Need cash quick? Many of us have seen the ads for car title loans and wondered if it's a good option. The holidays or an emergency can put a big dent in anyone's wallet.

A car title loan (also called a title pawn) is a loan you can get by using your car title as collateral. The lender places a lien on your car title and you hand over the hard copy of the vehicle title. After you pay back the loan, the lien is removed and you're given back the car title. If you stop paying the loan back the lender is liable to repossess your car and sell it to pay off the money you borrowed. Continue reading below

Car title loans are attractive because they are quick to get and they usually don't check your credit score. Most lenders will want proof that you are working. The real drawback is that the interest rates are usually so high they are on another planet.

The interest rates can range from 19% to 27% a month or more. If you get a rate of 25% and borrow a $1000 you will owe $1,250 in 30 days. Ouch! But OK. Continue reading below

The real pain starts if you take longer to pay it back. If you take a year to pay the loan, that 25% interest rate adds up to 300%. That means you'll end up paying $3,000 in interest, plus the original $1,000, for a total of $4,000.

According to the Center for Responsible Lending, "the average car title customer pays $2,142 in interest on a $951 loan and renews the loan eight times. A typical borrower receives cash equal to 26% of a car's value and pays an annual percentage rate of 300%" ∎

You can read the entire 400-page report from the Center for Responsible Lending here.