This Lender Said Its Loans Would Help Tennesseans. It Has Sued More Than 110,000 of Them.
www.propublica.org
The Flex Loan, a type of payday loan pioneered by Advance Financial, has burdened low-income borrowers while generating huge profits for lenders. Tennessee lawmakers declined to rein in the lending business, even as other states did.

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.
    • w3dd1e@lemm.ee
      3·
      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.worldEnglish
      11·
      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
        1·
        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…