How Do I Apply for a Personal Loan?

Posted on October 12, 2021 at 11:39 am | Uncategorized

If you’re searching for loan companies in Columbia, SC you may be wondering what the process is for applying for a personal loan. At Blazer Financial Services our goal is to make getting the cash you need quick and painless. In today’s post, we’ll address the commonly asked question, “how do I apply for a personal loan?”

Young woman searches for personal loans in Columbia SC at coffee shop. She is holding an orange cell phone.

The First Step-Making the Call

Many people find us as they are searching the web for finance companies in Columbia, SC. Keeping your personal information as safe and secure as possible is important to us. For this reason, we take loan applications over the phone or in the office instead of online.

Lisa or Jessica will greet you when you reach out to Blazer Financial Services. Fun fact-we’re a mother/daughter team! To get started with your credit application, we’ll ask how much money you need and the purpose of the loan. From there, we’ll ask for your name, social security number, date of birth, and address. We use this information to perform a credit bureau investigation.

We’ll also talk with you about your residence. This includes how long you’ve been at the address and how much your rent or mortgage payment is.

Next, we’ll discuss your employment and income. We’ll ask about your time on the job as well as your net income. This is simply your “bring home” pay as seen on your check stub. Lisa or Jessica will also ask you about any additional sources of income you may have. This can include retirement, court ordered child support, or other taxable and verifiable income from other jobs. Remember, we will need proof of all income during the loan closing process.

Other information we’ll need during the application includes any vehicles owned, who you currently have credit with, and where you bank.

What Comes Next After I Apply for a Personal Loan?

Now we’ll talk about what happens after Lisa or Jessica have taken your personal loan application. We’ll first obtain a credit bureau report from Equifax. Then, we’ll look over your credit report. Unlike many loan companies in Columbia, SC, we don’t rely solely on your credit score to approve your personal loan. In fact, we don’t even pull your credit score!

Instead, we take a thorough look at the credit you currently have and have had in the past. We examine your payment histories, how long you had each account, and the credit limit on each. We also tally up the total of any payments you may currently be making to determine your debt ratio. What’s your debt ratio? It’s simply the amount you have going out in payments each month in relation to your net income amount. This is important because we don’t like to add a payment that will put a strain on a customer’s budget.

We strive to call applicants back with our decision within an hour. We know you’re busy, and we don’t want to keep you waiting!

Woman leans against entry table and looks up how do I apply for a personal loan?

Am I Approved?

What’s next? At this point you’re probably wondering, “am I approved?” We look at the “big picture” by analyzing both your credit report and the information in your application. Lisa or Jessica may also want to ask you a few further questions to clarify issues we may find in your credit report. We understand that sometimes bad things happen to good people. That’s why we take the time to actually talk to every individual who applies with Blazer Financial Services.

By this point, we are usually ready to extend an offer to you or explain why we can’t help at this time. Our goal is to leave everyone we speak with feeling a little better than they did when they initially dialed our number. Even if we can’t help you now, we try to give you some tips to help you in the right direction.

The next step after being approved for a personal loan is to come into the office and take care of just a little paperwork. Remember to bring your driver’s license or ID, recent check stub or income verification, and the name and phone number for three personal references with you. We love getting the chance to see our customers in person and hear what’s going on in their lives!