In visits by volunteers to eight Utah title lenders, the CFA found annual rates ranging from 25 percent to 521 percent on 30-day car title loans of up to $5,000 or more.

"It's a debt trap. You have to pay all of that back at the end of the month, and most people are not likely to be able to do that. So they buy more time, and keep paying and paying to avoid repossession of their car," Fox said.

She adds that loans pose little risk for lenders. "Because they are secured by cars that are paid off, in theory they should be more secure than loans on new cars. But the rates are far higher."

The study adds that "title loans are over-secured. Title lenders loan a fraction of the value of the car used to secure the loan."

The study also said, "Information necessary to make an informed credit decision is hard to come by" nationally with many lenders failing to quote or post rates in terms of annual interest, and also refusing to give detailed information about terms until borrowers are ready to sign contracts.

The Morning News similarly found in visits to 67 payday lenders (most of whom also offer car title loans) that 18 percent failed to post signs as required with the annual percentage rate of their loans.

The CFA study called for states such as Utah that allow high-cost title lending to "consider repealing those laws. Failing repeal, states should enact rate caps that reflect the over-secured nature of title loans and institute post-default procedures and rights to protect consumer assets."

The CFA's complete report is available online at www.consumerfed.org.

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E-mail: lee@desnews.com