@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:I'm researching Vantage West Credit Union. It looks promising. I know that they have share secured loans starting at $500 and that there's no hard pull for the loan....
The money to be used as security has to have been in the account for 30 days or more, so for me to find out how the loan behaves in terms of reporting, etc, it's going to take me a couple of months. When I find out one way or the other whether Vantage West is the answer, I'll report back.
It seems like we keep finding about yet more of Alliant's "nice to have" qualities. With Alliant a person could apply for membership on the 25th, and fifteen days later he'd have the full score boost on all three bureaus. That was a nice feature for people who had gotten themselves into a bind with a need for a score boost quickly (or for people who were just nervous or impatient).
Thanks so much SouthJ for taking the lead on a promising CU. Really appreciate this.
Perhaps the 30-day requirement is a sufficient impediment that we should cross Vantage West off of our list of Alliant SSL replacement candidates. What do you think?
The 30 day requirement seems fine to me. Is vantage West open to everyone?
PS: if anyone knows the value of an X for their cash back credit card with selectable 5X category, that might also be a factor in their favor 
@seattlecredit08 wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:Vantage West is looking better and better. I applied for the loan and everything is looking good.
Turns out they don't really require that the savings account funds be there for 30 days; they just require that
it come from your own funds.
I actually spoke to them about why I'm taking out the loan, and how, if it works out, we might get them a lot of
new members. And they seem totally ok with the whole idea.
So, so far I can say of Vantage West Credit Union:
1. Great customer service... the best I've ever experienced.
2. Do have share secured loans, $500 & up, with terms of repayment for as long as 60 months.
3. No hard pull for membership.
4. No hard pull for a share secured loan.
4. Will give you a 60-month term.
So everything is in place for me to test it soon, to see how it reports to the bureaus upon early prepayment. If that piece falls into place, we have a winner.
BTW they do have some tasty credit offerings; I got their "connect" card, which is essentially a no fee platinum card with low interest, but they have a 5x rewards card which is more popular.
This looks extremely promising. One more question would be is when they report.
Also, did the "connect" card require an HP or was the offer still based on SP? Will application require an HP? And do they use Equifax like Alliant?
Thank you!!
1. I don't know yet when they report.
2. The credit card did require a hard pull with EX.
@Themanwhocan wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:I'm researching Vantage West Credit Union. It looks promising. I know that they have share secured loans starting at $500 and that there's no hard pull for the loan....
The money to be used as security has to have been in the account for 30 days or more, so for me to find out how the loan behaves in terms of reporting, etc, it's going to take me a couple of months. When I find out one way or the other whether Vantage West is the answer, I'll report back.
It seems like we keep finding about yet more of Alliant's "nice to have" qualities. With Alliant a person could apply for membership on the 25th, and fifteen days later he'd have the full score boost on all three bureaus. That was a nice feature for people who had gotten themselves into a bind with a need for a score boost quickly (or for people who were just nervous or impatient).
Thanks so much SouthJ for taking the lead on a promising CU. Really appreciate this.
Perhaps the 30-day requirement is a sufficient impediment that we should cross Vantage West off of our list of Alliant SSL replacement candidates. What do you think?
The 30 day requirement seems fine to me. Is vantage West open to everyone?
PS: if anyone knows the value of an X for their cash back credit card with selectable 5X category, that might also be a factor in their favor
1. As it turns out they don't really require it to be in the account 30 days, they just require that it be yours rather than borrowed from one of their loan products.
2. Yes it's open to everyone, just need to join one of three organizations they like.
@Anonymous wrote:I chat with their customer service, they said prepayment will shorten the loan term. Did you confirm with them about this?
No I did not, and decided not to, because CSR's so often give out incorrect information.
I decided that if they met all the other requirements, which they did, I would just take out the loan and see how it reports.
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:I chat with their customer service, they said prepayment will shorten the loan term. Did you confirm with them about this?
I'm having the same problem with Golden One secured loan. I've been searching for another similar to Alliant since I cannot join Alliant due to Chexsystems, but as of now, there is no point in trying to join them. Someone told me that PenFed does allow pre-payment up to a year in another thread that I started on this topic.
I'm not sure PenFed even offers share secured loans.