Best Emergency Loans in November 2024

If you have a home improvement emergency, consider LightStream. It offers one of the longest home improvement loan terms on the market — 240 months. The longer your loan term, the smaller your monthly payments, typically speaking. That’s because you have more time to spread your balance across. However, you’ll likely pay more overall interest.

You will need to borrow at least $25,000 to access a 240-month term. You’ll also have to agree to a hard credit pull since it doesn’t offer prequalification.

LightStream doesn’t disclose its exact requirements, but it only approves borrowers with good to excellent FICO scores. LightStream borrowers usually have:

• At least five years of credit history, with a mix of accounts
• Assets, such as retirement, investment, checking and savings accounts
• A favorable debt-to-income ratio
• An excellent payment history with no delinquencies

You could be eligible for Upstart even if you have bad (or no) credit. This lending platform considers more than just your credit score. Instead, it uses an AI algorithm to predict how likely you are to repay your loan.

You’ll have to sacrifice some benefits to take an Upstart loan. It only offers two loan terms: 36 or 60 months. Your loan might also come with an origination fee of 0.00% - 12.00%, the highest on this list.

It’s easier to qualify for Upstart, but that doesn’t mean it approves everyone. If you don’t have credit, you must have a college degree or be enrolled in a degree program. Upstart’s other eligibility requirements include:

• Age: Be 18 or older
• Administrative: Have a U.S. address, personal banking account, email address and Social Security number
• Employment: Have a job or job offer that starts within six months, or have regular income
• Credit-related factors: Debt-to-income (DTI) ratio no higher than 50% (45% in Connecticut, Maryland, New York and Vermont), no bankruptcies within the last year, fewer than six inquiries on your credit report in the last six months and no current delinquencies
• Credit score: 300+

Same day emergency loans from Discover can come with three repayment assistance options. If you run into financial hardship, you could defer your payments, temporarily reduce your payments or extend your loan term.

Although repayment assistance can provide peace of mind, be sure to set up a plan with Discover. Otherwise, it may charge you a hefty $39 late payment fee.

You’ll need to meet these eligibility criteria to get a Discover loan:

• Age: Be at least 18
• Citizenship: Have a Social Security number
• Administrative Have a physical address, email address and internet access
• Income: Minimum income of $40,800 (individually or as a household)
• Credit score: 720+

Some lenders don’t allow payment extensions. With Best Egg, you may be able to change your due date twice during the life of your loan. Better yet, you can request an extension online if you don’t have time to call.

It can take up to three days to receive your funds, but Best Egg claims that around half of their customers receive it the next business day.

You must meet the requirements below to qualify for a Best Egg loan:

• Citizenship: Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident living in the U.S.
• Administrative: Have a personal checking account, email address and physical address
• Residency: Not live in the District of Columbia, Iowa, Vermont, West Virginia or U.S. territories
• Credit score: 580+

SoFi isn’t the only lender that offers same-day finding. It does, however, have a much later cut-off time when it comes to signing loan documents. SoFi gives you until 7 p.m. EST to sign and still qualify for a same-day loan. In comparison, you only have until 2:30 p.m. with LightStream.

SoFi loans have competitive APRs, but to access the lowest rate, you may need to pay an optional origination fee. Be sure to ask for offers that do and don’t include the optional fee to see if paying it works to your advantage.

You must meet the requirements below in order to get an emergency loan from SoFi:

• Age: Be the age of majority in your state (typically 18)
• Citizenship: Be a U.S. citizen, an eligible permanent resident or a non-permanent resident (a DACA recipient or asylum-seeker, for instance)
• Employment: Have a job or job offer with a start date within 90 days, or have regular income from another source
• Credit score: 680+

Avant may be best if you have fair credit and need an emergency loan. Its minimum credit score requirement is just 550, much lower than many lenders. And if you’re new to personal loans, Avant’s customer service department is open seven days a week if you need help.

However, with a maximum loan amount of $35,000, Avant may not fit your needs if you’re facing a large emergency.

To get a loan with Avant, you’ll need to meet the following minimum requirements:

• Residency: Not available to residents of Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.
• Administrative: May need to submit bank statements, pay stubs or tax documents to prove your income. Avant may also call your employer to verify your employment.
• Credit score: 550+

With a $1,000 minimum loan amount, lending platform Upgrade is a strong player in the small loans category. And unlike some other lenders, Upgrade might not automatically deny you for rocky credit. If you don’t qualify on your own, a joint loan is possible.

If you need same-day funds, Upgrade might not make sense. It offers fast-funding, but you will need to wait until the next business day. Upgrade loans can also carry a high origination fee.

To qualify for a loan through Upgrade, you must meet the requirements below:

• Age: Be at least 18 years old (19 in some states)
• Citizenship: Be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or live in the U.S. with a valid visa
• Administrative: Have a valid bank account and email address
• Credit score: 580+