Consumer complaint received 2020-09-26 00:00:00
Product: Debt collection — Payday loan debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action — Threatened to arrest you or take you to jail if you do not pay
Company: Populus Financial Group, Inc. (F/K/A Ace Cash Express)
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
Pursuant to complaint number XXXX - XXXX - On Friday XX/XX/XXXX I received a phone call today from XXXX a woman stated she was a locator service provider who was paid to serve me claim papers for fraud ... She told me to call this number XXXX which I was told is a claims office and she provided me with this claim number : XXXX ... I called the number provided and I spoke to XXXX XXXX who refused to provide me an address for this Claims Office ... I never received any written correspondence prior to these phone calls that day. This is an abusive act of fraud that XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX employed that day to coerce me to pay on a loan I can not afford to repay ... I cite XXXX Response to my previous compliant here : After reviewing the following account and complaint we have determined that writing off the debt will most assist Ms. XXXX. We empathize with Ms. XXXX 's hardship during these difficult times. We are receptive to helping Ms. XXXX as we understand her physical XXXX also makes it difficult to repay her debt. We understand that she has had obstacles in making arrangements on multiple occasions and has complaints toward the lender as well. As a courtesy, we are going to write off the debt for Ms. XXXX in order to assist her and update her account as paid in full with a {$0.00} balance. 

I also cite Ace Cash Expresses response to complaint number : XXXX Dear Ms. XXXX  : Populus Financial Group , Inc. d/b/a ACE Cash Express ( ACE ) received a copy of the complaint you filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Based on the information provided in your complaint, our research shows you originated a loan on XX/XX/XXXX. Your XX/XX/XXXX payment returned, and your account went into default. On XX/XX/XXXX, after ACE collection activities did not result in payment or payment arrangements on the outstanding balance, your account was sold to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) with a balance of {$840.00} at the time of sale. 
Closed with explanation g ( ) $ ACE ceased all collection activity in connection with your account when it was sold to XXXX. Any collection activity following the sale of your account was not conducted by ACE representatives or on ACEs behalf. We have addressed this issue with the debt buyer. If you would like additional information, please contact the debt buyer directly at : XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, FL XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX Sincerely, Senior Compliance Manager ACE Cash Express Ace Cash Express Online Installment Loans XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, TX XXXX XXXX Loan # : XXXX Originated on XX/XX/XXXX Original Loan Amount was {$500.00} Payment made on XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$210.00} Amount owed as of Monday XX/XX/XXXX is : {$840.00} Total repayment amount was : {$1000.00} - Ace Cash Express sold this loan to XXXX or XXXX XXXX XXXX   On Friday XX/XX/XXXX I received a phone call today from XXXX a woman stated she was a locator service provider who was paid to serve me claim papers ... She told me to call this number XXXX which I was told is a claims office and she provided me with this claim number : XXXX ... I called the number provided and I spoke to XXXX XXXX who refused to provide me an address for this Claims Office ... I never received any written correspondence prior to these phone calls that day ... 

Ace Cash Express at Corporate told me they sold my loan to XXXX XXXX XXXX that my account is restricted and Ace Cash Express refused to accept my modest payment ... Until I can get on a better payment plan ... I was given the phone number for XXXX XXXX XXXX at XXXX who refused to accept my bank card details and small payment to show I am not a fraud ... I was then told to contact this claims office where I spoke to a XXXX XXXX who refused to provide me their Claims Office address ... That phone number where I spoke to XXXX XXXX is XXXX the claim number I was given is : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX refused to look up my loan under the loan number I was instructed to provide them by Ace Cash Express which is : XXXX ... That process was very frustrating and upsetting for me which is why I am mentioning this experience as part of my bankruptcy list of debts ...

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation