Car-title loan in CA

hello, i had a question regarding a car title-loan.  I figured this was the best spot since i couldn't find another location to match the category exactly. 

SUMMARY (Question at bottom):

Anyway, i received a car title loan with [a company] on 10/16/09 $4015, US.  the loan originated in California (where i currently live). The loan specifies a simple interest loan calculated daily @ 92.09 % (yes, i am young and learned my lesson and i would never get another one of these loans in my life, i'll go bankrupt first if anything). 

The company has a shady practice of not showing the charges and total liability; statements only show a payment due amount. I contacted them requesting that balance be printed on all future invoices and their response was "our accounting software doesn't do that"  i have made several payments toward this loan:

06-22-2009     $360.00

05-11-2009     $356.26

05-08-2009     $350.00

04-10-2009     $150.00

03-10-2009     $350.00

02-09-2009     $350.00

02-02-2009     $100.00

01-08-2009     $332.00

12-15-2008     $50.00

12-11-2008     $332.00

10-23-2008     $1,500.00

payments total: 4230.26

I called the company (had to leave a message because they never answer they customer support line) for a payoff quote.  I received a return call and they quoted my payoff as 10/23/09 $1996.00.  i couldn't believe it!  i pulled up a simple loan calculator and entered my loan terms just to see if payoff quote was accurate. As of my payment on 06/22/09 my total due amount should be $1144.62, thats a difference of $851.39!!!!!!!

MY QUESTION:

do i have any legal recourse against this company, i.e. small claims court for breach of contract terms, etc.  and is there anyway to MAKE them provide me a history of my balance/payment history? 

All help is appreciated, thank you everyone. 

NOTE: the contract i signed states that i cannot bring my case to court and that they have Power of Attorney regarding all situations with my car and car title loan.

cronus09:

i pulled up a simple loan calculator and entered my loan terms just to see if payoff quote was accurate. As of my payment on 06/22/09 my total due amount should be $1144.62,

I had to compute it by hand because you change the daily amount of interest each time you make a payment (not the rate, the amount).

After the last payment on 6/22/09 I come up with a balance of 1125 which is pretty close to what you came up with.

Unfortunately, the "payoff'" might include other charges besides just the balance.

I noticed that there was 48 days between the payments of 10/23/08 and 12/11/08 and 41 days between the payments of 5/11/09 and 6/22/09.

So, at least two payments were delinquent and might have resulted in substantial late charges. It's anybody's guess whether those late charges could have boosted your balance to the 1996.

Trouble is, you're between a rock and a hard place. They own your car till you pay off the loan. I'm guessing that companies like that have all the eyes dotted and the tees crossed so if you litigate and lose (even if you lose juse a dollar) they'll add lawyer and court fees to your balance and you'll be even worse off than you are now.

Try contacting your state's attorney general or consumer protection agency to see if they can shed any light on what you might be able to do about this.

adjuster jack:

... I had to compute it by hand because you change the daily amount of interest each time you make a payment (not the rate, the amount).... After the last payment on 6/22/09 I come up with a balance of 1125 which is pretty close to what you came up with.... Unfortunately, the "payoff'" might include other charges besides just the balance.... I noticed that there was 48 days between the payments of 10/23/08 and 12/11/08 and 41 days between the payments of 5/11/09 and 6/22/09.... ...So, at least two payments were delinquent and might have resulted in substantial late charges. It's anybody's guess whether those late charges could have boosted your balance to the 1996. ...Try contacting your state's attorney general or consumer protection agency to see if they can shed any light on what you might be able to do about this....

Hi Adjuster Jack!

well, first, i assume you used the formula:

Daily Interest = Daily rate * loan balance, when doing this calculation, do you compound it daily to the principal or this just accrued as interest? 

My first payment was due on 11/16/09, i contacted the company when i first sent in my first payment $1500 on 10/23/08 and informed the company that this was to be my first payment that was due on 11/16/09.  I was late on my last payment but that's simply because this loan has been so draining on me. i can't pay other bills and have a hard time paying rent. 

however, the contract only states a late fee of $10 for any payment not paid 10 days after due date and this is not added to the Principal balance when calculating interest.  I've been making all my payments on time, except for my latest one.  the contract also states that there is no early penalty pay-off fee. so i don't understand where they are getting all of these fees that add up to $851. 

This is actually why i wanted to get a balance and payment history from them to see how they are calculating this amount, i was thinking of sending certified letter demanding it but i don't know if they are required by law to provide this information to me or not. 

i will attempt to contact the AG and a consumer protection agency in the meantime. 

thank you for assistance so far!