The Florida 60-Day Repayment Plan: A Free Lifeline

If the single balloon payment is the problem, Chapter 560 has a specific tool for that: a 60-day installment plan you can request before the due date, at no extra cost, once every 12 months. Most borrowers don't know it exists.

What the plan is

The 60-day repayment plan is a right built into Florida's deferred presentment statute. Instead of repaying the full principal plus fees in one payment on your payday, you and the lender set up an installment schedule that spreads repayment across up to 60 days. The loan is the same loan — no new fees are added for choosing the plan.

The one condition: request it before the due date

Timing is everything. The plan is available if you notify the lender that you cannot meet the upcoming due date before that date arrives. Miss the due date first and you're in default territory, where the plan no longer applies. If you can see the shortfall coming — and a day or two before payday you usually can — that's the moment to send the request.

Put it in writing through your lender's stated contact channel and keep the confirmation. The lender is then obligated to work out the payment schedule with you.

Once every 12 months

The statute allows one plan per 12-month period. That cap is why it pays to treat the plan as emergency infrastructure: if you spend it in March on a shortfall you could have covered another way, it won't be there in August when the car transmission actually fails. Between plans, budget the ordinary way — and if shortfalls are monthly rather than occasional, a payday loan of any kind is the wrong tool.

How the plan changes your cost

It doesn't — and that's the point. The fees in your original contract are the fees you pay: the 10% finance charge and the $5 verification fee stay as signed. The plan changes the shape of repayment, not the price. Compare that with the alternatives in a crunch: a missed payment triggers bank fees and possible collection activity, and an unregulated second loan adds an entirely new cost layer.

Pairing the plan with Florida's one-loan rule

The plan works with the database, not around it. While the plan is running, the loan is still open — you can't take another Florida payday loan until the schedule is complete. Plan your two months accordingly: the schedule assumes your income continues, so it fits a steady job far better than an irregular one.

Frequently asked questions