I Paid Over $5,700 on a $3,900 Loan. They Took My Car Anyway. And Their Lawyer Refused to Even…read moreRespond.
I didn't think I'd have to write this.
I'm not someone who ignores my responsibilities. I'm a healthcare professional. I've worked through emergencies. I've stood at people's sides while they were in pain. I know what it means to carry things quietly.
But what happened with LoanMart--the silence, the twisting of the numbers, the way they moved like I was no one--that broke something. And now I want to speak because I know I'm not the only one they've done this to.
I took out a title loan for just under $4,000. It wasn't a decision I made lightly. Like many people, I had to cover real needs in a tight moment. What I didn't know is that the moment would stretch into months of confusion, overpayment, and a balance that never seemed to go down.
I paid over $5,700. I have the receipts. I've tracked every transfer, every withdrawal. But one day they told me I still owed more than $3,100.
And then they took my car.
It didn't matter that I'd made all those payments. It didn't matter that I asked them to show me the breakdown, explain the math, help me understand. I sent letters. I called. I begged for a number that made sense. I told them I lived in Georgia--where predatory title loans like this are heavily regulated. I asked them to stop.
They didn't stop. But worse than that--they never answered.
I contacted Susan Germaise, the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for LoanMart. She had the power to look at the evidence, to pause the damage, to do something.
Her response?
"We will respond through the CFPB."
That was it.
No explanation. No numbers. No relief. Just a sentence meant to buy time while they added more fees, more storage charges, and held onto the title like it was leverage.
I've now filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Georgia Attorney General, the FTC, and the State Bar of California--because if the people in charge won't protect us, then we have to protect each other.
This isn't about debt.
This is about silence being used as a weapon.
If this has happened to you--if your car was taken after you paid, if your balance never went down, if you were ignored--you're not imagining it.
And you're not alone.