Looking for a payday loan? Grab your checklist and start your search for a responsible lender that will work with you to get you past your financial crunch. When it comes to money, that last thing you will want to do is go into a transaction blindly. Protect your current financial situations as well as future ones by placing phone calls to and combing through web pages.
Before you get started, find out what these short-term loans are all about. Read multiple articles about these loans. Educate yourself on what responsible lenders would be doing and the signs of a predatory lender. Base the questions on your findings.
*Interest rates - Reading through articles should get you familiar with the going rates. If you find that the payday loan stores nearest you only offer loans based on the higher end of the interest range, then you may want to check out online direct lenders.
*Fees -Be specific in your questions so the lender sill disclose any hidden fees. Talk about the "what-ifs" in order to understand where you might stand if the loan payoff does not go as planned. Discuss fees for the actual dollar amount, interest rates and interpret them to dollar amounts so you can clearly see the final cost of a payday loan. Find out exactly when the interest begins. Calculate loan extension payments to figure the true cost for paying the loan over a few months.
*State regulations - Stay protected! Know what, if any, regulations your state has towards payday loan lenders. If your state bans payday loans, you will not have store available to get one. You may find a bank or credit union (they are regulated by federal not state law)which processes the short-term loans and of course, there are many online lenders to be found as well. If you carry through with an online application, know the lender is not being responsible.
*Collections - What are the lender's collections policies if you cannot pay. Do they process their own collections before selling the default loan to a collection's agency? Does the store follow proper collections procedures? Do you know your rights? Read the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act for more information on your personal rights against bad collections.
*Qualifications - What are the lender's qualifications? Do you meet them? If not, would you lie in order to try to get approved? How far will you go to get a loan? If you can think beyond your financial emergency, you will want to consider the long-term ramifications a short-term loan could present to your finances. Those who look for a payday loan are in a bit of a financial pickle. What are the finances going to look like in two weeks? Qualifications are set up to protect both lender and borrower. Payday loans are risky loans, there is no sense making your situation worse in the long run.
Visit local storefront operations or place a call in order to screen the payday loan lender. Find out how they run their business before you apply. Loans gone bad often stem from borrowers applying to the first lender they come across.
