Having a less than optional credit rating is not the end of the world and bad credit can be repaired and there are two ways to approach a loa if you have less than optional credit or bad credit, as it is sometimes referred to. One approach is to put your immediate plans to get the loan on hold, while you do some credit repair and wait for it to take effect and then get the loan.

The next plan of action is to go out and get the loan with no credit repair. Either way you are going to have to get a secured loan, unless you can find someone to cosign on the loan for you. A secured loan is the term used for a loan that has collateral to back it up.

Many people assume that this means that you have to own a house but this is not always the case. Just about anything of substantial real value can be used as collateral in securing a loan. Most lenders prefer a home or property with substantial equity in it as collateral for a bad credit loan though.

A bad credit loan is always going to carry a higher interest rate, because you are going to be deemed a credit risk and that is what determines an interest rate on a loan. If you have outstanding high interest loans, or credit card debt you can use one loan to consolidate or eliminate those debts and in the end leave you with a better loan with better terms to pay off.

This is commonly referred to as a debt consolidation loan. Many times the lender will in fact give you checks in the amount of each problem loan that you are going to pay off when the new loan is secured.