EL PASO, Texas -- Erika Smalley fell on tough times and needed a loan to help out., so she turned to Ace Cash Express to get a car title loan.

"They made it look good," she told KFOX.

But Erika said her experience was anything but good. The fast cash put on her on fast track to problems. After the 30-day term of the loan, she couldn't pay and the company came to collect.

“What upset me was that they towed my truck at work," she said.

And that's where the ride on a bumpy road started.

"The $800 loan went to like a $1,430," she told KFOX.

She said extra money was tacked on to the loan and to get her car back from the repossession company, American Lenders Service, it cost her more than $470 extra, according to the paperwork she provided to KFOX.

"They should have explained it more. They shouldn't have just showed me this is what you're supposed to sign," said Smalley. "I don't remember reading [the contract]."

She said Ace Cash Express refused to give her another copy of her contract.

In the 2008-2009 Texas legislative session, five bills were introduced to help protect citizens from lending situations like Smalley’s. All five of them failed. Most were proposed or cosponsored by State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh. The bills proposed were SB 189, SB 242, SB 243, SB 244 and SB 248.

KFOX went to Ace Cash Express to try to verify if the company disclosed all of the charges and penalties in the contract. A manager at the store said she could not discuss the case but instead, referred a KFOX reporter to a company official in Dallas. At the time of this story, the Ace Cash Express official did not return the phone call.

KFOX also went to the company she said repossessed her car, American Lenders Service. The doors were locked and a “closed sign” was on the door when the KFOX crew arrived Friday at around 3:15 p.m. An employee came to the door and advised the crew to go to the corporate Web site to contact an official.

American Lenders Service general counsel Machelle Morris, told KFOX that the company has franchise operations. She said because of federal law, she could not discuss the financial specifics regarding the case, but she verified that Smalley was charged the amount as authorized by the contract between American Lenders Service and Ace Cash Express.

Smalley could not provide KFOX with a copy of the actual contract, but she showed a photojournalist a receipt showing she paid American Lenders Service more than $400.

Miri Marshall can be reached at 915.834.2158 or miri.marshall@kfoxtv.com