High Risk Personal Loans For Bad Credit
August 26, 2008
It’s no fun to have bad credit. Sometimes it feels as though no matter what you do, things just get worse. Good people have bad credit. It can happen with a job loss, a medical emergency, or a car accident. It can also happen when good people lose control of their finances.
So where do these good individuals with bad credit turn? Some turn to their families and friends, but too often this resource is already tapped out. If they are unable to get a salary advance from their employer, they search desperately for other options.
They need a personal unsecured loan and the need it now. In almost every neighborhood there is one lender who reaches out a helping hand. That lender is a payday loan company. Payday lenders offer small short-term loans with no credit check. The only catch is that the borrower must pay them back from their next paycheck. Usually the borrower pays between $15 to $30 interest for a $100 loan with a guaranteed repayment in two weeks. At first blush that doesn’t seem like so much, but actually annual percentage rates work out to 300% to 1500%.
The major drawback with payday loans, however, is their incredibly short term. Borrowers, who are already stretched thin, have difficulty repaying the loan in a two-week period. This leads to rolling over the loan, which in turn leads to more fees. Too often it becomes a vicious cycle. Fortunately, as word of these predatory lending practices has filtered into the media, other institutions have stepped up to offer short-term personal loans.
Credit unions were the first to rush in and offer short-term loans to their members. Other institutions, such as banks and savings and loans are beginning to offer these loans to their banking clients. There are several advantages to getting a loan from a credit union, bank or savings and loan. First, the interest rates they charge are far less than those offered by payday loan companies. Second, these institutions extend the repayment period from two weeks to usually around 90 days—making it far easier for the borrower to repay the loan without having to take out another loan. Finally, credit unions, banks and savings and loans limit the number of short-term loans their clients can get in a year.
Emergencies are stressful. They can be even more stressful if the individual has bad credit. The most important thing for individuals with bad credit to remember is that often there is more than one choice for a quick personal loan.