Are you out of work? Do you need cash quickly to cover some of your costs? Getting emergency loans with no job is difficult, but not impossible. A traditional lender wants to make sure you’ll be able to pay your loan back before they loan you any money. You will need to show you have good credit or have an alternative source of income if you want to have a chance of getting an emergency loan. Let’s dig a little deeper into this.
What Lenders are Looking For
Strong Credit History / Credit Score
Lenders aren’t too eager to loan to someone they can’t trust. To convince them to give you a loan, lenders need to see that you will be able to pay their money back. One way they can see this is by looking at other times you’ve paid off loans. Maybe you’ve taken loans out for other things in the past. Maybe you have a credit card that you’ve never missed a payment on. Whatever the case, having credit, and successfully paying it off will give you a good FICO credit score. Having a good credit score and credit history shows the lender you can be trusted. Proving you continually repay your debts will make lenders more comfortable about lending to you if you don’t have a job. Don’t think your credit is good enough? Here are some ways you can improve your credit.
Regular Income
If your credit score isn’t going to cut it, your lender will need to see you have other means to pay your loan. In other words, you need to somehow have a source of income so you can pay the money back. But how can that be? How are you supposed to have a source of income if you’re jobless? While a job is the most common source of income, it’s not the only one. Many other sources of income can give you enough money to pay off an emergency loan. This way, your lender knows you will have the money to pay the loan back. Let’s look at some of these alternative incomes.
Qualifying for a Loan with Alternative Income
Any source of money won’t be enough to qualify as “alternative income”. Making a few dollars here and there won’t do. Depending on the size of the loan you’re looking for, you might even have to show substantial alternative income. Here are some of the common forms of alternative income that could satisfy your lender.
Investment Income
Have you put any money into investments like stocks or bonds? If so, your investments could serve as regular income.
For example, many companies give some of their revenue back to their stockholders through something called a “dividend”. Many times these dividend payments are paid to the stockholders once every quarter, or four times a year. If you have lots of money invested in such stocks, you could be receiving enough in dividends to have enough income to satisfy your lender.
Likewise, bonds are another type of investment that could provide regular income. Bonds are essentially an IOU from a company or some government entity. When you buy a bond you receive interest payments over time. When the bond expires, you will get the full price of the bond paid back to you. If they are large enough, these interest payments from the bonds could provide you with enough regular income to show your lender you can pay off the loan.
Social Security Payments
Retired and need an emergency loan? Retired or certain disabled individuals can be eligible for Social Security. With Social Security, you may be receiving payments four to five times a month. Depending on the amount you receive, this could qualify as regular income. Lenders will still probably conduct a credit check on your credit, but regularity and transparency of social security payments will work in your favor.
Pension Payments
Pension Payments are similar to Social Security payments. A pension is a series of payments that is made to you by your employer after you’ve retired. Not all employers offer pensions. For the ones that do, you will have had to work there for a long time. Even if you aren’t employed, if you are receiving a pension you will likely be receiving enough money regularly to please your lender. However, these payments might not come frequent enough if you are trying to get a quick, emergency loan. If your lender wants you to repay in one month but you are getting your pension in three months, a pension might not work as regular income.
Disability Income
If you’ve sustained an injury at work, you might be eligible for disability income. Your company may periodically give you a certain amount of money or a percentage of your wages. If they are large enough and are frequent enough, you could use these disability payments to qualify you for a loan.
Likewise, you might have been injured at home or in a car accident and you can’t work anymore. Your current job might have laid you off because you are not healthy enough to work. Whatever the case, if you have disability insurance you are protected from being left out to dry. You could be seeing some payments from the insurance agency to cover you while you are out of work. These payments could also be enough for your lender to see you’ll be able to pay the loan back.
Unemployed? Possible can help you get cash quick.
DOWNLOAD TODAYAlimony Payments As A Loan Option
If you are divorced, there’s a chance you are periodically receiving alimony payments from your former partner. Your lender could be satisfied with these alimony payments as regular income. It is not that easy, however. We’ve all heard the stories of spouses that never pay their alimonies on time, or fail to pay them at all. If this is the case for you it might be harder to show your lender that the payments to you are consistent. They might look back at the past few months to see if you are being paid on time or not. If you aren’t, your lender will be more skeptical about your ability to have a reliable source of income.
Veterans Affair (VA) Benefits
If you’ve served your country in the military but have come back only to be jobless, the VA can provide you with the income you’d need to qualify for a loan. To be eligible for support from the VA you can’t have been dishonorably discharged and you will need information like your service dates, branch of service, and discharge paperwork.
Were you injured while serving? If so, this might prevent you from working certain jobs and might keep you unemployed. You might still need alternative income to get a loan, though. You could receive disability compensation from the VA if you qualify. The amount you get paid depends on the severity of your disability as well as how many people you are supporting. The monthly payment could range anywhere from $133 to $3,400 a month.
Even if you aren’t disabled, you might still be out of work. If you’re a veteran and are older than 65, you could qualify for a pension from the VA. Again, you cannot have been dishonorably discharged and you must have served at least 90 days of active duty and at least 1 day during wartime. Just like other pensions, these payments will likely be large enough to please your lender but they may not be frequent enough.
Income from your Spouse or Partner
In order for income from your spouse or partner to qualify for an alternative income, your spouse or partner must cosign on the loan. Since lenders want to be as sure as they can they will get their money back, they will often make another person cosign on a loan. This means that if the original borrower defaults on the loan, the cosigner will then be obligated to pay it. If your partner or spouse agrees to cosign on your loan, their source of income could be seen as a backup if you can’t pay off the loan. Cosigning means less risk for the lender so they will be more likely to give you the emergency loan if your significant other can help pay for it.
Can I Get a Bad Credit Loan?
Getting a loan while you’re unemployed is not easy. Having bad credit and trying to get a loan while you’re unemployed is even harder. Lenders don’t exactly want to see that you have lost your main source of income and that you don’t have a great history of paying back your debts. This is not a dead-end street, however. You can still get a loan if you have bad credit. Be aware though that these bad credit loans have less favorable terms since they are considered more “risky” for the lender. High APR rates and short repayment periods can make bad credit loans difficult, but companies like Possible offer these same loans but with much more manageable and forgiving terms.
If you’re still unsure about bad credit loans, read this.
What to Consider Before Getting a Loan While Unemployed
If you are unemployed and are struggling to stay above water, you might need some emergency cash to keep you afloat. However, there are some things you should consider before you get a loan while you’re unemployed.
Be Sure you have a Reliable Source of Income
If you do not have an alternative source of income but your lender still gives you a loan, you are only hurting yourself. Having no cash to pay off your emergency loans means that you will likely have to make late payments, default, or even declare bankruptcy. Put simply, none of those options are very fun. They can hurt your credit for a seriously long time and might even put you in a worse hole than you were before. Likewise, make sure that the income you are receiving is reliable. If you are relying on alternative cash to pay off your loan and it does not pull through, you could be in trouble. For your own sake make sure you’ll have a way to pay your loan back.
Find the Right Lender
Not all loans are created equal. Each lender is different from the next and some might be better for you than others. Before you decide to get an emergency loan, do your research. Find out the terms and conditions of your loan and whether you think you’ll be able to handle them. Know exactly how much interest they charge and how exactly they want you to pay your loan back. Some lenders have predatory practices and you can end up in a cycle of debt that can be very hard to get out of, especially if you are unemployed.
Where to get an Online Personal Loan
You know how to qualify for a loan if you’re unemployed and you know what to look for, but what’s a good option for the loan? We at Possible think we are the best option for you, especially if you find yourself in a tough spot. We offer both installment loans and payday loans that you can get quickly on your phone. You do not need great credit to get these loans either. Emergencies can come at any time, and if you need cash quickly to help finance these, a loan at Possible is a great option.
At Possible, we not only want to provide loaning services to you, but we want to create value for you as well. Other lenders can be very unforgiving about a late loan payment or extending your payments. At Possible, you can ask to extend your payments up to 29 days later, right within the app. We also have an APR that is much lower than most banks and payday lenders. Having more flexibility means you have an easier time paying off the loan and you are less likely to default and have your credit score take a hit. In fact, paying off your loans at Possible helps build your credit score up, which does not happen with traditional payday lenders.
Think you would like a loan at Possible? Download our app and get started today!
