1 /5 A D: I applied for a personal loan through OneMain Financial (Hialeah, Miami, Florida branch) after being prequalified through Experian for around $8,200. I went through their entire process in good faith uploaded my bank statements, gave them access to verify my income through their system, and they even ran a hard credit inquiry which impacted my score. After all of that, I was told I was approved, but then they said I couldn’t move forward without providing a vehicle as collateral.
At no point during the online application did it state that collateral was required. If I had known that upfront, I never would have applied or allowed my credit to be pulled. This felt like a bait and switch, they advertise personal loans, but only after running your credit and reviewing all your documents do they reveal that collateral is mandatory.
And here’s what really doesn’t make sense how do you tell someone they’re approved, but then deny them because they don’t have a car as collateral? If I’m “approved,” why not simply offer me other unsecured options instead of shutting me out completely? That feels unfair, misleading, and not customer friendly.
This process wasted my time, exposed my sensitive financial information, and hurt my credit score. OneMain should be upfront and transparent about collateral requirements before asking customers to upload documents or run credit checks.
