Posted by Chris on February 25, 2000 at 07:16:44:
Nicholas-
Different lenders have different requirements. The best bet is to contact them. It will help if you have an account with them already. Opening an account, putting in cash and requesting a secured loan that same day may be a little too obvious. You may want to drop by the smaller banks in your area and ask them information about their policy on secured loans. Do they have a preference if the secured funds are in a certificate of deposit or a checking account,etc.? How long after opening an account would they consider a loan? Will they need to run a credit check on you? Each time a credit check is requested it is noted on your report. If six lenders have ran a check on you the lender you are trying to get a loan from may want to know about all of these inquiries.
I took out a loan in the past for the sole purpose of building credit. I followed Carleton’s advice and told the credit union rep. that I was getting a loan to build up credit. They said we don’t give out loans for that. I called back a few minutes later and made sure that I got a different rep. and my reason this time was that I needed the loan for travel expenses-no problem this time. You need to pay the loan back over at least a six month period. Getting a loan and paying it back in full next week will not do the trick.
-Good Luck, Chris