Golden Valley Lending Review – Read This Before Applying

When you are looking for a quick fix for your financial emergency, Golden Valley Lending is one of the names you’ll come across. It’s among the top payday lending sites that have built a solid reputation for itself over the years. But despite its ‘brand’ presence, you can’t help but wonder, is it a scam? If it’s not, is it worth my time or will it leave me struggling to get out of a vicious debt cycle?

The reason you have these doubts and questions is that you’ve heard sad and horrifying stories of lending companies taking advantage of borrowers at their worst. To help you beat the statistic and come out ahead of this situation, we’ve decided to do the groundwork for you. In this guide; we shall disclose everything you need to know about Golden Valley Lending. You will know what makes the company tick and if it’s truly worth your time.

So without wasting time, let’s dive into the heart of the review.

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What is Golden Valley Lending?

The first thing you should note is that Golden Valley Lending is a tribal lender that has its base in California. Wait, what is a tribal lender? And are their loans any different from payday loan lenders?

A tribal lender is a financial institution that operates on tribal land, is owned and operated by the Native American Financial Services Association. Just like the casinos that are built on tribal land, the tribal lenders are under the sovereignty of the tribal laws instead of the state laws. Although they are required to adhere to consumer finance and lending laws as stipulated under federal laws, they are exempted from following specific state laws.

The NAFSA (Native American Financial Services Association) was started in 2012 and represents about twelve tribes in the short term loan lending business. In case you are wondering, tribal loans are different from payday loans. How so? Well, with conventional payday loans, you are required to repay the loan amount in a single repayment, and usually with your next paycheck. For many who are in financially tight situations, this can be prohibitive and end in a disaster. If they are unable to repay the loan on the due date, the interest and fees pile up and they find themselves stuck in a financial avalanche.

Tribal lending helps to solve this problem by offering borrowers installment loans. They calculate the cost of the loan, add it to the loan amount and then divide it by the loan term to find the amount payable every month or every fortnight. The number of payments is dependent on the amount you borrow and the specific terms of the lender in question.

In the case of Golden Valley Lending, you can borrow a loan amount between $300 and $1,000 if you are a first-time borrower. The amount increases to $1,500 for subsequent loans. With every loan, you get five months to repay. During this period, you will make a constant payment every two weeks.

At the time of writing this guide, Golden Valley Lending offers services to borrows from different states including;

When applying for the loan, Golden Valley Lending doesn’t disclose the fees or the interest rates before-hand. As such, you don’t get to know the cost of the loan before applying. This is something that worries borrowers, especially when you factor in the fact that as a tribal lender, it doesn’t have to abide by state payday loan regulations. Golden Valley Lending doesn’t have a limit to how much they can charge you for the loan.

Pros and Cons

How Does Golden Valley Lending Loans Work?

Like many payday loans, Golden Valley Lending operates through a website. Technically, the website can be accessed from any part of the world. However, the loan services are only available to those in the US (and specifically those living in the states we listed above). The websites contain everything you need to know about the loan and the company albeit a few mishaps.

The process of getting the loan starts by filling out a form on the website. As a first-timer, you can apply for a loan amount between $300 and $1,000. However, if you come back for another loan, the loan limit is increased to $1,500.

Though you’re at liberty to state the loan amount you need, the company has the final say on the actual amount you get. If your finances are strong – meaning you are left with a substantial amount every month after catering to your expenses, Golden Valley Lending might grant you a loan closer to the loan limit. You see, payday loan companies shouldn’t provide loan amounts which will require borrowers to pay more than 25% of their income every month. They are required to be responsible lenders. If the lender doesn’t make this consideration and continues to give a high loan amount and you default, they are held liable for the loss if you ever go to court.

Aside from the loan amount, you provide personal details, including your bank account information (where Golden Valley Lending will deposit the loan). With most same day lending companies, you know how much the loan costs before applying. But with Golden Valley Lending you will only know when signing the loan contract. Because of this, you must take your time to consider the details and terms of the loan carefully. Do some quick math to check if you can afford the loan or not. If you can’t, then terminate the process.

Regardless of the loan amount, you will have five months to repay the loan. Payments are due every two weeks. And there is no grace period for loan repayment. So far, Golden Valley Lending sounds like a bad idea, right? Well, it’s not. It’s available in more than 30 states which is more than what same day lenders offer. Moreover, the loans are ready and in your bank account within a day.

What loan products does Golden Valley Lending provide?

Golden Valley Lending specializes in providing short term installment loans. With these loans, you have the luxury of paying back within a couple of months. This eases the pressure of having the loan and reduces the chances of defaulting and ruining your credit score.

Does Golden Valley Lending offer store services?

Some payday lenders with store locations offer extra services to borrowers who walk into their stores. Unfortunately, Golden Valley Lending doesn’t provide extra services, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. One can choose to look at it in a different light – the company has more time to offer a better experience and a great loan service.

How does one open a Golden Valley Lending account?

Opening a Golden Valley Lending is easy and will take you less than 5 minutes. Once you have the account, you can proceed to fill out a loan application form and get your loan.

To start the process, visit the official website and select how much you want to borrow and click ‘Sign In’ or Apply Now’.

Enter your full names, email address and then declare your military status.

Read through the privacy policy and other important documentation and click ‘Next’. Alternatively, you can skip reading these documentations if you are familiar with how payday loans work.

Enter information about your income and bank account details. If you have a promotion code, paste it on the space provided.

Once you submit the application, the lender will start the verification process. Golden Valley Lending will let you know if the application is successful or not.

Eligibility Criteria

Golden Valley Lending offers bad credit loans, but even it has some requirements. Not every application sent qualifies. Some of the factors Golden Valley Lending considers include:

What information does Golden Valley Lending need to grant you a loan?

There is basic personal information you need to be able to provide in order to get a loan. These include:

Golden Valley Lending has approved your loan, now what?

By now, you know two things, Golden Valley Lending doesn’t offer a grace period for loan repayment, and the installments are payable every two weeks.  In this section, we’d like to add the fact that the loan agreement will contain everything you need to know about the loan, including the repayment schedule.

This schedule is designed to ensure you have enough money before every due date. If you don’t, Golden Valley Lending will charge you $20 for insufficient funds. And if you miss multiple repayments, you risk having your account shut down.

On the flip side, if you happen to get some extra cash, you can repay the loan before the due date. No, you don’t have to worry about a prepayment fee because Golden Valley Lending doesn’t have one. But why should you prepay a loan you could conveniently repay in five months?

Well, it’s simple. You get to save money on the interest that accrues. Though Golden Valley Lending doesn’t disclose the APR until you’ve applied for the loan, one thing is true; they charge the interest rate every day.

If for some reason you anticipate not having cash on the due date, rather than waiting for time to elapse, it’s better to contact Golden Valley Lending instead. They will help you through the rough patch while keeping both parties happy.

How good is Golden Valley Lending customer support?

Judging from the reviews posted online, the support team has a lot of changes to make. Though it’s unlikely you will get stuck on the loan application, a competent customer support staff is important to improve your experience with the company. Poor customer service often results in bad experiences and losing money.

But even with the misses, Trust Pilot gives Golden Valley Lending’s support team a 9.2/10 rating. This is based on the high number of positive reviews on the platform. So which is which? Is the support exemplary, or could it use some improvement?

Well, it’s both. The company could use some improvement in some sectors, but so far, it is good enough. You can reach the support team through;

You can only reach the team through work hours as detailed below;

Is Golden Valley Lending safe and secure?

Golden Valley Lending is a legit tribal lender. In line with this, Golden Valley Lending also pulls all the stops to ensure that it is secure. It does this by using 128-bit SSL encryption on all information you enter. Moreover, as part of its privacy policy, it agrees not to share your information with third-party companies (though if we’ve have learned anything from the internet is to take such claims with a pinch of salt).

But on the bright side, Golden Valley Lending allows you to limit the information they can share with affiliate companies.

Verdict

So how does Golden Valley Lending stack up against other payday companies in the US? Is it worth your time, or does it expose you to the possibility of a being in a vicious debt cycle?

Here’s the moment of truth. First, Golden Valley Lending holds its own against popular same-day loan institutions. Where it beats most of them is the fact that its services are available in 35 states. Most payday lenders are available in single states which is quite limiting for them. But on the flip side, the fact that they do not disclose the loan cost (APR) makes borrowers feel like they have something to hide (even if they disclose it later).

Second, yes, Golden Valley Lending is worth your time. Why? Well, it is a legitimate company that has been running for several years. It grants you the ability to repay the loan in installments, and the process eases the financial burden.

Though the initial loan amount is low, you can borrow a higher amount on subsequent loan applications and you get a discount if you do return. Lastly, judging from the positive reviews it has on Trust Pilot and the 9.2-star rating, we can conclude that Golden Valley Lending knows what it’s doing and is definitely worth your time.

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