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How To Find a Legal Loan Shark

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You Will Need

  • A credit card with unused credit
  • A tax refund
  • A car
  • A small loan company
  • A signature loan company
  • A payday loan
  1. Step 1

    Consider a cash advance

    If you have a low-interest credit card you haven't maxed out, consider taking a cash advance. But check your interest rate first -- some are as high as 33%.

  2. Step 2

    Get an advance on your tax refund

    At tax time, you can get a "refund anticipation loan" from some tax preparers. Just realize you'll be forfeiting about 10% of your refund check just to get the cash a couple of weeks earlier.

  3. Step 3

    Use your car as collateral

    Get what is known as a "car title pawn" -- if you can stomach an annual interest rate of up to 360%. The amount you can borrow is way less than the value of your car, but you get to keep driving it unless you miss a payment.

  4. Step 4

    Visit a licensed lender

    Borrow money from a licensed small loan company, or head to a signature loan company, which won't require you to put up any collateral. Both could charge you up to about 48% in annual interest.

  5. Tip

    If you're a member of the military, don't resort to high-interest lenders before finding out if your branch of the armed services offers financial help.

  6. Step 5

    Secure a "payday loan"

    Secure a "payday loan" — a cash advance against your paycheck. But check your local law at "www.paydayloaninfo.org":http:// before you do; some states limit the amount of interest that these lenders can charge, while others don't — which explains why the average annual interest rate on these loans is a whopping 460%.

  7. Fact

    Seventy percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, making them vulnerable to predatory lenders.

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