If a title pawn company has your title, you cannot sell us the car yet.

That is the short answer, and it is the reason most people land on this page. When you took the money you handed over the certificate of title, and the pawn company recorded a lien against it. Until that lien is released the car is not yours to sell — not to us, not to anyone. Getting it released is a specific, doable errand, and it is spelled out below.

Georgia does not call it a loan. It calls it a pawn.

Most states run title lending through a lending statute. Georgia runs it through the pawnbroker part of the property code, O.C.G.A. § 44-12-130 and following. Your car title is legally “pledged goods,” the same category as a ring left at a pawn shop. That one word changes the rules. The general usury cap does not apply, and the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance — the agency you would expect to call — says plainly that it “does not license or have jurisdiction over pawnbrokers, pawn transactions, or title pawn transactions.” Title pawn companies are licensed by city and county authorities instead.

What they are allowed to charge

O.C.G.A. § 44-12-131 caps interest and pawnshop charges together at 25 percent of the principal for each 30 day period during the first 90 days, and 12.5 percent per 30 day period after that. Georgia’s Attorney General states the same limits as 300 percent a year for the first three months and 150 percent a year after. They may also add a fee matching the state’s lien recording fee, but only if they actually record the lien, and up to $5.00 a day in storage — only if they actually repossessed the car.

The 30 day clock, and the part that catches people

Every pawn is written for 30 days (§ 44-12-131(a)(1)). It can be extended in 30 day blocks, and extending is where a few hundred dollars becomes a few thousand. Your ticket has to state the maturity date and how long the grace period runs (§ 44-12-138(b)). Miss the grace period and the statute is blunt about what happens: after it ends, the pledged goods “become the property of the pawnbroker.” On default they may take the vehicle without going to court at all, so long as they can do it without a breach of the peace.

How to get your title back so you can sell

Pay the pawn off and get the release in writing. Then one of two things happens. The lienholder signs the release section on the title itself and it comes to you, or — if they do not have the paper title on hand — they complete a Form T-4, the Satisfaction of Motor Vehicle Title Lien or Security Interest Affidavit, in front of a notary. If the lien was recorded electronically under Georgia’s ELT program a T-4 will not work; the lender has to release it electronically. Ask which one applies before you leave. Once the title is clear and in your name we can buy the car the same day.

If the payoff is more than the car is worth

Say it plainly to yourself first: a junk car that scraps for a few hundred dollars is not going to pay off a pawn that has been extended four times. Selling it to us will not cover the balance, and we cannot buy it while the lien is on the title anyway. What we can do is give you a real number for the car so you know what you are working with before you go talk to them. Call and ask what it is worth. There is no charge for finding out.

If you think they broke the rules

Because these are not loans under Georgia law, there is no state banking regulator to call. The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division directs complaints to the local criminal authorities for the city or county where the title pawn company does business. Section 44-12-131 also gives you an action to recover charges that were excessive or never disclosed.

What we need to buy your car

The title, clear, in your name. That is the whole list.