The 4 things you need to know about Uprova before you apply for a personal loan
If you have been looking around for a little bit of money to cover a short-term emergency, you might have come across an online lender called Uprova. In this video, we’re going to tell you 4 things you should know about them before you apply.
We’ve spent years in the lending industry and we track nearly a hundred online lenders. We want to use that experience to tell you the x things you need to know about Uprova before you apply. The first thing you need to know is that…
1 The APR range is really wide on Uprova Personal Loan.
Looking at their website, you might think that Uprova’s “APRs [that] can range from 34.5% – 35.99%.” But, those are only their APRs for their top lenders. For first-time applicants or people with poor credit, you can expect an APR between 300% and 700%. Uprova’s policies are a little different than a lot of other lenders you might have come across. So, it’s not uncommon that you won’t see what APR they are offering you until after you submit your bank account data. Some customers have even complained that they didn’t realize they were accepting the loan until after they learned about their APR. So, carefully read every step of the application as you go.
You might wonder why they are different than a lot of other lenders you might come across. That leads me to the next thing you need to know about Uprova before you apply.
2 They don’t have to adhere to any state or federal lending laws.
That’s because Uprova is owned and operated by the sovereign tribe of Hah-bemma-Tall Pomo of Upper Lake, California. This is not a big tribe. They currently only have 11.24 acres of land in northern California. But because they are a federally recognized tribe, they claim sovereignty. This legal doctrine grants the tribe a degree of autonomy and self-governance, which can exempt them from certain state and federal regulations. It’s the same principle that has allowed tribes to open casinos in states where gambling is illegal. Uprova makes a point of claiming that when you visit their website, you are subjecting yourself to the tribe’s jurisdiction. That means that their tribal laws, rather than the laws of California or the United States government dictate their lending practices.
They might choose to follow some US laws as a convenience for applicants, but they don’t have to. US lending laws have very strict rules about how a lender must disclose the terms of the loan. Laws also require lenders to explain why you were denied credit. Uprova may not adhere to any of these rules. So, you will not want to assume the process will be like other lenders you’ve seen in the past. And if you plan to take one of their loans you need to be aware that…
3 Funding may not be as quick as they say it will be.
Across the front of their homepage, they advertise that you can “typically” get funds within 30 minutes. I think the better description is that you “could” get funds within 30 minutes. They actually have two ways to disburse funds. One is through ACH which is conducted overnight. The other process uses the same infrastructure that debit cards use This would allow the money to move within an hour. The footnote of their website says that “applications approved by 4:30 PM EST Monday through Friday are typically funded the next business day.” I don’t think both funding immediately and funded next day can both be “typical.” So, if you absolutely need the funds immediately, you will need to pay extra attention when you get to the funding section of the application.
4 Refinancing might not end up as you expect
Another thing you should know is about their refinancing. Once you are in one of their loans, they might reach out to you and offer refinancing. The advantage of refinancing is that you can get more money and you might be able to lower your interest rate. This can be enticing, especially if you’ve run into another financial emergency. Many customers have misunderstood that before you get the additional refinance funds, they will pay off your existing loans first. They weren’t aware that they would get less money than they expected. And, it is also very possible that your bi-weekly payment will go up, even thought your APR goes down. Before you accept a refinance offer, be careful that the refinanced loan won’t make your situation harder to manage.
Conclusion on Uprova Personal Loan
Those are the four things that you need to know about Uprova before you apply for one of their personal loans. When you are shopping for personal loans, the most important thing you can do is shop around. You never know who will lend you money. This is especially true if you have damaged credit. Lender who serve people with bad or poor credit rarely use credit score to determine whether to extend credit. They will look at a proprietary set of data. So, you never know whether you could be approved.
At The Yukon Project, we’ve tried to make shopping around easy. If you visit our marketplace page, you can apply to any one of our featured lenders. Behind the scenes, we will check your rate with up to 40 other lenders. Our partners use a soft credit check, so applying won’t hurt your credit score. We will show you any and all of the offers you qualify for. That way you can select the loan that’s best for you.
If you have any experience with Uprova, consider leaving a comment below and telling us what you thought. We are trying to build a community of people who will share their experiences so we can all be better informed when making decisions about our personal finances. If you found this information helpful, please like this video and subscribe to our channel. Your support helps us out and we really appreciate it.
SHOP AROUND! Up to 40 lenders at once. Soft Credit Checks.
