Bad Credit Installment Loans

Bad credit installment loans have been part of the American financial landscape for many years, giving consumers the opportunity to either shore up poor borrowing history or sink even lower into financial slavery. For the very astute borrower who has gotten into borrowing problems in the past, the opportunity to pay off bad credit installment loans on time or even early is the chance to prove that poor borrowing behavior is a thing of the past. For the consumer who doesn't know how to handle the responsibility of credit, more borrowing agreements are akin to drinking saltwater; there is no satisfaction that can be found. But various financial institutions that have made borrowing very easy for consumers to have are at least partially to blame for so many Americans being so very far in debt.

Bad credit installment loans can be for almost anything imaginable in today's marketplace. From cars to car parts to home improvement items to dentures and braces, a regular monthly payment plan is available for big ticket item purchases. It should be noted that there is a difference between installment lending agreements and revolving lending agreements. Most plastic cards are of the revolving type and the payments due each month go up and down depending on the amount of the debt incurred. Installment loans are fixed monthly payments, and are for big ticket items that are not placed on a credit card. Car borrowing agreements, many appliance loans, educational loans, and even mortgages could be considered installment loans.

The term bad credit can itself be a mystery and it is relative to the borrowing score a person has from one of the three major borrowing reporting companies. Over time, a person's borrowing credibility rating can begin to dip if a late plastic card payment shows up or if repossession takes place, or if there is too much debt to income ratio. The last one can be a problem because even if there is no recent history of late payments, too many loans to income ratios will automatically begin the tick downward in terms of credit score. When it comes to bad credit installment loans, there will usually be an online source somewhere that will take a chance on a consumer, but there will invariably be the requirement of a co-signer if the borrowed money is to be offered. A co-signer puts his/her own solvent financial health on the line when co-signing a lending agreement for another person. The co-signer can be anyone from a parent to a friend to a complete stranger as long as the co-signer has a good borrowing history.

Bankruptcy may be the biggest obstacle to overcome in securing bad credit installment loans. Some television ads from attorneys make bankruptcy sound like a walk in the park but it is anything but that. Bankruptcy can change a person's life for as long as breath remains in that person affecting not only a borrowing rating but also a person's own mental and emotional condition. While it may not be impossible to secure an installment lending agreement with a bankruptcy on a person's borrowing history, the chances are quite small. In any case, someone who wants an installment type lending agreement will pay much higher rates of interest for the privilege.

As with any kind of borrowing, bad credit installment loans ought to be thoroughly and completely investigated before agreement is reached with a lending company. There are many online companies waiting in the wings to offer struggling individuals with very high interest bad credit installment loans and other with more reasonable rates. A person should seeking such loans should never settle on the first couple of offers that come across the computer screen. There is a lot of competition for the lending dollar and so no matter how damaged one's borrowing history is there will be lenders available, but the industry is not a one size fits all. A lending company usually has the backing of investors who make money on the interest charged for loans, and some investors have higher comfort thresholds than others when it comes to lending to those with a bad borrowing history.

Before getting bad credit installment loans, financial experts caution borrowers to seek the help of credit counselors to sift through all of the information a borrower may have and help counsel on the viability of whether or not a lending agreement of that kind is advisable. Not seeking counsel is a sure sign that an individual has not yet learned the lessons of the past and additional future fiscal pain will probably be assured as a result. "For I know the thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end." (Jeremiah 29:11) One person wisely reminds humans that failure to understand the past will only bring about more of the same in the future. That applies quite aptly to bad financial decisions.

So if a person is feeling really constrained by past financial dealings, he/she should remember that a bad credit installment agreement is a chance to really start getting borrowing ability back on track. Repairing credit takes several years to do and it must come with a commitment to sticking with a plan. Seeing that children are taught the advantages and disadvantages of borrowing ought to be a high priority of parents in their instruction of life lessons. Often the mistakes and bad decision making of parents are picked up early and repeated often by children who could have just as easily been given positive role models. Who will teach the children about money if not the parents?