but they can take some drastic measures to recoup their money. In addition to that, they are allowed to charge huge returned check fees and get back money for the legal services that they might have to acquire.
The easiest way to ensure that you won’t get busted with large fees is to make responsible decisions regarding the payday loan. Only borrow an amount of money that you are absolutely certain you will be able to pay back. In addition, budget both your finances and your time to ensure that when it comes time to pay back that loan company, you have taken the appropriate measures to have enough money in your bank account. If that doesn’t happen, the consequences can be somewhat dire.