One of the interesting things I’ve learned about payday loans is that there are many affiliates online that steer customers towards getting a loan.  This one takes the cake.  Nadya Suleman, the Octomom herself, has lent her name and image to a payday loan affiliate site.

Affiliates will collect a customer’s information and sell that information to any of a variety of online lenders.  This is called lead generation.  If the loan is made, the affiliate makes a commission.

The trick that consumers should be aware of, and this applies to storefront lenders as  well, is to know exactly who you are borrowing from.  There are legitimate lenders and, I imagine, a few non-legitimate lenders.  By “legitimate”, I mean those that follow all state and federal laws to the letter, and ideally follow CFSA Best Practices (since those seem to be a very detailed and transparent way of doing business).  A “non-legitimate” lender is one that does not treat the customer as the law provides, period.  Non-legit lenders should be chased out of town.

Now, I have no idea if the lenders in the Octomom network are legitimate or not. I hope they are.  The CFPB and state regulators serve a purpose here, and that is to make sure that customers are treated as the law provides.  I’m not opposed to regulators, as you can see.  There’s a place for consumer protection.

So when offered a loan, consumers should do their due diligence and find out all they can about the lender.

Know your lender.

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