Friday, September 12, 2014

In Re Snowden (9th Cir. - Sept. 12, 2014)

No, not that Snowden.  This one's instead a guy who took out a $575 payday loan in Washington and thereafter filed for bankruptcy.  (Instead of fleeing to Russia)

As for the other party to this transaction, they may have fancy advertisements and nice, brightly lit stores, but for the underbelly of how "Check Into Cash" works, read the opinion.  Here's a portion:

"Snowden advised CIC’s Sequim, Washington office that she was 'thinking about filing for bankruptcy,' and provided her bankruptcy attorney’s phone number. She was advised that she should let CIC know if she decided to file. When Snowden told CIC that she could not repay the loan, CIC said that she must call CIC every day, otherwise the company would call her 'references.' Snowden complied, calling CIC every day until the day she filed for bankruptcy because she 'didn’t want to be embarrassed.'

Snowden was employed as a hospital nurse. CIC employees called her at work numerous times asking why she had not yet repaid the loan. Snowden referred them to her attorney and asked that they stop calling her at work, but the calls persisted."

Harassing someone at work even after they ask you to stop, threatening to call their "references" merely to embarrass them, demanding they call you every single day, and then violating the automatic stay after they file for bankruptcy.

Stay classy, Check Into Cash.