Consumers are looking for advice on where to apply for a loan with credit scores ranging from 380 to under 580. Borrowers are struggling to find loan products from bad credit lenders and finding confusing information when the definition of bad credit and fair credit change from lender to lender. This list of the leading loans providers fits into many situations including bad credit, fair credit, co-signing, secured loans, student loan refinance, and more ideas to help you with your financial requirements.
Best Bad Credit Loan
Find A Great Rate on a Bad Credit Loan
If you have bad credit ranging from 500 to 620, this list of leading industry loan providers is a great fit.
Best Fair Credit Loan
Find A Great Rate on a Bad Credit Loan
If you have fair credit ranging from 590 to 660, this list of leading industry loan providers is a great fit.
The Bad Credit Loan Squeeze
Once you’re in the position of having a credit score below 580, you will be limited by:
- The Amount of Money You Can Borrow
- Collateral Available
- Secured Credit Card
- The Loan Term
- Interest Rate Charged
- Debt to Equity
- Your Credit Score
- Hard or Soft Inquiry on your Credit Score
- Why are the Bad Credit Lenders Not Publishing a Credit Score Requirement?
- Applying for a Loan with Outstanding Collections or Repossessions on Your Credit History
- Co-signing
- Secured Loan Offers
- Debt Settlement
- Refinance Auto Loan
- Rebuild Your Credit Score
The Amount of Money that You Can Borrow
Most online bad credit loans providers will not exceed a $5,000 unsecured bad credit loan limit with a credit score lower than 580. We suggest that if you are trying this for your first time, do not request more than $1,000 to $3,000 unless you have some form of collateral.
When you apply for a personal loan and bad credit loan, it can harm your credit score. We suggest applying with lenders like the application below provided on America loan Service. You will Access Over 100 Lenders With One Application. Look for lenders that identify on their site that “We complete a soft pull and this application will not harm your credit score.”
The lenders will review your request quickly to determine whether your information meets the lender’s loan qualification criteria. You will receive notice within a few minutes if there is a lender interested in discussing a loan. Loans are normally funded within 1-5 business days depending on the lender and if they have all information required to fund.
If a lender is satisfied with all of the information with your request and has decided to offer you a loan, you will be directed to the lender’s website. At this point, you will leave America Loan Service, and we recommend that you review the terms and conditions of the lender. Take your time to go through all of the information from the loan provider. We recommend that you ask every question to be sure you fully understand the loan. The lender should explain the following information:
Collateral Available
Collateral (or security) are assets that a lender can place a lien against in case of loan default. The lender requests a lien against assets that they can seize if they are not repaid.
Assets can be:
- Equity in your home
- Equity in your vehicle
- Raw Land
- Gold, silver or cash
- Stocks or Bonds
Secured Credit Card
If you are unable to qualify for a loan, a secured credit card is a great option if you are working on rebuilding your credit score. Contact the credit card provider today to learn about a secured credit card
The Loan Term
The loan term by most unsecured bad credit loan providers will usually not exceed 36 months. When you apply for a bad credit loan, start by dividing the amount you borrow by 36 months. This will be the minimum payment plus the interest amount the lender will charge.
Example:
$3,000 divided by 36 months = $83.33/month plus interest.
We have attached a loan calculator at the bottom of this page for you.
Interest Rates Charged
The interest rate will be determined based on your credit score, employment record, and credit history. An unsecured bad credit loan will start above 30% interest
Example with 30% interest:
$3,000 divided by 36 months = $129.62/month including interest. Total interest expense is $1,536.59
Debt to Equity
Debt to equity is a helpful way of figuring out if you can afford the loan payment. Take your monthly income and subtract your current monthly payments. We have attached a debt to equity calculator at the bottom of this page.
Your Credit Score
Our credit score is the financial community’s way of determining the risk they are taking. It determines how much interest will be paid on every item purchased. We have provided you with information to help you improve or maintain your credit score and keep interest money in your bank account.
Your credit report will contain the following information:
- A record of any Company or organization that has pulled your credit report
- Your personal identification
- Employment information
- All information on public record including judgment, whether you have been sued, arrested, bankruptcies and any file that has been sent to collections
- Payment history for any account that reports to the credit bureaus. This will include credit card companies, banks and utility companies
Checking your credit report on a regular basis will ensure that your personal and financial information is being reported properly. If you find errors in your credit report or fraudulent activity, contact the credit bureaus and correct the errors. Click this link for a complete breakdown of the steps to take to contact the credit providers and change an errors.
Pay Bills on Time
This may sound like an easy one and while it might not explicitly increase your credit score, keeping on top of your monthly payments does prevent your score from going down any further. So before you do any extra spending, pay those bills to make sure you’re not hurting your credit because payment history makes up 35% of your credit score.
Hard or Soft Inquiry on your Credit Score
When you apply, most lenders start with a soft pull, and a soft pull of your credit will not harm your credit score. If you have been applying to many places for a long period to get a loan, we would recommend that you stop as it will make your situation even worse and could further damage your credit score. When you complete an application on a lender’s site, the site should tell you if they are pulling your credit history. In most cases, the lender will inform you that they can provide you a rate without damaging your credit score. This is a soft inquiry. If you want to proceed and have them move to get you the loan, the lender will complete a hard inquiry, and this will affect your credit.
Here is a quick guide to see what the Fico score rating looks like and one method lenders use to determine if they can lend money:
| Excellent Credit Score | 750+ |
| Good Credit Score | 700 to 749 |
| Fair Credit Score | 650 to 699 |
| Poor Credit Score | 590 to 649 |
| Bad Credit Score | Less than 590 |
Applying for a Loan with Outstanding Collections or Repossessions on Your Credit History
Are you searching for a loan when the bank has just repossessed and towed your vehicle away, and you are searching for a loan to repay them? Or you have credit cards that have gone to collections and wanted a loan to pay off the collections company. We want to save you some time with sending loan applications.
- Don’t waste your time applying for a new loan without a co-signer or some form of security. You will be very frustrated, and if you are offered anything, it will be terrible interest fees.
- Contact the collections company and settle.
- If you disagree with the amount owing to the lender or collections company, contact Lexington Law and dispute the claim. Make sure this is removed from your credit report.
- If you are about to be in the position of collections or repossession, go to your lender and negotiate terms immediately before they pass your file to collections.
- This collections information will hit your credit score for years. Try to find the money before it goes this far.
- Loan amount offered
- Finance charge and fees
- Annual percentage rate (APR)
- Loan term
- Payment schedule
Why are the Lenders Not Publishing a Credit Score Requirement?
Many of the bad credit lenders are working with hundreds of other lenders that are willing to take on lending risk, and they are represented by one agency. When you apply and have a credit score below 580, they send out your application to these companies.
This group of lenders will include interest rate offers ranging from 5.99% to 1500% depending on your credit score and credit history. Many of these lenders will consider a small amount of risk with someone that has a slight blemish on their credit history to providers that will consider lending to people with collections and repossessions on their credit history.
Co-signing
Co-signing is a request to have a family member or friend to sign the loan on your behalf when your credit score cannot support the loan.
Secured Loan
If you’re in a position to use the equity from your home or other assets, you may receive a better interest rate with a secured loan. Here are a couple of service providers if you are using your home or auto for security.
Debt Settlement
National Debt Relief provides debt settlement services. If you are in this position and have applied with a lot of lenders, have creditors calling you and have nowhere else to go, you may want to consider speaking with a debt counselor at National Debt Relief.
- No credit requirements
- Minimum $10,000 in debt
- The best option for debt relief, bankruptcy assistance, and debt consolidation
- Bad credit friendly; will help regardless of your credit score
- Offers debt settlement services
- Avoid bankruptcy by settling debts
- Offers free debt relief quotes with savings estimates
- No fees upfront, transparent payment structure
- Not available in CT, GA, KS, ME, NH, SC, OR, VT or WV
Refinance Auto Loan
An auto title loan is secured loans offered by companies that take your vehicle as collateral. They offer you a short-term loan using your car to back the loan. The amount of the loan will depend on the value of your car.
Rebuild Your Credit Score
When you apply for a loan with bad credit, expect the interest rates to be extremely high with few people qualifying. If your credit score is below 580, your best bet is to work at paying down your existing debt and acquiring cash only credit card to improve your credit score position. Start paying for everything with cash and stay away from borrowing more money. There are debt relief options down this page that can also be an option. We provided a link to check your credit score for free and additional information on managing your credit score.
