Laurel Road
Is This Your Business?Author: Kaitlyn Short
Founded in 2013, Laurel Road is a fintech company offering online graduate student loans, student loan refinancing, mortgages, and personal loans in all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.
Laurel Road has undergone several changes recently. It was previously known as Laurel Road Bank and prior to that, Darien Rowayton Bank (DR Bank). In April 2019, Key Bank's parent company (KeyCorp) acquired Laurel Road Bank's online lending division, while the company's three local branches in Connecticut are remaining separate. The banking services are staying with the privately held company, under the name DR Bank. Laurel Road is now a KeyBank brand. Any new loans are originated by KeyBank.
Personal Loan Process
- Fill out the online application
- Soft credit pull (doesn't affect your credit)
- You get conditional rates (or declined)
- If you like your rates, and proceed, then a hard credit check is needed to finalize your offer. You can upload your supporting documents to your Laurel Road account.
- Once the document review is complete, you are either approved or declined. Extra information about declined applications will be available on your client portal.
Specialty Personal Loans
In addition to regular installment-based personal loans for consumers, Laurel Road continues its mission to help students fund their education by offering specialty personal loans for doctors just finishing school and out of school. These loans allow doctors and medical students the option to use their future earning potential to help secure a loan.
Customers with a current personal loan can apply for a new personal loan or can refinance their existing personal loan.
Top Ranked Companies
The Good
- Referrals
- Accepts Cosigners
- Cheaper Repayments for Residency
Referrals
Laurel Road customers can take advantage of the lender's referral program. Individuals can earn up to $400 for referrals.
Accepts Cosigners
Joint applications are accepted for Laurel Road personal loans. Not all personal loan servicers offer the option to do a joint application.
Cheaper Repayments for Residency Interview Loan
For physicians in school and in training, a reduced repayment plan may be available with payments as small as $25.
The Bad
- Funding Time
- Loan Amounts Differ
- Personal Loan Eligibility
Funding Time
From the time that you finish your application, Laurel Road takes as little as two business days to disburse your funds. However, most personal loans are disbursed within seven business days, according to the lender.
Loan Amounts Differ
Different maximum loan amounts are available, depending on your loan purpose, with a higher ceiling for purposes like debt consolidation, as well as special personal loans for doctors in training and in practice. This can be a little confusing.
Personal Loan Eligibility
For Laurel Road's standard personal loan product, it would be nice if we could find more information about what minimum acceptance limits are available. While the terms and conditions mention that the underwriting includes normal industry measurements like employment information, debt-to-income ratios, and credit history, it doesn't say specifically what it is looking for.
Customers would likely appreciate a brief profile of people who actually do get accepted with information about acceptable ranges or hard limits, so they don’t waste time applying if there isn’t a reasonable expectation of acceptance. However, they can always fill out the pre-qualification form online to see if they are eligible, with just a soft credit check.
The Bottom Line
Your eligibility for any of Laurel Road's personal loans is determined by several factors, including the purpose of the loan. As a KeyBank brand, these personal loans are funded by a large, well-known company.
While LR's product offerings are interesting, and competitive, for the most part, we still need more information before we can recommend this lending service.
Have you borrowed a personal loan from Laurel Road? Let us know about your experience with a quick review below.
