this post was submitted on 11 May 2025
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This lender said its loans would help Tennesseans. It has sued more than 110,000 of them. (www.propublica.org)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world
15 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

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.
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[–] w3dd1e@lemm.ee 2 points 19 minutes ago* (last edited 18 minutes ago)

I 100% fixed my credit score with these types of shitty high interest loans. I took it from 450 to 700 pretty fast.

I realized that credit score formulas are heavily weighted by payment history and credit balances. I had no credit card balances but I had bad payment record from being a stupid kid in college.

Once that dawned on me, I put all my debt into a high interest loan. Made a payment or two then my credit score would go up a bit, and I’d refinance to a somewhat lower interest rate. Those high interest loans kill most people on interest so they don’t have origination fees. I kept refinancing to better rates until I got down to a reasonable number. By then my credit score was 700 and I could make consistent affordable payments until it was gone.

I wouldn’t recommend this to most people. It takes a lot of research and planning. The financial landscape has changed a lot since then too.

NOTE: Just because I had a success story with these doesn’t mean I think the types of loans are good. I found a loophole.

I think this industry is fucking gross and they target people in my situation with little knowledge of how loans and credit work. It’s a shame the CFPB couldn’t do more to stop it and now they are dead too.

[–] Thalion@lemmy.ca 9 points 16 hours ago

Would be very interesting to see how many of those 100k voted for the Republicans that cleared the way for this to become legal

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 7 points 17 hours ago

Of course they said they'd help people.

They wouldn't get many takers if their advertising started with "Hey fuckface! Just because you're poor as dirt that doesn't mean you can't line our fucking pockets."

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 5 points 18 hours ago

These kinds of interest rates are why payday loans got the regulatory hammer to crash down and smash them to bits.

[–] almost1337@lemm.ee 58 points 1 day ago (4 children)

279.5% interest... what the fuck

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 5 points 17 hours ago

That’s loansharking minus the guy threatening bodily harm to get you to pay.

[–] deltapi@lemmy.world 35 points 1 day ago

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

[–] tomi000@lemmy.world 4 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

Why would anyone accept a loan with 280% interest?

[–] w3dd1e@lemm.ee 1 points 14 minutes 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 8 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

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 points 1 hour 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...

[–] whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works 5 points 20 hours ago

If you borrow 4,000 to refund it at the end of the thirst month it would cost 11,160?

[–] j0ester@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago

I love the uneducated.

[–] Lyrl@lemm.ee 11 points 1 day ago

Salt in the wound: The default judgements locking in wage garnishment to pay illegal parts of the debt (on top of the immorality legal ones) because the kind of people who get these loans have many responsibilities and often can't make an arbitrary court date, and it's not clear to them the stakes are "show up or lose all recourse" (no appeals are possible).

[–] cerement@slrpnk.net 15 points 1 day ago

helped Tennesseans not trust lenders …