Car finance personal

4 LENDING TRAPS!

Got spotty credit? Need to borrow some quick cash? Beware! There's a growing industry of "fringe" finance companies eager to give you a no-credit-check loan with stick-'em-up interest rates--up to a 390 annual percentage rate (APR). Unsuspecting cash-strapped sisters are losing homes, cars and property to aggressive lending companies that prey on those whose credit histories are classified as subprime. Usury and disclosure laws in many states don't apply, because lawmakers have defined the interest charged as costs, according to the Public Interest Research Group.

Here are four rip-offs:

Car-title lending: Though practices may vary from state to state, generally you sign over the title of your car in exchange for a short-term loan, to be paid back in monthly increments. You pay about 25 percent a month in interest, which is a whopping 300 percent a year. Borrowers usually can only scrape up enough to pay the interest, and so they roll the loans over and end up paying interest charges that far exceed the principal. Miss just one payment, and the "repo man" takes your car!

Subprime mortgages: If you have equity in your home, lenders will gladly make a high-interest loan based not on your ability to repay but on the equity. Monthly payments can often amount to nearly all your income, making foreclosure almost certain.

Payday loans: With a typical payday loan, you write a personal check for, say, $115 to borrow $100 until your next payday, a 390 percent APR. Many borrowers often have to roll the loan over at payday, paying an additional $15 and increasing the finance charge to $30.

Rent-to-own: If you rent anything from a washer to a dinette at rental stores, you'll pay an APR of 100 percent on used merchandise, with some stores charging as much as 275 percent.

TURNING PASSION INTO PROFIT

I never think of my company, Inner Visions, as a purely business venture. I consider it a ministry. This means that it is the part of my life that I offer to God. Everything that I do for God, I do in love. This is what works for me:

1. Love what you do, and don't do it just for the money. I love to write--to teach and share my ideas, and to support others in finding their passion and vision in life. It may not be a sound business principle, but believe me, it works! Love magnetizes whatever it touches and it attracts more love to it; love and money are ruled by the same vibration.

2. Have a vision and stay focused. When times were real tight, nothing I did generated an income. I was tempted to throw in the towel and go back to practicing law. But alone at night, I would remember why I got started: loving people, sharing information, healing the planet. When I woke up in the morning, I would be so charged up I'd renew my vow to do whatever was necessary to spread the word.

3. Make yourself unique. Dennis R Kimbro, Ph.D., author of Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice (Ballantine), gave me the best advice I have ever had, which I still use today: "Don't try to do everything. Specialize! Pick something and stick to it. Do what you do in such a way that people must have what you are offering."

I LOVE THIS JOB!

DANCE PROMOTER

Cheryl Todmann, 32

Marketing Consultant, Creative Outlet Dance Theater Salary range: Commission

"My love for dance started when I was in junior high school. But because I was active in sports throughout high school, I didn't pursue dance until well after I graduated from Syracuse University with a marketing degree. I held marketing positions at The New York Times Company Magazine Group, Tennis magazine, TV Guide and even ESSENCE.

"While I was attending Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, my spirit told me it needed to move, for my own uplift and release. So I joined the dance ministry at St. Paul Community Baptist Church in Brooklyn. My desire to dance professionally resurfaced at a time when I was seeking peace of mind, body and soul. I was working at TV Guide, but I wasn't fulfilled. I started taking classes at Creative Outlet Dance Theater of Brooklyn, which is a performing-arts school and a professional dance company. But a knee injury I got playing tennis many years before started to flare up. So I said, `Okay, God. You've given me this strong desire to dance, so you have to help me get my knees together.' I decided to study part-time to become a personal trainer. When I received my certification, I quit my job to become a full-time personal trainer.

"Eventually I told Jamel Gaines, a founder of Creative Outlet, that I wanted to work with the company. With a marketing background, I could help raise money for events and get more sponsors and exposure. I began part-time in November 1999 and came on full-time as the marketing director and a teaching-performing artist two months later.

"Our staff teaches in more than 25 schools in Brooklyn, and we have a great relationship with the Board of Education. We've performed at the Acapulco Black Film Festival, and I made my professional dance debut at George Faison's Tribute to the Amistad in New York and at Isaac Hayes's Birthday Bash. With a whole lot of prayer, everything came full circle--from marketing magazines to marketing movement." --AKISSI BRITTON

WORK IT OUT

Five Dress-down No-no's

Q Dress-down Fridays on my job are a nightmare. Many of my colleagues look as if they're at a sporting event. I dress professionally every day and have become the brunt of their jokes. Am I wrong?

A No! And don't let your coworkers' questionable taste influence you. Rules for workplace attire have changed dramatically in the past ten years, but you can still sabotage your career by how you dress, advises Ann Marie Sabath, author of Beyond Business Casual: What to Wear to Work If You Want to Get Ahead (Career Press). "Business casual dress and ironing go hand in hand," she says. "And clothes for dress-down days should not be the comfortable ones you throw on when you get home from work."

What you wear shapes the impression you make. How you dress can make the difference in getting a job, climbing the ladder, getting an appointment or securing a contract, Sabath notes, adding, "You can dress down and still maintain a professional demeanor." Workers often make these five mistakes:

1. Confusing casual clothes with the grunge look.

2. Wearing clothes that are less than clean and crisp.

3. Sporting tennis or other athletic shoes.

4. Donning a skirt so short that it is distracting.

5. Wearing shorts.

HOW I DID IT

CREATING BEAUTY PRODUCTS

If starting a successful new business is about taking risks, then Fatima Sokera, 28, of Atlanta, is destined for greatness. In 1995 Sokera was financing her schooling at Clark Atlanta University with student loans and hair braiding. She knew her heavy study schedule would interfere with making maximum extra dollars braiding hair, but she had an ace. When her customers complained about the difficulty of removing braids and weaves or untangling hair stuck with bonding glue, Sokera, a biology and chemistry student, mixed her own special product. She created Take Down, a hair cream for removing braids, weaves and twists, from a compound of existing hair oils and creams.

When she tried to sell her idea to a major beauty company, none of the half-dozen companies returned her calls. Finally a friend suggested that she do the obvious--develop the product on her own. After finding a manufacturer, she had to get it distributed. And she did it like this:

FORGING ALLIANCES: "I picked Jinny Distribution Co. in Atlanta out of the phone book. I told them I was doing research. They transferred my call to Roscoe Thomas, vice-president of purchasing. I took my product to the company, and when Mr. Thomas realized I wanted to market a product, he showed me how to price it, how to find a broker and how much to pay them."

FINDING SUPPORT: "Mr. Thomas sent me to Target Marketing, and the owner believed in me and my product. He's been with me to this day and gotten me into a lot of beauty-supply stores. Later I found out that Jinny is one of the top three distributors in America."

DIVERSIFYING PRODUCTS: "We have eight products on our line now and they're available in every state. Our next step is to expand into cosmetics and skin care. So by the end of the year, we will be researching that. We are in it for the long haul." --CLAUDINE WILLIAMS

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