topic Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing! in Personal Finance

Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 00:21:20 GMT

I have several zero interest cards with high balances whose promo rate expires in Sept/Oct.
In addition, some paypal credit debt with the same expiration date and a high interest (16%) 55 mo. personal loan with NFCU. All told, it adds up to 36k.

So I thought I’d be proactive in avoiding high interest and combine payments by taking out a personal loan. Lending Club preapproved me for 20k @ 14% but the process fell apart during income verification last Wed.
Several other lenders (Discover, Prosper, Upgrade, even my beloved NFCU) denied me outright. Reason stated: too many inqs. Sofi was willing to offer $8700 @ 14%. Ha!

Tried Lightstream on Sat. Approved for 20k @ 6.14 for 36 mo. in seconds! Documents signed 10 min. later.

Lightstream gives you the option to change your loan terms until the day before the funds disperse but I was afraid to do this lest they income verify, and the rate would go up slightly if I requested more than 25k.

Had the absolutely brilliant idea to apply for a second loan on Sunday. Shazam! Approved for 10k at the same **bleep** rate. Docs signed.

Today I noticed the rate on my approval page had changed from 6.14% to 5.95%. Apparently they had just started offering 5.95%, and I qualified. Yes! $144 saved.

Funds will be in my bank acct. tomorrow via ACH transfer. 2 or 3 days!

All in all I cannot believe my good fortune—will be paying 6% interest instead of 18% over three years.

I heart you, Lightstream/Suntrust bank.

I also apped with Santander on Sat. but they still haven’t responded.

Never thought I’d be this happy about debt. The trip to Europe/new clothes were worth it.

And yes, I am going to take 9 of my cards, put them in a plastic bag in a container full of water, and freeze them. This was recommended here as an alternative to shredding that gives you time to think before you spend. Great idea.

Will use my lowest limit Paypal Mastercard for all monthly expenses for the next 3 yrs.

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 23:49:12 GMT

Congratulations. Did they asked for any ID verification or POI documents?

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 13:55:30 GMT

Incredibly, they verified identity with a credit card and required NO POI.

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

CreditInspired — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 23:52:02 GMT

Congratulations.

Can you provide some DPs: scores, UT, AAOAs, AoYA, appx income, number of open accts?

Thanks

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 23:58:11 GMT

Most of that is in my sig—but income is 82/yr, and AAoA is 4 yrs according to EX. I opened ten new accts in the past year.

All accts listed in my sig are open and I have no other debt (student loans, cars, mortgage etc.)

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

credit_endurance — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 12:43:13 GMT

Congrats on the double loan strikes! Question did the use the same pull for each loan?

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 13:51:22 GMT

Thanks. Yes, they used the same pull for both loans.

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

credit_endurance — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 15:07:13 GMT

Thanks s_e_e for the info about this LightStream. Never had heard of them until your post. Great rate by the way on both loans well done!

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 16:09:55 GMT

Congrats on the loan! What bureau did they pull?

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 16:14:16 GMT

They pull from Equifax.

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

Five6Two — Wed, 01 May 2019 06:22:19 GMT

I read they pull from EQ and EX, did you get a double pull or just the single pull from EQ?

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

Anonymous — Wed, 01 May 2019 16:04:26 GMT

It truly was just one pull on EQ.

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

Five6Two — Wed, 01 May 2019 16:40:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
It truly was just one pull on EQ.

That is great to know! I may give them a try in about 12 months when I am close my expiring BT offers.

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

LakeLife — Fri, 03 May 2019 14:43:38 GMT

@credit_endurance wrote:
Thanks s_e_e for the info about this LightStream. Never had heard of them until your post. Great rate by the way on both loans well done!

I have never heard of them either. Interested to know if they will show up as a CFA on the OP's credit report. Sounds like a great experience and better alternative than paying high interest on CCs.

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

Anonymous — Fri, 03 May 2019 17:58:42 GMT

It’s a division of Suntrust Bank, so my guess would be no, but I’ll keep you guys posted.

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

Turbobuick — Fri, 03 May 2019 23:55:00 GMT

I borrowed $20K for a used car loan from Lightstream a few years ago. Had a great rate and they insisted on NOT being on the title. They sent me the check and it took me 6 months to find the "right" car for my wife so we had 6 car payments before we had a car.

Great idea about encapsulating your plastic in ice. Three year loan is going to bring about $1100/mo. payments. Wish you the best, hope it works out!

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

Anonymous — Sat, 04 May 2019 14:13:25 GMT

Indeed, Lightstream is great! I also used them for a used auto loan late last year, the experience was/has been great. I was curious to see how the BB&T/Suntrust merger would affect Lightstream, but I haven't seen any changes yet, although the merger may not be finalized.

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

Anonymous — Sun, 05 May 2019 10:25:57 GMT

For the curious, the payments are actually $912/mo.

Still steep, but much better than anticipated. Thank you.

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

jetsfan2013 — Mon, 06 May 2019 10:10:10 GMT

Congrats. I have never heard of Lightstream prior to this, but will keep them in mind. A family member recently took a loan out from Lending Club and ironically banks with Suntrust, so I don't think they knew about them either.

Re: Personal Loan Journey—Lightstream is amazing!

Anonymous — Mon, 06 May 2019 13:13:15 GMT

Well done! Great planning on your part! Excellent information also. Thanks!