partyongarth788 t1_iudq1eb wrote on October 30, 2022 at 3:37 PM

Read the paperwork you signed. It will identify the terms. My suspicion is it offered a minimum payment, not a payoff payment and a fixed term. I agree this is a shady way of doing a loan & actually thought it had become illegal after the changes following the great recession, but i guess those rules were rescinded during the last administration. Most such loans used to not require any payments and as long as you paid it off before the due date, there was no interest BUT if you didn't the entire interest charges became due. It was a great system for me, to use someone else's money free, but a sizable percentage did not pay it on time & were stuck

theoriginalharbinger t1_iudtuqr wrote on October 30, 2022 at 4:04 PM

> during the last administration

Errrr... what? Deferred interest loan regulations haven't changed at all for consumer credit under Obama, trump, or Biden, and have long been a cornerstone of providers who issue credit on their own books.

partyongarth788 t1_iug775s wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:00 AM

While I'm not finding a specific regulation specifically focusing on this, the zero payments until the end of the loan term, Dodd-Frank did include consumer protections that appear to have impacted such loans. Prior to Dodd Frank many firms offered zero interest zero payment options. Afterward, these same firms only offered zero interest with ongoing payments. Through the early 2000s I used to buy furniture & similar consumer products and make no payments until a month or two before the loan was due. It worked for me, but those either less financially disciplined or of lesser financial capability often found themselves owing something at the end and having to pay all the terms interest.

Much of Dodd Frank was repelled in 2018.