Beware of What Comes in the Mail

Here is a guest post by my husband, Bradford!
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Last Saturday, I got a check in the mail. What a great day! In fact, it was an Instant Loan Draft for $1,141.61! All I had to do was sign it, provide my home phone, cell number, social security number, and date of birth and I could spend this money any way I want to.

Manna From Heaven or Devil in the Details

Unfortunately for a lot of people, times are tough and to get a check like this in the mail may feel like an answer to prayers. To me, it feels more like a nightmare ready to spring on someone who isn’t paying attention. This finance company prints the APR (32.391%), finance charge ($657.31), payment schedule (36 months/$49.97), and total of payments ($1,798.92) on the document.

The question is, no matter the shape of your financial ship, does it make sense to pay 32% on any loan? NO! You are paying $657 to borrow $1,141, which is more than half of the original loan amount!

Why I Was So Lucky

As I read the document, I kept wondering “How did they get my name?”.  The answer is they pulled my information from my Experian credit report. According to this finance company I had met their criteria for creditworthiness.

Thanks, Really, but I Decline

They did provide an “opt-out” toll free number (888-567-8688) which I used. It took about 5 minutes to follow the voice prompts and complete the process. You know what would have been a far better process? If Experian didn’t make me have to opt out of an unwanted, unsolicited, harmful service in the first place.