Q. My FICO score is 666 -- really. My problem is that I have old collections on there and no current credit. I have a family emergency and need an open line of credit for $5,000. What can I do?

A. In your situation, $5,000 is a lot of money.

The one good thing is that it's probably more than you can get from the worst lenders -- payday loan and auto title loan stores. No matter how desperate you are, you simply must avoid them. Their exorbitant interest rates and fees will add to your problem, not solve it.

So, where can you go?

If you own a home, a home equity line of credit is the best option. This requires you to have enough equity -- the difference between what your home is worth and what you owe on it -- to borrow against. But if you do, you should be able to get a $5,000 credit line with an annual interest rate of 5% to 6%. You'll only pay interest on the amount you borrow, so if you get a $5,000 line of credit and only use $2,000 of it, then you'll only be charged for the $2,000 you borrowed.

A credit union is the first place to apply for a home equity line of credit. If you don't own a home, then ask about a personal loan. The last time we surveyed credit unions about those kinds of loans, they were charging 9.4% to 18%, with most around 12%. That's pretty reasonable for an unsecured loan.

Here's where to find a credit union near you.

The third option would be a reputable finance company such as Household Finance Corp., a division of HSBC bank. These lenders will let you borrow $2,000 to $20,000 for up to five years. You can get a traditional personal loan, where they give you a check and a fixed repayment plan. Or they can set you up with a line of credit to borrow against as you need it. These types of loans generally have variable rates. Depending on your credit and the size of the loan, you could end up paying an annual interest rate in the teens or 20% range.

There are lots of other ways to get emergency cash, but they're geared to helping people who need much smaller amounts. And we've got to be honest -- this is a bad time to be borrowing money with a bad credit score. It will be tough to get the money you need.