LOANS » Current Rates, News & Information

One of the biggest victims of the current recession has been the liquidity market. Credit has almost disappeared, forcing practically everyone in need of a loan to find new ways to obtain one.

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” as the saying goes, and the need for low-cost personal loans has lead to the invention of a new kind of financing: peer-to-peer loan institutions. They’re very new (as in, the industry still has a lot of growing pains to be worked through), they’re a product of the Internet, and they’re growing by leaps and bounds. Go Banking Rates has compared and contrasted the biggest names in the business, and here’s what we found.

Lending Club

New reports show that students are relying on federal student loans to finance their college tuition as private student loans become more difficult to obtain. The reports, issued by the College Board, show that private loans fell a whopping 52 percent in the 2008-2009 school year as a result of the financial crisis along with tightened credit standards.

Private student loans are traditionally more difficult to obtain than federal loans because of their higher interest rates and stricter guidelines for approval. It is for this reason that they are typically a last resort for students who don’t qualify for the financial-need driven federal loans. With that being said, students still took out an estimated $22.8 billion private loans in the 2007-2008 school year; however, by the next school year, that number dropped to $11 billion.

The delinquency rates dropped on auto loans made indirectly through dealers and directly to consumers in the second quarter. The numbers are provided by a report from the American Bankers Association (ABA) and may be an indicator that predictions made by economists that the economy has already hit rock bottom and is slowly-but-surely recovering and on target.

But then again, maybe not. While the report showed promising numbers in the auto loan realm, including a drop in dealer-arranged auto loans 30 days past due from 3.42 to 3.26 percent, and also a drop from 3.01 to 2.46 percent on auto loans made directly to consumers by banks, some other numbers in the report did not show proof of a recovering economy. For instance, home equity loan delinquencies rose from 3.52 to 4.01 percent in the second quarter. Also, personal loan failures rose from 3.47 to 3.90 percent.

An “on-the-spot loan“ is simply another term used to describe a pre-approved loan. If you’re qualified to get an on-the-spot loan, you’ve now got access to a line of credit up to the amount that the lender has approved. In these instances, the lender has not felt the need to check your credit history – or at least, not very thoroughly – and you get access to the loan almost instantaneously.

Acquiring Payday Loans

In an effort to help homeowners modify their mortgage loans, some lenders are taking steps to lower the principal amount, according to a new report from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The report shows that while many lenders are taking the route of temporarily suspending interest to allow homeowners to catch up on payments, others have become even more lenient, lowering the amount of the principal owed for struggling borrowers.

The number of lenders taking this route has increased dramatically. In fact, from the first quarter to the second, the number of loan modifications involving a shift in the principal jumped from 3.1 to 10.1 percent.

In a tough economy, sometimes it’s difficult to determine when the time is right to go back to school. You know that college is more expensive than it was the first time you went, but if you wait any longer, not only might the cost elevate even more, you may lose your motivation as well.

So when is the right time to go back? While some may deter you from trying to go back during a recession, the decision weighs less on the economy and more on your personal situation. Honestly, anytime can be the right time if your family situation is in order and you have a way to pay for school. However, if you don’t have a way to pay, here are some options you might consider:

Did you go to college to increase your earning potential, but end up saddled with debt instead?

Those struggling to repay their federal student loans recently gotten a break. As of July 1, 2009 The U.S. Education Department changed the terms of student loan repayment to allow borrowers to adjust their monthly payments according to their income. Previously, the monthly repayment amount was fixed and determined by the lenders.

Not only did repayment terms get tweaked, Education Secretary Arne Duncan noted the interest and fees associated with student loans will decrease.

When you’ve already been to school once in your life and have started a career, sometimes it’s more than difficult to consider the prospect of going back – whether it’s to finish what you’ve already started or obtain another degree. Most people feel that they simply don’t have time to do it if they have a career to think about. But the good news is that there are options available now to make going back to school easier for the busiest professional.

Take a look at some of the convenient options available for going back to school:

If you’re going back to school for the first time in years and are looking for a way to pay for it, the prospect of student loans may have crossed your mind. It’s an extremely common way to pay for tuition and is likely to be a way for you to cover at least part of your tuition costs.

But dealing with student loans is not always a piece of cake. You have to fill out all the necessary paperwork to qualify, and then figure out just how you will pay the loan back. The more you educate yourself on student loans, the easier it will be to deal with.

The thought of going back to school after having been out of school for so long can seem distasteful, especially after you’ve already paid off your college loans just to realize you may have to take out another student loan. It’s hard to stomach the thousands you may end up owing again.

Luckily, there is a new law that has been passed that can make your loan repayment easier than ever before.