I'll take it a step further. CROOKS! They truly are predatory. Stay far far away from these people!
Oct 2024
While I wouldn't go so far as to discount a lender who reaches out to you via email/snail mail, I mean that's what most do, I would say do your research (like you are here) before you leap. I'm carrying some debt and have received numerous offers including one from a company called Best Egg. I'd never heard of them, but was curious about how much they would lend me and at what rate so I checked. I qualified for just enough to pay off my CC, at a pretty good rate, but 15k less than the maximum amount they initially listed. Thinking about being one additional click away from getting the money I needed in my checking account, was hard to turn away from, but the 2k in fees were a HUGE turnoff for me. And while I haven't done any research on Best Egg, I'm still glad I didn't take the leap since I now know that I can get a personal loan from CU that'll offer zero fees.
If you're still interested in financing your remoldel, I would suggest that route. Good luck!
My only loan is with OneMain. I owe $589 on a $6894 loan. (I actually owe less than that, but they report about a month behind and that's what it shows on my latest 3B report.) It's looking good on my credit reports right now.
The interest is 18.57%, which is lower than about half my credit cards. Not good, but a serious step up from the 80-something percent charged by Security Finance, Western Finance, whatever finance you find on every street corner and those places usually only loan up to about $1300.
So if you can get a loan from a bank or credit union, stay away from OneMain. But if it's the best you can qualify for . . . they've been all right with me. And it helped me establish a history of paying on time.
EDIT:
@firemartinez1980 wrote:I am in a position where I don't need a loan . . .
After re-reading the original post, DO NOT get a loan with OneMain if you don't have to have the money. The interest is too high to use it just for credit building. This is more like when your car breaks down and you gotta have money to get it fixed and you don't have credit cards.
EQ8 783, TU8 751, EX8 765 as of June 19
I've used One Main for two loans. No issues, just required car for colateral even though car was $3000 and loan was $17k. I setup auto pay and paid early and saved near $10k. Pay special attention to my last comment. The $10k. That is how much I would have paid extra if I did not pay early. So, the only problem I have with them is they seem very predatory. If you are not finanacially responsible and on tough times, they will BURY you. You could end up paying them for life easily. The setup would be, you get a loan, but continue to stuggle so cannot pay early, so you are burning SERIOUS cash in interest AND you are already broke as it is. So maybe things continue on down turn, so you respond to one of their offers for MORE money. Now you have an even BIGGER debt and maybe you doubled your interest payment. Now the monthly is killing you. This cycle can continue until you can't breath anymore and default. Now your credit is destroyed.
So for a person who makes good money like me and with decent prospects of being able to stay with decent income, I can sneak in and get a loan FAST and EASY with marginal credit. Buy what I need while paying the loan down agressively. Large lump sums here and there. Then one day, get bored with it, and pay it off(hopefully not just before a mortgage because, you might lose 15 points FICO for doing that. 
).
So if you are good financially but have weak credit AND you are good with money, then you can 'win' with them. Fast in, fast out, like a bank robbery. However, if you weak financially AND credit weak too, be VERY careful. I'd NOT recommend them at all to a person like that.
I don't care what your profile however, NOBODY should be doing a full term loan with them. Paying all that interest? Nope! So in short, only people who can cut term in half or more should even consider One Main and even those who can should shop around. So they worked for me, but I consider them a SERIOUS threat to the finances of the vulnerable.
I used a loan from a company similar to One Main Financial. As soon as my credit improved, I refinanced with a credit union as fast as I possibly could. Avoid at all costs if you can.
Edit: Since these are the myFICO forums, I can go into more detail. The company gave me a loan at 28% interest with a $600 origination fee. Fast forward a year later, a credit union gave me a loan at 7.5% interest with no origination fee.
@firemartinez1980 wrote:I am in a position where I don't need a loan, but it would be nice so that I can complete home renovations I have going on. I am only looking for around $7000 and keep getting these emails and regular mail offers for One Main Financial.
Has anyone used them? Pros and Cons?
Thanks!
Since you don't need a loan, don't get a loan.
I would stay away from loans altogether for something like that, but if you want a loan you should go to a credit union. They have the best rates and their loans are not counted as "consumer finance accounts". Also, some credit unions might offer a credit card with a promo interest rate.
