Did you receive a mailer from Overland Funding (similar to the one below) claiming that you were “exclusively selected” for a debt consolidation loan at a very low interest rate? The mailer we were able to get our hands on shows that the individual who received it was “eligible” for up to $34,160 at a 5.99% interest rate, allowing them to pay off their debt three times faster.
The mailer also makes several other aggressive claims, stating that the individual was “exclusively selected” for this loan, insinuating that this person has already been pre-approved for a debt consolidation loan at these very attractive rates. Furthermore, Overland Funding mentions that its loans have “No origination, hidden or early payoff fees” and that the person’s “Credit score [will] not be impacted when you apply”.
My name is Ben, and I have spent the last five years helping people understand the differences in options to help them eliminate debt cheaper, easier, and faster. I have also uncovered debt consolidation scams. I was also one of the first to write an article covering the unfortunate Litigation Practice Group bankruptcy and have spoken with countless people negatively affected by it.
Therefore, to get to the bottom of this issue, we decided to dig into the company background, products, and business practices, allowing you to make a more informed decision. If you’d like to learn more about all this, continue reading!
What is Overland Funding?
Overland Funding History
After a quick internet search, we discovered that the company was both recently started and incorporated on 5/10/2022 (Source). With that being said, however, it seems like the company’s website was actually started much earlier, being registered on 04/05/2015 (source). This might suggest that another company operated under this domain which was possibly purchased by the current Overland Funding. The company also operates another one-page website that serves as the landing page for individuals who have received the aforementioned mailer. This website was created much more recently, being registered on 02/07/2024 (source).
We can see that the company’s physical office is located at 4340 Von Karman Ave Fl 4, Newport Beach, CA 92660 and is headed by Mr. Eric Custodio who is currently acting as CEO.
One aspect that is important to note about these debt consolidation loan companies is that they need to hold an active California Finance Lender and Broker license to be able to actually issue loans. Sometimes, companies like Overland Funding may claim to offer loans but do not actually have the required license to do so. Fortunately, the company mentions that “Overland Funding, LLC is a California-licensed lender under the California Department of Financial Institutions”. After checking on the California Department of Financial Institutions, we determined this to indeed be true.
With that being said, we did find some things written on Overland Funding’s website that may be helpful in context of the mailers they have been sending out. First off, the company’s privacy policy mentions that “Overland Funding, LLC does not guarantee that you will be approved for any type of loan and the interest rate or APR will vary depending on the lender’s terms”. Compared to the language written on the mailer, this statement from the company’s website is completely different. They in fact, are not guaranteeing that you will be immediately eligible for the low interest rate that they had previously been advertising to individuals who were “exclusively selected”.
Another point of contention is that although on the company’s mailer they mentioned their loans did not come with any “origination, hidden or early payoff fees”, this does not actually seem to be true. Their https://www.overlandfunding.com/rates-and-terms/ website actually shows a table of a ‘Typical Overland Funding Loan”. As you can see below, all their loan options actually do come with origination fees. Furthermore, the APR for the vast majority of loan options are much higher than the advertised 5.99%, with some loans even reaching an APR of 29.99%.
One last thing we discovered is that starting on 05/24/24, Overland Funding was involved in a case with the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. After reading through the case documents, we were able to uncover that Overland Funding did not submit its required annual report by the due date of March 15th, 2024. After nine reminders to do so, “the Commissioner issued an Order Summarily Revoking California Finance Lenders License and/or Broker license” on May 8, 2024. Overland Funding did finally submit their annual report 35 days late, incurring a $15,500 fine.
Although we cannot surmise about the company’s circumstance and why they did not submit their annual report in time, this might be something to consider as a company’s transparency and ability to remain compliant may also reflect on its business practices.
Check Your Rate and Compare Options!
You may be looking for a debt consolidation loan, but do you qualify? Is your credit score good enough? Is your debt-to-income ratio or credit utilization good enough?
I helped build this free consolidation loan and other options calculator to help you compare your rates across multiple debt consolidation lenders and your options to other options if you cannot qualify for a loan. It’s specific to your financial information, so if you have $10,000 in debt, it will estimate your situation.
You can then check your rate, which will NOT affect your credit score.
Overland Funding Reviews
Now that you know a little more about the Overland Fundings’ background, we wanted to dive into customer reviews that have been posted online. This will help you gain an insight into other peoples’ experiences and what you might expect yourself if you decide to get a loan from the company.
BBB
The first place we checked was Overland Funding’s BBB webpage. Here, they have been BBB accredited since 3/28/2024, hold an A- rating from the organization, and have a 5/5 star rating from 7 customer reviews. Below we’ve highlighted a few relevant reviews for you to read.
The two most recent reviews praise the company for being able to help find a solution to their financial needs, as well as having a simple process. One individual states that they received a great rate of 5.99%, possibly confirming the fact that some individuals are able to qualify for low interest rate loans which help them pay off their debt much faster.
Yelp
We then turned our attention to Yelp, where the company has much fewer ratings, but is also rated only 3/5 stars. Once again, we’ve highlighted a few relevant ratings for you to help inform your decision about Overland Funding.
The first review we saw mentions that Overland Funding helped them consolidate their “credit card debts into one monthly payment with a personal loan”. This is something positive to hear as it help to confirm that Overland Funding themselves do give out loans to customers who are looking to receive one.
On the other hand, we also read a lengthy review which summarized the customer’s experience as being “pure RED FLAGS, HIGH PRESSURE SALES, BAIT AND SWITCH, filled with lies!”. The person further mentions that they were bait and switched into a debt consolidation program from “Elevate Financial, LLC” which would charge the person 25% of their debt balance for a fee. If true, this is of course extremely misleading and a very bad business practice from Overland Lending. We advise that if you run into a situation like this, that you take the necessary time to understand what you’re actually getting yourself into, rather than simply following a possible bait and switch business tactic.
Lastly, we checked the company’s Google Business Page where the company is rated 4.6/5 with 13 reviews. One thing to note is that the individual who wrote the previous review on Yelp also gave the company the same review on their Google Page. Therefore, we will be excluding their review from the examples below.
The two other most relevant reviews were largely positive, with one person mentioning that initially, they were hesitant as to how exactly the company was going to help clear their debts in a much faster time. However, they state that the company did a great job in “explaining the process & helping [them] take the next steps to becoming debt free”. The other person also had positive things to say, stating that Overland Funding gave them the “capability to get out of [their] hardship that has been dragging [them] down for almost 2 years”.
Important Distinction: Debt Consolidation Loans vs Debt Consolidation Programs
Now that you’ve read about the Overland Funding’s background and the experiences people have had with the company, we want to take a second to clear up an important distinction. It was brought up several times by customers that Overland Funding might be carrying out bait and switch tactics to enroll people into debt consolidation programs. Although this sounds familiar to a debt consolidation loan, they are actually two completely different things.
Firstly, we’ll cover debt consolidation loans. These are, as the name suggests, loans which are issued with a lower interest rate than the rest of your debts, allowing you to pay off those other high-interest debts and consolidate them into one low-interest loan. This helps you save money on your interest payments, lowering the total amount you pay on your debts and shortening the amount of time you have to spend paying these debts. Debt consolidation loan programs, on the other hand, are programs in which you’ll initially fall behind on your debt payments for a significant amount of time. This gives the debt consolidation company the leverage to negotiate with your creditors and settle those debts for a lower percentage of the principal balance, typically around 50% of their value. In addition to this, the debt consolidation company will also typically charge around a 25% fee on your debt’s value for their work in this process. After everything is said and done, you can expect to save about 25% on your debt’s total value. This is of course a positive outcome, however, the risk comes when you work with debt consolidation companies who are not transparent about their fees and procedures. This could leave you paying undisclosed origination fees, balance transfer fees, closing costs, and annual fees, further diminishing the amount you actually save. Lastly, it’s important to consider that even though your monthly payment might go down, the longer term of the loan could lead to higher total interest payments.
Now that you understand the difference between these two products, it’s important to take the necessary time and ask the right questions to ensure that you understand what product you are signing up for. This is especially important as some companies might pressure you to go with an option before you are fully sure what their program actually entails.
Closing Thoughts
After having read our article, hopefully you have a better understanding of Overland Funding as a company, their potential motives, and the products they offer. Furthermore, we emphasize the importance of being able to discern the difference between debt consolidation loans vs. programs. These are two very different offerings that are often purposely disguised as being one or the other.
Furthermore, as previously mentioned, we encourage you to conduct as much research as necessary before deciding to go with any one company. It is especially important to do so if you feel like the company you’re speaking to is being unclear about the products they offer and their associated details.
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