Integrity Advance/United

[aimeelynne756]

Good morning guys,

I am need of some serious help. Heres my situation:

Last year I was going through some serious financial trouble. I couldn't afford to pay my rent. I was stupid and i took out a cash advance from Integrity Advance for 300.00. Well my fnancial situation didnt improve and I ended up breaking my lease and moving out of the apartment. I also ended up closing my checking account and moving to another city. This was not an attempt at fraud I planned on setting up a payment arrangement to get it paid off. But I had problems getting in touch with them and then when I moved I forgot to get my mail forwarded. So I never heard from them about it. However, today my mother, my father, 2 of my sisters, and myself. All get phone calls and voicemails from this company called United. They insist they are not a collection company but they deal with people who are in the process of getting lawsuits against them. Suposedly, I had to pay right away because once I get served they cannot help me. That in itself sounds strange and they didnt even attempt to get my new address which was another red flag. So I googled the phone number i got the voicemail from which was 337-376-0532. And a page from the website 1-800 notes has a page full of complants describing the exact samething that happened to me. And they all say its a scam and they never got any kind of lawsuit. Also, I researched the orginal creditor Integrity Advance and I found multiple websites saying that they are only licensed to loan in Delaware. And that in order for the loan to be legal they would have to be licensed in my state which is Louisiana. 

I am not disputing that I owe Integrity Advance 300.00. But I am disputing the fact that they decide to contact my family members regarding this after I have not heard from them for a year. And I have concerns about this United not being a legitmate company. Has anyone else had any dealings wth them? Lastly, if they are not licensed in my state am I still responsible for the loan. Also, it has never been reported on my credit report. 

I told them I would pay 100.00 on friday and then I would may 130.00 for the next 3 months to pay a total of 505. They told me my balance was orginally 705 and they were taking 200.00 off.

Sorry for such a long disorganized post. My nerves are just getting the better of me. I really cannot afford a lawsuit being filed against me.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Aimee

[llecs]

I would do research and see what's up with this company, United. It could be that United is a debt relief company. If that's the case, they probably got your information of a credit report somewhere. If they are a debt relief company, I certainly would ignore them. But their comment on not being able to help after the legal process starts makes sense in this situation. If they are a debt relief, they legally cannot be involved in the legal process since they can't represent you.

Another possibility is that Integrety is related to United. Some collectors will create faux companies like this to fish for more info. A great example of this is Jefferson Management and all of their CCs back in the day. Legally they can contact your relatives, but they cannot discuss the debt with them.

In either case, I would ignore United. 

On the loan debt, check with your state's laws. Every state is different when it comes to payday loans. Some allow out of state companies to do business in-state. Some do not. Some allow out of state companies but they have to register in-state. YMMV. I'm certain Lousiana has detailed info on their Sec. of State or AG's website (depending on how they set it up within LA).

NEVER, NEVER , NEVER do business on the phone. ALWAYS keep it in writing. If you talked to United and United is an arm of the payday lender, then there's a chance your promise to pay reset your state's SOL on the debt. If United is unrelated to the payday lender, then there's a chance that you promised to pay a company who might not ever forward the money to the payday lender.