I am in need of a large loan, for the deposit and first month’s rent of an apartment (I’m turning 23 and living in the dorms is difficult, I’m now classified as a “non-traditional student,” and summer semester starts in less than 3 weeks).
I’ve spoken with people at my college’s financial aid place and also loan officers at banks. But I keep getting turned down because I have a large debt of medical bills, and I don’t own a car or a horse* or any kind of collateral. My debt is entirely medical bills (I have never had a credit card in my life), but that doesn’t seem to matter. I have a part-time job and I go to college full time, but apparently going to college isn’t collateral.
I know there are a couple people here who work at a bank. I’m wondering if there is anything I can do to make myself look better, so that I can get the loan? Or am I simply doomed because I have been very sick?
*I find it bizarre that if I owned a horse I could get a loan. As this one lady was telling me what collateral was, she said “livestock” and I thought, “uh, I have a betta fish…”
Not just any old horse can be used for collateral. You have to think about what the horse means to the lender in case you should default on your loan payments. The horse has to be of sufficient value that the lender can send a collection agency to your home or apartment, seize your horse, and sell it for some amount close enough to the value of your loan so that the lender is not out much, if any, money on your original loan.
So a beat-up old nag is not going to be of much value. If, on the other hand, you were owner or part-owner of a valuable race horse or breeding horse, well, that would be a horse of a different colour (I knew I could work that in there somewhere).
I know. She said the livestock had to be “registered.” People are so weird. Sure, I have four registered horses and nineteen goats, who all live under my bed. Can I have a loan now? It wasn’t five whole minutes after I told her that I was a full time college student. How many full time college students do you know who have a bunch of horses?
Banks only lend money to people who don’t need it. So appear not to need it. They also tend to want some kind of guarantee you’ll pay it back. Like, proof that you (for instance) own a bank. Or that you don’t need the money. It’s enough to turn you against the capitalist system.
well, gee, Cran - you ARE in Kentucky, you know!!!
Totally may be wrong here, but could you qualify for section 8 housing or some other type of voucher system? I have no idea if or how this would work where you are at - but I know here in Cincy section 8 is based on income, so you do pay rent, just not “full” rent. And while some of the apartments that accept section 8 are real pits, there are others that are quite decent.
I am a bit of a communist to begin with, and now I am even moreso. It’s so frustrating, the way the world works. I don’t know how to give them proof that I need the money and will pay them back. All I have is my word, but apparently I need a horse. I wish we still had the rolly-eyes emoticon.
First, it is not a good idea to get a loan to cover rent, deposits etc., because if you can’t afford to pay those, you obviously are not going to be able to both pay the rent, utilities and pay back the loan. It is one case where the bank is really just being prudent (one of few).
You need to either stay in the dorm until you can actually afford to move out, or find at least one other person who is willing to share the expenses (somewhat risky) or find a place where you can just rent a room instead of a whole apartment.
It’s not easy, I know, but it is really the only way.
You are not going to get a loan from a legitimate (cough) lender, and you definitely don’t want one from anyone who is going to give you one right now. Trust me!!
Good luck my friend. Sorry that I am a poor person who can’t float you a gift of cash.
Oh, annie, I do understand that. The reason I need the loan is because I don’t turn 23 until Fall, and I have the rest of May, June, July, and part of August until the new semester starts. I will certainly be able to afford it after that, because of my new status as a non-trad student, and my federal grants I get for housing, but in the meantime (now through August) that’s why I’ve applied for the loan. The school will give me internal loans to stay on campus, but it’s more difficult for off-campus.
The reason I can’t stay in the dorms is really personal and I don’t really want to talk about it here (I’ll tell you in PM if you want to know, though). If I can’t get the loan for the apartment I’m not sure what I’m going to do thsi summer. So my ultimate destination of getting an apartment, I’m getting to one way or another. I just wish I could do it the easiest way possible, but I don’t own a horse.
YAY!! So do I!! I’ve missed it forever now. It was my favorite emoticon.
Gosh, Cranberry, I don’t know what to tell you about the loan. You and I are similar on our economic outlook, so we probably share pretty much the same outlook on the whole “bank loan” racket. I wish there were another way for you to get the money…heck, if I had it I’d loan to you myself before letting you go the bank route. I wish I did
I know this didn’t help at all. Sorry about that…I guess I’m just trying to show support despite my lack of advice.
I don’t recall them asking me if I had a horse when I got one for my postgrad work. They just wanted to know where I’d been accepted to and to fill out a FAFSA ( http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ ).
Read the salliemae pages and if you have questions about them let me know.
I’ve missed it forever now. It was my favorite emoticon.
He’s obviously got the world (heck, the cosmos) figured out.
