Someone who needs money goes to a bank or a private lender, right? They get the loans direct from the financial institution, from their account into yours.
This is how loans should always be, but this is not the case at all.
They are called them fixers, middle men, and loan brokers. No matter what you call them, they are an additional link in the financial chain, and one that takes a percentage.
No matter who you are, why you need money, or what size of loan you need, you should always get your loans direct and skip the middle man.
Why Does Anyone Use a Loan Broker?
To be fair, most people never realize they are using a loan broker until its too late!
If you are arranging a loan through an online company, you need to be very careful. More often than not, an “online loan company” is just a loan broker with a clever website who is collecting your information to re-sell to a real loan company.
A person who needs money quickly is more likely to skip over reading the fine print. These loan brokers take advantage of that by looking and seeming like a legit loans direct site.
Except for when you complete you application they take all that information and sell it, to one or more other finance companies.
How Can You Tell the Difference?
Real loan companies don’t cut corners, and they make sure all of their company information is easy to find. This includes not only contact information, including an address and phone number, but also a lending license. A lender must be certified and licensed, so if they do not have that on their website it means they do not have it!
Another telltale sign of a strong lending company is the HTTPS prefix in the web address. That extra S on the ends stands for “secured” and it means Google has verified the vetted the website.
In a time of pandemic and social upheaval, many people don’t want to drive around and visit banks and lenders in person. Now is the best time to take advantage of online loan companies… but be careful of who you trust!