Buki O

Review of Trend Financial

From a human to another human. Please avoid Trend....

From a human to another human. Please avoid Trend. Firstly there are much better lenders out there that no one should ever think of walking through Trend s door. NO ONE. What is sad is that the society/govt. does not effectively protect the less fortunate. Individuals getting by are those that companies like trend prey on. It is true that these companies often take high risk; but high risk should be humanely priced.

I had briefly used this company a while back I think in 2014. Then I came across a documentary that reminded me of Trend s rip-off practices. I am in a much much better place financially & credit wise so I am writing this not out of spite but to use my voice.

I recently watched a documentary about a payday loan company that made it its mission to rip off folks who where by nature in need. Say the company lent you $300 in payday loan. If a customer fails to payback the full $300 loan when due; say in 1 week, this company will withdraw $100 in week 1, another $100 in week 2, and another $100 in week 3, and another $100 in week 4. Then in week 5 the customer will notice another $100 withdrawal again! That s a total of $500.

At week 5, a self respecting client will call the company to figure out what s going on. The company will inform the client that the $100 withdrawals where mearly loan roll over fees and that the outstanding balance STILL owing is a whopping $300. Do the emotional math; after paying $500 you still owe $300!!! At week 6 if the $300 is still unpaid, another roll over fee of $100 will be withdrawn.

This rip-off scheme is written in the contract it s customers sign. The owner of the company above is now locked up.

Coming to Trend:

While trend does not do the same thing mentioned above, the structure of their loan is faithfully designed to rip you off in the same manner as the company mentioned above.

Let s do the math: We will ignore taxes, fees and compounding rates etc.

1. Say the car you intend to buy costs $10,000; and you put down a down payment (or deposit - in trends words) of $3000. A grade 4 student will do a simple math that says you only need to finance $7000 (you already have $3000!!).

2. Let s assume that you have the worst credit rating & your interest rate is @ 30%. Your total financing costs is equal to ($7000 x 1.30 = $9,100). 12 payments of $758.33 should pay off the loan.

Well that s not how Trend does it s business. Trend says I am going to rip you off. Here is how they do it.

1. 30% interest is applied on the total value of $10,000 (10,000 x 1.30 = 13,000). Your monthly payments is calculated on $13,000.
2. Your $3000 deposit is applied at the end of the amortization schedule of your loan.
3. If you look at this math, the interest you are actually paying is roughly 43% I.e. when compared to your true financing needs of $7,000 ($13,000 - $7,000 minus your deposit of $3,000 = $3,000).
4. $3,000/$7,000 = 43%. That s a full 13% above your stated interest rate.

Oh and when you pay-off your loan; the company will charge you HST on your $3,000 deposit.

There you have it. If you are in the situation I was way back then; I would recommend looking at other lenders.