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My senior Mother in law is constantly taking out pay day loans from multiple sources. Over the years my husband and I along with his brother and HIS wife have bailed her out. This is putting strains on us because we barely get by and are trying to save for our own first home. With their SS money, they have more than enough to pay the mortgage pay the insurance premiums and food with money left over. I know we can't stop her from taking a $300 pay day loan here and there. The problem is that she goes and gets many payday loans from many outlets. She is behind 3 months in mortgage 3 months in insurance payments and My father in law is without insurance right now and needs cancer treatment. I know that we can't control her gross money mismanagement, however we we hoping that there was some hope out there that will allow us to prevent her from getting multiple payday loans as a time. THIS would be a big help because this will allow her to not owe thousands of dollars in payday loans and we would all be able to assist with the bare minimum.

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If she is mentally competent there is not much you can do. These payday loan places are the scum of the earth and prey on people who are either desperate for money or have terrible judgement about money. If money is tight in your family I would not continue to bail these folks out. You may be enabling this crazy behavior. Does she have dementia?
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It's a long shot but check with (a) your state to see if there's an elder support agency that provides free legal advice (b) your local congresspeople and senators for the same issue, as well as whether or not there's any committee or subcommittee dealing with elder exploitation, (c) the local police and (d) specific task forces at local, state or federal level addressing elder financial exploitation.

If there are specific elder statutes addressing financial abuse, there might be an opportunity for law enforcement to become involved and go after the payday loan companies. If there are any congressional or senate hearings on this issue, providing names of these companies would allow subpoenas to be issued and reps would have to appear publicly to address their actions. It's not an ideal solution, more like chipping away at the exploitation iceberg.

Another really long shot is getting PPOs (injunctions) against each of the payday loan suppliers to prevent them from contacting her, via e-mail, phone, text, mail, and any other method. It would probably be a unique application of injunctive relief, but it's worth a try.

I think the only way you can stop her though is to take over her finances, even if she is lucid. However, it could be argued that her mere behavior is not representative of responsible behavior and warrants intervention.

Do you think a heart-to-heart talk with her would work? With 3 months delinquency in her mortgage, she's approaching the stage at which foreclosure notices would be sent, if they haven't already. Would she understand that she could lose the house through foreclosure?

I wouldn't normally advocate for guardianship, but in this case I think it's warranted. Your FIL is going to need insurance for cancer treatment, and that merits stepping in and taking control of your MIL regardless of how much she objects.
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Just thought of something else. What is MIL using this money for? Gifts, sundries, etc.? Perhaps you could take her shopping once a week or so and buy her those things (legitimate purchases, not just junk) and pre-empt her spending, since you're already helping out - just rechannel the money.

Another thought is to take FIL to his bank, set up a separate account and have his SS directly deposited to that account. Don't tell MIL. At least there would be some money to make mortgage and insurance payments.

However, I do think there's some emotional and mental addiction involved in this kind of spending and use of money that goes beyond just helping them out. There was a theory I learned in economics but I can't recall the name of it - it addresses spending money just to make one feel good. With FIL's cancer, that might be part of her need to spend money.
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I have never used a pay-day loan place, but I would think that if you stop paying off these loans, they will stop loaning her more money. As the interest charges pile up and the collection agency calls start, she will either need to hand the finances over to you to manage or declare bankruptcy. In the meantime, make sure that father-in-law gets his insurance back so that he can get the treatment he needs.
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Crap! Hit post by mistake! She was in Pennsylvania. Hubby's sister was about two hours away from her mom. With MIL it wasn't payday sharks but credit cards. MIL was a scammer most her life - built up huge bills then declared bankruptcy a few times. At this point she had functional dementia - could take care of herself physically but her regularly warped thinking was even worse. MIL would get visa offers in the mail and on line - she would open them all, charge to the limit, never make a payment and move on. Being these weren't reputable companies it was the fees and interest that added up to staggering amounts. We never would get wind of a particular bill until she would finally tell her daughter when a collection agency would get exceptionally aggressive. I can't tell you how many times we bailed her out. I was continually amazed that she kept getting new offers - but I guess that's how these scammers work - targeting older folks. It took awhile and some tough conversations - finally telling her we were done, to get it to stop. Shortly after MIL was moved to a nursing home and a few years later passed from cancer. I don't have a solution for you - but wanted to tell you you aren't alone in this. Good luck.
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It's amazing how crafty some of these elderly loved ones with dementia can be. My MIL was hard pressed to put on two matching shoes but could get internet access and take out credit cards - then go on an on-line shopping spree!
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Not everyone understands "loans" and "interest rates". But would your Mom-in-law understand that what she is buying using money from a payday loan, she is actually paying double?

Example, if she is buying things for herself, that money from payday she is now paying double for items. That nice sweater that was on sale for $35 was actually $70 if she used the payday money.
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Is she driving herself to these places?
You need to stop paying these loans....worst case her credit gets so bad she vacant get loans.
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Keeping an elder off the internet is not difficult. Get a nanny program and control the sites she goes to. If you are not tech savvy enough to do this yourself, hire a geek for a day....try Best Buy.
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Geniuschef, when my dad 76 year old dad started asking me for money I offered to take over his finances for him. Luckily he agreed. If he would not have agreed I would not have given him any money.

After I took over his finances I found out that he had 7 payday loans at 7 different payday loan stores!!!!

I think you need to give them an ultimatum, either they hand over their finances to you or no more money.
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