Bad Credit Signature Loans in Jacksonville, Florida ($1200 and $2800)

Continuing on with our series of signature loans for people who have damaged credit ratings, we will be discussing today a personal unsecured loan for $1200 over a two week period, and other signature loan for $2800 in Jacksonville, Florida.

On our second loan application, and approval, we are presenting the highest effective APR cost ever published here at Financing USA, and we have some questions regarding the lender who charged such a high interest rate. Since this particular signature loan was given to this particular Floridian, we have removed this lender from our system and database. The legal limit in Florida for a small consumer loan is an APR of 390%. This lender didn’t ask for any upfront fees in order to approve the borrower’s loan, so we didn’t have any issue with that, but the fact that the APR was so high forced our hand, and we had to remove them as a viable lender.

In Jacksonville Florida we have two different borrowers who have really bad credit scores and were in need of some fast cash to make ends meet. Both applicants have FICO scores (in the 500-600 range), and their DTI ratios were quite high as well, making them unelligible for qualification with any of the consumer banking institutions based in the City, or in the State. Of course, people who have bad credit ratings will find it difficult to get approved for a small consumer-based loan anywhere in the United States, and it is no different for borrowers with low credit scores living and working in Jacksonville.

We have separated lending service areas in Jacksonville into two different geographic areas, one being northern Jacksonville, and the second being southern Jacksonville. The borrower living in the North side of the city was requesting a $1200 signature loan, as we mentioned above, and the second borrower was requesting a $3000 loan, and was finally approved for close to that ($2800).

Recently, we have been alerted to the fact that there has been a constant, and growing stream of signature loans being applied for from the Jacksonville area, and at this point we are assuming that this is simply a seasonal trend within the small consumer lending industry. However, we are keeping close tabs on this phenomenon going forward. There has always been a heavy flow of borrowers and applicants from the state of Florida, and we have discussed this earlier in our publications regarding unsecured bad credit loans in Miami. We know that the unemployment rate in Florida is fairly high at the time of this writing, so it is natural to assume that this is the obvious reason for the surge in lending and borrowing activity.

We also notice, like other States in the US, that more and more of the applicants applying for cash credit have high DTI numbers and low FICO scores (below 550), which means there is a growing concern in regards to the financial well-being of these people. It’s obvious to us that consumers need to start closely observing their monthly income levels, compared to their monthly spending habits. The debt to income ratio of American citizens has been growing steadily since the last market crash and the home mortgage bubble/fiasco.

Regardless of whose fault it is, whether it be the banking establishments in Florida, or the State and Federal politics involved, all of us who are basic run-of-the-mill consumers need to get our own financial situations under control. The signature loans that we are discussing today illustrate a typical problem for people who have temporary bad credit. When you see the effectual APR percentages in these tables (column #2/row #6) you can understand that these borrowers are making their financial situation worse by taking on higher interest debt. Although we discuss signature loans throughout the United States, we don’t endorse this type of lending product in any way, shape, or form. Our job is to track the data on all lending products, regardless of their nature, and the ethical arguments surrounding them.

Often, signature loans are products used (and abused) by predatory lenders who are skirting State laws in regards to how much they can charge in fees and in APR. When you look closely at column #2/row #5, you can see the FP100 value for each loan, and this is where you can see the true cost of borrowing. We don’t just simply take the signature loan provider’s brochure or website advertised APR levels on face value, and we publish the actual cost the borrower’s are facing when using this form of credit.

$1200 Bad Credit Signature Loan in Jacksonville, Fl – Cost and Purpose

So let’s get started with the unsecured signature loan (USL) in the northern part of Jacksonville. This borrower lives in an area known as Brentwood which is directly North of Downtown Jacksonville, up Interstate Highway 95 and past Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway. This applicant lives very close to the municipal golf course, and works as a courier driver for UPS. He has been working for UPS over the last six years, and is now at the peak of his income potential with that company. As you can well imagine, he isn’t taking home that much in net pay – but at least he has a very secure job. A city the size of Jacksonville will always have lots of room for career drivers, and therefore his application for a signature loan would certainly be seriously considered by  unsecured loan lenders in Florida.

This borrower has a DTI of .38 which is a reasonable debt to income ratio, making him certainly eligible for an approved signature loan when you consider that he has a solid employment history. Unfortunately, with his low FICO score of 510 his own bank wouldn’t approve him for credit, and he was actually surprised that he couldn’t get a small personal loan in short order.

He does his banking at the Jax Metro Credit Union located on East 27th St., Jacksonville, FL. He has a savings account with this bank and set up an appointment with a loan officer to see if he was able to qualify for a small personal loan. As we already explained, he was denied any credit with this bank, and moved on to the bank where he has his checking account.

He has his checking account with the Jacksonville Fireman’s Credit Union over on Haines Street, and he has a third account at the Wells Fargo Bank over on North Main street. With all of these banking establishments and the loan officers involved, he was denied credit. He was quite angry about the fact that even with his excellent employment record, he couldn’t squeeze even $1200 out of them.

Of course, being denied credit in today’s economic reality is no surprise, and being declined for credit should never be taken personally – you are not alone if you have experienced the same problem. There are so many people who have poor credit scores nowadays, and if you are one of those people, just know, and understand that it’s really only a temporary situation that can be overcome in short order.

Anyways, after being turned down by all of his banks he started looking for private lenders and/or signature loan providers in Jacksonville (or anywhere in the state of Florida for that matter). He started using the Internet to research some of the possible online loans that are available (in droves), but soon realized that most of these online loans are for amounts less than $500. He needed to borrow $1200, and being a first-time online borrower, he wouldn’t be eligible for any more than $300 with most providers. He researched some of these signature loan providers on some online forums, and soon realized that the APR levels were extreme. However, as much as he didn’t like borrowing money at such a high cost, he felt that he didn’t have any choice in the matter.

In the table below you can see that his FP100 came in at $21.34 after all administration costs were added in. This is certainly not within the legal limits in the state of Florida for lending interest rates, but he thought that this would be affordable for him. He borrowed $1200 on a signature loan, and this made the effectual APR 555%, with a total of $256 in fees.

The total amount paid back to the lender was $1456 over a two week period, and he was able to pay back this lender on time. If you are planning to get a signature loan, remember that you must pay back the lender on time or you will be facing an even higher cost for the note.

The last signature loans that were approved by this lender were to people living in North Jacksonville, in such areas as Mid West-side, College Gardens, Phoenix, Panama Park, and Moncrief Park. This lender also approved a loan two weeks earlier, over on the coast in the neighborhood of Longbranch.

Because of the high fee structures built into these unsecured loans, this lender is making a pretty penny in profit, even after you consider they may have a fairly high charge-off rate. This lender chose not to disclose what their charge-off rate is, and this is no surprise, because almost all of the signature loan providers in the State of Florida will not disclose this kind of information.

We can say however, that the average charge-off rate for signature loans in the United States as a whole comes in at around 7%. This is a fairly high charge-off rate, and without the high interest rates and fee structures, most of these lenders would have a difficult time making a profit. This is certainly arguable, and there is a great deal of controversy floating around the zeitgeist in regards to predatory lending, and the actual profits they enjoy.

$1200 Bad Credit Signature Loan in Jacksonville, Fl – Lender Service Area

$1200 Bad Credit Signature Loan in Jacksonville, Fl – Interest, Principal, Term Length

Table of Data for $1200 Signature Loan in Jacksonville, Fl (pre and post app)

$2800 BC Signature Loan in Jacksonville, Fl

For our second signature loan in Jacksonville we headed down south to a neighborhood known as San Marco where an applicant was approved for a $2800 cash loan. This borrower needed the money to get their 2009 Ford Explorer repaired, as it needed some body work from a recent fender-bender, and the transmission replaced. So often we see that borrowers need emergency funding to get their vehicles back on the road. This is so typical that we almost try to avoid documenting this purpose for borrowing.

This applicant works as a secretary for a car dealership in Southern Jacksonville, and has been gainfully employed for over three years with the same company. She makes a reasonable monthly income, and also has a DTI score that is below .40. Many lenders will consider the DTI score even more than they consider FICO score, because they are mostly concerned whether or not the borrower can afford to make their loan payment every month, and not become another defaulting/deliquent customer.

However, even with her low DTI she was unable to get approved with her bank of choice. She does her personal banking at the Bank of America located on San Marco Boulevard in Jacksonville, and she also has a savings and checking account set up at the Regions Bank up on Hendricks Avenue. Neither of these banks were able to qualify her for extended credit, and she was left with very few choices.

She tried to get some money from her family in the form of a free no-interest loan, but unfortunately none of her family members were in a financial situation whereby they could help her out.

She didn’t have any assets under her belt at the time of this application either, and she didn’t have any home-equity to speak of. She was sharing an apartment with another young woman, and with her rental costs, utilities, phone bill(s), and an existing small personal loan with the Regions Bank, she was basically tapped out. She has some credit card debt as well. She has a Visa card and a MasterCard that she has to contend with on a monthly basis. Fortunately for her, she doesn’t have that much debt on either card (only $700 on her Visa, and only $500 on her MasterCard). Unfortunately though, the credit limits on both of her cards is only $1500, which meant that she couldn’t take out cash advances, or charge on these cards to pay for the repairs on her vehicle. She had to find some other way to extend her credit, and she decided to use a signature loan product.

This is a lender that we had to remove from our system because of the reported high fee structure they were using. They charged this borrower with an FP100 of $45.66 after administration costs, which is exorbitantly high by any stretch of the imagination within the small consumer lending market. You can see that this loan was for a one week term, and you really have to ask yourself where this borrower managed to dig up $4078 in one week when we consider her financial situation. Well there is a simple answer for that, and you will see the error she made in judgment below.

As it turned out, she was receiving a small inheritance from her grandmother who lived in Tallahassee, for the amount of $10,000 and change. For some reason, she decided that she just couldn’t wait the extra week for the money to be deposited into her account from the trustee of her grandmother’s estate, and felt desperately that she had to get her vehicle repaired immediately.

If she had been smart about it, she would have found another way to get around Jacksonville well she waited for this money to come through. She could have used public transit, taxicabs, or got rides with friends and coworkers for that one week. When you get the whole story though, it becomes very apparent why she was in such a panic.

She wanted to make sure that she could still visit her fiancé who is currently living in Gainesville, and she had to commute to see him every week. So many times, affairs of the heart will set forth in motion a situation whereby people spend and waste a lot of money.

Every week she commuted down Highway 21, and Highway 26 into Gainesville to see her fiancé. Because she couldn’t wait to see her mate, it cost her over $1200 in interest on this signature loan that she took out. Always try and be rational when it comes to borrowing and taking on more credit. Sometimes it’s better to just wait a little while and save yourself a great deal of uneeded expense.

$2800 BC Signature Loan in Jacksonville, Fl – Lender Service Area

$2800 BC Signature Loan in Jacksonville, Fl – Interest, Principal, Term Length

Table of Data for $2800 Signature Loan in Jacksonville, Fl (pre and post app)

This concludes our first publication regarding signature loans for people with subpar credit living in Florida. Now that we have discussed these two borrowers living in Jacksonville, we will later be visiting some of the borrowers and lenders in other areas of of the State. We will be covering the following cities; Tallahassee, Gainesville, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Cape Coral, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Daytona Beach.

We always want to remind our readers that signature loans are nothing more than glorified payday loans / or cash advances. Often times, predatory lenders will offer desperate borrowers signature loans with attached fees that are in excess of your average everyday PDL provider. Before you ever consider taking out such a high interest loan, take a deep breath and calmly look at all of your options. You always want to find an alternative to a signature loan or a cash advance because the costs are too high when you look at the end result, and the subsequent end-state of your pocketbook.

Without sounding preachy, we just want to remind you that you should be looking for the lowest possible interest rates in the market, and if that means getting a free loan from a family member with zero APR, so be it. Sometimes when your credit rating is severely damaged, albeit only temporary, pride must go before the fall.

Sometimes, as an alternative to a signature loan, you can get access to credit from your employer, and at one time your humble narrator worked for a company that used to do that. They would give us a temporary advance on our future paychecks for absolutely no interest, or fee. This is rare these days, I know, but it’s certainly something you should look into before ever taking out a loan with one of these high fee companies.

You can use some of the peer-to-peer lending websites as well, and perhaps get an APR that is below 10% on the complete note, and this should be considered as well. The most important thing however, is that in the future you pay more attention to how much money you’re spending, and the exact amount of money you have coming in monthly. This is your first, and best approach.

We see every day, streams of traffic coming to all of our websites, littered with people who have really bad credit, and almost nowhere to turn. They have let their personal finances spiral so far out of control that they end up taking out high interest signature loans from “questionable” lenders. Try to NOT be in those ranks.

Thank you for visiting our website and I hope you have learned something about signature loans and the heavy cost that they can burden you with.