Related article: Top 5 Things That You Should Know Before Applying For Small Personal Loans

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To the Editor,

I started my part-time business at home, designing e-brochures for clients. I didn’t get many orders at the initial stage. Many things came to me in a sudden. I found it extremely stressful when I was running out of cash. I cracked my head to look for cash to pay for my wife’s medical bills. I was depressed as all my loan applications were rejected by the banks. The answer given by the banks was the same, i.e. I had too many commitments and my credit score was not really satisfied. I “overused” my credit cards.

I was totally lost to think about possible solutions. I shared my problems with my mentor in the company. I would say I was lucky because I was recommended by him to Prosper.com, a place where I finally obtained financial assistance.

When I first approached Prosper.com, I was surprised to find out their peers to peers lending concept. It was amazing. I was glad to read some of the information which gave me hope. Under this new lending concept, anyone who needs cash can obtain personal loan from other individuals easily with the interest rate as low as 6.59% per annum. The best news to me is no collateral is required to secure the loan.

Get personal loans for bad credit with now at Prosper.

However, I almost gave up when I saw the message stated that “Prosper may not be the right place for you because of your bad credit.”

I was very frustrated when I read the statement but I told myself to cool down. There was no harm for me to give myself a try since I just needed to perform a few clicks. So I moved on and created a loan listing with Prosper. I clicked the main purpose of borrowing, the loan amount I needed as well as my credit rating. I started with a very low loan amount, i.e. $3,000.

To be frank, I was quite upset and pessimistic. I thought that my application would be rejected AGAIN like previous trials. I didn’t believe that someone was willing to offer loan to me as my credit score was not good. However, I still filled up the online application form and submitted accordingly.  I wrote my true story and described my situation in detailed. I chose to be honest with my imperfect credit.

Although I didn’t have any hope to get the loan, I still check my verification stage from time to time. Thank god! Miracle happened. Within 3 days, I found someone who was willing to take up the risk to lend me full loan – $3,000 as I required with the interest rate of 9%. I realized that my employment has helped me a lot. The social security number which I provided has convinced the “investor” that I had the ability to repay the loan. The self-description which I provided has made things better.

For me, the borrowing process through Prosper.com is very straight forward and clear cut. I don’t need to meet up with my lender at all and I consider my lender as my “buddy”.  I express my gratitude to my “buddy” by making my repayment on time.

After establishing my first relationship with Prosper.com, my confidence level towards this lending site has been increased from time to time. Being the first peer to peer lending site in United States in 2006, Prosper has more than 1,060,000 members today. It provides a great market place for both lenders and borrowers to gain from the deals. The lenders are able to get high return from the loan they offer and the borrowers, including me, are able to access to cash when we are in need for urgent purpose. The best thing is the interest rates are closely monitored by Prosper and both parties’ rights are well protected.

After I get myself familiar with Proper, I start using this site frequently when I face cash flow problem. This site has helped me to reduce my financial burden as borrowing money has become more convenient. Honestly speaking, I found out that the more personal information a person provides, the higher chance he or she is able to get loan fast. So am I.  Now, after creating the loan listing, I even start promoting my listing through my social networking sites, i.e. Facebook and Twitter. I am gaining more and more support from my friends and I am able to expand my home business. Furthermore, since this site is reliable, I start inviting my friends and relatives to join and invest on my loan. Getting fund has become an easy task for me.

I believe many people have the same experience like me. Mark Riddix, the founder and president of an independent investment advisory firm also finds that Prosper is a good place to ask for loan. “The main advantage of peer to peer lending is that costs are lower since no payments need to be made to an intermediary. This is where Prosper comes into play,” said Mark Riddix in his site, http://www.moneycrashers.com/prosper-review/ . I fully agree with him.

From Adam H.

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Good to hear that Adam is doing well now – thanks to a generous and considerate lender who trusted him and gave a hope to start life anew so that he can continue pursuing his business. If you’re still struggling to get a loan from both traditional and non-traditional, you can consider Prosper as your borrowing option - 

Disclaimer:  The actual author’s name and the content have been edited due to editorial reasons. Readers – especially those who are looking for bad credit personal loans are advised to check out the legitimacy of the loan companies and loan products before you make a final deal. Learn more about how to find trustworthy loan companies. 

Then, you should be worrying on how to get such loans and make the first move. Here’s how:

1. Approach your local credit union for a short-term loan if you are a longstanding member with good standing account, to improve your credit.
2. Your local credit union will not give you a loan when your credit is low (i.e. lower than 600 FICO score). They suggest that you should concentrate on rebuilding your credit score through these practical ways like removing accurate negative items from your report and paying off outstanding debt. To be realistic, fixing your bad credit would probably take months as the exact timeframe is still unclear. When you’re desperately in need of a loan and you cannot wait for months – normally, they would normally turn you away despite your numerous attempt of initiating a negotiation – and if you’re lucky enough, they would suggest a loan company that you should refer to.
3. Hence, when you sense that there’s no positive outcome of approaching a credit union – remember to ask them for a reference – at least a name of a local loan company that you can consider at the end of the discussion. [Check out the real story here]

Now, your main concern is how to avoid yourself from being “trapped” by usurious lenders. Before you start considering non-traditional lenders for short-term bad credit loans – here are a few preparations that you should do:

1. Determine the exact total loan amount that you really afford to repay throughout the whole loan term – Many online loan calculators that are available on the Internet and you can estimate the total loan cost and interest rate. Reevaluate your financial position to see how much money you can actually fork out for loan repayments.
2. Be sure to have an active savings account which is well-maintained for at least 3 months with good standing
3. Get your monthly pay slips, IRA statements and copies of bank account ready. These are the basic documents that lenders require for verification purposes.

To protect your personal interest before you provide them with your personal details and scout for reliable loan companies – here’s what you should do:

1. Check out Better Business Bureau (BBB) directory – type the domain “www.bbb.org” correctly
2. Check the background loan companies by viewing their respective business reports
3. You can also contact your state financial regulator for professional advice

[Learn more about finding reliable loan companies online]

In this case, you have been working for more than a year – perhaps more than 3-8 years, and things don’t go smoothly as planned. Although you’re financially stable, your household debt increases and you still need to pay them off as well as your other financial commitments.

Hence, without considering much, here’s your initial plan – as a longstanding member of a local credit union, you start applying for a low interest personal loan from them and hoping to get substantial amount of cash to ease your financial burden. You could even accept a high interest personal loan offer as you have no other options left.

However, things turned out unexpectedly worse before you even started applying. When you first approached your local credit union, they found out that your credit score was not up to their borrower’s requirements which means that you have no chance of being an eligible borrower. In other words, your credit scores not good enough for them.

Then, you tried to have a deeper negotiation with your local credit union and hoping that they could come up with a ‘solution’ – for instance, a loan that can help you to rebuild your credit since you’re a longstanding member.  Their final outcome was still a firm ‘No’ and they still couldn’t give you a loan.

By right getting a loan can help you to improve your credit – only when you pay them off consistently. It is clear that traditional banks and credit unions are not willing to give you loans when you have a bad credit.

So should you start considering a bad credit personal loan for loan companies?

This question is self-explanatory – yes, since you have no other alternatives. Don’t get misunderstood that you could simply get such loans from any loan companies. Although you seem to have no choice to get such loans from non-traditional lenders, searching for reliable non-traditional lenders from Better Business Bureau (BBB) would probably reduce the chances of approaching “predatory” lenders (also known as usurious lenders).

[Learn how to search for trustworthy non-traditional loan companies via BBB]

Here’s a real-life experience of a professor – watch the video clip above, who was unable to get a personal loan from a local credit union which is Missouri Credit Union – which she presumed that she would get one since she was a long-time member in good standing. Fortunately, her local credit union suggested her to go to a loan company – where she finally got a loan, and have trusted her ability to repay them back. Now, it’s good to hear that she’s now creditworthy – her credit scores have doubled, and she can live her life without any financial worries.

So here are some steps that you should follow to avoid being the “prey” of scam artists:

First, you need to check out whether their business is legally registered in California to operate their loan lending service.

1. Visit the Department of Financial (DOF) of California site (website URL: DOF.ca.gov)
2. From the homepage, click “Resources & Online Tools” tab
3. Based on the “Resources & Online Tools” page, click “Multiple Department License Lookup” which is located within the “Online Tools” table
4. Once you are directed to the “Multiple Department License Lookup” page, key-in the name of a bad credit secured personal loan company at the search bar
5. Then, click “Find” to start the company license search process
6. Within seconds, you will see a list of company names as well as the validity of their licenses
7. Match the actual company name with their contact details and check out the validity of license as well as type of license

Once you have identified a bad credit secured personal loan company that has a valid license to perform their business in your state, the next thing you need to do is to look for their business reviews via Better Business Bureau (BBB) directory. Follow these steps below:

1. Visit the BBB directory (website URL: BBB.org/us)
2. Click “Check Out a Business or Charity” link
3. Based on the new page, type-in the company name in the “Search For” box and their contact details – i.e. zip code, city and state; in the “In” box
4. Once you have filled up all the details in the search box, click “Search”
5. Then, you will see a list of company names on the search results page
6. Browse through the search results page and find the company name that you’re actually looking for
7. View the company’s business review by clicking “View BBB Review”
8. From the business review page, make sure that the contact details are same as the one that was stated in the company license lookup page earlier
9. Be sure that the bad credit secured personal loan company is “A” rated and has no unresolved issues with their clients

Remember that you need to spend more time on researching for the right bad credit secured personal loans before you sign up for their loan product.

If you are in dire need of large amount of money to resolve your financial problems – it’s time that you start considering getting a bad credit personal loan. Here’s a comprehensive guide of applying for such loans – for more information – CLICK HERE.

Find out more information about secured personal loans for bad credit for FREE at this website – CLICK HERE.