Recent (March 2017) thread on PenFed SSL: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/Shared-Secure-Loan-PenFed-SDFCU-Alliant-and-NF...
@Anonymous wrote:Have to show overall funds for a specific reason on something else, so happy to have it sit there. This makes my case a bit unusual perhaps.
I have found the solution for my situation since the original post. PenFed at 2%
i think this might be the best secured loan option out there. Terms, if you need them to over 120 months.....money is unfrozen as it is paid, shows as installment loan on all 3 CRA's. yes, I will use cash in the savings
these credit unions are fantastic....wish I had explored them long, long ago!
@Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the great advice. Since I am just starting to rebuild, I would like some additional advice on this strategy.
PenFed already did a HP for signup so no further damage will be done for the loan. They pulled Experian.
Interesting. Did they suggest why they were discontinuing it? How did this conversation with them come up anyway? 
Alliant wasn't the only CU or lender that did this: actually I suspect *most* would be fine but Alliant was just the one I and subsequently a few others tried in our test case and since it worked so well, guess it stuck.
Penfed was going to be the one I was going to try next personally, 10 years > 5 years, but it's probably a HP but I don't consider a SP to be a requirement personally. Someone linked that research thread which is fantastic for this, but I don't think we're going to be short options on it... you can do this with pretty much any simple interest installment loan (doesn't have to even be secured) it's only when we run into wierdness like DCU's prepayment goofiness that it's going to come up.
Great thoughts, R. My comments in blue below.
@Revelate wrote:Interesting. Did they suggest why they were discontinuing it? How did this conversation with them come up anyway?
The conversation came up because someone asked (on the monster SSL thread) why Alliant had removed everything about their SS loans from their core website. I double checked myself and confirmed that yes, it seemed to have vanished, so I gave Alliant a call. The rep was surprised too and transfered me to a loan officer. Then the LO explained that the SSL product was being discontinued on Jan 2 but was still available now.
He said that they were discontinuing it because they just didn't have much demand for it. I know for a fact that they were getting hammered with apps at one point (reddit and DoC both picked up the story about the myFICO technique and mentioned Alliant) so I doubt that's entirely right. More accurate might be that there is not much demand for the loan as intended -- where the borrower pays Alliant interest on the bulk of the principal throughout the loan life. I.e. there were few new applications that were profitable for Alliant. Indeed the SSL Technique borrowers (who paid it down at month 1) generated negative profit for Alliant, if you count the overhead and the cost of setting the loan up initially.
That's just my speculation. It could be that there have been very few apps at all in the last four months.
Alliant wasn't the only CU or lender that did this: actually I suspect *most* would be fine but Alliant was just the one I and subsequently a few others tried in our test case and since it worked so well, guess it stuck.
Penfed was going to be the one I was going to try next personally, 10 years > 5 years, but it's probably a HP but I don't consider a SP to be a requirement personally. Someone linked that research thread which is fantastic for this, but I don't think we're going to be short options on it... you can do this with pretty much any simple interest installment loan (doesn't have to even be secured) it's only when we run into wierdness like DCU's prepayment goofiness that it's going to come up.
I agree that the loan doesn't have to be secured, but that was a nice feature for the scoring-boosting technique for many people. The reason is that many people were looking for a boost but were also rebuilding, with scores in the low to mid 600s. The fact that the loan was secured by their savings gave Alliant a way to approve them even given their high-risk profile. (Alliant also gave these rebuilders confidence that they wouldn't burn a hard pull, given Alliant's nice soft-pull-only policy.)
Heh, there's no such thing as burning a hard pull when you're at 600.
Have to spend inquiries to establish / re-establish credit, ain't no big thing. It's only on these forums and a few other places where people rampantly open accounts and a terrified of inquiries... neither make much rational sense to the outside observer most likely.
@arkane wrote:I found an old thread here from 2.5 years ago regarding SSLs. Info might be a bit out of date but could be a useful starting point?
I'm going to quote some parts of the OP in that thread, my annotations of some of the more promising CUs to look into are in RED
@jesseh wrote:Hi there,
Alliant FCU
Amount: $500-500.000
Terms: 6-60 months
APR: 2.90%
INQ: no pull
PenFed FCU
no webpage (call) see this postAmount: $250-no max
Terms: up to 142 months, minimum monthly payment of $25
APR: 2.00% + savings rate (0.05%)
Digital FCU
Amount: $200-
Terms: up to 10 years (120 months)
APR: 3.50%
For $1000 or less, the minimum monthly payment is $30 (ref: phonecall 6/17/15)
note: savings account has high yield on first $500
State Dept FCU (anyone can join as long as they join the American Consumer Council)
Terms: 6 months - 12yrs
APR: 3.10%
Amount: min. $500
(confirmed by phone by Monique 06/17/15, minimum is $500 and can be spread over 5years, no penalty for early termination)(other user could spread $500 over only 36 months)
Andrews FCU
no webpage (call) appllying online is possible
Terms: 12-144months (depending on dollar amount)
Amount: $
500(min is $1000 now)-100.000APR: 3.00% + savings rate
INQ: no pull
First Tech FCU
Amount: $500-500.000
Terms: up to 60/96 months
APR: 3.00% + savings rate
Patelco CU
Terms: up to 10yrs
APR: 5.00/5.10%
San Diego County FCU
APR: 5.00%
Coastal FCU
see other (post indicates potential soft pull for SSL)
APR: 2.1%
Amount: $480 over 24 months is possible
Golden 1 FCU
Amount: $500-
APR: 4.99%
Affinity FCU
APR 2.75% + divident rate OR 2.00% + certificate rate
NASA FCU
savings secured loan rate is 3.1% (3% + the 0.1% interest rate of the savings account).
Minimum Shared Secure Loan is $500, Minimum monthly payment is $25.
Terms up to 60 months.
I am excluding most cu's that can't be joined by anybody
(i.e. regional or military requirements)psecu, navy fcu, cath fcu, etc.
Quick calculation (by a sdfcu loan officer)
$1000 over 3yrs at 3.1 % = $29.13 per month = $1048.68
If anyone has any suggestions or further info, please reply
have a good one!
Sincerely
Obvious disclaimer: I can't guarantee anything. that is the terms, approval, or the apr given here. the apr's are from either the website or by calling member services on the date of this post.
I think minimum monthly payments of $25 would result in a useful FICO benefit of only a couple months depending on the initial amount of the loan. Another useful thing to ask about are the minimum loan amounts for 60 months and 120 months if they offer those terms.
@Anonymous wrote:
Great thoughts, R. My comments in blue below.
@Revelate wrote:Interesting. Did they suggest why they were discontinuing it? How did this conversation with them come up anyway?
The conversation came up because someone asked (on the monster SSL thread) why Alliant had removed everything about their SS loans from their core website. I double checked myself and confirmed that yes, it seemed to have vanished, so I gave Alliant a call. The rep was surprised too and transfered me to a loan officer. Then the LO explained that the SSL product was being discontinued on Jan 2 but was still available now.
He said that they were discontinuing it because they just didn't have much demand for it. I know for a fact that they were getting hammered with apps at one point (reddit and DoC both picked up the story about the myFICO technique and mentioned Alliant) so I doubt that's entirely right. More accurate might be that there is not much demand for the loan as intended -- where the borrower pays Alliant interest on the bulk of the principal throughout the loan life. I.e. there were few new applications that were profitable for Alliant. Indeed the SSL Technique borrowers (who paid it down at month 1) generated negative profit for Alliant, if you count the overhead and the cost of setting the loan up initially.
That's just my speculation. It could be that there have been very few apps at all in the last four months.
This would be my speclation, that this product simply wasn't profitable anymore. As I said in the mega thread, I actually feel kinda bad Alliant wouldn't even make that much interest off of the loan, especially since the loan became 91.2% paid down the day it got funded. This is one of the rare cases where I actually wouldn't mind paying out all the interest as agreed upon in the loan docs, because I think $10/year is a trivial price to pay for healthy FICO8 boost for 5 years.
Alliant wasn't the only CU or lender that did this: actually I suspect *most* would be fine but Alliant was just the one I and subsequently a few others tried in our test case and since it worked so well, guess it stuck.
Penfed was going to be the one I was going to try next personally, 10 years > 5 years, but it's probably a HP but I don't consider a SP to be a requirement personally. Someone linked that research thread which is fantastic for this, but I don't think we're going to be short options on it... you can do this with pretty much any simple interest installment loan (doesn't have to even be secured) it's only when we run into wierdness like DCU's prepayment goofiness that it's going to come up.
I agree that the loan doesn't have to be secured, but that was a nice feature for the scoring-boosting technique for many people. The reason is that many people were looking for a boost but were also rebuilding, with scores in the low to mid 600s. The fact that the loan was secured by their savings gave Alliant a way to approve them even given their high-risk profile. (Alliant also gave these rebuilders confidence that they wouldn't burn a hard pull, given Alliant's nice soft-pull-only policy.)
At least for me, the less "marks" on my credit file the better. Reason being I can't predict the future, and I'd rather not be in a position where I get denied for credit or get unfavorable loan terms because of the amount of hard pulls. Alliant's double soft pull for joining+SSL was really a breath of fresh air, and something I suspect is unique to Allliant unfortunately.
