For almost five years, my husband and I would ride together to our jobs in Bellaire from our house in Meyerland. We basically had the same schedule so it was perfect.  Catch up at the end of the day, dinner together, the whole thing.  But that lasted until last Christmas when his company laid off 30% of their employees.

In the time he was out of a job, we got stuck with bad credit and depleted our savings. We both lost our credit card privileges too.  His new job in South Houston came along just when we weren’t sure if we could make the mortgage payment on the house we bought ten years ago.

But South Houston is not on my commute, so we now had a new expense.  We would have to get a second car. With poor credit, I couldn’t imagine who would loan us the money.

The solution was to use the Toyota Corolla as collateral for down payment money. It was a 2004 and we finished the payments in three years, so we were eligible for a title loan.  I searched on Google for “emergency fast cash” and up popped Houston Car Title Loans. That car is good for at least a $4000 loan, a healthy down payment on Hank’s new (2003) Toyota Highlander.  He says its a man car.  I say fine, now just pay for it yourself with your man dollars. 

The online application could not have been easier. This is not like at a store somewhere on Westheimer Road where you stand in line and deal with someone behind thick glass. The cash was sent by EFT into our checking account in one day. Hank had his SUV in about two days — just before he started his new job.  Fast auto title loans are the only way people like us can buy essentials, like a car to get to work.

- Kerrianne L.

My water heater is on its last legs just when I have lost my job and am already gotten behind in my bills. With bad credit, where will I find the fast cash to buy a new one?

Complicating things, I had hoped to buy a tankless water heater, the energy- and water-efficient models that instantly heat your water on demand.  They take up less space, save 34% of energy costs with every monthly bill and save about six gallons a day on water use (you don’t have to run the tap so long waiting for the hot temp water to arrive).  If I install it in 2009, I get a federal tax credit of $300.  Our local hardware store is offering these heaters now in a pre-purchase sale.  You sign the contract with a $300 down payment today, you get the water heater at 15% off and the tax credit next year.

I hate missing out on deals like this, especially since it will pay me back over time.  So I went to Houston Car Title Loans for a simple $900 against the title on my old 1999 Honda.  The online application allowed me to avoid going to that storefront car title place on Bellaire Boulevard here in Houston.  It was a 20 minute investment of time and I got the loan the next day in my checking account.

An automobile title loan in the right place and right time can translate into major home energy improvement savings – even for me, a guy with no job and nowhere else to borrow from.

You know that thing people do so much. They sit in the left lane and keep driving slow. While I don’t like that. I don’t care if they are old. They got no right. And somehow I was the one who got in trouble for passing on the right hand side. It don’t make sense to me. I try to pass someone and I find out it is illegal and the cop pulls me over. He goes and writes me a ticket for it.

I thought something like that would be easily argued in court. But the judge didn’t listen. The case just went right out and I had to pay money for what I didn’t do wrong. It’s unjustice that’s what I call the system. Justice is fair and fair is fair but I got my unjustice served to me.

These fines I got aren’t right neither and I can’t afford them. I don’t got credit and my money is all tied up. I looked on the line and found car title loans in Houston, Texas and I think that’s a good idea. It is an instant money loan for people without credit and I just put up my vehicle title as collateral.

What’s fair is fair and I tell ya I’m bein robbed here.

-Howie K.

Houston, Texas