Hey all: A continuation of my last review on Lending Club, which (I think?) can be found here: Quick-Personal-Loan-review-Lending-Club/
So, a full 10 months after I started my rebuild, my scores hit appx. 700. DW and I tried for a cash out Mortgage in November, but were summarily denied. The score dropped a bit to about 685. All I knew was that I needed to continue to work on my UTIL.
The Cinderella equivalent for MyFico is watching one's spades turn into seedlings again. After such a recent denial, I knew it was a bad idea to app again, but I also knew that as long as my UTIL was high, my rebuilding efforts were stagnant.
I had receved the first above-noted Personal Loan from Lending Club in August. In late December, I sought this next one, via Soft Pull blitz from Nerd Wallet or CK. (I forget.) Many denials, but the one lender that offered me an olive branch was Upstart... $7500 for 5 years at 23.9% AKA 27.72% APR... with a 600.00 origination fee. I swallowed hard, recognized the need for UTIL relief and another approval, and I took it. Upstart pulled TU and EQ.
So, based on the terms and conditions, which frankly were no-better, somewhat-worse than the cards I was trying to get out from under, I already had a pretty bad taste in my mouth on these guys and I would turn to them with suspicion. However, I will say that whenever I reached out by phone to someone in Customer Service, they were helpful, courteous, and professional-- much better than I expected from this point of view.
The website was easy to navigate, and I was able to adjust my payment to pay down the principal a little faster. I could also see my Loan docs, TIL, and amortization schedule.
When Lending Club offered me another loan in March, 3 months after this one kicked in, I paid down 1/3 of this loan immediately with those funds. I figured that by doing so, I had effectively turned my 5 year loan toward a 3.5 year loan and that by paying so much, so quickly in the term, I was able to oust a considerable amount of this almost-usury-sized rate from the record. I also amped up my monthly payment here to continue to attack this loan.
In June, I got a pre-qualification letter for a personal loan offer from Discover Financial. Light streamed through the stained glass upon my visage, and angels choired from the heavens! I didn't even know I had stained glass.
Mid-June I made my usual monthly Upstart payment.
About a week later, I paid OFF the Upstart Loan with the proceeds from the Discover loan.
My account should have reported to the bureaus at the end of the month. However, there was no report.
I called customer service about 2 weeks later. "Hey, I paid off my loan, we hit a reporting date and you didn't report to the bureaus yet-- what gives?" The Rep was extremely nice, understood why I was asking and thought it was odd. I prepared for the worst, but he acknowledged that the account was PAID IN FULL, and sent me an email from the corporation saying the same thing, in case I needed it for anyone. I went about my day.
End of July: This account still hadn't reported. Now I'm angry. I called again; similar matter. I warned them that I would dispute it.
Mid August: my Discover loan started reporting. now, it looks like I've got more debt than I actually have... and I'm not happy about it.
A week later: still nothing from Upstart. I called again. They said "Not sure what the hold up is, but I'll put in a note and make sure it's done. I reiterated that I was about a week from disputing it.
End of August report date: Nothing. I disputed it with TU, wherein I indicated that it was PIF over 2 months ago and that I spoke to CS 3 times. I then went into EQ to do the same, but it HAD STRUCK. Now, for the past 2 days, I'm finally getting notices that it was closed.
Bottom line: The bad taste that I entered this relationship with, I also leave it with.
Again, Personal loans being what they are, I would not turn down one from this company again, if I needed it. These loans are a tool, and this reduction in UTIL and contined good-performance has definitely helped me acquire better terms from other lenders. There is no doubt that it helped me out.
I was able to get out from under these guys in 7 months. However, I can not recommend them oin good conscience, and I think all this makes them the Loan equivalent of Fingerhut.
Do what you gotta, but caveat emptor here.
hi @AverageJoesCredit !! Good to see you here!
I think you miss my point: Fingerhut ALSO helped me out-- in fact, it was my first stepping stone for my rebuild over a year and a half ago now. However, Fingerhut also has its quirks: High rates, high shipping, limited offernings, etc. When I told Fingerhut I was closing my account because of their "use it or lose it" CLI, they said "ok," and hung up on me. (It's still open, by the way.)
Similarly, I said here: I got lots of denials, but these guys accepted me; High rates, tricky to navigate, a bit of a challenge to get the info you want out of them.
In each case both of those lenders and their products are tools that I have used because I needed them at that time, and I'm thankful for the position that I have grown into from them both. For these reasons, I think they're quite analagous.
Is that a little clearer for you & anyone else, maybe?
Me too!!! I felt... ashamed. But it absolutely did help as a stepping stone and at this point I'm glad I took it.... like the bad job that leads directly to the better job.
@Pit-Smoker wrote:hi @AverageJoesCredit !! Good to see you here!
I think you miss my point: Fingerhut ALSO helped me out-- in fact, it was my first stepping stone for my rebuild over a year and a half ago now. However, Fingerhut also has its quirks: High rates, high shipping, limited offernings, etc. When I told Fingerhut I was closing my account because of their "use it or lose it" CLI, they said "ok," and hung up on me. (It's still open, by the way.)
Similarly, I said here: I got lots of denials, but these guys accepted me; High rates, tricky to navigate, a bit of a challenge to get the info you want out of them.
In each case both of those lenders and their products are tools that I have used because I needed them at that time, and I'm thankful for the position that I have grown into from them both. For these reasons, I think they're quite analagous.
Is that a little clearer for you & anyone else, maybe?
Ah yes, sorry @Pit-Smoker , lol, forgive me as i usually defend FH despite their reputation as i knew what i was getting into when i got my account. I definetly got out their game once the here's a xli if you spend game
. Im sorry about your experience. Hanging up was just rude . Appreciate you sharing your experiences though. Best of luck with everything
@AverageJoesCredit , you have helped me more times than I can count. Please dont hesitate to scruitinize, ask, and/or challenge. Ever.
