“I thought I was doing the right thing. The loan company told me I would be building my credit, but it turned out to be something else.”
From time to time, we all hit roadblocks on the highway of life. These events can prevent or delay us in achieving our financial dreams. Despite being on a fixed income, Linda has been determined to reduce her existing debt, build her credit, and combine households with her daughter in an effort to maximize their combined resources.
However, Linda’s prospects for renting a larger apartment for both she and her daughter Kim were dim. Landlords had routinely denied her housing applications due to previous debt related to a different apartment she had rented in the past. After hitting this roadblock in her financial pathway, she decided to seek the assistance of Coach Alnita Smiley.
Alnita helped Linda to access a free copy of her credit report, where they discovered that recent bankruptcy proceedings from the previous summer had finally removed the old rental debt. Furthermore, they worked to create a debt reduction plan that would help Linda to systematically eliminate other debts listed on her credit report. She finally had a way to get her new apartment!
Everything was looking up for Linda. She had intended on opening an affordable credit builder loan with Alnita’s help. Before they could do this though, a representative from Linda’s bank referred her to a local, high-cost lender who opened a $400 loan for her. This ‘credit builder loan’ was to be repaid over 8 months and would cost her $677 in interest (376.11% APR)!
Once Alnita found this out, she took swift action to review Linda’s contract, contacted the lender to understand what had happened, and helped Linda to make an action plan to pay off the loan immediately so that she could avoid paying unnecessary interest and open a more affordable product with a more consumer friendly institution. While Linda still has work to do in order to achieve her dreams, she can be comforted in knowing that Alnita is there to help her along the way.