Florida Payday Loans - A Guide to Cash Advances and Payday Loans in Florida

Approximately 20,000,000 people make their home in the Sunshine State, and the population continues to grow. Florida spans two time zones, and it is an hour later in Jacksonville than it is in Pensacola. You can be just as broke in Weeki-Wachee as your friend in Largo. Whether your car broke down in Christmas, or your boat is sinking in Lake Okeechobee, you need cash and it’s still nine days ’til payday. Let’s face it, at one time or another, it happens to Gators, ’Noles, and even Hurricanes.

Many of us carry credit cards that we could use to pay for emergency expenses, or to get a cash advance with. Most of have friends and family that may be willing to help out with a cash loan, and some of us could get a cash advance from our employer, but there are still too many of us that have to find some other means of getting the funds we need, and get them quickly. We often turn to payday lenders.

Payday loans are generally small loans from around $100.00 to $500.00, short termed, usually due on your next pay day. Payday loans are secured by your checking account. You write a post-dated check to the payday lender for the amount of the loan plus the fee they charge for the loan, usually $15.00 to $30.00.

Payday loans are made by stand alone payday loan stores, check cashing companies, pawn shops, and can be found on the internet or contacted by 800 numbers found in printed publications.

So you need to get a payday loan, you pass a couple of those brightly painted stores with names like “Cash Cow”, “Sunshine Payday Loans”, etc. on you way to and from work every day, so you know where it is. You should call first and inquire about their fees, term limits, and what you will need to bring with you when you go. Of course you will need valid identification, normally state issued photo bearing identification, such as a driver’s license or non-drivers identification card. Additionally, you will be required to show proof of residence, usually a recent utility bill in your name, recent pay check stubs, and a working phone number. You’ll most likely be asked to provide names, addresses, and phone numbers of a few friends and /or relatives. (So they can track you down if you fail to pay or your check bounces). In most states, you can “roll over” your payday loan. You either just pay the fee amount for the original term, and extend the time you have to pay the original amount, or pay off the first loan, then take out another on the same day. Many customers have fallen into a cycle that continues for months on end, and end up bankrupt.

When dealing with on-line payday lenders, keep in mind that their home business location is normally in another state, usually with no or very little government regulation of their particular category of business. That means your home state has little or no control on their fee structures, annual percentage rates charged, or terms of service. When dealing with these companies, you will be required to fax or e-mail the required documents, and agree to the electronic deposit, as well as withdrawal of funds to and from your checking account. Be afraid, be very afraid.

In short, payday loans can be an answer to financial shortfalls if you make sure to pay it off promptly, and used strictly as the very last resort.