Questions people ask

No. LendCedar is an educational site about personal installment loans. It does not make loans, arrange them, make credit decisions or quote rates; about LendCedar explains what the site is and is not.

Lenders and loan brokers pay LendCedar for the loan requests it passes to them. You pay nothing to read the guides, use the calculators or send a request. How we make money has the details.

LendCedar passes your request to lenders and loan brokers, who may contact you by phone, text or email as described in the consent on the request form. Any offer comes from them, on their terms and after their own review. You do not have to accept any offer.

Reply STOP to any text. You can also email [email protected] or use the contact page to withdraw your consent, and tell any company that calls you to stop.

LendCedar never asks for an upfront fee. If anyone who mentions LendCedar asks you to pay before a loan is funded, by gift card, wire or payment app, stop and treat it as a likely scam. Verify a lender lists the warning signs.

LendCedar does not check your credit. A lender or broker that receives your request may run a soft inquiry to prequalify you, and a full application usually brings a hard inquiry; ask which one before you agree. See soft and hard credit checks.

A loan you repay in a fixed number of scheduled payments, usually monthly, over a set term. The offer shows the rate, the fees and the total you will repay; the total cost of a loan walks through each figure.

A payday loan is usually due in one payment on your next payday, and states regulate it under separate laws. A personal installment loan spreads repayment over months or years. Our sister site Lendmira covers payday loan alternatives.

It depends on your credit, the lender and your state. The Federal Reserve reported an average rate of 11.90% on 24-month personal loans at commercial banks for August 2026 (preliminary), compared with 21.19% on credit card plans. Your offer can be higher or lower; compare offers by APR and total of payments.

It lowers the payment and raises the total interest. In our example, $10,000 at 14% costs $341.78 a month over 36 months and $232.68 over 60 months, but interest rises from $2,304.08 to $3,960.80. See loan term length.

Usually yes. Check the Truth in Lending disclosure, which must say whether a prepayment penalty may apply, and ask how interest is refunded on a precomputed loan. Prepayment penalties explains what to look for.

The interest rate is the yearly charge on the balance. The APR also counts fees that are part of the finance charge, such as an origination fee, so it is the better figure for comparing offers. Truth in Lending disclosures shows where each number sits.

An origination fee was probably taken from the loan. With a 5% fee on $10,000, $9,500 is deposited and you repay the full $10,000 plus interest. Check the figure with the net proceeds calculator.

No. Regulation Z leaves late fees out of the finance charge, so the APR does not show them. Find the dollar amount and the grace period in the agreement; late fees and returned payments explains the limits.

Usually not. If insurance is optional, the lender must disclose that and get your signature for it; if it is required, its cost belongs in the finance charge and the APR. See credit insurance and add-ons.

Whether disputes must go to arbitration instead of court, whether you give up class actions, and whether you can opt out within a set number of days. Covered servicemembers cannot be held to mandatory arbitration. Arbitration clauses has the details.

A prequalification usually uses a soft inquiry, which does not affect your scores. A full application usually brings a hard inquiry, which can lower some scores slightly for a while. See soft and hard credit checks.

Not because of its source. Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, a lender may not discount income because it comes from public assistance, Social Security or a pension, though it may verify the amount and how long it will last. Retirees covers the documents.

Often your last one or two tax returns with Schedule C, recent bank statements and sometimes Forms 1099. Lenders usually look at net profit, not gross receipts. See self-employed borrowers.

The lender must send an adverse action notice within 30 days of a completed application, with the reasons or a way to ask for them. Read it, check your credit reports for errors, and see if you are denied for next steps.

Yes. The Military Lending Act caps most consumer credit to active-duty servicemembers and covered dependents at a 36% military APR, which counts most fees and add-ons. Military and veterans explains the MLA and the SCRA.

Most states cap what a licensed nonbank lender may charge, and the limits differ widely. Among states with caps, the median for a $2,000 loan is 34% APR, fees included, according to the National Consumer Law Center, which compares state caps. Find your state on state rules.

The loan may be made by a bank that partners with the online company. A state-chartered bank may charge the rate its home state allows, so your state's cap for licensed lenders may not apply. Ask who the lender of record is; where to borrow explains the options.

Search the company on NMLS Consumer Access and on your state regulator's license lookup, and match the name, address and license number on the agreement. Verify a lender shows each step.

Often not. Many states regulate payday and auto title loans under separate laws with their own limits. Our sister site Lendmira covers them state by state, for example its Texas page.

File with your state's lending regulator, listed on each state rules page, and with the CFPB at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. Keep copies of the agreement, payment records and messages.