Here's the catch: 200cash.com's loans may seem like a godsend to those who have no other source of a few dollars to smooth out the road to payday. But that bumpy road becomes a high-speed feeway for borrowers who anticipate loan proceeds and instead get stung with application fees, other unexpected fees, and bank charges for overdrafts. What they never get are loan proceeds or communication from the company.

For the company, reaping fees from their customers, every day is payday. 200cash.com’s website, from where they market their payday loans, promises “$200 cash overnight” (although elsewhere they do offer loans of $100 to $300). “Virtually anyone can qualify,” they say, “even with no credit, bad credit or bankruptcy.”

The company, located in Wilmington, Delaware, says it will deposit your loan proceeds into your bank account the day after they receive your application, assuming it is received by noon Eastern time the day it’s submitted. They say they will contact your current employer to ask them to honor a wage assignment agreement, by which your employer agrees to garnish your wages to repay the loan plus any fees and penalties you incur, if you fail to repay it.

For a $200 loan, they charge $60 ($30 per $100) “every 2 weeks or part thereof” plus a one-time $19 nonrefundable application fee, which you pay when you apply. The fees you pay and the transfer of funds to your bank account are all to be done electronically.

To qualify for their loan, you must, first, be at least 18 years old, currently employed and earning at least $1,200 per month. When you apply, you will have to provide certain personal information about yourself and your job, and you will have to submit your bank routing and account number from your check, as well as your social security number and three references.

What happens when you submit your application? According to the 42 complaints we received during the time the company had an address within the Southland Bureau’s service area, nothing good. A Delaware complainant who says she’s a single mom with a good job but needed extra cash when her car broke down, says she met all the approval guidelines presented on 200cash.com’s website. But she never received her loan or even a callback from the company. “I was never told if I was approved or declined,” she says, “even though there is no reason why I should be declined.”

An Alabama consumer, aware when she applied that her application fee was nonrefundable, says that two weeks after 200cash.com withdrew the $19 application fee, they withdrew another $44, and two weeks later, still another $19. The second and third withdrawals, both unexpected, resulted in overdraft charges. Like most other complainants, she has not been able to reach the company by phone or email.

A New Jersey complainant, disabled and on a fixed income, did learn, by phone, after she applied, that her loan had been denied. Still, the company withdrew not only the application fee, but another $19, $44, and $240.

The company has not responded to any of its 48 complaints.

Kim’s advice: Don’t get caught. Here are some things you can do to avoid the problems of payday loans even if the company does actually make the loan:

. Exhaust all other alternatives before resorting to a payday loan. Annual percentage rates on payday loans can be as much as 780, and your risk is much greater if you find yourself unable to repay on time.

. If you must use a payday loan service, borrow only as much as you are certain you can repay with your next paycheck.

. One of your first steps should be to request a Better Business Bureau reliability report on the company.

. California residents should know that payday loans are subject to the provisions of California’s deferred deposit transactions law, beginning with the requirement that payday loan companies be licensed with the California Department of Corporations. Briefly, that law also provides that if your repayment check should be returned by the bank, the loan company may not charge you more than $15 total (200cash.com charges $25). Other fees, such as late payment fees, may not be added.

Moreover, California’s payday loan companies (and out-of-state companies who make loans to California residents) may charge no more than 15 percent of the loan amount. Still, that can result in a hefty APR for the borrower. If you request and are granted an extension of time to repay the loan, the lender may not charge you a fee of any kind. (200cash.com offers extensions but charges an additional $60 on a $200 loan for a maximum 15-day extension. Nevertheless, it’s not likely their borrowers would ever need to request an extension from 200cash.com, since they never receive the loan in the first place.)

. It’s important for you to know that California law provides that if the payday lender willfully makes any charges over those allowed by law, or if they violate any other provision relating to making or collecting a payday loan, the loan is void, and the company may collect neither the principal nor any of the fees.

For full information about payday loans to California residents, access (www.la.bbb.org) or ask for our report entitled Hard Cash: Check-Cashing Transactions and Payday Loans.

Residents of other states should check for laws governing payday loans in their state.

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Kim Burge is the Better Business Bureau's Director of Trade Practices.