Your elderly parents have both passed and their estate has now been passed on to you. It is a long and arduous legal process that you most likely do not understand very well. You trust your lawyers to take care of everything and in the end you receive a check. No matter the size of the inheritance, you are excited and decide to spend some of it. It might be a vacation or even a new car. Then, the bad news comes.

You thought your lawyers handled everything, but they missed out on one very important item. They didn’t pay all of the taxes. The Internal Revenue Service wants their money, but you have spent a good portion of the inheritance. What can you do?

If you are a car owner, you may be able to use your vehicle as collateral and take out a car title loan. This loan is a short-term loan that can provide you with a substantial amount of cash in order to take care of an emergency situation. Here’s how a car title loan works.

• Fill out an application. If you have a vehicle with a clear title, you may be able to use it as collateral for a loan. The first step is to fill out an application. Title loan companies like Embassy Loans of Florida let you fill out the application in person or online.
• Present documentation. Once the application is done, applicants must verify their identity, where they live, and present the title to the vehicle. The title must not have any liens and must match the vehicle.
• No credit checks. Since the vehicle is collateral, there is no need for credit checks. If the borrower fails to repay the loan, the lender can just take possession of the vehicle.
• Fast processing. Since there are no credit checks or other background checks, car title loans are processed very quickly. At Embassy Loans, most loans are processed within an hour. Borrowers have their money within a day or two.

Once the money has been received, borrowers can do whatever they want with it. Most loans are in the range of $500 to $5,000. The loan amounts depend upon the value of the vehicles. Title loan companies use blue book values and then loan out approximately 30 to 50 percent of the total value. That way, if a borrower fails to repay, it is easier to recover most of the losses.