Applying for personal loans with cosigner is a tricky process. Being a common issue for borrowers, getting loan approval from the lending service can still be a challenge. But a personal loan with a cosigner can change it.
With the wide range of loan benefits this loan type can provide, it’s also comparatively easy when the application process is taken into account.
The following article covers the major issues borrowers face when looking for lenders. You will find the list of reliable loan lending services and have most of your loan questions diligently answered. Let’s get straight to the text and haunt the best bargain offer.
Personal Loans With Co-Signer: Best Offers
How to choose the best loan offer if you need to cosign a personal loan? Joint loans are beneficial in many cases. If you lack a good score rate or can’t qualify with your income, a guarantor can come in handy. How to choose the loan offer on the market? We’ve gathered the best loan services to give you a helping hand with the loans.
Make sure to check the APR, compare the fees, and check other benefits to choose the lenders. Personal loans can get tricky unless you get assisted by credible lenders. Let’s get into the topic and see the benefits of using personal loan offers with the top 6 reliable lenders.
APR | Fees | Repayment Terms | Credit Score | ||
1. Upgrade | 7.96% – 35.97% | Origination Fee | Late Payment Fee | 2 to 7 years | 560 |
2. OneMain Financial | 18.00% – 35.99% | Origination Fee Late Fee | Not Sufficient Funds Fee | 2 to 5 years | None |
3. SoFi | 7.99% – 23.43% | None | 2 to 7 years | None | |
4. LightStream | 6.99% – 23.99% | None | 2 to 7 years | 660 | |
5. Navy Federal Credit Union | 7.49% – 18.00% | Late Fee | Returned Payment Fee | 1 to 5 years | Not Disclosed |
6. Lending Club | 8.30% – 36.00% | Origination Fee | Late Fee | 3 to 5 years | 600 |
Upgrade
Do you have a low score but still want to be eligible for the loan rates? This lender has got you covered. Nice credit score requirements don’t make up the whole spectrum of the Upgrade loan system. There are more for borrowers seeking credit building or debt consolidation opportunities.
- 7.96% – 35.97% APR
- 1.85% to 8.99% loan origination fee and $10 late failed payment fee
- 2 to 7 years of loan repayment terms
- 560 score
Clients enjoy using the loan lending service for its well-built mobile app for managing loans. As a borrower of this service, you can also make use of direct monthly payments, rate discounts, and extended repayment conditions. However, you won’t be able to choose a payment date which can be a drawback for some borrowers.
OneMain Financial
OneMain offers customer-friendly features, so borrowers can find a safe place to qualify for a personal loan.
What are the benefits of using this lending service? One of the biggest advantages compared to other lenders is a low score. Don’t you have an excellent credit history of applying for loan rates? OneMain Financial may be of great help.
- 18.00% – 35.99% APR
- 1% to 10% loan origination fee, late loan fee, not sufficient funds fee
- 2 to 5 years of loan repayment terms
- no minimum score is required.
With this bank, no minimum score is requested. You can choose and play with the loan payment date. Fust funding and direct payments to creditors are 2 more offers to consider OneMain Financial as the option for a loan. But don’t forget about the higher rate and origination fees that will be a part of the deal, too.
SoFi 
Do you want to know what it’s like to work with a five-star loan lending service? Applying for a personal cosigner loan with SoFi can give you the best experience and lead you through the process with ease. Flexibility, good rates, and attention to customer needs are SoFi’s lending service grounds.
- 7.99% – 23.43% APR
- no loan fees
- 2 to 7 years of loan repayment terms
- no credit score required
Why do you want to establish a relationship with this lending company? It’s great for a cosigner and doesn’t require higher loan fees. You can own a rate discount on autopay and manage your loans using a well-designed mobile app with a responsive interface for its loan users.
Are there any cons? You will need to invest in a high minimum loan amount, and there’s no monthly payment date option.
LightStream
If you need to cover a large purchase, LightStream can be of great help. As a borrower, you can win low-interest rates and use no-fee options to repay your loan. You can get your money deposited to the account within a month after the loan is approved. It gives an image of a lender with a flexible approach to loans and customer-friendly offers.
- 6.99% – 23.99% APR
- no loan fees
- 2 to 7 years of loan repayment terms (12 years for home improvements)
- minimum 660 credit score
What are the good sides of the request through LightStream? You will get an autopay rate discount, no debt fees, extended repayment conditions, and even some beneficial program offers.
However, there’re also some drawbacks to using help from lenders. Applicants can’t pre-qualify using a soft check beforehand, which can be inconvenient for borrowers with a short or insufficient history.
Navy Federal Credit Union
Borrowers can now exhale and make use of a customized product to make their needs a reality with a helpful lender. As a cosigner, you can benefit from various repayment terms and loan amounts. It’s a great opportunity for military members and their families to get funds for a big purchase.
- 7.49% – 18.00% APR
- $29 late loan fee, $29 returned payment fee
- 1 to 5 years of loan repayment terms (15 years for home improvements)
- not disclosed minimum score
Fast funding, co-signing loan options, rate discounts, direct payments, and a variety of loan amounts make the Navy Federal union a real bargain for applicants. However, it’s only available to exclusive credit union members, and there’s no way to use a soft check.
LendingClub
Lending Club borrowers are a great fit for those who don’t own a very good or excellent credit score. With flexible payments and clear fees, borrowers can feel safe throughout the whole application and repayment process.
- 8.30% – 36.00% APR
- 1% to 6% loan origination fee and 5% late fee
- 3 to 5 years of loan repayment conditions
- minimum 600 credit score
What are the pros of using this bank service? It’s a great thing for a cosigner due to the joint loans. A soft credit check is available, which is also great for your score rate. And you can even change the payment date.
With all the pros taken into account, a borrower will still have to deal with the origination and late fee, and there’s no app for the users to manage loans. But the positive sides definitely override the cons.
Who Is Co-Signer?
A cosigner is one of the parties in the loan procedure who equally enters the deal and is legally responsible to pay off the payments together with the primary borrower. In most cases, a cosigner is close to the borrower and has a great loan responsibility in the whole process.
Co-Signer vs Co-Borrower
Who is a co-borrower? You may accidentally misuse the borrower concept and use it instead of a cosigner. However, there’s a tangible difference.
A co-borrower, also referred to as a co-applicant, doesn’t take responsibility for the loan but shares it equally with the main candidate. In this case, both loan parties will find themselves in a ripple position if either fails to pay off the loan offers.
When Is Co-Signer a Good Idea?
Co-signing a loan is great when you can find a person to help you. For example, low irregular earnings, insufficient credit score, high debt, or poor payment history can be relevant reasons to request help from the guarantor. However, it’s best not to sign the loan deal if you find yourself in the following situations.
Can you pay off the loan alone? If you can manage the payment rates on your own, co-signing won’t ease the process in many cases. So, it’s better to take sole responsibility.
This loan can be of great help when in need, but it will then reflect on your credit history in the future. So, if you can avoid it, please do. And it’s worth mentioning the damaged relationship with the borrower afterward.
What Are the Risks of Using a Co-Signer?
Why are so many people concerned about this type of credit? Even though this loan seems like a great deal, there’re a couple of things to consider before co-signing the paper. In most cases, the issues and possible risks are related to the cosigner, not the borrower. Here’s what you may want to think about before making any deals.
- The responsibility level from the side of a cosigner is huge. If the borrower can’t cover the loan payments on time, it’s the guarantor who has to pay the bills.
- There are cases when both parties can’t handle the loan payments due to some hard times, so, in this case, the lender can decide how to proceed with the deal. And most likely, the loan case will go to court.
- The guarantor can find themselves in a tough position if the primary borrower can’t pay on time. For example, it can hurt the credit score or bring some other issues to life.
It’s a steep road, so both parties should beware of the risks. One more problem is the relationship between the borrower and the guarantor. The relationships can run dry and become very technical, so you should also consider it before making offers with anyone.
When Do You Need a Co-Signer for a Personal Loan?
It’s not a common way of applying for a loan, however, an effective one. People don’t usually make a deal with a cosigner unless they have certain issues and can’t become a single applicant for the loan. In what cases is it good to seek help from additional helpers? There are some of them, so let’s describe them in detail.
First of all, people with poor credit rates may find a cosigner a relatively reliable option. Why is it so? It’s usually related to young people, such as first-year students or graduates.
But it can also be a different cast when a person is stuck with a 580 credit score and can’t be eligible for a big loan. In this case, help from a guarantor can be of great importance.
In many cases, people look for a cosigner because they don’t have stable or regular earnings enough to qualify for the loans. The same thing relates to the income ratio. However, there’s another common case when parents simply want to help students build a good score, so they become guarantors.
How to Apply for Personal Loans With a Co-Signer
When it comes to the loan request process, many people get stuck with the questions. However, a cosigner loan isn’t complicated at all. You can manage the procedure without having much experience in the area of personal loans.
Focus on the details is the main criterion for the successful personal loan request process. You will have to overcome a couple of milestones to get flawlessly to the application journey endpoint. What are these steps? It’s easy.
How to apply for personal loans with a cosigner? First, you will need to check your credit and scrutinize the requirements. Once done, it’s time to prepare the necessary documents, research and choose a granter, and submit the request. You will find the detailed process described in the following paragraphs.
Check Your Credit
How to check a credit score before applying for a personal loan? You should be familiar with the 3 major credit bureaus providing financial reports to the clients. These are Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. Your task is to request a report on your credit score status. What is the best credit score for a personal loan?
- A fair score is considered to be from 580 to 669 points.
- A good score is 670 to 739 points.
- You have a very good score, from 740 to 799 points.
- Finally, anything higher than 800 is thought to be an excellent score for a loan.
These numbers can vary slightly depending on the type of bureau you send your loan request to. However, the general picture is described above.
Why do you need to check the credit reports? The status of your report will directly define the type of loan, its amount, and the repayment time you can expect to get.
Moreover, there’s always either a soft or hard check performed. It’s an infamous process that can lower your overall credit score. So, if you have an insufficient number of points, it can affect you negatively even more.
Check Requirements
The next step in the long cosigner loan request process lies in the requirements check. What do you need to get approval from the lender? It’s a common thing to get approval faster with a cosigner. However, there are still a couple of requirements to meet. The following list covers the most general things lenders consider to be a cosigner.
- First of all, the applicant should be a U.S. citizen and be over the age of 18.
- A good credit score of 670 to 700 should be presented.
- The candidate should also feature a relevant payment and flawless credit history.
- The last critical criterion is an income ratio.
All the details above will define the creditworthiness of a cosigner, meaning the final decision will depend on these criteria. For that reason, as the main borrower, you should perform a preliminary check to see if the chosen candidate meets the requirements.
Prepare Documents
Requesting a personal loan comes in several steps. To make the lender approve your loan, there have to be clear reasons and verifications. What papers are required when applying for a cosigner loan? The documents can vary depending on the type of loan and its purpose. However, the general list will include the following papers:
- Identification papers that usually include the Social Security Number and a document featuring your date of birth and address.
- Financial records can vary, but the most common types of financial reports are salary verification, credit check, or debt and assets records.
- In some cases, it’s critical to prove that a borrower and a cosigner have established a relationship of some kind. It’s not the most common request. However, it can be necessary from time to time.
For example, the exact list of papers needed can be discovered on the website. This list features the most common examples of documents, but they can differ from case to case.
Choose the Best Lender
Now you have your credit check done, requirements approved, and documents prepared. What’s next? You’re approaching one of the most critical decisions, which is the choice of the lenders.
How to choose the service? In the previous paragraphs, we’ve touched upon reliable choices for co-signing purposes. But let’s rewind and remind you of the major steps in selecting lenders.
- The primary aspect is the social proof of the lenders. How many people trust the company you choose? What are the reviews? If you borrow money, you should be 100% sure of the bank and its reliability.
- What is the cost of borrowing? Checking the APR should be the priority.
- Make sure to check the fees beforehand. Some companies can hide the rates or make them less clear from the beginning, so take a look at everything before putting your signature on the paper.
With the proven examples described at the beginning of the article, you will find a great lender for your case. Make sure to get back and see what options we decided to feature. Your task is to compare the benefits and see what works for you.
Submit Your Application
It’s finally time to round things up and complete the request process. How to submit a personal loan with a cosigner? There are two possible ways you can finish off the procedure. You can either choose an online method or a traditional offline one. The decision is yours and won’t hurt the results no matter how you send the paper to get approved.
Every applicant will be given instructions to proceed. It’s usually a form to fill out. Once you’re done with the fields and no questions are left unanswered, it’s time to send the request online on the website or hand it over to the offline branch. In some cases, email and phone requests are also possible.
How much time is needed to get the loan request approved or rejected? In general, the applicants have to wait from 3 to 5 (sometimes 7) days to get the answer. If there’s no clear decision made within this timeline, it can be helpful to directly contact the bank and ask about the request’s status.