I get emails and pleas from would-be borrowers all the time telling me that they need a loan, but they have terrible credit. Sometimes they tell me they have the worst possible credit rating with Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian possible. They tell me that they have a FICO score that is the lowest you can get (300), but yet they want a low interest loan. What’s even worse – they tell me that the loan they want is for a car, a trip, or an expensive toy. They don’t even want the loan to pay off some of their bad debt. Really wacky stuff, but you would be really surprised what some people will ask for.

I usually tell them that they’re not likely to find a lender anywhere that will approve a personal cash loan to a borrower [or non-borrower ] to someone who describes their own credit rating as terrible, with a FICO of 300. When you have a FICO that is 300 this means that you have a big T stamped on your forehead – maybe not.

Here is an interesting little chart of what FICO scores mean (I have embellished);

750-850: Wow – this is amazing and it won’t stay that way for long. You are not human.
700-750: Impressive – you are one of the lucky ones and can get a very low interest rate.
723: What they call the median FICO score – will get approved quickly.
660-699: Pretty damn good – almost always get approved with a decent interest rate.
687: Average FICO score – probably get approved, but interest rates night not always be that low.
620-659: Look out – your interest rate is going to be fairly high, and some lenders will decline your request for a loan
580-619: Only loan sharks will like you – conventional lenders make let you shine their shoes, but they won’t lend to you
500-579: Really bad – terrible, and bankers enjoy spitting on you for recreation. Loan sharks own your children.
300-499: Terrible, terrible, terrible! You are bottom dwelling and you may want to consider getting your hair cut and moving to Greece. There is a good possibility that your pants are ablaze.

Remember though, even if you have terribly bad credit, you CAN work you way out of it, and if you are really stuck you can declare personal bankruptcy. It will take 7 years of living without any credit at all.