I sent the following letter to the NC governor (and mentioned it was to the State AG and others as well). Not one of my best works obviously:
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Dear Governor Easley (also to attn of State Attorney General and others as necessary),

I realize it is probably a little late to do anything to help me. But I have seen some stories where you have attempted to end Payday Loans in NC. While a number of those services exist as "brick and mortar" businesses, a very large number are active online as well.

I, myself, currently have no less than 5 active loans destroying me financially. Yes, it is true that it is my fault alone that I have entered into these loans.

For a short time, the first 1 or 2 seemed to be going well. But other situations arose that forced me to enter into others just to pay the fees of one pay pariod. In addition, a sale of our company made things even worse so that paycheck periods are no longer the same as when I entered into the loans (went from every other Friday to twice per month (15th and last day of the month).

For the past 2 or so months, my bank account has stayed in the negative because I couldn't even afford the fees and routinely have had 5 or more NSF fees applied to my bank account. Living expenses are now almost non existant. I have no money to pay rent and almost none to pay for basic utilities, let alone for food.

While I sound rather horrible, and really have no hope of recovery, I wanted to share my story with you in hopes that you can move quicker to save others from making the same mistakes I have.

Even if I weren't so horribly embarrassed about the idea of going to Legal Aid for help, and even if there was room on their case load, I seriously doubt there is anything they can do for me. and I really feel that I'm not merely being a pessimist.

I have a great job. Great from my point of view anyway. It's the best pay I've had in my entire life. But that may come to an end very soon as I don't see much future hope in my own situation.

But, still, I want to write this in hopes of encouraging you to work harder to help others from ending up in the same situation. In a way, I am lucky because though my 10 year old son lives with me right now, his mother lives elsewhere and should I loose my home, I know he will be safe by going to live with her.

Yes, I know there are times when people need an emergency loan. And some businesses are working to improve things by offering loans to their employees against their paychecks, charging NO fees, and allowing employees to pay back those loans a piece at a time straight from their paycheck. I wish I known my old company did that. I might have been in a better situation today. But that's not the case. And many others are going through the same situation.

I hope that you can do something to help others in this situation or who are considering entering into online payday loans.

I thank you for your attention to this matter.

Andrew Rhodes
Wilmington, NC
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