Perhaps you are in National Debt Relief program, and they have offered you a Liberty Lending loan to consolidate your debt to get out of the program faster or you received something in the mail like the one below.
But, what are the fees? What is the interest rate? What is the origination fee? Is Liberty Lending also known as Reach Financial?
What is Liberty Lending?
Liberty Lending is a loan offered by National Debt Relief. If you are currently enrolled with National Debt Relief in a debt relief program, they may have recently offered you a debt consolidation loan. It is an invitation-only online lending platform that offers personal loans and debt relief programs. You need to receive a “eligibility ID” in order to get any information. If you have not received one, they allow you the option to call to receive one. They advertise no hidden fees and consistent interest rates throughout the life of your loan as well as fast approvals and online applications.
For a bit more context, National Debt Relief is a debt settlement company. Debt settlement is a debt relief process where a third party negotiates with your creditor on your behalf. The goal is to lower the total payment you owe the creditor which will sufficiently close your account. Oftentimes you can save as much as 50%, or even more, of the total debt you owe. Debt consolidation is typically when you take out a single loan to cover all of your debt. You then have one singular payment to make rather than multiple large payments. Finally, with debt management, you work with a credit counselor who can help you organize your finances and rearrange your payments to make debt payments more manageable.
The idea for National Debt Relief to pitch a loan, is that they may receive their debt settlement fees faster, potentially get the origination fee and potentially get the interest rate on a new loan that is much higher if they actually hold the loan.
Liberty Lending Reviews
One of the biggest complaints I could find about Liberty Lending is how nearly impossible it is to get in contact with customer service.
I found Liberty Lending on BBB and they received a 1/5. It says they have been in business for 9 years, but have only received 3 reviews in that time. However, on other websites like Consumer Affairs, I found many upset reviewers.
One review I found was from a former employee. Because it is found online, we cannot verify what they are saying but it is worth noting. They discussed that they were trained to lie on phone calls.
What are the National Debt Relief Fees that you would be Paying if you Take the Liberty Lending Group Loan?
You may be wondering what additional fees you can potentially be paying by taking the loan with Liberty Lending. I will use an example to illustrate how it works.
Let’s say you enroll $20,000 in Debt with National Debt Relief at a 25% enrollment fee. Let’s say 6 months in they offer you a $27,000 loan with a 5% origination fee at a 27% interest rate for 3 years. So, you are paying $5,000 in National Debt Relief fees (for settling the debt), then you are paying Liberty Lending (which seem to be owned by same people) an origination fee of $1,350 which is deducted from the balance and now you are paying 27% interest rate on a 27,000 loan for 3 years so for 27% interest rate loan, you are then paying $12,682.11 in interest in 3 years at a $1102.28 monthly payment. So, in the end, instead of settling the $20,000 debt you would be paying $5,000 + $1,350 + 12,682.11 for a total of $19,032.11 additional and a total of $39,682.11.
What is the Interest Rate of the Liberty Lending Loan?
It was rather hard to find information on interest rates when searching on their website. They would only show me the options of monthly plans, but no interest rate or fee information. I was able to find more information on a separate website. It said, “all personal loans are set at a fixed rate and available in amounts from $2,000 to $100,000. Loans are available in 24, 36, 48 and 60-month terms with APRs ranging from 7.99% to 29.99%. Personal loans from Liberty Lending Group are unsecured and do not require collateral.”
What is the Origination Fee of the Liberty Lending Loan?
It was hard to find information on origination fees when signing up for a loan from Liberty Lending. However, after digging I found that they come with high-interest rates and hidden fees that can add up quickly. For example, the origination fee can range from $75-$500, depending on your loan amount. There also is a fee of $39 if you are late on any of your payments. There’s also a $30 returned payment fee. So, it seems as though the costs of taking out a personal loan from Liberty Lending can add up quickly. Be sure to read the fine print before signing any loan agreement.
Is Liberty Lending also Reach Financial?
When doing research on Liberty Lending, I found that they may have rebranded under a new name, Reach Financial, after receiving bad reviews. It is not totally clear to me if Liberty Lending is no longer active because their website is still visible and it seems like they are in business. My prediction is that they are the same company just advertised with different names.
I found Reach Financial on BBB where they received a 4.6/5. Interestingly, it says their business has been around since 2019, but the news of Liberty Lending rebranding to Reach Financial did not come out until July of 2022.
The reviews for Reach Financial are very similar to those found on Liberty Lending. It sounds like National Debt Relief gets you in their program, and then tries to double or even triple dip.
What if I can’t Get a Debt Consolidation Loan Elsewhere?
If you can’t get a consolidation loan from Liberty Lending or are not interested in doing so, what are your options? Are you putting more on your cards each month than reducing them? Do you have a high debt to income ratio?
The challenge is that you may qualify for a debt consolidation loan, but there interest rate could be 29.99% or the loan won’t consolidate all of your debt.
As stated above, if you have debt that is unaffordable, we built the free free debt options and costs calculator below that allows you to compare options such as non-profit credit counseling, debt settlement and debt payoff planning. If you are already in financial hardship, the calculator also allows you to understand bankruptcy. No email address is required unless you’d like some additional free assistance.