4. Complain if you have a problem with the payday lender
Use this letter-writing tool to complain about a product or service.
Question & Answer
I cannot repay my payday loan. What can I do?Payday lenders have to follow certain rules. For example, they cannot:
- charge fees that are more than $14 for every $100 you borrow
- charge more than 2.5% each month on overdue loans
- lend you more than 50% of your net monthly pay per loan
- ask you for or a
- offer you other services when you apply for a loan, like buying your gold or jewellery, or cashing cheques
- give you a new loan until the first one is paid off
- contact you on statutory holidays
- take money from your paycheque to pay the loan
And payday lenders must:
- put your in writing
- say in your loan agreement that you have 2 business days to cancel the contract if you change your mind
- give you a copy of the loan agreement as soon as you sign it
- give you the money right away if you signed the agreement at their store
- make the money available to you within 1 hour if you made the agreement online or over the phone
If you think your payday lender has not followed one or more of these rules, you can file a complaint with the Ontario Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery.
If the ministry agrees that the lender broke certain rules, you do not have to repay the fees or interest they charged you to borrow the money. You only have to repay the amount you borrowed.
Lenders who have not followed the rules might also get a warning or receive a fine. They can even lose their licence.
You can also ask the Ministry to look into the lender and take them to court under the Payday Loans Act. This act has all the rules payday lenders must follow.