Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

Why would you be shocked, since the paperwork you signed spelled out exactly how much you were going to pay. In your entire post, you do not say one word about the contract you signed and should have read BEFORE signing and pawning the title. Of course, you did not pay a reasonable amount - that is what title pawns are. However, they are legal. If the paperwork is wrong, or the pawn company acted improperly, you did not provide those facts. The numbers you provided are normal for title pawns.

You should not be shocked. When you made the very poor decision to pawn a title, the paperwork spelled out every charge and fee (and you clearly knew at the time that you were dealing with a sleazy type business that makes interest rates at Mafia loan sharks sound reasonable). It is very normal in title pawns to pay several times the amount that your borrowed, and that is why no one with any sense should ever deal with title pawns.

At this point, pay the balance, or if you can't, go bankrupt. And learn from this. First of all, in the future, read what you sign. And do not borrow money from people who charge too much.

Car title pawns are a BAD idea. You borrowed money. The interest rate should have been spelled out in the contract. So it does not matter how much you have paid in - as long as the contract rate of interest is proper, you owe that and the principal sum that you borrowed. You cannot just refuse to pay because you "feel" that you have paid too much. Feelings don't count. It is what is in the contract.

While debts that are unsecured can be negotiated, there is no incentive for the car pawn title place to negotiate. Unlike payday loans (also a very bad idea), when you pawn your car, you are placing your car at risk of seizure in the event that you don't pay because they have a lien on the title. So if you don't come up with the payment, the car pawn title place will repo your car and sell it and keep the proceeds and apply them to your loan. If your car is worth more than $730, then they will keep it and you will be out a car. You should have paid.

If you believed that you were overcharged, you should have seen law a consumer lawyer you should have seen a consumer lawyer to look over the paperwork and sent the car pawn title place a letter on your behalf if the facts showed there was indeed an overpayment. You also could have arranged to pay the disputed sum into escrow until the dispute was resolved. Now its been resolved adversely to you and you have no means to pay.

No, you cannot go to jail. You did not steal the money and you intended to pay it back, as evidenced by your conduct. Can anything go on your background? What kind of record are you referring to? The answer is it depends. If the car pawn title repo'd your car, possibly that could be on your credit report. Some employers do credit report checks. However, it may be that the car pawn title will just repo the car and not report as there will not be much of a deficiency.

If this is your only debt, I would not file a bankruptcy over $730. Decent bankruptcy attorneys may cost about $2000 - $2500 (that sum includes the bankruptcy filing fee, the fee to get your consumer credit counseling certificate, etc.). If you had the money, you would obviously pay off the car loan. So bankruptcy is probably not an option for you unless you have over $10,000 in other debts.