Alliant Credit Union Loan Help

[Anonymous]

When I saw JBjunior's reply, and his success with the same loan yesterday, I decided to contact Alliant. I'm not sure I'll proceed with the loan even if they I do offer it at this point. But I kind of wanted to get some clarification.  Here's the message I sent via their contact form online:

On 1/27/2016, I applied online for a Savings Short Secured Loan for $500 with a 48-month term.

[Represenative's name] contacted me to see if I needed help with anything relating to my new Alliant membership, and I told her about the loan. She offered to "work it" for me. She got back to me a short time later via email, and asked me to confirm the terms. But she had changed the term length to 12 months, so I responded that I preferred 48 months. I emphasized that I wanted a "Savings Secured Short" loan. I also gave her a link to Alliant's webpage, and I pointed out where on the webpage this loan was offered for up to 48 months.

She responded that she checked with the underwriter, and 12 months was the most they would approve for $500.

I responded that since the loan and the terms I applied for weren't available, I had decided not to pursue the loan with Alliant.

Then this morning, I was told my another Alliant member that he had just yesterday received the exact loan I was looking for: $500 for 48 months.

If the loan isn't available or if I somehow don't qualify for those terms, that's okay. But I'm not convinced that's the case. Could you clarify the situation for me?

We'll see...

[CH-7-Mission-Accomplished]

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@Anonymous wrote:

When I saw JBjunior's reply, and his success with the same loan yesterday, I decided to contact Alliant. I'm not sure I'll proceed with the loan even if they I do offer it at this point. But I kind of wanted to get some clarification.  Here's the message I sent via their contact form online:

On 1/27/2016, I applied online for a Savings Short Secured Loan for $500 with a 48-month term.

[Represenative's name] contacted me to see if I needed help with anything relating to my new Alliant membership, and I told her about the loan. She offered to "work it" for me. She got back to me a short time later via email, and asked me to confirm the terms. But she had changed the term length to 12 months, so I responded that I preferred 48 months. I emphasized that I wanted a "Savings Secured Short" loan. I also gave her a link to Alliant's webpage, and I pointed out where on the webpage this loan was offered for up to 48 months.

She responded that she checked with the underwriter, and 12 months was the most they would approve for $500.

I responded that since the loan and the terms I applied for weren't available, I had decided not to pursue the loan with Alliant.

Then this morning, I was told my another Alliant member that he had just yesterday received the exact loan I was looking for: $500 for 48 months.

If the loan isn't available or if I somehow don't qualify for those terms, that's okay. But I'm not convinced that's the case. Could you clarify the situation for me?

We'll see...

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Please be sure to report back!  I am helping a good friend start his chapter 7 rebuild and this is part of my plan for him!

[Anonymous]

I got a message back this morning asking me to call. And then before I got around to it, they called me. It was a very pleasant conversation (although it might not have been as pleasant if I'd have been more concerned about getting this loan).

She aknowledged that there are inconsistencies in what different Alliant loan officers will approve. She apologized for the confusion, but she never offered to make the loan with those terms ($500 for 48 months), and I didn't press her to do so.

I suspect that they'd just as soon not make these loans. And if you get a loan officer involved too early (as happened to me), you might run into trouble. But if you use the automated online application, by the time someone actually looks at it, it's probably easier for them to just let it happen than to fight with the member over it.

When the first representative called me, she didn't know about the loan yet (actually, I hadn't even applied yet at that point). She was just making a courtesy call to a new member. I told her about my loan plans, and she got involved. If your friend gets a call like that, CH-7, I would recommend not saying anything about the loan, I proceeding online as far as that will take him. At least that's what I would do if I had it to do over again.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I got a message back this morning asking me to call. And then before I got around to it, they called me. It was a very pleasant conversation (although it might not have been as pleasant if I'd have been more concerned about getting this loan).

She aknowledged that there are inconsistencies in what different Alliant loan officers will approve. She apologized for the confusion, but she never offered to make the loan with those terms ($500 for 48 months), and I didn't press her to do so.

I suspect that they'd just as soon not make these loans. And if you get a loan officer involved too early (as happened to me), you might run into trouble. But if you use the automated online application, by the time someone actually looks at it, it's probably easier for them to just let it happen than to fight with the member over it.

When the first representative called me, she didn't know about the loan yet (actually, I hadn't even applied yet at that point). She was just making a courtesy call to a new member. I told her about my loan plans, and she got involved. If your friend gets a call like that, CH-7, I would recommend not saying anything about the loan, I proceeding online as far as that will take him. At least that's what I would do if I had it to do over again.

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Plip has made a real interesting contribution to this thread, as he has been doing a lot lately.  The truth is that a $500 five-year Share Secure loan may not be a product that really benefits Alliant much -- especially when one adds the "pay off most of the principal off" touch to it.

Although the approach suggested so often here (Alliant, $500 SS loan, five years, pay it down early) is 100% legal and 100% within what the bank explicitly offers, there's also a sense it is also what the DoC blogger describes as: "skirting financial institutions rules to maximize our profit."

Here is a wise recent article from DoC about this subject entitled "Don't Call The Bank."  He's not writing about loans, but the big idea is the same.

http://www.doctorofcredit.com/dont-call-the-bank/

PS.  In the world of tournament bridge (the card game) there's a parallel idea.  At any time in the auction, you or your partner have the right to halt the auction and ask the other partnership to explain what their bidding means.  But, if you think they might be unaware of what their bidding really means, "giving them a call" just alerts them to their own confusion.  It may be better to say nothing - and allow their ignorance to benefit you. 

[CH-7-Mission-Accomplished]

Did they do an HP for the loan?  I'm a member and can't remember if they did an HP for membership even.  I would be very unhappy if they did an HP and then did not honor their advertised program.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, CreditGuyInDixie. I'm glad I learned something from my naive blundering that I was able to pass along.

The woman I spoke with implied very strongly that if I just increased the amount it wouldn't be a problem. In fact, when I explained in general terms what my goals were, she suggested that larger payments would probably do more to achieve that. That's logical, but based on what I've read here, probably not the case. And we didn't discuss what that higher amount might be to get a 48 month term.

If anyone else tries this and runs into this problem, one option would be to try a larger amount. That, of course, requires that you have a larger amount to use, but you only need it during the application process. Once you get the loan, you have equivalent amount of money back in your pocket.

[Anonymous]

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@CH-7-Mission-Accomplished wrote:

Did they do an HP for the loan?  I'm a member and can't remember if they did an HP for membership even.  I would be very unhappy if they did an HP and then did not honor their advertised program. 

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No, that's one thing I was very clear about with the first woman I spoke with. And she assured me that they didn't do HP for secured loans. Also, I'm not sure we even got to the point where she would have pulled credit because we were still discussing the term. And if they did do a HP, I think I'd have gotten the alert by now.

[Anonymous]

I've been reading all these secured loan threads for some time now, and go back and forth as to whether it's worth it to pursue one. 

Six months ago, I didn't even know such loans existed.  When I first read about them, they struck me as nothing more than Fico tricks.  They would seem to be more trouble than they are worth to the financial institution.  I suppose they are offered mostly to attract customers with the hope of future, more lucrative business.

I'm a member of Alliant, and would like for them to see me as a valuable customer -not a nuisance. I think this way in all my business interactions. I also put a lot of thought into how things will look, on paper, to an actual underwriter.  Would they look at it as someone gaming the system, or someone who is really concerned about their scores and looking to do the right thing?  Maybe they wouldn't care either way.  I sure don't know, so I'll read on for now.

[jamie123]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've been reading all these secured loan threads for some time now, and go back and forth as to whether it's worth it to pursue one. 

Six months ago, I didn't even know such loans existed.  When I first read about them, they struck me as nothing more than Fico tricks.  They would seem to be more trouble than they are worth to the financial institution.  I suppose they are offered mostly to attract customers with the hope of future, more lucrative business.

I'm a member of Alliant, and would like for them to see me as a valuable customer -not a nuisance. I think this way in all my business interactions. I also put a lot of thought into how things will look, on paper, to an actual underwriter.  Would they look at it as someone gaming the system, or someone who is really concerned about their scores and looking to do the right thing?  Maybe they wouldn't care either way.  I sure don't know, so I'll read on for now.

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We are not gaming the system. We are playing by the rules with these installment loans. Just think of how many gotcha rules that FICO has built into the system that screws most consumers. A good one that comes to mind is that it is a MUST to have 1 card report a small balance and all the others $0. If you weren't a member on this forum you would be completely oblivious to this and would naturally believe that paying all your cards to $0 would get you the highest scores. The difference for me between one card reporting a small balance and all cards reporting $0 is 18 points. That point difference could easily kick me into a higher interest rate loan, and you know what? No lender ever educated me on that fact.

If you don't have an open installment loan on your reports, this $500 share secured loan can raise your score somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 to 30 points. It also gives you installment loan history which is sometimes a qualification to get the lowest interest rates on a loan.

[Anonymous]

If I thought for sure I'd get 20 points out of it, I'd give it a go, even i I could only get it for a shorter term- I don't have many other options to increase my mediocre scores given how recent all my accounts are.  But there's no way to know in an individual case.  Fico is set up to be puposely byzantine, unfortuantely for us.