Car Title Loans or Auto Title Loans in California

Car Title Loans and Auto Title Loans (General Information)
Car Title Loans (General Information Updated)
Car Title Loans and Auto Title Loans in California
Car Title Loans and Auto Title Loans in Arizona

California Existing Regulations on Car Title Loans

* Above $2,500 the rate cap is exempt. Essentially, it's what the lender and borrower agree on.
* Customer must show ability to pay.
* Fully amortized loans.
* Maximum $75 loan processing fee for loans up to $5000, no maximum for loans above.

Car title loans and auto title loans in California are designed for consumers who need to borrow money only for a short length of time – generally around two weeks.  These car title loans and auto title loans in California are small loans secured by a borrower’s vehicle that typically have very high interest rates. 

Car title loans industry in California is estimated to be about 20 million in revenues and growing.

As car title lenders in California normally charge a triple digit interest rates for auto title loans, opponents of the car title loans industry stressed that California legislature failed to pass legislation in the late 1990s that would have explicitly authorized title loans, title lenders have exploited a perceived loophole in California law to make title loans of over $2,500 at extremely high rates of interest.

They claim that title lenders are apparently relying on §§ 22303 and 22304 of the California Finance Lenders Law, which set out rate limits but state that the limits do not apply to loans with a bona fide principal amount of $2,500 or more.

However, on January 27, 2005, Senate Bill 120 was introduced in the California Senate, which would replace $2,500 in §§ 22303 and 22304 with $10,000 and would impose disclosure and annual interest rate requirements for California title loans.