• tells you, or requires you, to falsify information on the loan application. For example, the lender tells you to say that your loan is primarily for business purposes when it's not.
• pressures you into applying for a loan or applying for more money than you need.
• pressures you into accepting monthly payments you can't make.
• fails to provide required loan disclosures or tells you not to read them.
• misrepresents the kind of credit you're getting. For example, calling a one-time loan a line of credit.
• promises one set of terms when you apply, and gives you another set of terms to sign - with no legitimate explanation for the change.
• tells you to sign blank forms - the lender says they'll fill them in later.
• says you can't have copies of documents that you've signed.

Source: FTC, 2000

There are plenty of good lenders out there. However, it is important to keep your eyes open and ask the questions above. There are also some lenders who are quite willing to take advantage of you. What you do not want to do is to incur additional credit burdens that might make it harder to recover.