 TITLE: How to Take Out a Personal Loan CONTENT: Apply and Review Offers\n-----------------------\nYou may want to get prequalified with several lenders before submitting your first personal loan application. Applying for the loan could be as simple as accepting one of the prequalification offers. Or, if you haven't checked your rate with the lender, you may need to submit your personal information. Either way, you generally have to agree to a hard credit check at this point. Hard credit inquiries may hurt your credit, but that impact is typically small and temporary.\nLenders will then review your information to determine whether you qualify for a loan. If they like what they see and want to take you on as a borrower, they'll make an offer. Once you have an offer in front of you, look it over in detail, including the offered loan amounts, repayment terms, interest rates and monthly payments. Know that you don't have to accept a personal loan offer, and you may be able to accept less than the full loan amount if you'd prefer.\nOnce you accept a loan offer, you may need to verify the information that you've submitted by sending copies of the documents you gathered earlier. You could also be given the option to set up a direct deposit to have the money sent to your bank account, or your loan may be sent by check. If you're using a personal loan to refinance or consolidate debts, some lenders can send the funds directly to your current creditors.\nThe timing can vary by lender, but the verification and funding process often takes around one to six business days. END