Payday Lender Check ?n Go Targeted for Closure, Huge Fine

by Mike Bevel, CollectionIndustry.com

More than being held responsible for the grungy return of flannel, goatees, and angsty adolescent boys (who just need a hug), Washington State hates payday loan facilities. Or, so it would seem in the way it?s going after payday lending operation Check ?n Go. The state has not only filed to close all facilities, it is also getting ready to levy one mother of a fine against the company: the largest in Washington?s history.

Washington?s beef against Check ?n Go is pretty familiar to anyone tracking the demise of payday loan establishments across the country: the Department of Financial Institutions has accused Check ?n Go of Washington of charging excessive fees and wrongly collecting checks from borrowers to secure small loans.

Check ?n Go is also being accused of something a little more nefarious: lifting borrowers? personal identification numbers without the borrowers? knowledge by retrieving them from phone calls the clients had made when calling banks.

The company has 20 days to request a hearing on the charges, department spokesman Scott Kinney told the Tacoma News Tribune.