When you need to get a loan online, you can cross all your fingers and cross all your toes, hoping for the best. But unless you meet your lender’s strict lending requirements, it doesn’t matter what you do. If you don’t qualify, any lender will reject your request — from the biggest banks to the smallest online direct lenders.
That’s true even if you’re facing a genuine personal emergency, and an online loan is the only way you can see a doctor, repair your car, or get your dog urgent veterinary care.
A big rejection isn’t the end of the world. After all, you can tweak the way you borrow to find a better fit. Why waste time on an application you never have a chance of qualifying for? Follow this advice if you need short term personal loans online.
Table of Contents
1. Check the Eligibility Requirements
Every lender has a list of features that they expect from their borrowers. It runs the gamut of basic things like age, citizenship, and owning a bank account. However, it can include more pointed financial information, including your income and current debt load.
You should be able to find this information on their website. Double-check that you satisfy all the features — missing just one could disqualify you.
2. Know Your Credit Score
One of the most common eligibility criteria for online direct lenders is credit. A check of your credit history and score lets them see how you’ve handled loans in the past. It gives them a good idea of how you’ll handle their loan in the future.
If you have amazing credit, it’s probably not going to stand in your way of getting an emergency personal loan. However, knowing your score can help you track down online direct lenders willing to work with bad credit borrowers.
What About Short Term Personal Loans No Credit Check?
Some payday cash advance lenders promise they will never check your credit. That sounds like the deal of a lifetime for anyone with rock-bottom credit.
In reality, it’s a flaming red flag.
Online direct lenders check your score to understand your financial abilities. If they don’t check this number at all, they don’t care if you can afford their loan. In fact, they’re banking on the fact that you won’t, as they’ll be able to slap on late fines and extra interest.
3. Look for Your Lender’s License
In the US, only accredited lenders can offer legitimate online installment loans. They earn this accreditation by proving they follow all the federal and state-level lending laws. These laws are in place to protect you against usury.
Lenders who don’t have a license in your state aren’t necessarily scams. It could just mean they’re a small financial institution that isn’t servicing the entire country.
However, borrowing from them anyways could result in an automatic rejection. Or you run the risk of getting approved and not knowing if they adhere to your state’s lending laws.
The Takeaway:
Rejection is a frustrating waste of time—time you don’t have if you’re dealing with a financial emergency. So, try to avoid it the first time around. Keep these three tips in mind when apply for short term personal loans in the future.