LENDING BOOTH APPEARS TO BE CLOSED

It's a common event these days when you go to a tribal lender's website and the site is no longer responding.  Normally this means that the lender has folded their business or the company has switched gears, meaning they have moved on to another website.  In 2012 this didn't happen too often but it's much more common in 2013.  Whether that's a factor of competition or if the business is just failing as a matter of course is hard to say.

There is a good chance it is the competition amongst tribal lenders that is sending some of the smaller lenders six feet under.  A couple years ago there were only about a dozen tribal lenders and not there's well over 50 of these lenders.  With a pretty static group of potential customers the massive growth of tribal lenders was bound to be a problem.  There simply is not enough borrowers to go around for all of these lenders.

The other factor that may have stopped Lending Booth is just the business model itself.  Online payday lenders constantly face the problem of customers who are substantially late on their payments or just stop repayments altogether.  These bad customers who default on their loans or who partially default on their loans, it makes it difficult for a smaller lender that doesn't have enough clientele to keep their doors open.  This lack of a large customer base combined with a number of customers who can't pay makes the company unprofitable.

Now, it should be clear that we don't know what happened to Lending Booth.  It could be a factor that has nothing to do with the financials.  And there is a strange situation concerning Lending Booth that sets them apart from other tribal lenders and that is that it's not a sure thing that they are down...

When you go to the Lending Booth website the website is not closed as so many other out of business loan shops.  The Lending Booth site shows that they are experiencing website difficulties and the company apologizes for the inconveinice.  However, there is a login field that allows existing (old) customers to sign into their account.  When you choose that option it takes you to the legacy page of Lending Booth.  And amazingly, right there, is all the information from the original company website.  This is really strange and this is definitely a first. 

It's a shame that Lending Booth is out of business, or currently removed from doing business, because their rates were not too bad.  As an example, the finance charge on a 14 day loan was just under $25 for every $100 borrowed.  Technically, it was 24.92% which is better than many lenders.  Even more interesting was the fact that the Lending Booth loan calculator allowed you to submit for a 31 day loan which was expensive coming with a 55% interest charge for the 31 day loan. 

However, and you know this if you've been reading these posts for any length of time, I happen to feel that paying more for a longer loan cycle is advantageous when compared to paying less for the shorter time of 10 to 16 day cycle.  Why?  It's been my experience that having that extra time to organize funds is a much better way to avoid being trapped in revolving debt. 

The problem that I had (and so many millions of other Americans at some point in their lives) is that you take out a loan with every intention to pay it back.  However, during the desperate days of doing anything to scratch that loan together, you didn't really notice that you agreed to pay the money back in only 12 days.  That's not a very long time and if you get paid every 14 days like most working Americans, well then it's really no time at all.  The short-term loan (incorrectly) assumes that you will, somehow, have the money to repay in the 12 days from the date of the loan.  But the fact is all of your existing costs like gas, food, rent, car payment, utility bills, phone bill, insurance costs, they are all still ongoing and they will be right in your face at the same time the short-term loan is due. 

So what do you do?  The game of balancing and skipping payments on something begins.  Maybe you short the phone company or the electric company, maybe you ask your landlord for more time on the rent.  And there is a really good chance you will ask your lender (in this case the tribal payday company, Lending Booth or some other firm) to extend your loan by letting you pay the minimum amount due, which happens to be just the finance charge.  That's the danger, that's the trap. 

Herein enters the reason, if you must get a loan, that you get that loan with a longer amount of time to repay.  By using two pay periods instead of only one period you have a better chance of saving enough money to do one of two things.  First, you can save enough to repay the entire loan, which is most likely for loans up to or under $500.  Second, you save enough money to pay the finance charge and a large part of the principal on the loan, for example paying around 65% of the principal.  This helps get you out of debt a lot, for me the difference was really just tremendous.  Yes, the higher cost of the longer loan hurt.  That extra cost per $100 borrowed would be approximately $30, so for a $600 loan it would be an extra $180 down the hole.  But you bought something with that $180 which is time.  The time to gather more money together, either through a second pay period, money borrowed from other sources like friends or family, or money other ways, like working overtime for example. 

The point is that front end time allows you a better chance to escape from the cycle of just paying the finance charge.  Believe me that cycle is very real and it's quite easy to fall into.  You have to ask yourself why and how do all of these tribal loan companies exist?  And why do all of these other regular (unaffiliated from any sovereign nation) online lenders exist?  Plus, how do all these brick and mortar payday loan stores exist around the country, with thousands of offices from coast to coast? 

The reason is not because Average Joe walks  in the door and takes out a $500 loan which he repays in full on his next payday.  That's not what is happening in the United States.  People are taking out these supposedly short-term loans and they are extending them, which is making a fortune for these loan shops.  That's the soap box for today, but it's true. 

That's a long way of saying that it's a shame that Lending Booth is out of action because having that option to borrow for a greater period of time can truly help someone in a bad spot.  For some reason they couldn't make it as a company, or they have some type of problem that has them in their current hiatus mode.  Either way, let's hope they come back with same rates they had or maybe even a little lower. 

Lending Booth is closer to what a "good" online loan company should be.  Obviously, it would be much better to have traditional bank loans and more reasonable loans that can last for years with far more acceptable rates (remember paying 12%) but that's not going to happen.  Getting to have a full month to repay is superior to most current lending companies.  Let's hope that Lending Booth gets their act together and gets back into the game.

Comments

[Thomas Hagen]

I'm glad that they are no longer in business with a interest rate at 600% and doing loans in states that are not legal or not license in that state.

[kimberly adkins]

Is this for Gentle Breeze pay day loans

[Native American Lender]

Hi Thomas, it's no surprise that this company has gone out of business. All short-term lenders charge too much in finance charges. Plus there are so many other options out there. CashNetUSA (not a Native American lender) and Mobiloans (they are a tribal lender) both have substantially lower rates. Why Lending Booth, and others like them, have such high rates is beyond me. I have actually called a lot of these companies and spoken with the managers, the reason (or excuse) they usually provide is that they experience such a high default rate among their borrowers. Supposedly the only way to cover those losses is to charge the (super) high rates on all of the loans. Now whether that's true or not, we'll never know because none (as in zero) of these companies are publicly traded and therefore have no disclosure requirements on their profits or losses.

[Native American Lender]

Hi Kimberley, the answer to the question about Gentle Breeze is "no" Lending Booth is not (was not) the same as Gentle Breeze. They are both based out of the state of California but that's about the only similarity. Gentle Breeze is a tribal lender based out of Boulevard, California. Lending Booth is (was) based out of a town called Ukiah, California. They are not the same organization. Thanks so much for asking.

[DEE BROTHERS]

I owe them a loan but site is down and I can't get into my account. As of Auig 30 they informed me they are no longer able to deduct from any bank account so therefore I should wire a MO (western Union) .WU WILL NOT WIRE ANY MONEY TO THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT LISTED AS A REGONIZED BILLER. THEY WILL NOT ACCEPT A CHECK. SO ARE THEY ADDING LATE CHARGES OR WHAT.I HAVE STOPPED PAYMENT FROM MY BANK ALTOGETHER.DON'T WANT THEM TO WITHDRAW a large fee without me knowing.AM WAITING FOR SOME KIND OF BILL FROM THEM.

[Native American Lender]

Hi Dee,

Right, what's happening is the New York Attorney General is coming down on these tribal lenders with threats, injunctions, etc. They are also coming after financial firms like banks and Western Union to try to stop them from working with the Native lenders. Here are two things to consider with Lending Booth: 1) The company is probably not going to remain in business. Between the competition they face from other tribal lenders and the hammer coming down on them, they are most likely done for. 2) Lending Booth does not work with any of the Big 3 credit agencies, so this loan (your loan) exists in a bit of a vacuum, in the world of "regular" finance this loan doesn't exist. So between the fact that this company is probably going to vanish and the fact that they have no capabilities to report you to the big credit agencies...you may just want to consider the fact that you are not able to repay (with all of the trouble, WU being turned off, etc.) as a sign that you shouldn't work with this company anymore. Maybe just pretend the loan never happened. They will send letters and they will call you, they might hire some agency to call you or write you a letter, but in the end they can't do anything.

[California Loan Guarantee Program]

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[Goodbye Lending Booth]

Thanks for writing this honest article about Lending Booth, someone had to say this. Very good and I'm glad they are finally out of business hopefully forever.

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[Frank Morgan]

Lending Booth is closed there is no maybe about it. The company doesn't accept new loans and they are only working through the customers that already have loans outstanding from before they went out of business.

[Oscar]

Lending Booth doesn't appear to closed, Lending Booth is closed.

[Richie Larner]

Making a lender give you a loan isn't easy normally but it is with these tribe guys. Lending Booth is still open for people with accts you just can't get a new account now for some reason.

[Laurence]

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[Gold Option Broker]

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[Sonya]

Hi, I never applied for a loan with Lending Booth and they some how got all my information and deposited money into my bank acct. early last year. I closed that bank acct and now I received a 1099Tax Form with Cancellation of Debt on it. I can not find a telephone number to speak with someone about this matter. Can anyone help?

[Sonya]

Not sure if the tax 1099 tax form is real.

[Notes On Loans That Were Not Requested]

Hi Sonya, thanks for the comments! I am not surprised about them (Lending Booth) or some affiliated lender depositing money into your checking account. A bunch of lenders were doing this, especially in 2012 and 2013, and maybe it's still going on although I think it's slowed down now.

I would say that there is no reason to repay the money. I have spoken with a few people where this happened, especially from people that received loans from a "company" called IdealGelt.com which was a total scam operation. They get your personal and checking account information from some lender that you did apply with, and that lender in turn sold your information to other more pathetic lenders. Then one of those lenders just deposits money into your checking account and just declares (although they do so silently) that you now have a loan with them. It's ridiculous and it is not legal at all, in any way, shape or form.

You did the right thing by closing your checking account. And as far as the 1099 Tax Form for cancellation of debt I would completely ignore that form. If and when the IRS notices you received this form they will look at the lender / company source and then it will just go into the garbage can of history because the IRS will know that this lender is labeled as garbage. The IRS, US Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the US Justice Dept, they all have many of these junk (both state licensed and Native American) lenders pegged as such. Dozens of states have all kinds of warnings against tribal lenders.

The IRS will not take any action (inquiry, audit, etc.) against you for having "business dealings" with a predatory / illegal lending operation. The same goes for all the state revenue agencies. No one will care about this.

And in the million to one shot that they do ask about it, just explain the truth, that an illegal lender just dumped a loan into your checking account with no legal foundation, no signature or agreement. They will accept that and go away. But that's going to happen because the revenue service(s) will spot the garbage nature of the lender in question.

[Malissa]

I also received a 1099 for cancellation of debt. I actually had a loan and it was paid completely off. The only proof I have is a copy of the check and an email titled proof of final payment that was sent to lending booth. They are saying that they cancelled out 672.00 that I didn't pay which isn't true. I've called the IRS several times and have only been informed that I have to submit an amendment to my taxes. I'm not sending another red cent for this but don't want to get in trouble with the IRS. Are you saying that I shouldn't worry about this because they know it's bogus? Little Elk Corporation seems to be affiliated with Lending Booth but I can't find ANY information on this company. The IRS can't even tell me if the FEIN number is legitimate! Please help!!!!

[Notes on Tribal Lenders]

Hi Malissa, it's the right thing to do. Little Elk / Lending Booth / all (or at least the vast majority) are known to the IRS as junk outfits that are not legitimate. You got the 1099 form because the low grade tribal company is smart enough to realize they don't want to get into trouble with the IRS themselves. But that doesn't mean that they are legit in their dealings with their customers, because they are scammers all the way.

Just ignore the 1099 and don't bother building it into your tax return. The IRS will not care about this junk 1099 form when the review your return. It will be a non-factor and go into the night.