Reporting Highlights

  • Wave of Lawsuits: Since introducing the Flex Loan in 2015, Tennessee-based lender Advance Financial has filed over 110,000 lawsuits against its borrowers.
  • High Interest and Fees: Flex Loans offer borrowers up to $4,000 at 279.5% interest, trapping thousands of people in debt that can land them in court.
  • Sidestepped Federal Regulators: Advance Financial lobbied lawmakers to create the new Flex Loan to avoid federal consumer protection regulations.
    • deltapi@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      That is so far beyond predatory…the only reason to let this exist is to create wage slavery.

      • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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        14 hours ago

        Do you mean that first month? It’s an annual rate, so you would pay $932 a month, plus compounding every month after.

      • w3dd1e@lemm.ee
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        1 day ago

        I just told a story about doing this in another comment

        It wasn’t on a whim. I had a plan and it worked. I don’t think most people are doing what I did and they are just taking these loans out without a plan or understanding on how bad they can be.

        https://lemm.ee/comment/20387513

      • astanix@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Desperation. Stupidity. Ignorance. If people weren’t doing stupid shit with their finances, companies like this and BNPL companies wouldn’t exist. They are all feeding off of desperation.

        • Case@lemmynsfw.com
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          1 day ago

          Had a coworker who decided during his shift that he was going to buy “that” TV that he pointed at.

          Of course he did not have the funds to do so.

          So he went to the payday loan place in the parking lot.

          He didn’t last long at that job. Wonder if he ever paid that off…