What Are Car Title Loan Requirements?

Let’s be honest – even though all the financial experts recommend you have a three to six-month emergency fund, that isn’t exactly easy to save up, especially if you’re already having trouble making ends meet.

What You Need

It’s smart to have savings in case you run into one of life’s many sudden expenses, but what can you do if one of those expenses occurs before you’ve saved anything?

You may not have any cash stashed away, but your car title is worth money with a title loan. A car title loan is a fast way to turn your car title into cash, as you just hand it over to a lender and get the loan.

Then, once you’ve paid the loan, you get your title back. As far as what else you’ll need to get a title loan, we’ve got you covered with this guide to car title loan requirements.

Basic Car Title Loan Requirements

There are just a few things you will need to get a title loan no matter where you are.

What You Need:

A car or vehicle in working condition
A clean car title with no liens
One form of government-issued ID
Proof of income

Bringing those in should be simple enough, since you’d need them any time you went for a drive.

Here’s why you need each item:

You need your car title to prove that you’re the owner of the car and to give to the lender during the term of your loan. For a standard title loan, the car title must be free of any liens, but there are some title loan companies that also offer loans if your title has a lien on it. Your car is technically the collateral on the loan, but you keep that during your loan’s term.
You need your car so that the lender can verify you have it and evaluate what type of condition it’s in. The current market value of your car determines the amount you can borrow through a title loan, although there can also be state limits in place depending on where you live. Your lender will use a vehicle value guide and your car’s condition to set a value for it, and then base your maximum loan amount on this value.
You need a form of government-issued ID to verify your age. Per federal law, anyone borrowing a title loan must be at least 18 years old.

State Title Loan Requirements

Most regulations concerning the title loan industry are set by the states, and the result is that laws and title loan requirements are different depending on where you are. It’s also possible that a lender could have its own specific requirements, although most will stick to whatever their state requires.

Requirements in States

In most states that allow car title loans, Texas included, the requirements listed above are all you’ll need to get a title loan. There are, however, a couple states that require the title loan company to verify income and make sure the loan payment won’t exceed how much you could realistically pay back.

If you’re in a state that requires income verification, you have a few options available. The most common would be to bring one or more recent paystubs to the title loan company to verify your employment and how much money you make.

You could bring banking records in to verify the money you’ve made. If you’re a freelancer or you own a business, you may need to do this since you likely won’t have pay-stubs. It’s a good idea to bring records in for the previous few months to demonstrate how much money you make on average.

If you receive payments through a payment service, such as PayPal, you could print up records through that and bring them in. This is another good option if you don’t have pay-stubs.

If you’re unsure about whether the title loan company will accept the income verification that you bring in, you can always call them and ask before you visit.

Getting a Title Loan

Now that you know what you’ll need to get a title loan, how can you find a lender in your area? Through our online application, we provide help with title loans and can locate a lender near you.

You’ll find that application on our Apply page, and it only requires a bit of basic information.

First, you’ll need to enter info about your car, including its year, make, model, body style and approximate mileage.

Next, you’ll need to enter your name, phone number, email address and ZIP code.

That’s it! That’s all that is required to get a loan.

That information allows us to calculate an instant estimate for your title loan based on the value of your car, under the assumption that it’s in good condition. Using your contact info, we locate the nearest lender and have one of our Texas Title Loans reps follow up with you.

They’ll answer any questions you have and let you know where you can go to get your title loan. It’s that easy, and you can have your loan the same day that you apply.