The U.S. economy is facing a challenge due to high inflation and a rise in interest rates. This is causing pressure on financial institutions. In March, Silicon Valley Bank, which focuses on lending for start-ups, collapsed, becoming the largest bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis. Following that, Signature Bank became the third-largest bank to fail in U.S. history. This situation has raised concerns about the potential for a new banking crisis.
If your lender goes out of business and you have a personal loan or any other type of loan, you may be wondering what happens to your debt. The good news is that there’s not much reason to worry, but it’s still a good idea to take some precautions to protect yourself just in case.
What happens to your loans when your lender goes bankrupt?
While there are several reasons lenders may go bankrupt, the most frequent cause is insolvency or the imminent threat of it. However, it’s important to note that if you have any type of loan, including personal loans, student loans, mortgages, or others, it won’t be impacted by the lender going bankrupt. Your repayment schedule, interest rate, and outstanding balance will stay unchanged.
If your lender, such as a bank or financial institution, goes out of business, they will sell their assets to pay their debts. This includes loans and accounts, so your account will probably be sold to another institution. The new institution will take over and manage your account like your previous lender did.
Typically, when accounts or assets are sold, they are sold to the same lender. However, sometimes they can be divided among multiple institutions. This means that if you have multiple types of loans with the same lender, you may end up owing money to more than one creditor.
Both the previous lender and the new lender must send you written notice providing information about the transaction. Once the transfer is finalized, you will receive a letter from your new lender. They typically send this letter a month before your payments begin. It will contain all the necessary information about your new account, such as your payment due date and the payment submission process.
Are debts forgiven if the lender goes bankrupt?
If the institution that gave you a loan goes bankrupt, they will sell their assets to get money. So, your loan won’t be forgiven, and you still have to make payments. The only change is that you will send payments to a different institution. Keep in mind that although debts are a liability for you, they are considered assets for lenders.
What to do if your lender goes under
At any time, lenders have the right to sell your loans and accounts to other institutions, even if they’re not going bankrupt. Although you have no control over this, you can take precautions to safeguard yourself in case of any issues during the account transfer.
- Make sure your contact information is up to date. To avoid missing any loan payments, it is important to have up-to-date contact information on file so that you receive all necessary communications about your account.
- Download and keep copies of your recent statements. These statements will serve as proof of what your account should look like. If you switch to a new lender, your loan terms, interest rate, and outstanding balance will remain unchanged. However, it’s a good idea to keep copies of your previous statements in case there are any issues during the transfer that need to be resolved.
- Keep making payments as usual. If you haven’t received your new account details from the new lender yet, please continue making payments to your original lender, even if you’ve been notified that your account will be transferred soon.
- Keep tabs on your credit score. When a new servicer takes over your loan, your credit score might decrease slightly at first. This decrease will only be temporary and will improve once payment history is established on the new account. If you notice a sudden drop in your credit score even though you’ve made payments on time, it could mean the lender did not receive your payment. In this case, immediately contact your new lender to resolve the issue.
The bottom line
Finding out that your lender has gone bankrupt can be alarming, but there’s no need to panic. Your loan conditions should stay the same, even if another institution handles the account. Keep making your payments as usual and watch out for any correspondence to prevent any unexpected situations.