I was given a loan by Mariner Finacne for ~$4,000 with 2 years same as cash in October of 2008. I divided the amount by roughly 24 and tried to pay it off in the 2 years. In June of 2010 I called for an account balance just to make sure we were on target. The amount I wrote down over the phone was apparently 10 dollars short. I'm not sure if the miscommunication was on my end or Mariner Finance's but because I was 10 dollars short the interest part of the loan kicked in and they now want to charge me ~$1,100. I spoke with two different people at the bank and they both basically said I had to pay it and there was no way to change this policy. The 10 dollar shortage may technically be a violation of the contract but because the penalty was so much greater than the amount of the shortage it seemed to me (who has no legal background) that it might be predatory lending. I would greatly prefer to have Mariner Finance simply being kind to recognize a simple small error and not charge us the interest. I will have to investigate any legal options as it is obvious that I was in good faith trying to pay off the loan in the interest free period?
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