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Mar 31, 2008 4:24 pm US/Pacific

S.Bay Group Gives Loans To People With Poor Credit

(CBS 5) For most people the lower your credit score is, the higher the interest rate you'll have to pay when buying a high ticket item. Ways to Work of Santa Clara County is a non-profit program that actually looks for consumers with low credit scores in order to offer them low cost auto loans.

In addition, this program offers the education to help consumers repair their credit so they never have to pay the penalty of having bad credit again.

Melanee Nelson took advantage of the program when she moved here from Seattle.

"I gave up rain for high cost of living. We were paying $347 a month for a two bed apartment," said Nelson.  But now this single mom pays four times that in the Bay Area. This high cost of living has cost Nelson her good credit.

"I'm credit challenged…a lot of people are credit challenged," she said.

When you have challenged credit, finding a decent interest rate on a used car loan is in itself a challenge.

"Anyone will sell you a car, it all depends on how much you want to bite off and chew," Nelson added.

So she turned to the Ways to Work program of Santa Clara County.

"We look for people who actually have a bad credit, it's kind of ironic." said Jim Dale of Ways to Work.

Dale works with clients like Melanee . The program loans up to $4,000 to purchase a used car or to provide help towards repairing your current vehicle. 

The loan also includes something money can't buy. It provides the opportunity to get a second chance at improving your credit by working with the program's financial counselors.

"What we look for is for people to have a real interest in bettering their credit. Our program is all about giving people the knowledge and the opportunity to go and fix their credit," described Dale.

So now Nelson not only has a car, she is also on the road to financial freedom.

"The program not only gave me the resources to get the loan, they also helped me open my eyes to my financial situation," she added.

Programs like Ways to Work are available in Santa Clara County and San Mateo County.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.