Title loans are risky, expensive, and won’t help you build credit. The risk is that you will not be able to repay the loan on time and lose your vehicle. The fees and interest rates for title loans are almost as bad as those for payday loans. Each state has its own title loan regulations. Because title loan companies in most states do not have to check your credit, a title loan that you repay on time may have no effect on your credit score. In some states, the loan provider will perform a hard inquiry on your credit report that could shave up to five points off your score. Since the title loan company is unlikely to report your timely payments to the credit bureaus, your credit score will receive no boost. Your credit score may go unscathed even if the lender is forced to repossess your vehicle. That’s because the sale of the vehicle will repay the loan, with no need to involve a collection agency and no need to report the transaction to the credit agency. Nevertheless, you can expect a negative score impact if your lender does report the default to any of the credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, or Equifax).