Pawning your car is likely to get you the worst financial deal
' I have yet to see a client who has pawned their car and had a successful experience '
Taking out a loan against a secured asset, like your car, might seem a good idea when you have a cash-flow problem. But if that loan is a pawn transaction, be very careful. With a pawn transaction, you can be charged up to 5% a month in interest, which is the most expensive form of credit. And since there's no obligation on the pawn broker to carry out an affordability assessment, you have no recourse for reckless lending. Also, be on your guard when dealing with lenders that offer big loans and pass them off as pawn transactions in order to charge 5% interest a month. Isabella Klynsmith, the supervisor in the complaints department at the National Credit Regulator (NCR), says that with a pawn transaction the creditor is limited to lending up to R8,000, even if the value of the pawned property is more than the amount lent. "In the event of credit being extended in an amount exceeding R8,000, it will no longer be a pawn agreement and the credit provider will be required to conduct an ...
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