CMG LLC Lender
Complaint 25666 Details

I will preface this with the fact that I am not the most responsible person when it comes to keeping track with what goes in and comes out of my checking account. I, like a lot of people my age am use to struggling and unfortunately, being broke is normal for me. It sometimes is almost painful to look at my bank statements. I just make sure that I have enough to pay my bills, i.e. car, rent etc. Recently, I started going through all of my charges coming out of my checking account and I noticed that a mysterious $60 had been drafted from my account. Then I noticed $60 two weeks prior to that, and another prior to that and on and on, until I got to May. Then I googled the vendor listed on my account summary, which is CMG Group LLC, which is a payday loan, and a bunch of reports of freud and scams popped up in regards to this lender. I was floored, for I cannot recall ever doing business with this lender. I will admit that I've fallen under some hard times and have utilized payday loans in the past, but I'm always very aware of my debt to them. This group baffled me. After reading about this group and very similar stories, I called my bank and filed a dispute with them. They went back into my account and informed me that CMG Group LLC had been debiting my account since November of 2010! This totaled $1,640. I was floored. I received emails from this lender in August and never put two in two together. I will blame my ignorance on this. But they started billing me 2 months ago in August. August 14, 2011 was the first time I ever had any sort of contact from this group. And the email came from riverelk.com so I guess I just dismissed this for I have a lot of debt.

This is where the story gets complicated. After emailing this "riverelk.com" and asking them to provide me with a promissory note stating that I agreed to a loan, CMG Group LLC sent me the application that I filled out. It include all of my information including my routing and account number as well as my social. After reading through the application I realized when I filled it out. I remembered searching for a payday loan and then had a bad feeling and decided to discontinue it. In the application the following was stipulated:
1. We will email you and contact you by phone.

2. We will verify your electronic signature approval.

3. We will verify your income, pay dates, employment, bank routing number, and bank account number.

4. We will deposit your funds electronically in your bank account.

And that all four of these things need to take place before funds can be deposited into account. Well I never spoke with anyone on the phone, nor did I receive any sort of email confirmation from this lender in regards to my signature. So at the time, I didn't think that I completed the loan application. Usually a legitimate payday loan has its own website, and it takes numerous pages of signatures with the typed words "I Agree". So I thought nothing of it.

I looked back and they did deposit $200 that same day (Nov. 2010) without my consent. I failed to notice the money in my account because I believe at the time my parents volunteered to help me out, so I backed out of the loan search. I have been doing my research on this "business" and I've read hundreds of complaints about these people debiting accounts without consent. They are sneaky and where they get people on the "electronic signature" is they claim that the SUBMIT button is the e-signature.

Is this practice legal? Is CMG Group LLC licensed to do business in Texas? Can they legally debit my account for almost a year on the re-finance charge, and still say that I owe the principle? I have been really beside myself about this, mainly wondering if my dispute with my bank will bring me any of my money back. The bank has granted me provisional credit in the amount of $300. I hope that someone can help me?