This week, the Office of the Attorney General\u2019s \u201cConsumer Caution Corner\u201d outlines the Federal Trade Commission\u2019s guidance on car title loans.
\nA car title loan is a short-term loan (usually 30 days) for a small amount of money. This type of loan can be very expensive. If you cannot pay back the lender, you might lose your car.<\/p>\n
What should I do before I get a car title loan?<\/strong> How do I choose which way to borrow money?<\/strong> I decided to get a car title loan. What should I do?<\/strong> Each week, the OAG\u2019s Consumer Protection Education Program (a.k.a. \u201cThe Consumer Caution Corner\u201d) shares FTC and\/or Federal Communications Commission publications that provide consumers and businesses with the \u201cknow-how\u201d to identify and protect themselves from unfair trade practices and marketplace schemes. <\/p>\n If you would like to file a consumer complaint, please pick up a form at the OAG (on Capital Hill) or request one by email from consumer_counsel@cnmioag.org. After completing the consumer complaint, please submit it by email or in-person. <\/p>\n We cannot act as your private attorney. If you need legal assistance, we will recommend that you contact a private attorney or legal aid organization. We cannot give legal advice or act as your private attorney. (Michael J. Cyganek, Special to the Saipan Tribune)<\/strong><\/p>\n Michael J. Cyganek is consumer counsel at the Office of the Attorney General.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This week, the Office of the Attorney General\u2019s \u201cConsumer Caution Corner\u201d outlines the Federal Trade…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[16078,2626,162,86],"class_list":["post-257028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-apr","tag-attorney-general","tag-car","tag-oag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257028\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nBefore you get a car title loan, consider other choices:
\n\u2022 Can I get a loan from a bank or credit union?
\n\u2022 Can I get more time to pay my bills by talking with creditors or a credit counselor?
\n\u2022 Do I have any money saved that I can use?
\n\u2022 Can I borrow money from family or friends?
\n\u2022 Can I use a credit card instead?<\/p>\n
\nCompare the costs, if you have more than one option. For each choice, find out:
\n\u2022 What is the APR?
\n\u2022 What are the fees?
\n\u2022 How soon must I repay the money?
\n\u2022 What happens if I cannot repay?
\nWrite the answers to these questions. Decide which choice is best for you.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Ask the lender to tell you how much it will cost in dollars.
\n\u2022 Ask the lender to tell you the APR.
\n\u2022 Borrow only what you can repay by the date the loan is due.<\/p>\n