Short-Term Loans: Facts and FAQs

By January 15, 2018Short-Term Loans
Short-Term Loans: Facts and FAQs

As you may know, the internet can be both a blessing and a curse. For example:

  • Doing research online before making a purchase? Good!
  • Self-diagnosing an illness? Bad!
  • Reading articles from different sources before making a decision? Good!
  • Paying someone for an item on Craigslist before you’ve seen it? Bad!

Thankfully, there is a ton of useful, accurate information online — but there’s also a lot of false information floating around in cyberspace, ready to pounce on unsuspecting users. For some reason, our society has become inherently trusting of much of the information we read online. But if we’re not careful, false information found on the internet could lead us to make some poor decisions in life.

When it comes to your money, you can’t afford to rely on false or misleading information. Doing so could put you in a worse position financially or even ruin your credit.

So, how do you know you can trust OUR information?

We’re encouraging you not to only listen to us, but to do your homework and make an informed decision.

At California Auto Finance, our number one goal is to help our customers. If it’s not in your best interests to get a car title loan, then it’s not in our best interests either.

We have been in business over a decade because we’ve developed a reputation as a trusted short-term lender. And nowadays, that says a LOT. Companies like ours are being shut down and sued for millions of dollars for illegal practices. We keep our business completely above board with only professional, ethical conduct.

Give us a call or, if you’re in the Orange County area, stop by our Orange office — we’d love to chat with you, answer your questions, and see if we can help you!

We specialize in car title loans, which is a type of short-term loan. To help you make the most informed decision about whether a car title loan is right for you, we’re going to start with some of the basics about short-term loans.

Short-Term Loans: Facts and FAQs

What are the different types of loans?

Loans are characterized by different things. The major ways loans are classified are by:

  • time
  • repayment schedule
  • cost (interest)
  • security

Time refers to the length of time for which the money is lent. There are short, intermediate, and long-term loans. A lot of short-term loans are required to be paid back within a year. At California Auto Finance, we extend the term to allow 24-36 months to repay car title loans.

The repayment schedule refers to how the loan is repaid. You may be required to make payments of both the principal and interest at regular intervals.

The cost of a loan includes the principal (the amount of cash you received) plus interest. With short-term loans, the cash sum is typically smaller and the interest rate is higher, while long-term loans usually have larger cash sums and lower interest rates. Our car title loans have a minimum amount of $3,000 and a maximum of $15,000.

Short-term loans like car title loans are notorious for exorbitant interest rates, anywhere from 100% to 300%! With California Auto Finance, your APR can be as low as 36% — or just 3% monthly!

Loans can either be secured or unsecured. Secured loans have collateral, or assets that are pledged as security against the loss of the loan. In car title loans, the collateral is the title to your car. Unsecured loans rely on the earning power of the borrower and often have higher interest rates.

What are short-term loans good for?

Short-term loans are great for smaller cash sum needs. They can also be obtained easier and more quickly than longer-term loans, so they’re useful in emergency situations or when you need fast cash.

Short-term loans can be paid off quickly, boosting your credit rating.

The potential downsides to short-term loans are that the interest rates are typically higher and the repayment period is shorter, so it’s wise to be confident you can repay the loan in the time allotted before securing a short-term loan.

Any other questions about short-term loans like car title loans? Give us a call or apply online now for your car title loan!