Rocket Loans Personal Loans

Rocket Loans offers multiple rate discounts and fast funding for personal loans. The lender accepts borrowers with fair credit or better (credit scores above 629).

Compared with other lenders, Rocket Loans lacks some convenient features, like the ability to choose your payment date or send funds directly to creditors with a debt consolidation loan. The lender also doesn’t have a mobile app, so borrowers who prefer to manage loan payments on their phones may want to consider other options.

Pros

• Option to pre-qualify with a soft credit check.
• Multiple rate discounts.
• Fast funding.
• Option to change your payment date.
• Wide range of loan amounts.

Cons

• Origination fee.
• Only two repayment term options.
• No secured, co-signed or joint loan options.
• No direct payment to creditors with debt consolidation loans.

Rocket Loans at a glance

• Disclosure from Rocket LoansAll personal loans are made by Cross River Bank, a New Jersey state chartered commercial bank, Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender. All loans are unsecured, fully amortizing personal loans. Eligibility for a loan is not guaranteed. Please refer to our Disclosures and Licenses page for state-required disclosures, licenses, and lending restrictions. Borrower must be a U.S. citizen or permanent U.S. resident alien at least 18 years of age. All loan applications are subject to credit review and approval. Offered loan terms depend upon your credit profile, requested amount, requested loan term, credit usage, credit history and other factors. Not all borrowers receive the lowest interest rate. To qualify for the lowest rate, you must have excellent credit, meet certain conditions, and select autopay. Rates and Terms are subject to change at any time without notice. Please refer to www.RocketLoans.com and our Terms of Use for additional terms and conditions.

Where Rocket Loans personal loans stand out

Option to pre-qualify with a soft check. Before committing to a loan, Rocket Loans allows applicants to pre-qualify and check their rate with a soft credit pull, which doesn’t affect credit scores. Pre-qualifying lets applicants preview their potential loan amount, APR, repayment terms, monthly payments and total interest costs. If you accept a loan offer, Rocket Loans will verify your information with a hard pull, which can temporarily drop your score a few points.

Multiple rate discounts. Borrowers who set up automatic loan payments can receive a rate discount of 0.30 percentage points. Choosing autopay ensures on-time payments, and the rate discount lowers overall interest costs.

Existing Rocket Mortgage customers may also be eligible for a rate discount. Rocket Loans also offers seasonal discounts and rate discounts for its employees.

Fast funding. Rocket Loans offers same-day funding. The lender says it can approve applications within minutes, and borrowers who sign their loan documents before 1 p.m. ET Monday through Friday may receive their money that same day. The exact timing depends on your bank and how easily the lender can verify your information.

Option to change your payment date: Rocket Loans allows borrowers to change their payment date with no restrictions on how many times they can change it throughout the life of their loan. This loan feature can be helpful for borrowers who experience changes in their income or expenses — for example, if they switch jobs and get paid on a different date. Borrowers who use autopay can choose to make monthly or bi-weekly payments.

Wide range of loan amounts: Rocket Loans offers loans from $2,000 to $45,000, which allows borrowers to cover a variety of expenses like debt consolidation or home improvement projects.

Where Rocket Loans personal loans fall short

Origination fee: Rocket Loans charges an origination fee of up to 9% of the loan amount. The fee is taken from the loan proceeds before funds are disbursed. You’ll want to be sure the amount borrowed is still enough to cover your expense once the fee is taken out. Though many online lenders charge an origination fee, some of Rocket Loans’ competitors do not.

Only two repayment term options: Rocket Loans offers either a three- or five-year repayment term. Borrowers can’t choose a shorter term and pay less interest, or a longer one to lower their monthly payments.

No secured, co-signed or joint loan options: Rocket Loans offers only unsecured personal loans, meaning borrowers cannot secure the loan with collateral (like a car) or add a co-signer or co-borrower to their application. These options, offered by some of the lender’s competitors, can help borrowers qualify for a lower rate or a larger loan.

No direct payment to creditors with debt consolidation loans. Borrowers cannot have their loan funds sent directly to creditors when using a Rocket Loan for debt consolidation. This means borrowers must send the funds themselves, creating an additional step in the process.

No mobile app to manage loan: Unlike some competitors, Rocket Loans does not offer a mobile app to manage your loan.

How to use Rocket Loans personal loans

You can use a Rocket Loans personal loan for:

• Home improvement projects.
• Debt consolidation.
• Emergencies.
• Medical and dental bills.
• Vacations.
• Weddings.
• Funerals.
• Business expenses.
• Vehicle financing.
• Other large expenses.

Rocket Loans prohibits the use of its personal loans for:

• College expenses.
• Illegal activity.

Rocket Loans personal loan customer reviews

As of September 2024, Rocket Loans has 4.8 stars on Trustpilot, a website that collects consumer reviews. Customers mention the company’s easy application process and fast funding. The lender also has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

Do you qualify for a Rocket Loans personal loan?

To qualify for a personal loan from Rocket Loans, you must be at least 18 years old and a U.S. resident living in one of the states where the lender does business.

Rocket Loans’ borrowing requirements

• Minimum credit score: 640.
• Minimum annual gross income: $24,000.
• Maximum debt-to-income ratio: 40% or 70% including a mortgage.
• Minimum credit history: 2 years.

Before you apply

• Check your credit. You can get your free credit report on NerdWallet or at AnnualCreditReport.com. Doing so will help you spot and fix any errors before you apply.

• Calculate your monthly payments. Use a personal loan calculator to determine what APR and repayment term you’d need to get a loan with affordable monthly payments.

• Make a plan to repay the loan. Review your budget to see how the loan’s monthly payments impact your cash flow. If you have to cut other expenses in order to repay the loan, it’s better to know that before you borrow.
• Gather your documents. Most lenders require proof of income, which can be a W-2 or paystub, as well as proof of address and a Social Security number. Having these documents handy can speed the application process.

How to apply for a Rocket Loans personal loan

Here are the steps to apply for a Rocket Loans personal loan.

1. Pre-qualify on Rocket Loans’ website. You’ll be asked what the loan is for, your income and employment status, as well as some personal information like your name, address and birthdate. The form will also ask for your Social Security number and email address before you can preview loan offers. There’s no hard credit pull at this stage.
2. Accept a loan offer and get funded. Once you accept a loan offer, you’ll submit a formal personal loan application. This could require more documents, like tax documents and pay stubs, to confirm the information you gave during pre-qualification. Rocket Loans will also do a hard credit check when you apply, so your credit score could temporarily dip. Once your application is approved, Rocket Loans typically sends funds the same or next business day.
3. Make a plan to repay the loan. Rocket Loans reports payments to all three major credit bureaus, so on-time payments will help build your credit score, but missed payments will hurt it. Setting up automatic payments and keeping an eye on your budget are two ways to manage your loan payments.

Compare Rocket Loans to other lenders

Personal loan lenders offer different rates, loan amounts and special features, so it pays to weigh other options. The best personal loan is usually the one with the lowest APR.

Similar to Rocket Loans, Happy Money and LendingPoint offer mid-sized loans to borrowers with fair-to-good credit.

Happy Money

LendingPoint

How we rate Rocket Loans personal loans

NerdWallet writers rate lenders against a rubric that changes each year based on how personal loan products evolve. Here’s what we prioritized this year:

• Category definitionsAffordability (25%)An affordable loan has low rates and fees compared to other similar loans and may offer rate discounts.Customer experience (20%)A good customer experience includes allowing borrowers to choose and change their repayment date, a fully online application process, a mobile app to manage the loan and a customer service team with wide availability.Underwriting and eligibility (20%)The lender reviews borrowers’ credit reports and credit history and tries to understand their ability to repay a loan. It offers loans in most states and doesn’t restrict eligibility by requiring a pre-existing relationship.Application process (20%)Borrowers can pre-qualify to check their potential rate, loan amount, repayment term and APR without affecting their credit score. They can easily find answers to questions about the personal loan on the lender’s website. The application process is fast enough to allow funding within a couple of days or less.Loan flexibility (15%)A flexible loan is one that offers a wide range of loan amounts and repayment term options. It includes common features like additional loan types and direct payment to creditors on debt consolidation loans.DiscretionaryA lender’s star rating can be reduced if the lender is sued by a state or federal regulator for unfair consumer practices or has been accused by a reputable source of suspicious business practices.

Find the Best Personal Loan

Methodology

NerdWallet’s review process evaluates and rates personal loan products from more than 35 financial technology companies and financial institutions. We collect over 50 data points and cross-check company websites, earnings reports and other public documents to confirm product details. We may also go through a lender’s pre-qualification flow and follow up with company representatives. NerdWallet writers and editors conduct a full fact check and update annually, but also make updates throughout the year as necessary.

Our star ratings award points to lenders that offer consumer-friendly features, including: soft credit checks to pre-qualify, competitive interest rates and no fees, transparency of rates and terms, flexible payment options, fast funding times, accessible customer service, reporting of payments to credit bureaus and financial education. Our ratings award fewer points to lenders with practices that may make a loan difficult to repay on time, such as charging high annual percentage rates (above 36%), underwriting that does not adequately assess consumers’ ability to repay and lack of credit-building help. We also consider regulatory actions filed by agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We weigh these factors based on our assessment of which are the most important to consumers and how meaningfully they impact consumers’ experiences.