The truth about high-interest loans: Hidden camera investigation (Marketplace)

Really not bad compared to payday and title loan APR of 267%-400%

Loan sharks

Worked at a hard money loan company for a couple months. Realized the real reason my boss was so nice was because of having “generous clients” after realizing how corrupt the business really was I left. I couldn’t handle the fact that my boss was preying on low income families or people who were in a tight spot. Financial industry is 99.9% corrupt.

Our neighbor right next to our cabin owns 2300 acres that he acquired by giving poor farmers and ranchers loans they can't get from any bank change a high interest rate and most of them don t pay it back and he seizes their land .

The disability and unemployment insurance is a scam. My mother inlaw paid extra money into unemployment with her car loan. When she lost her job, she thought that extra money would cover her. 3 missed payments later, the repoman took her car away.

I am immigrant. I have good job. My credit score is good but my bank is saying you don’t have PR you are not Canadian Citizen so we can’t give you loan and see all these kind of companies are trying to give me loan. Now I think I have made a bad decision to come here where government firms are helping these kind of players to exploit immigrants and other people.

I was sent a check for over $4000 @ 34 percent interest over 18 months . All i had to do was sign the check. Even though i could use the money but i dont need it that bad. Straight in the shredder it went.

FAIRSTONE is the worst EVER! Never make that mistake

😂😅

I paid one of these places off 10 years ago in full, in that time they called me every 2 years since telling me I still owe them. If I didn't keep my letter of release I would have been screwed again for 8grand.

Pay day loans of below $1500 are even worse they charge 15% every 2 weeks or almost 400% APR. In my opinion the government should cap pay day loans to $2.50/$100 or 60%APR and these larger loans above $1500 should be capped at 35% which the federal government is doing.

I don't see what's wrong with what they're doing. If you are a high risk borrower then that's your fault for getting such a high interest rate. They probably need that markup in interest because of having to pay back money lost on people who don't pay back that high risk loan. Makes perfect sense to me.

Loan sharks have a new field

and governments allow this in the name of capitalism ridiculous

I don’t feel sorry for her (Karen)

MAFIA MONEY.

I was a victim to fairstone...and i will NEVER DO IT AGAIN...i learned the hard way...i was desperate ....

He is right!! We tried so I left

Nothing has changed over the years... very sad 😔

When the Liberal leadership wont take the opportunity to talk with the CBC and get free airtime, you know something has to be up.

What is the government doing to stop such malpractices?

These are high risk loans. The interest rates are justified.

That should really be considered criminal.

Fairstone Financial should change their name to Unfairstone Financial.

Useless politicians keeping Canadians safe, yea right.

If kids learned basic math/finance in school, people would laugh at these loan places.

these guys are real scammers cutting legs to the low income families and you know the saddest part is that they’re legally operating in all cities shame on to the canadian politicians💯

If political entities are investing in these predators we are doomed. They won't let their money walk away. I wish they would claw down on this massive theivery. I didn't know the truth until watching this. Not looking good for this team.

As a non-Canadian, Marketplace has taught me that most Canadian politicians arent worth the air they breathe, bc they always side with the powerful

I've had to use test places a couple times what totally defeats their practice is pulling out the calculator and doing the calculations right the and there. Budget accordingly, based on the interest rate. If 80% of the people that came Into the places and did a little work they'd be better off. But alot of these people don't have really any financial literacy, hence this problem. These places are designed to help once in a rainy day no more.

I worked for Money Mart for a few months. We could make up to 1000.00/shift in bonus pay (paid cash daily) and the more you could convince the customer to buy the more you got in bonus. They wee horrid, absolutely predatory. I left because I could not do that to people

I never ever had an issue with loan places, and I probably took out a good $5000, of course not in one sum, but it was only $20 extra for the 100$ but when I go to get paid I stay the whole $120 back, but then 5 years ago they changed it to an interest and it was only a $5 back off a hundred, so even lower, but of course you got to pay it back within the 10-20 days.

Don’t get a Best Buy card because they doing it too

The card was owned by the kardashians I bet LOL. This fam went further and further in the whole. They should have driven out to home depot and grabbed a few Mexicans.

I cannot imagine ever being so desperate that I would pay 27% interest on a loan I could not afford.

I'm confused. I thought they were usury laws against loan sharking and illegal loan making? How can these high interests be charged on legitimate loans? Where is our government to protect us?

Payday loans the scums they always mainly operate in low income areas I see it all the time

It’s important to note that if you default on a consumer debt loan, life will be fine. Yes, your credit score will take a hit, but there is not much that they can do except make empty threats. Also, in Canada, as of fairly recently, if they haven’t been able to get a hold of you for five years, the debt goes away. If you are a working individual, they may be able to garnish some of your wages. However, if you are someone on welfare or disability, they are not allowed to touch your disability or welfare checks. The only downside to consumer debt, especially if you were someone on a fixed income, is you will get mean calls from people who think they are in a position of authority, threatening letters that aren’t worth the paper they printed on, and your credit score will take a hit. The thing is about your credit score, it really only matters if you’re making above a certain amount a year. If you were someone on a low income, and you’re making under $16,000 a year, it doesn’t matter whether or not you have the best credit score. Even if you have a 900, you still won’t be able to get anything with your credit because of your limited income. The only debt that you should be somewhat concerned with is if you have a government debt like a student loan. Otherwise, consumer debt isn’t a BL and all that most people Are conditioned to believe it is. This comes from life experience, and the experience of working alongside a financial advisor.

Great Job by the expert witness Alex Haditaghi and Senator Ringuette for bringing this to the light and talking about these jerks without fear! We need more leaders like this two individuals! Also great job by CBC marketplace producers for again doing an incredible job!

I worked in a law office in 2002 and we used to have people call about these loans. They were hoping a lawyer could help them out of the predatory practice, but they'd signed a contract and there wasn't really anything the attorneys could do. It was really sad. Check cashing and payday loan places are predatory, too, and take advantage of people who aren't in the regular banking system for whatever reason. This kind of practice should be illegal, but here in the US there are several senators who have invested in these companies, so it's not in their best interest to pass legislation against it.

if the person know how much interest is he paying and still go ahead with that then thats not a fraud.

Ya know it's cheaper to get a cc cash advance on a unused credit card and pay it off a week later

How are these company allowed to exist in Canada

My wife years ago had to deal with easy home..they would show up at her door looking for payment, lurking around the house, very creepy. I helped her pay off the 1000$ couch that cost her close to $4000 when everything was done.

No sympathy for people breaking the law.. sorry

In the USA they have 500% apy

They're a bunch of crooks!!!!

Part of the problem is how little financial education people have. It's one of the most important life skills to work on.

While the percentages are insane, at what point is it down to personal responsibility? Can’t feel sorry for those who don’t read the fine print.