A debt-collection machine that’s chewing up small businesses across America
This is without question an absolutely miserable practice, and I predict NYS will take quick action to curtail it - this is the sort of bad PR that very often moves the NYS government into actual positive action.  This whole industry seems to have hidden in the shadows, and I hope NYS fixes it.<p>That being said - one thing stands out, as it often does with this sort of story.  There's often a turning point that should make any one of us scratch our heads and learn for the future.  This was it for me:<p>"The Duncans’ ordeal began in November 2017 with an unsolicited fax from a broker promising term loans of as much as $1 million at a cheap rate...The spam fax felt like a gift from God."<p>That's the moment right there that should scream RED FLAG RED FLAG RED FLAG to everyone.  Spam never delivers a gift from the heavens.  Never.  Never.  Never.  This is the same sort of thing that 409 scammers bank on -- desperate folks that think they're just the luckiest darn people on earth for happening to get this great deal right at their feet.  This is not how the world works.<p>It goes on...<p>"Without talking to a lawyer, they did. Why not? Doug thought. They intended to pay the money back on time."<p>Red Flag #2.<p>"This would continue for about three months, until they’d repaid $59,960, amounting to an annualized interest rate of more than 350 percent. A small price to pay, Doug figured—soon he’d have all the money he needed in cheaper, longer-term debt."<p>And again...<p>I'm not blaming the Duncans here entirely, but this situation was avoidable.  I hope everyone here on HN reads this tale and learns from it for your own businesses / life experiences.