Equiant Financial Services - Pam Geo Holidays Abusive collection practices, usury, 746% Interest charged Internet, Arizona

 to start with   compound interest is very expensive if its a long term contract and the rate is high    this is simple math and must be reviewed before signing the dotted line.    yes timeshares are high presure although I would describe it as high seduction more than high presure.   they tell you how easy it is and what benefits you will get and how available they will be.  note they will not be available at all after you sign   that s what I have found.  but  you can always say no and they will politely let you out in the back hallway and you will eventually find the front door.  it is what it is.   but if you think the package has value and you like the idea  of reserving future time at a class a resort and plan to use it for many many years and possibly pass it on to your heirs   then it is not such a bad deal.

the financing however never resembles the financing for a real estate transaction.   my rates were 13.5% and 17%  which are high for real estate but certainly not usury    mr ronald reagon  who everyone voted for except me  pretty much did away with usuary nonsense a long time ago.  its buyer beware now.  some of my credit cards charge 27%   but I have a solution    pay off the card in the grace period and then the rate is 0!   as for timeshare contracts  I do not recommend them unless there is absolutely no other way.  cash is better or a line of credit loan with your bank or a home equity loan   those rates will always be better.

to give an example of how much a contract cost   my 17% contract required a payment of 197 a month and 160 of it went to interest.  that s why it takes 10 years to pay it off.   I refinanced at 11.75 and will pay it off in 48 months.  even so   a real estate deal that this is purported to be  should get no more than 6%    howver banks will not loan for a timeshare as it is not something they can foreclose on to recover their money as it belongs to thousands of people.   

people who buy timeshares need to know this before signing and accept these terms or reject them.   my experience with equiant  has not resulted in any dishonesty or usuary on their part.  its an expensive contract and the solution is either get better fianacing rates or just dont sign the contract  its not equiant s fault for enforcing somthing you agreed to. as for their rudeness   i can not testify to that as i have always paid my bill on time and never had them go to collection

Per the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions (ADFI), Equiant Financial Services Inc. is licensed only as an Escrow Agency.

Their complete address is:
5401 N. Pima Rd. Suite 150 
Scottsdale, AZ 85250 
(480) 444-5999 (per ADFI)

Licensed as an escrow agency #0013506
Started:08/14/1992
Expires:09/30/2012

Per the ADFI website, Equiant has not filed its Escrow Rates with ADFI, although it is not clear whether there is a legal requirement to do so.

Equiant is not licensed in Arizona to lend money or act as a collection agency.

See the ADFI website at http://azdfi.gov/index.html for additional information

Complaints can be filed at:

Arizona Department of Financial Institutions
2910 N. 44th Street, Suite 310
Phoenix, AZ 85018

Hours: M-F 8:00 am to 5:00 pm MST
Telephone: (602) 771-2800
Toll-free: (800) 544-0708
FAX: (602) 381-1225
Email: consumeraffairs@azdfi.gov

I was unable to find Equiant on the Arizona Department of Real Estate website, http://www.azre.gov/

EQUIANT FINANCIAL SERVICES INC is registered with the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC).  But the ACC website states that Equiant is in the "CREDIT/COLLECTION" business.  This 180 degrees from what ADFI says, as the latter agency shows that Equiant is not licensed to lend or collect money in Arizona.

The ACC website is http://www.cc.state.az.us/

Good luck going after these sleazeballs.

What exactly does this mean? Does it mean that for every day you are late on the payment they charge you an extra $4.50? Or does it mean that $135 of your $200 payment goes towards interest? If the former, then indeed the interest rate is close to what you claim (I just did simple division, didn't mess with compounding or anything).

What is your balance? What is the stated interest rate?

In any event, getting a timeshare is never a good idea. The fact that the salespeople are SO sleazy and high-pressure shows how big the margins are. 

Dear Mr. Donald Wilson:
 
To start, we want to apologize for any difficulty the previous conversations have caused.  We have carefully reviewed the call that you placed with our company, and wanted to elaborate on some of the points you brought up during the call and during your report.  When we borrow money we are expected to pay for that loan, and that is our interest.  In finance, interest is expressed in days rather than months or years.  Your APY (Annual Percentage Yield interest rate) is expressed in an annual frequency.  If we take the current principal balance you have outstanding, multiply it by the APY, and then divide it by 365 days; we get the daily interest accumulation for your loan.  The 746% interest you stated is not accurate as the daily interest accumulation adds up to your, contractually agreed upon, interest rate.  We offer several ways for customers to pay their outstanding bill by: mail, online or using our phone system.  The online and phone payment systems are additional resources, which do carry a processing fee, but the main method of payment (by mail) carries no fee.  We would certainly discuss this further with you at any point, and have made our customer service supervisor Vedran available to you at any time.  You may reach him at 480-636-4112. Also, we assure you that if you wish to discuss the usage of your membership, we can have someone from Starpoint contact you.  Again we do apologize if you felt inconvenienced during the calls and we assure you we are available to answer any further questions you may have.    
 
 Sincerely,
 Equiant Financial Services