>Strapped for cash, James Haga of Marion, Va., took out a $1,600 loan
>last year, using his truck as collateral. In August, when he
>couldn't keep up with the escalating balance, Haga's Ford was repossessed.
>[]
>
>[]
>
>Total cost for the loan? A $13,000 auto, plus $4,500 in payments.
>
>"I was at home in the shower getting ready to go to work, and I went
>out to get my truck and it was gone," said Haga, 44, whose loan
>carried an effective 300 percent annual interest rate. Adding to his
>worries, Haga's girlfriend, Brandy Smith, 31, is carrying a similar $700
loan.
>
>Haga is one of thousands of consumers who have turned to auto title
>lenders for quick cash and ended up with big problems. Under the
>loans, sometimes called auto equity lines of credit or auto pawns,
>individuals offer fully owned cars or trucks as backing for loans of
>several hundred to several thousand dollars. Lenders take the title
>to the vehicle and, often, a duplicate set of keys.
[WS:] Dollars & Sense had a piece on usury schemes for the poor http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2006/1106karger.html
It looks like it is not a fringe thing - major lending institutions are involved.
Wojtek