A Pawn is a short term, collateral based loan. Pawn loans do not require good credit, or bad credit. With a pawn loan, there is NO CREDIT check at all. Each loan is secured by merchandise. If you happen to default on a Pawn loan, there is no reporting to Credit Bureaus, and aside from losing the collateral, there are no negative effects from defaulting. Pawn loans work much like other loans you may have had: If you get a loan to buy a car or house, you are pledging the property as collateral in the event you don't pay it back. If you default on the loan, the home or car becomes the property of the loan company. Our loans work much the same way. Our standard pawn contract is for 5 months, and you can redeem your property at any time by paying the amount borrowed plus all applicable pawn charges. You are never REQUIRED to pick up your loan. If your loan comes up due in 5 months, and you still haven't gotten the money to pay it back, you can "renew" the loan by paying all accrued interest and charges for the past five months, and your loan will start all over again with the same terms.
This isn't an easy question to answer, as a lot of factors come into play when assessing merchandise. We loan a percentage of what we expect to recover for an item in the event that the loan defaults and we have to sell it. We understand that everyone has every intention of picking their merchandise up, and MOST people do, but we still have to account for the event that the does default. Each item is taken on its own merits, and two like items can vary in loan amounts depending on Condition, Appearance, accessories, etc. The factors we use are based of years of experience selling used merchandise, understanding market trends, and how fast certain types of items sell compared to others. Depreciation is also factored into the loan, depending on the merchandise, as certain types of merchandise are constantly being upgraded, and new models released. Realize that we do have 5 month loans, and a laptop that was purchased at the time of the loan may not be the "New Model" 5 months down the road (Or longer if the interest has been renewed). In ALL cases, loan values are based on a percentage of Used pricing. New pricing is almost NEVER used because we are not dealing with a used market. (Even if your item is new, in the box, unopened, we cannot consider it as "New" because we cannot offer a factory warranty with it in the event that we need to sell it.) Your item will always be worth more than we are loaning on it, but we also have employees and overhead to pay, so there has to be some room to work with. We will be as fair as we can.
We do take each customers history into consideration when making loans. Please understand that we take a customer's complete history into consideration (Both Redeems AND losses) when making a loan.
We accept a WIDE variety of items as collateral. One of the interesting things about this business is that we see new things every day. As such, it is hard to make a Rock Solid list of the items that we do and do not take, because it changes depending on the market. Please read our "What we Take" page for a better description of what we do take. No matter the item, all items MUST be in functional condition, and all items will be tested prior to transaction. If there are any functions that do not work, or there are any key pieces missing, we cannot take the item.
Aside from collateral to secure the loan, you must have a VALID Government issues ID. We can use a state Driver's License or I.D. card, US Passport, US Military ID, or, for non resident customers, we can use your Matricula Consular card (As long as it is accompanied by proof of residence: Utility Bill, Payroll Check, etc). In ALL cases, we also require a thumbprint. These are not negotiable, and are required by California State Law.
All of our loans are for 5 months. The rates vary by loan amount, so it isn't as easy as quoting "X" percent for your loan. All rates are set forth by California State Financial Code, and are not arbitrarily made up by the pawnbroker. All fees that are assessed on the loan are set forth by California Law. <<Link to rate structure?>>
While the rates may seem a bit high compared to other long term conventional loans, pawns are intended to be a short term solution to money borrowing, not long term solutions. Unlike other loans, there is no credit check required, so, good credit, bad credit, no credit, it doesn't matter. Anyone can walk in and borrow anywhere from a hundred dollars to thousands of dollars as long as the collateral is accepted by the pawnbroker. Remember also that the fees for the loan go to pay the costs of appraisal, paperwork, storage, security, and everything else that goes along with running the business.
Pawn loans offer the customer the ability to get a short term, No Credit/No Hassle loan with ZERO chance of negative repercussion if the loan defaults. Our pawn loans are a 5 month term, with no money due until the close of the loan. Often with Pay Day loans, you are taking a loan against your next paycheck, and the loan is due and payable at that time. Often people who take out Pay Day loans will need longer than the initial loan period to pay back the loan, and can rapidly overextend themselves to try and keep up with fees, sometimes leading to legal ramifications including wage garnishment and Bounced check fees. With a pawn loan there are no hidden costs or fees.
If you lose your ticket you can still redeem your merchandise. There is a small fee, however, so please keep them in a safe place. If you have lost your ticket, or believe that someone has taken it, please notify us as soon as possible. We double check signatures on all redeems as a precaution, but it's better if we know in advance.
At the end of the term, you may either pay back the loan amount, plus charges, and redeem your loan. If you do not have the money to pay back the loan you may opt to renew the loan. You will pay the interest and charges accrued over the previous five months, and start the loan process all over again for another 5 month term. If you do not redeem or renew your loan by the end of the term, your loan will foreclose, and your collateral can be sold.
While there is no "grace period" there is a 10 day notice period at the end of the loan. We send a notice with certificate of mailing to the last known address on your file. After the date indicated on the notice, there is no extra time. If your loan come up due, and you can't afford to pay it, you can call us to try and make arrangements to deal with it. We understand that emergencies arise, and try our best to accommodate, so please contact us.
Maybe. As soon as loans are foreclosed, the process to sell the collateral starts. If you are a day late, there is a better chance that we will still have the collateral than if you are a week late. In almost all instances, if you are more than 3 days late, your collateral has probably already been put out for sale, put on the Internet for sale, "Scrapped", or sold. If we still have the collateral, and you wish to get the item back, you will need to make arrangements to purchase it back. Once the original loan has been foreclosed, we cannot simply reactivate it and continue with the loan. Please be on time to prevent any of these things from occurring. Your due dates are on your pawn ticket, and we send a notice to your last address, so there should be no reason to miss your due date.
Yes, but the person picking up the item for you must have a notarized letter from you stating that they are authorized to pick up your merchandise. We must have the original notary document and the person picking up the merchandise must be listed in the document. The must present the notarized document as well as a valid ID, as well. The items you are allowing them to pick up should be indicated on the document as well.
Yes, but the only payments we accept through the mail are money Orders. The payment will need to arrive before the close of business on the due date, and must be accompanied by the Pawn ticket and a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope, so we can mail your new ticket back to you.
No. All pawn transactions, whether redeems or renewals, must be conducted in cash. We realize that it can often be inconvenient, but please realize that we rely on cash coming back in to fund new loans.
