With Thanksgiving around the corner, single moms are gearing up to take short-term loans so that they could make the Thanksgiving celebrations memorable for their kids. Thanksgiving is regarded as a major holiday in the U.S.A and ever since 1862, Thanksgiving began to be regarded as a public holiday. It takes place on precisely the fourth Thursday in the month of November every year. President Abraham Lincoln announced that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on actually the fourth Thursday in the month of November. However, in 1939 President Roosevelt decided to celebrate this day on third Thursday. But it was changed back to the previous decision to celebrate Thanksgiving on fourth Thursday in the month of November every year according to the interesting facts and figures about Thanksgiving provided by http://allparenting.com.

Friends and family generally come together for a conventional Thanksgiving dinner to show their gratitude for blessings in life or a good harvest. The traditional Thanksgiving meal generally features mashed potatoes along with gravy, turkey roast, sweet potato mashed, cranberry sauce, bread stuffing, seasonal vegetables, sweet corn, bread rolls, and for dessert there would be pumpkin pie served with whipped cream. Last year, the average price of all the ingredients required for a Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people amounted to as much as 49.12 U.S. dollars. Thanksgiving is not just associated with a family reunion; it is about the annual retail sales. Black Friday is regarded as the ‘busiest shopping day every year’ and takes place the next day after Thanksgiving. Around 21 percent of people in the U.S.A. are most likely to start their holiday shopping early in the morning on Black Friday as per https://www.statista.com. In 2017, American consumers had spent $19.62 billion online during the Thanksgiving celebrations that extended up to Cyber Monday as reported by Adobe Analytics. So as a single parent, you may be requiring a loan to arrange the Thanksgiving dinner and to enjoy shopping with your kids on Black Friday to avail the best deals.  Irrespective of the reason why you are looking for a loan, there could be many reasons why a single mom could face issues in qualifying for these loans. Let us explore some of the main reasons a single mom’s loan request could be declined.

In this context, you must know that single moms are actually evaluated by the same lending principles as other borrowers. However, as single moms have to make do with a single income they are often not able to fulfill these mandatory requirements. Moreover, if a single mom is known to receive government benefits or if she is doing a part-time job, it could be regarded as inadequate income.

How to Know that a Single Mom Can Afford a Loan?

Before putting in your loan request, you must calculate exactly how much your loan would be costing and what precisely your repayments would be like. Lenders would be assessing your borrowing power and the capacity to repay. Here are some of the things that could lead to loan application rejections.

Red Flags on the Credit Report- Missed mortgage payments, defaults on personal loans, and late payments on credit cards impact your credit score significantly. There are other factors that hurt your credit, like collection accounts and declaration of bankruptcy in the past.

Minimal Credit History- Single parents who have not yet established much of a credit profile could be less than ideal for a lot of lenders, who would prefer candidates who have taken on loans in the past and repaid them or are consistently repaying them even now. They would like to make an informed decision that keeps their investment secure, and if your credit history is not extensive, it could come in the way of that decision and affect how they view your creditworthiness. Get in touch with https://www.libertylending.com/ for perfect lending assistance.

High Debt-to-Income Ratios- Most if not all financial institutions and lenders extend credits based on the perceived ability of the applicant to repay the loan with interest. A debt to income ratio of up to 36% is considered acceptable, but anything above that could be a red flag because it indicates that the candidate might be in over their head and could end up defaulting on some of the monthly payments because they owe a significant amount to others already.

Things a Single Mom Could Do to Get a Loan Approval

If you were not granted a loan and the reasons were vague, you could try some of the following to increase your likelihood of being approved.

Go through Your Credit Report- You should go through your credit report extensively. If possible, get a professional financial adviser to have a look. If there are any inconsistencies or inaccuracies, you should reach out to the reporting bureau and request a review or an investigation. This process of raising a dispute is legal and is very helpful in getting things sorted out. If you do have open disputes with reporting agencies, you should avoid applying to lenders for new loans or lines of credit. Finally, keep “Paid as Agreed” accounts reporting even if they are very old because they are a sign of how creditworthy and willing to repay debts you are.

Find a Co-Signer- If you need a loan desperately but are unable to meet the requirements of your lender, see if you have an option to get someone to co-sign it. This could tip you over the line when it comes to requirements but comes with additional responsibility because you will need to meet all due dates so as not to jeopardize your cosigner’s credit score or have them held liable for defaults on your part.

Go for Secured Credit Cards- Secured Credit Cards are the perfect way for anyone, especially single parents, to go about rebuilding or even building credit from scratch. With these cards, you have to make an initial deposit equaling the credit line to be offered. The issuing banks hence take on a lower amount of risk in issuing a card to you because essentially you pay the balance up front. The issuer will then send reports to the credit reporting agency which can, in turn, prepare a favorable credit report. These cards do come with significant interest charges and annual fees if you don’t pay off the account balance in full after every billing period is up.

Keep Up with Your Bills- If you have credit cards due, mortgage payments, and car loans in the past, a steady payment history certainly improves your credit score and makes you an attractive candidate for lenders. Ideally, this can be achieved with two years of clean repayment (no defaults, no late payments). Make a commitment to meet your due dates, and this should be easy to achieve with some planning.

Conclusion

You must remember that your credit score will always be the first thing used by lenders to determine if you are a trustworthy borrower. You must plan ahead and do your best to make your credit profile attractive to lending institutions so that you can secure not only the funds you need but reasonable terms for the loan periods as well. Hope you would be getting the loans that you require and wish you happy Thanksgiving!