I haven't seen my family in 15 years. I haven't do grandson, I haven't seen yet.

We don't go out to dinner, we don't go to the movies. We live on cereal mostly. We buy

boxes and boxes as cereal and when we could we might get a chicken. And that's the way

we live. It's been almost a decade since Maria Dictor felt she had a measure of control

of her own life. The problems began with $100. Money that she and her husband needed

to cover medical expenses, new replacements, a pacemaker.

And someone I don't remember who it was says, you know, if you go to this long place and

you have a bank account and you get a steady income, you could borrow $100 from them. And I

went and I was approved for $100 and it says myself great, that'll pay the coal pay and

any medication that he might need at that time.

When Dictor went back in to repay the loan after 30 days, she was surprised to learn she

owed $125. That works out to an annual percentage rate of 300%.

They said, well, I only borrowed $100. This is what that's interest.

Dictor paid and not long after, she had some more medical expenses.

And I'm saying to myself, oh my God, what am I going to do now?

Before all this, Dictor had never set foot inside the check caching store on Southern Boulevard

in Palm Beach County, Florida. She went back.

And I said, is there any way I could borrow just a little bit more?

Soon she was there like clockwork every month for eight years.

They know me since I walked in. They have my check on that count because they know she's

going to pay it.

Dictor's almost 74 and retired from the insurance industry. She has a social security check

...