The following is an excerpt from a recent Globe & Mail article that we find very relevant to what some of our clients experience.
It all began with a pair of jeans.
Robbie McCall wanted to give his daughter a new pair for Christmas. But he was short of cash. Mr. McCall, 47, lives on a fixed disability payment of $1,350 a month and he just didn’t have the money to buy them.
So he went into a nearby cash store in Ottawa to get a quick loan. This is how his debt trap began: When he returned in January to pay back the first $200 loan, plus $20 in fees (a promotional rate as a first-time borrower), he was encouraged to take out another, bigger loan – $300. But the second time, his bill, which included other fees, came to $86.
He couldn’t pay, so he took out another loan. By the next loan, at $400, the fees had grown to more than $100.
Click here to read the rest of the article on the Globe & Mail.
