There are several things to consider when seeking a payday loan. All of the online loan services need your personal information such as your Social Security Number, and your bank account numbers as well. How do you know that they are a legitimate payday loan company and not some online scam?
And if they are a legitimate payday loan company, how do you know that you will be dealt with honestly and fairly? Finally, once you have found the online cash advance loan companies you want to deal with, what is the best way to apply for a payday advance loan and not get turned down? Read on.
Get your payday advance loan through a reputable personal loan company
You want to find a personal loan company that is reputable, has the
highest integrity, is honest and licensed. Place a priority on your security by looking to
see if they are regulated by the state they are based in. Has the loan company been around
for at least 3 years? Will they provide you with the best customer service around? Do they
have reasonable rates and no application or sign up fees?
If a cash advance loan company is reputable, they will be licensed
in the state they are in, and they won't be afraid to tell you this. All companies that
provide cash til payday loans must have a state license. Some states don't allow payday
loans, so they will not issue a license to any company in that state for that purpose.
When looking at a particular lender, if you don't see information about their state
license, contact them. Ask them what state they are licensed to do payday
loans in. (Don't just ask if they have a license; this could just be a
business license, and this is not what we're talking about).
For example, XYZ Company is licensed as a "Small Loan Agency" provider in New Jersey. This is their home state and where they are located.
They are licensed there by the Department of Banking and Insurance of the State of New Jersey.
When they do a payday advance loan with a client, it is deemed to take place in New Jersey,
no matter where the client or his/her bank resides, so the loan is under New Jersey law.
They have been in business for 3 years as well. When you go to their application page on
their web site, the connection will be "SSL" which stands for Secure Socket Layer. You can tell if a page is secure by the prefix https before the page URL in the long box at the top of your browser.
Without getting technical, it means that it hides your information from others on the internet by
scrambling your payday loan application and then unscrambling it when it reaches their
office. In addition, the data on their computers and file servers is encrypted with
military strength encryption technology.
Ask any lender you are thinking of doing business with if they are
licensed and regulated for providing payday loans in their state. Ask about their data
security and how long they've been in business. If they're evasive, go somewhere else.
How to apply for a payday loan and get quickly approved
- Check their qualification policy to make sure you qualify. It makes no sense to fill out an
application if you don't qualify. It can also hurt your chances with another lender who is
not as strict.
- Make sure there's a real person available to answer your questions. Although price is important,
customer service is even more important.
- Check with the local better business bureau to see if there have been any complaints against a payday
lender. This won't work if the company is very new. Go with a company that has
been around for at least 2 years or more.
- Make sure the payday loan company is fully licensed and regulated.
- Treat the customer service department respectfully. Being rude to the customer service
department of a payday loan service will reduce your chances of getting a loan now and in
the future. This doesn't guarantee approval, but it will guarantee you won't be immediately
declined.
- What do you do if you cannot pay off your loan? The best thing is to contact the payday
lender as soon as you find out that you cannot pay them. It helps if you can provide
documentation or a contact (such as your employer) to verify your reasons for being unable
to pay. Most payday lenders are flexible, and would rather get paid late, then not at all.
- Being honest helps your case. If a lender feels you are not being truthful on your
application, they will decline your request for a loan. On the other hand, if they see that
you are being honest, they are more likely to approve your loan.
Once you get a cash advance loan, remember the following very important rules:
First, don't default on payday loans. Always repay them.
Otherwise, you'll face some problems like extra NSF (non-sufficient funds) fees from your bank when the payments
bounce and NSF fees charged by the cash advance loan service. The payday advance loan
service may send your account to a third party collections agency. In some states, the
collections company can charge you twice what you owed to the original lender. They may
also charge NSF fees if the your payments to them bounce.
Payday lenders (and other lenders) can take you to court and sue you.
If they win, and they most likely will, your wages can be
garnished. Employers cannot legally fire an employee for a single wage garnishment.
However, firing due to multiple wage garnishments is usually legal (consult your attorney).
More importantly, it hurts your credit standing because defaulted loans are tracked in a
national database used by almost all payday lenders. This is not Experian, Equifax or any
of the "big 3" credit reporting bureaus. This is a database that only payday lenders and
some other consumer services use. The payday lender may decide to report your defaulted
loan to the "big 3" credit bureaus also. This will hurt your ability to get a credit card,
a home loan, or a car loan.
All of this is very easy to avoid. Just pay the payday lender on time.
One very easy way to do this is to pay an extension fee. That way, you don't have to pay
the full amount immediately. You can just pay the loan fee and get more time to pay off
the loan completely. Check the policies of the payday lender concerning extensions.
The second rule: it's a good idea to shop around for a payday
lender, it's a bad idea to fill out an application on more than one cash advance loan
service web site. The same database mentioned above in tip #1 tells payday lenders every
time someone fills out an application with a payday lender. This is not a black mark on
your credit at all but any personal loan company might consider it a red flag if it sees
that you have applied to other cash til payday companies recently. They have to assume that
you already have other loans out. And since you have other loans out, you can't afford to
pay them all back along with your regular monthly expenses.
And third, remember to keep your NSF (non-sufficient funds) charges
down in your checking account. It won't look good if there are too many.
