Question:
Dear Steve,
TitleMax loan 10/2019 for $1100. After the full amount payments of 180.00 for 23 months. I will have paid nearly $4300.00 back.
I’ve never been late on any payments. This is the 3rd loan I have got through them also. All payments were always on time and never went into default.
My car I’ve taken a TitleMax loan out with is no longer running.
I have paid the actual amount of the loan back and then some.
I’m basically still paying because of the high-interest rate they have.
I’m willing to give them the car to be done with this. Will this affect my credit?
The lady that I talk with has told me before that they don’t report to any credit bureaus. I asked her because I have always been in good standing with them and was hoping that it would have been reported to increase my credit score.
The only thing they could do for that was print me out a document showing all on-time payments to send to credit bureaus myself
Jess
Answer:
Dear Jess,
I can certainly understand the feeling that you’ve paid enough on the loan. But the math was always not great because of the terms of the loan. These are designed to be high returning loans but then again TitleMax and others like them are taking a big risk.
It is true that title lenders don’t report to credit bureaus. As Experian says, “title lenders don’t report your payments to the credit bureaus, which means a title loan won’t help your credit scores either.”
I also did a search for suits by TMX Finance, the TitleMax parent company, and TitleMax in several states and could not locate any suits filed.
You can certainly hand the car to them if they will take it. In the past, I’ve seen title lenders not agree to that, and then the vehicle remains in the name of the borrower which leaves the person on the hook for any taxes and insurance due on the vehicle.
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You could contact your Department of Motor Vehicles and see how to cancel the license plates and avoid any uninsured penalty they may try to place against the vehicle if your insurance coverage is canceled. That really depends on your state.
If you do this your vehicle could not be driven on public roads.
Since TitleMax is a lienholder on the title, you can’t get the title until the lien is satisfied or they agree to take the car. If they do agree to repossess the car, get it in writing that they are accepting the vehicle back, but keep your license plates to return to Motor Vehicles.
Then sign the title over to TitleMax. Hopefully, they will give you a written statement they are accepting the car as the satisfaction of the balance due.
They will then sell the car at auction. Technically you would owe the difference between what you owe on the vehicle and the auction price. But it appears that TitleMax is not in a rush to sue.
Let me know what TitleMax says the process is for you handing them the car.
So as far as know, I took out a loan of $1,400 however they added another $280 as a fee and the total loan amount I had to pay off is $1,680,
my monthly payment is $286.
However, the girl who processed my loan explained that the contract that TitleMax does for a Car Title Loan is a monthly contract,
meaning that the “monthly” payment is a fee to renew the loan contract every month and nothing will go towards the principal, which in my case was $1,680.
She also said that they do report to the Credit Bureau as a matter of fact it will affect your credit if you don’t make the payments on time or if you fault on the loan.
My best advice is pay it off in full.
I took out a loan w/ Title Max. Borrow 4,000 Paided it Bac n hardly nothin wen toward principle 😠Gonna cost me 4000 to pay it bac. I am on disability n this is Criminal. Please Help 🙏
I borrowed $4,000 n paid it all bac n more but still owe $4000 this is Totally Wrong. Iam on Disability too. Wat can I do? Please Help🙏🤞
Title max the worker kept pushing me to take the max amount my vehicle was praised for. She told me it would be better then said my interest would actually be cheaper. She told me half of my payment would go to interest and half to principal. After I paid the first payment my principal wasn’t touched I questioned it then she tells me after I make my first 3 payments on time that would start. ( Also to mention she clicked to sign all the documents she stated she would make it easy on me and just go over and sign she did not ask me she told me she was) I have made all my payments on time and still a lie what she said. When I went in the office to speak with them to tell them this is not working for me she then states I have 80 dollars available to me and now my payments will go up a little but that will be money to the principal with lower interest. That happened last month. Now I have tried weeks before getting to speak to someone at coorperate office and they could not pull me up at all and was nothing but rude. He then calls the store I deal with and returns to the phone but can’t tell me details of my account. They have charged me an outrageous fee daily refused to work with me and are trying to take my vehicle I have paid 4000 of a 5000 dollar loan and the loan is higher. All the workers are dishonest and all the company does is deny any wrong doings. The worker who pushed and lied about this high loan knows I need my vehicle my dad is sick and I have 4 children. What can be done about this please any advice is very much appreciated.
Here is the thing with Titlemax, they mislead employees and then the employees mislead the consumers. The reason why you don’t see many lawsuits is because of the arbitration agreement that each customer signs. Employees are not trained to inform consumers of the arbitration agreement. When consumers try to pursue Titlmax in court, the cases move to arbitration.
In order to get ahead you will need to make 2 payments in 1 month. For instance if your interest is 150 dollars and your payment is due on the 4th. Make the payment 150 on the 4th and then make another payment on 12th. Then moving forward every payment you make will go directly towards the principle. The catch is to stay ahead.
Also if you are tired of paying turn the car in. Also file a complaint with CFPB. CFPB is currently investigating TMX for the second time because of their abusive and deceptive business practices. Also file a report with the Mayor, Senator, and Attorney General. Research your state usary laws and see if they apply to your account. TMX will offer a settlement but be careful of the forms you sign. Also send them a written certified notice informing them of your concerns and how the practices has harmed you. There address is 15 Bull St. #200, Savannah, GA 31406. The owner or CEO is Tracy Young. Also talk to an attorney.
Also Titlemax does report to the credit bureau and will also sue you. Read the fine print.
Bull Street. LOL
There are huge suits out against them for illegal charges and practice at least in California and I’m about to file myself as they are trying to charge me double a fee when I paid it on time with my debit card. It cleared. They changed my payment due date, and then BAM the next day I have my due date rolled back. The payment which was well over what was due to renew got rolled back and they said I didn’t pay it in full. They’re nothing but a criminal business. I hate thinking some of those workers are so nice but they’re all fake. And to tell me I didn’t pay on time when I have proof is billshit
Question about TitleMax loan.
Answered.