As the saying goes, when it rains it pours: often when financial problems hit, they hit all at once, and even if you’ve taken out a title loan, it may not be enough to fix your financial ship. Successfully righting the ship may take a second title loan, but if you’re unemployed is that even an option?

That’s the question we’re here to answer today. The simple answer is usually yes; you can take out a second title loan if you’re unemployed so long as you take it out on a second vehicle, but this will change from title loan store to title loan store, so you should always call and ask your local title loan store (if you’re not sure where that is, you can always do an online search for ‘title loans near me’ to find one). Why is this the case? To answer that requires digging a little deeper into things.

Plural Cars, Plural Loans

The fundamental mechanism of a title loan is that the total of your loan is secured by the value of your vehicle. This is the reason that title loans are so much more accepting of all types of credit than traditional loans which have no other metric than a credit score to judge the likelihood of you paying back the total of your loan without defaulting.

This is also why it’s possible to take out title loans, often phrased as title loans near me, on different vehicles. Each vehicle has its own value, and can thus secure its own loan. For households with multiple vehicles this is a huge upside, and a powerful financial tool just waiting to be used. Considering how expensive cars are on the whole, it’s a pity to just leave its value sitting around unused.

Unemployment

The above mechanism is also why title loans aren’t particularly interested in whether you’re unemployed or not. Unlike a payday loan where the amount of your loan is secured by your promise to pay with your next paycheck, a title loan isn’t tied to income and makes use of the property you already have (your car).

In this economy, with the sudden, violent, and completely unprecedented upward surge of unemployment that’s just hit it, title loans are a powerful tool. It’s one of the reasons ‘title loans near me’ are such a popular search term right now as hundreds of thousands flock to their nearest stores to avail themselves of them.

Other Ways of Dealing With Unemployment

While they may not be enough to single-handedly pull you out of your unemployment slump, every little bit helps, so we’ve gathered together a few other ways to alleviate the lull before you can get another job or steady source of income.

• Getting on unemployment so you can receive some kind of income, even if it’s just a trickle, should be your first priority. Unemployment is one of the few social safety nets we have in America, and while it will only last three months and you won’t be making nearly as much as before, something is always better than nothing.
• Participating in the gig economy is your next best bet. While you may not be able to be hired full-time, the gig economy is alive and well in America today and if you can carve your own little niche in it, can be quite lucrative. The best websites to track down gigs are Fiverr, Upwork, and believe it or not, Craigslist.
• Selling or pawning some of your possessions can be another way to bring in some quick cash. For household knick-knacks and clothes a garage sale is your best bet, while for jewelry or electronics a pawn shop is a better bet. If you have the know-how you can also sell them online on sites like Amazon, eBay, or Craigslist.
• Personal loans from friends or family are no one's first option but can be an effective way of getting the money to handle financial problems. Even if they charge interest, it’s fairly likely it’ll be at a significantly lower rate than the punishingly high ones you’ll face from credit cards. If you do take a personal loan from a friend or family member though, we implore you to at least sketch out the amount of the loan, when it’s due, and what the payment schedule will look like beforehand. It’s the best way of avoiding the drama that can otherwise ensue from mixing business and the personal.

 

Note: The content provided in this article is only for informational purposes, and you should contact your financial advisor about your specific financial situation.