 TITLE: Is a Debt Consolidation Loan Right For You? CONTENT: What if Your Loan Application Is Denied?\n----------------------------------------\nIf your loan gets denied, there could be many reasons why. You'll receive an adverse action notice, typically in the mail, which details why the lender made its decision. You'll also be entitled to a free copy of your credit report, which can help you pinpoint the areas of your credit history you can improve.\nBe sure to check your credit score and credit report to get an idea of where you stand and what actions you can take. If your credit history is in relatively good shape, consider reducing your loan amount or applying with a different lender that may not have such stringent credit requirements.\nIf your credit woes will take some time to improve, consider other ways you can pay down your credit card balances more effectively. For example, creating a budget can help you get an understanding of where your money is going and which areas you can cut back on and reallocate that cash to pay off debt.\nIf you have multiple credit cards, consider using the debt avalanche or debt snowball method to pay them off. With both of these approaches, you'll make just the minimum payment on all of your credit cards except for one, to which you'll add extra payments every month.\nOnce that account is paid off, you'll take the amount you were paying and apply it to the next card on top of its minimum payment, and you'll continue that process until all of your balances are paid in full.\nThe primary difference between the two methods is which cards you target first. With the debt avalanche method, it's the card with the highest interest rate, and with the debt snowball method, it's the card with the lowest balance. While you may save a little in interest by using debt avalanche, if quicker wins help to motivate you, debt snowball may be the better approach. END