Mires, Ran, and Clark (MRC) Targets Pension Advance Loan Companies Who Prey on Retired Public Employees and Military Veterans

Houston, TX, June 18, 2015 --(PR.com)-- Mires, Ran, Clark & Associates (MRC) is targeting its vast investigative resources onto a number Pension Advance Loan Companies who prey on retired public employees and military veterans in the State of Texas. “Retired military and the elderly are often targeted by such high interest rate lenders,” according to Don Clark, former SAC of Houston FBI Office and Chairman of MRC. Federal laws prohibit the assignment of U.S. Government pensions and disability benefits.

Mires, Ran, & Clark will be conducting due diligence into the cost and interest rates charged by these predatory lenders/brokers. “There is a large disparity between the effective cost of capital military veterans and pensioner pay, versus the stated or advertising amounts charged by these pension advance companies,” according to Amir Mireskandari, CEO of MRC.

The first company to be targeted for its lending/funding practices Voyager Financial.

Voyager Financial approaches people who are in need of available funds and have an income stream from a pension fund or similar source. Voyager Financial offer individuals their services as financial brokers to get access to the pensioners and military veterans guaranteed income. MRC was retained by a Texas based law firm to provide due diligence in the cost and lending practices of Voyager Financial in a case pertaining to Mr. Paul Martinez, a disabled United States military veteran.

Although pension advances closely resemble loans, however, the companies offering these financial instruments often insist that they are not loans — and thus sidestep state and federal lending regulations regarding military pensions. The Federal Truth in Lending Act, for example, requires that lenders disclose to consumers an effective interest rate for each transaction, but most of the pension-advance companies examined by the GAO did not properly disclose this information. “Without such disclosure, consumers considering pension-advance offers often do not realize the exorbitant cost of their borrowing, that in many cases can reach more than 100%,” according to Amir Mireskanari, CEO of MRC.