Unsecured debt consolidation loans have become very common these days. And if you have a good credit rating, you stand a better chance to get one.  

What is the difference between a debt consolidation loan that is secured and one that is unsecured?

In case of the former, there is a security that is attached to the loan. In most of the cases, it is your home. Just as there is an advantage of availing secured debt consolidation loans, there is a major disadvantage too.

The benefit you avail in case of secured debt consolidation loans is that they attract lower rate of interest. The disadvantage is if you fall behind on payments, you may lose your home as creditors will not hesitate to take away your home in case of non-payment.

Unsecured debt consolidation loans on the other hand do not require any security. And you don’t put your home at stake. Unsecured debt consolidation loans can be used for making payments for anything under the sun. But the rate of interest, unsecured debt consolidation loans attract is very high.

You can take out unsecured debt consolidation loans if you have a good credit rating. It doesn’t mean that you will not get access to one if you do not have a good credit rating. Unsecured debt consolidation loans are also meant for people with bad credit but the rate of interest will be very high. Nevertheless, it is difficult to find a lender that will extend a loan if you have a bad credit rating because following the credit crunch; lending institutions have adopted very stringent lending norms. So, shop around for the deal that will serve your purpose.

Unsecured debt consolidation loans can also be taken out online. If you are planning to take out unsecured debt consolidation loans online, you get the benefit of comparing the rates that are offered by the different lenders. Many online lenders will also answer to your queries if you have any related to unsecured debt consolidation loans. The eligibility criteria for qualifying for unsecured debt consolidation loans may vary from one lender to another. In majority of the cases, you need to have a sound employment history and you need to provide evidence that your income is enough to make repayments.

Thanks to adamsmith for this guest post.

In my previous post, I mentioned a common debt reduction strategy called the debt-snowball. The main idea is to throw every last cent you have to pay off the lowest balance account while paying off the minimums due for the rest. As accounts are being paid off, more money will be available to aggressively snowball payments and accelerate debt reduction.

Here’s a very useful tool that anyone can use to keep track of their debts and keep track of each payment period, snowball amounts, and time left to eliminate all debt. You can even choose a payment policy to pay either the lowest balances first, highest interest first, or define your own custom order. Download this tool from Vertex42.