Rocket Loans Review

Pros

• Suited for startups
• Competitive terms and fees
• Short application process
• Typical time to funding: two – seven days

Cons

• Unsuited for large businesses
• Some additional fees

Rocket Loans Overview

Founded with the intent of creating a “rocket fast personal loan process,” Rocket Loans offers personal loans to eligible borrowers. Along with companies like Rapid Advance and Rocket Mortgage (among many others), Rocket Loans is part of the Quicken family of loans.

Because personal loans are contingent on your personal creditworthiness, not that of your business or enterprise, a loan from Rocket Loans may work for somebody starting a business. The process of getting a loan from Rocket Loans for entrepreneurial purposes is no different from the process of getting a loan for other reasons.

Be warned, however, that Rocket Loans is not for those with poor credit: you need to have a personal credit score of 640 or above to be eligible. You also must have a source of income and have a relatively low debt-to-income ratio.

If you do qualify, Rocket Loans may be worth checking out; the service is fast, rates and fees are competitive with others in the industry, customer service is responsive and helpful, and the company has an excellent online reputation.

Interested in learning more? Read on for the details!

Services Offered

Rocket Loans offers personal loans that can be used for business (or other purposes).

Borrower Qualifications

These are the requirements to get a loan from Rocket Loans:

To qualify for a loan, you must have a credit score of 640 or above. However, you are not approved on credit score alone; Rocket Loans also considers other factors, such as your income and debt. In fact, you must make at least $40,000 a year to qualify. Additionally, you must be at least 18 years old (19 in some states) and be a resident of the United States.

Because Rocket Loans bases their decision entirely on your personal creditworthiness, they do not have any requirements regarding your business such as how long you’ve been in business or how much revenue you make.

Terms & Fees

These are the terms and fees for a loan from Rocket Loans:

Rocket Loans’ loans work like traditional installment loans. You are assigned an interest rate. Each month, you will repay a fixed amount of money until you have repaid your loan plus the interest that has accrued. According to Rocket Loans, the company will set interest rates based on the following conditions:

• FICO Score
• Monthly Income
• DTI Ratio
• Home Ownership
• Number of credit inquiries
• Loan Term

This company charges a one-time origination fee, which is deducted from your principal (the money you are borrowing) before you receive the funds. For example, if you are borrowing $10,000, and you have a 5% origination fee, you will receive a total of $9,500.

Aside from the origination fee and a few potential fees for late payments or for check processing, Rocket Loans does not charge any additional fees. For example, the company does not charge application fees, maintenance fees, or prepayment penalties. The late payment fee is $15.

Application Process

Rocket Loans has a very easy online application process. The lender provides a thorough explanation of the process on its website.

To kick the application off, you’ll be required to create an account and enter some basic information about yourself. Rocket Loans will use this information to determine the rates and fees you may be eligible for and present your loan options to you. Be aware that this is not an official loan offer — Rocket Loans still needs to verify your information before making a final decision.

If you are comparing Rocket Loans to other lenders, you can use these quotes to decide which is better for your business. Because Rocket Loans does not do a hard check on your credit before verifying your information, there is no penalty for getting a quote.

If you decide to continue with Rocket Loans, you will have to choose the offer that works for you and provide additional information so that the company can verify your claims.

Once everything has been verified, the company will present a final offer to you. When you have accepted, your loan (minus the origination fee) will be sent to your bank account. The time from application to funding normally takes between one and three business days. However, you may be able to get funding even more quickly than that. According to Rocket Loans’ FAQ, “depending on your bank, and our ability to validate your information electronically, you may be able to receive Same Day Funding.”

Sales & Advertising Transparency

Rocket Loans discloses all important information about its loan products on its website; you should not come across any surprises before applying for a loan. Additionally, customer service is transparent and willing to answer questions.

Customer Service & Technical Support

Customer service is available via phone, email, or live chat from 9 AM – 6 PM ET, Monday – Friday. The website also has a fairly in-depth FAQ for basic questions.

Although a minority claim they’ve had problems getting in touch with customer service to help with problems, most reviewers praise the staff for being responsive and helpful without being pushy.

User Reviews

Negative Reviews & Complaints

Rocket Loans is accredited by the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating. The company also has a very active TrustPilot page.

The reviews for Rocket Loans are largely positive. Regardless, here are the most common complaints about the service:

• Origination Fee: Some customers were surprised by the origination fee. However, I saw this fee disclosed multiple times on the website, and it was mentioned upfront by the customer service representative I talked to. Be aware that this fee is deducted from the principal before the money is sent to you.
• High-Interest Rates: Some customers complained that the interest rate they were assigned was higher than they’d prefer.
• Difficulty Applying: Some customers had trouble with the online application interface. A few were further frustrated because they had trouble getting in touch with customer service to help with the technical difficulties.
• Quotes Subject To Change: One customer was surprised to learn their initial offer had changed after their information was verified. Unfortunately, Rocket Loans is not able to offer an official quote until they’ve learned your whole situation, so your official offer may be a little different than your prequalification estimate (especially if the original information you entered was inaccurate).

It should be noted that these complaints are common to the loan industry at-large. If anything, most of these problems are communication issues; however, the complaints are so rare they appear to be isolated incidents rather than a trend.

Positive Reviews & Testimonials

Praise for Rocket Loans abounds on TrustPilot. Currently, the company has an aggregated rating of 9.6 of 10 out of over 2,100 reviews. Praise is commonly for these aspects of the lending service:

• Fast & Easy Application Process
• Informative Customer Service
• Fair Rates & Fees

We’d like to hear from you, though! Do you have experience with Rocket Loans? What did you think? Leave a message in the comments!

Final Verdict

If you need a loan to start a business and you have fair credit and financials, Rocket Loans may be worth considering. There is certainly no reason to stay away from the company — its fees are competitive and its service is all-around convenient.

Because the terms and fees are comparable to those of other personal lenders, there’s a chance that Rocket Loans will give you a competitive deal. However, to ensure you’re getting the lowest rates possible, I’d encourage anybody who is going this route to make some comparisons before settling on an offer.

With that said, if you are in need of capital, and Rocket Loans offers rates that work for your business venture, there is certainly no reason to stay away from the company.

Interested in your other options for startup financing? Check out our full list of Startup Business Loan Reviews!

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