Consumer complaint received 2025-07-05 00:00:00
Product: Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan — Payday loan
Issue: Was approved for a loan, but didn't receive the money — 
Company: Amscot Corporation
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
Consumer Complaint to the CFPB Racial Discrimination, Unauthorized Data Use, Deceptive Practices, and Predatory Lending Misconduct by Amscot Financial Company : Amscot Financial XXXX : XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Date of Incident : XX/XX/year> Product : Payday Loan / Cash Advance Core Issues : Racial Discrimination in Lending Access Mishandling of Personal and Business Banking Information Document Retention Without Consent Deceptive Misrepresentation of Financial Products Predatory Fee Structures Applied Selectively Violations of ECOA, GLBA, FCRA, TILA, and XXXX  Law Summary of Complaint : On XX/XX/year>, I visited the Amscot branch on XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX due to a temporary emergency after losing my wallet and work phone. I requested a short-term cash advance of approximately {$100.00} {$500.00}, planning to repay in full the next business day. This was my first use of such a service. 

I submitted : Government-issued ID Both personal and business bank statements with $ XXXX in monthly deposits XXXX  paystubs showing XXXX $ XXXX base salary Verification of employment and repayment ability Despite being overqualified, I was interrogated, stalled for over an hour, and ultimately denied while visibly unqualified individuals, including a man barefoot and carrying a trash bag full of belongings, were approved instantly. 

I was the only white customer in the branch. Everyone else customers and employees was Black or Latino. The discriminatory treatment was unmistakable. 

To underscore this : My Puerto Rican assistant, who works at the same company, is paid on the exact same payroll schedule and dates, and earns less than half of my salary, was approved for the same loan at the same location earlier that week in under 10 minutes.

Predatory Lending & Deceptive Practices : Amscots own pricing reveals how extreme this denial was. For a {$100.00} cash advance, the typical Amscot fee is : {$10.00} ( 10 % of amount advanced ) {$3.00} verification fee per transaction Total = {$13.00} on {$100.00} With a 14-day hold, the APR is 338.93 % I was more than willing and more than able to pay this fee immediately. I was requesting a {$100.00} {$500.00} advance for XXXX  days only. Yet I was denied while others with no income verification were accepted.

To make matters worse : The Amscot representative did not understand the difference between a loan and a cash advance, stating theyre the same thing a clear violation of Truth-in-Lending Act ( TILA ) and CFPB disclosure requirements A corporate representative later confirmed I was qualified, but noted missing documentation, raising concerns of document suppression or tampering The Amscot employee copied and retained my financial documents, including account numbers, and refused to return or destroy them Shortly after, unauthorized withdrawals began appearing on both my personal and business accounts, forcing me to close and reopen both accounts to contain the damage Violations Alleged : Amscots actions constitute violations of : Equal Credit Opportunity Act ( ECOA ) Racially discriminatory denial of financial access Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act ( GLBA ) Mishandling and retention of private financial documents Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ) Unauthorized access and use of consumer data Truth in Lending Act ( TILA ) Staff unable to explain product distinctions and terms XXXX  Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act ( FDUTPA ) Deceptive conduct and racial targeting

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation