Ask the Experts-1: Help with Payday and Title Loans

This week’s Question of the Week is from a reader named Saprina:
Question:
How can I get help paying off a payday loan and a title loan? The title loan is killing me, taking almost a whole paycheck a month.
Answer:
Payday loans:
Have you tried contacting the payday loan company directly? If you haven’t, try this first…contact them and explain your hardship and that you don’t have the ability to pay off the loan in full but need to stop the cycle of borrowing. Ask them if they have a hardship repayment plan they can put you on. Most Payday lenders have the ability to do this, they just normally do not advertise it, you have to ask for it.
If they will not work with you for a repayment plan, another option is to wean yourself off of it; meaning you borrow less and less each time until you do not have to borrow again.
If neither of these options work for you, I would suggest you call us and schedule a counseling session to let one of our counselors review your situation in more depth to help provide more guidance.
Title loans:
Title loans are a bit tougher because the loan is collateralized. If you default, they will collect the collateral. So if there is no way to pay off the loan, such as borrowing from family or friend and paying them back under a more manageable payment, the best way to approach the loan is try to restructure it. This of course relies again on the lender working with you. Try contacting the lender, explaining your hardship and see if the payments can be extended to allow for a more affordable payment. You should also know the lender may state they will only refinance it instead. This normally means you will be charged more interest on the loan in the long run. If this is the case, before you agree to a refinance, I suggest you call us and schedule a counseling session. Let a counselor review all your financial information. We may be able to help make the current payment more affordable by restructuring your other expenses.
There isn’t a one size fits all when it comes to personal finance; it is unique based on your personal situation.
Thank you for reading our blog and for choosing Apprisen to assist you with your questions.