Kenneth's Story

Bryan, Texas, 2026 | Contractor

I am a contractor. Have been for 28 years now. After my divorce I had some hard times and took out a $1,500 title loan with Lonestar title loans in Bryan Texas. It's a  long story so I will just get to the high points!

I didn't have the three thousand whatever dollars the following month to pay off the loan so I paid $449.44 to carry me over to the following month. At least I would owe a little less and would be able to pay it off! The next month I didn't have the full amount again so I would pay the $449.00 again. After a couple of months it would be low enough that I would be able to pay it off. 

Well after a few payments I learned that my payoff amount hadn't changed a bit? How? I have paid several thousand dollars on a $1,500.00 loan but I still owe the original $3,000.00 + dollars that I owed from the day that I got the loan?  I continued trying each month to have enough to pay it off and get away from it! Whenever I would have the money something else always was needing paid as well, something that couldn't wait! November of 2025 I woke up and my truck was gone! I had fallen three payments behind and Lonestar Title Loans repossessed my truck! With a lot of my equipment for work in it. Without my truck and my tools I don't work! So I had to borrow, sell tools, stereo equipment, etc. and pawn stuff. more tools and my coin collection for less than a quarter of what these things were worth! I had to pay $2,200.00 to get my truck back! and they were going to redo my loan for me to get me back on track. 

Well at least now after paying $449.00 for, mind you, 20 months! and now paying $2,200.00 to get my truck back, I understand some of that is the repo/collection fee, late fees or what have you, but surely after paying a total of somewhere in the neighborhood of  Twelve Thousand Dollars! $12,000.00  towards a loan of One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars $1,500.00 it will definitely be down enough that I can pay it off immediately and be done with these folks! 

My new loan contract was going to hopefully be $500 maybe $1,000-  worst case! WRONG! They re-wrote my loan alright! Wrote it right back to exactly what it was when I originally got it 20 months ago! I owed them  the original $1,527.98 that I borrowed twenty months before plus fees interest whatever they call it bringing my brand new loan total owed to $3,775.13  The $12,000.00 that I have paid means nothing! 

Well I am flat broke! I sold everything that I could afford to sell in order to get my truck back, it's winter time, I am homeless living in hotels, sometimes sleeping in my truck but mostly trying to keep a hotel room, it's cold out! I don't have family and friends to live with, anything like that, it's just me! Hotel rooms, eating out every meal plus I have work but it does slow down some with the Holidays colder weather etc. So I am broke! I missed the first payment after the loan was rewritten, it's mid December! Work is really slow right this second and I am flat broke already! I sold and pawned and borrowed all I could to get my truck and equipment back last month! January rolls around work is picking back up some I am beginning to cover a place to live now trying to catch back up on other obligations, phone, insurance, storage bills, replacing some of my tools that I was forced to sell now desperately need I don't have $449.00 x 2 to pay for this loan which is what I owe now! 

I get a text message January 28, 2026 from Lonestar Title Loans say "Kenneth your truck is out for repo need payment" I sure cant afford it however that evening I get to the hotel go on my laptop login to my Lonestar Title Loan account to make a payment of $943.78 the total that I owe. I was hoping that maybe it would allow me to just make the December payment since it's still January. Maybe I can pay the December payment and be okay so that I will at least be able to live, get to work etc. a lot of times it will only let you pay the total that you owe online nothing less. 

I wasn't able to get to the office to pay before they closed so I was prepared to pay the $943.00 which I sorta knew would be my only option. so I log on and my account is gone! my previous accounts there but the one that I need to pay isn't there! Great! I will have to call my customer, call my guys and put work off until later in the morning, probably actually at lunch time because I have to go into the office in the morning and of course they don't open until 10:00 O'clock! lose half a day's work because I can't pay online!

Guess what!! I wake up the next morning, and my freakin truck is gone! My heart sank! I am in the middle of a really good job! $22,000.00 + job, and we are already cutting it close to finishing before these people move in. Now instead of letting them know that I am going to be running behind today, I have to tell them that I'm not going to be there at all! I call the office at 10:00 AM when they open and explain that I was online trying to make the payment last night, the account wasn't there! She tells me that's because it was out for repo! It's not there when it's out for repo?? What kind of mess is that! I know what kind it is! It's not so much that they wanted the payment, they wanted the truck! I have paid them their money back nearly ten times! 

Now they want to take the truck and sell it! Collect another five grand or so from me! If they really wanted their money I would be able to pay whatever I owe anytime that I have it to pay! Even after repossession takes place! they would add the extra fees in and it would reflect in your account with the option to pay everything you owe! Okay, I explain that I have the $950.00 that I owe, and I need my truck! I asked her to let me bring you the $950.00 just add the extra repo fees whatever to my account I will just have to pay it. Right now I need my truck, and all of my equipment is in it as well! Spray rig. compressor, nail guns, all of my power tools! Saws drills, sanders, all of my hand tools and socket sets, wrenches, my customers contracts, ladders, even paint that the customer purchased and I picked up! 

I need my truck! Yolanda tells me no! I can't get my truck, I have to pay the whole thing again like I did last time over $2,000.00 before I can get my truck. Are you kidding me? I have the money that I owe you, was online trying to pay it last night yet because yall took my account and my option to pay down so I couldn't pay now I can't even get my truck back? I have what I owe you! Nothing extra! You got all my extra money two months ago! I already sold everything except my kids to pay you something that I have already paid ten times over to start with! 

Like I said they want the vehicle, want to sell it! if not they would gladly take the $950.00 I owed and added the extra fees on until later! I have been paying for two years. Already it should be quite obvious that I am going to continue to pay! They want to auction the truck off! I am currently working on bringing these people to answer for everything. For doing people the way that they are doing! I have learned of several actions that they have taken since I have been doing business with them that are totally not legal! I don't know how they have gotten away with doing some things, I guess maybe no one else has taken it as far as I am, and intending to take it! 

They have straight up just robbed me blind! $12 $13 $14 thousand dollars. I have paid them to borrow $15 hundred dollars, and now they have basically just stolen my truck from me so that they can auction it off! Now to finish off this part of my story! There will be a lot more to add to this very soon! as things unfold. I don't know if it will all take time or happen quickly, but I intend to spend absolutely as much time as it takes to fully expose everything regarding their business practices! I have made contact with others who have done business here as well, and have some things to add as well! Now for another kicker! I called Yolanda at Lonestar title loans and told her I need to pick up my personal belongings from my truck! She gave me a number to call, the Towing Company who they use I guess for their repossessions. I was told call them and set up a time to get my things. 

The Towing Company is First Call Towing and Recovery here in Bryan Texas at 1719 Gooseneck Drive. Their main office I guess is somewhere else in the 980 area code. I set an appointment to get my equipment and personal items from my truck and they wont allow me to have them! I can't have anything unless I pay them a $50.00 fee! Well I know that's not legal! I don't know where they get that from! In the state of Texas no towing company or Title loan company can charge anything to retrieve your personal belongings from a repossessed vehicle! Texas code 91.09  I believe that it clearly states this! 

I tried to tell the towing guy that and he wasn't hearing it! he says the title loan company is charging it they say he is meanwhile i have close to $6,000.00 worth of equipment more than the truck is worth probably being trashed, stolen, lost who knows, and I have lost three jobs as of right now because I don't have my equipment! I can clearly see why they use First Call Towing! They both violate Texas laws with their business practices!

I am going to take this as far as needed to make sure that this sort of ripoff business is stopped. When I get my truck back this time I will have paid nearly $20,000.000 just to borrow $1500. So wrong! Plus I probably have lost $1,000s worth of equipment so far, $12,000.00 worth of work and I am still going to have to come up with another $3,000.00 if I ever want the title to my truck again! I don't know how these people can sleep at night! God will deal with them! and if I have my way about it so will the State of Texas!