Steered Into Debt: How EasyPay Finance Traps Consumers in High Interest Loans
Car repair loans with EasyPay carry rates up to 199%
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Consumer Checkbook has a story out about car repair lender EasyPay Finance and their predatory tactics that can trap consumers in loans carrying interest rates as high as 199%.
I’ve written before about EasyPay and their shady practices:
As Consumer Checkbook notes:
EasyPay’s loans, which promise “no interest if paid in 90 days” — may seem like a sensible way to pay for an expensive repair. Chances are, it’s not. All too often, that “free financing” turns out to be a costly loan — with interest rates that can be as high as nearly 200 percent.
And it’s not exactly “free” financing:
An EasyPay loan is only interest free if the full amount financed — and a $40 fee is paid — before the end of the 90-day promotional period noted in the contract. Critics claim the program is designed to make it difficult for borrowers to meet those conditions.
How does EasyPay get away with charging rates it admits can run up to 199%? They partner with Utah-based TAB Bank — a known collaborator with predatory lenders.
Again, from Consumer Checkbook:
Non-bank installment loans with a 189 percent interest rate are illegal in most states. But in some states, Duvera Billing Services (the California company that owns EasyPay Finance), uses Utah-based Transportation Alliance Bank (TAB Bank) to “launder its loans,” so it can “evade state laws” and charge interest rates “that it cannot legally charge as a non-bank lender,” Lauren Saunders of National Consumer Law Center, said.
