“Dear Steve,
We have a lot of credit card debt due to losing almost a year in income to care for an ill family member. We own our home. We have zero late(s) on anything – all debts current and paid on time. We short saled a home in 2009 and do not owe a balance. We’re both employed and make decent money. Based on your advice, we checked our scores on Credit Karma. They are not great – not awful either (689, 696.) They are only lower due to high debt balances on credit cards. We are trying to find a personal loan option to consolidate all our debt as interest rates are high on several cards. We are trying to get completely out of debt but can’t get ahead of the debt due to rising interest rates. We would love to get rid of all of our credit cards except for one that we pay down monthly.
The personal loans offered on the site seem to only cover individual debts (credit cards) and appear to be in 3 to 5 year terms. Are longer loan periods availabe and can they consolidate multiple debts?
What is the highest amount a peer to peer loan can offer?
The interest rates (which may be based on our credit profile) were really high on Credit Karma’s initial “offers” for peer to peer loans.
Laura”
Dear Laura,
The loans offered by both LendingClub.com and Prosper.com are for loans up to about $35,000.
Obviously the interest rate is going to be dependent on credit risk so the lower the credit score, the higher the rate.
In the 700 range it would be probable you’d qualify for a loan.
If you want to try to preserve your credit or improve your credit you should consider using ReadyForZero.com and/or a consolidation loan. This can help you to get out of debt quickly. By at least consolidating your highest interest rate debt you might be able to save some money while you continue to pay your lower interest rate debts outside of the loan.
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