Page Text: Most likely not — the pandemic shouldn’t have any significant effect on a new loan. For example, COVID-19 will generally have no serious impact on a new:
Refinanced student loan
Private student loan
Personal loan
However, keep in mind that many lenders are providing special assistance for those affected by COVID-19, such as payment deferments and other accommodations. If you’ve taken out a new loan and are experiencing financial hardship due to the pandemic, reach out to your lender to see what options might be available to you.
Will the COVID-19 pandemic affect my home loan or mortgage refinance?
Possibly. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused some mortgage lenders to deal with longer processing times and implement stricter loan requirements. You now may need a higher credit score, larger down payment, and lower debt-to-income ratio to qualify for a home loan.
Despite these inconveniences, the pandemic has also made certain aspects of the mortgage process more accessible. Virtual home tours have risen in popularity, as have electronic mortgage closings.
Naturally, the pandemic has encouraged many mortgage borrowers to begin their journey online. Credible offers a one-stop shop for borrowers looking to compare and close their home loan in one place. With Credible, you can get personalized rates from all of our partner lenders and see if you qualify for an instant streamlined pre-approval letter in just a few minutes. Our process is simple and secure — and it won’t affect your credit score.
What is Credible?
Credible is a marketplace that allows you to compare financial products from multiple providers side-by-side. Credible is not a lender, a bank or a credit card issuer — we partner with top financial service providers so that they can provide you with a variety of competitive options, enabling you to quickly find the right financial product for your needs. Best of all, comparing rates on Credible is completely free and won't impact your credit score!
You can find out more about our company on our About Us page .
Will comparing rates impact my credit score?
Nope! Credible performs a "soft credit inquiry" to provide personalized prequalified rates for the loan products on our site. Soft credit inquiries do not affect your credit score.
Once you choose a loan product on your Credible Dashboard, and once you decide to move forward with a particular lender, a hard credit inquiry will be performed, which will impact your score. Likewise, if you apply for a credit card, the credit card issuer will perform a hard credit inquiry when you apply for a credit card.
What makes Credible different from other comparison sites?
With Credible’s lending marketplace, you can fill out a simple, streamlined form, and instantly see which lenders you prequalify for and at what rates. These are personalized, prequalified rates based on your credit history. Checking your prequalified rates with Credible will not affect your credit score.
Many other comparison sites will only provide you with generic information about a given financial service provider — the rates and information you see will not be specific to you and your credit history. You might be able to go to a specific lender’s website and see your personalized prequalified rates, but you’ll only be able to do this for one lender at a time.
How does Credible get paid?
We want this to be a “win-win” situation. So we only want to get paid if we bring you value in the form of finding a personal finance option that works for you. Not by selling your data. The way we earn money depends a bit on the product that you use, so here’s a breakdown below of how that works on Credible.
Student loans, Student loan Refinance: Credible receives compensation by the lender if you finish the loan process and a loan is disbursed. The amount of our compensation does not impact how and where lenders appear on our site, and Credible charges you no fees of any sort.
Personal loans: Credible receives compensation by the lender if you finish the loan process and a loan is disbursed. The amount of our compensation does not impact how and where lenders appear on our site, and Credible charges you no fees of any sort. Some lenders may take traffic sources into account when offering credit terms.
Mortgage (purchase and refinance): We are a wholesale broker, meaning we have access to rates our mortgage lenders offer solely to brokers they work with. Generally, our lenders pay us and incorporate the cost of our services as part of the final interest rate on your loan, or in your loan amount. This is common practice in mortgage transactions where you choose for the lender to pay your broker’s fee upfront. If you would prefer to minimize your rate, you may opt to buy "points" to decrease your rate, or pay our broker compensation yourself. Please talk to one of our licensed loan officers to explore your options.
Credit Cards: The credit card issuer when a Credible user applies for a credit card and is approved.
Are there lender fees?
Our student loan and student loan refinancing lenders charge no origination, prepayment, or service fees. Some personal loan lenders charge origination fees, which will be clearly displayed on your Credible dashboard if you receive rates. All of our mortgage lenders charge fees for their services and third party services, and require you to obtain third party services to close a mortgage loan that will cost you money (either at closing, or rolled into the cost of your loan).
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