TriPoint Lending [An Honest Review]

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Straight up looking at facts, TriPoint Lending is an accredited BBB company with a stellar grade. If you’ve been one of the lucky ones to come across a mailer from TriPoint offering you a seemingly great loan offer, you might’ve looked them up and seen a bunch of negative reviews. Why the disconnect?

Well, that’s probably what you’re here to find out, and we’re here to give our honest opinion on why we think there’s a huge disconnect with the great BBB rating and the largely negative reviews.

Let’s get right to it.

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What is TriPoint Lending?

TriPoint Lending is a company that’s been in business since 2017 and offers a plethora of personal loan options, or so it seems (more on that later). They are based in Irvine, California and are an accredited BBB company with an A+ rating. That’s quite the achievement.

Who owns TriPoint Lending?

Alleviate Financial LLC is the actual company that does business as TriPoint Lending. Alleviate Financial LLC specializes in the management of debt and provides services that help with debt relief. Both Alleviate Financial LLC and TriPoint lending are spearheaded by Michael F. Barsoum as President and CEO.

How do I qualify for a TriPoint Lending personal loan?

Each application is reviewed on a case-by-case basis, but in general, some requirements include:

Debt-to-income ratio under 50%
Verifiable employment, preferably W-2, for at least one year
The ability to make the monthly payments with current income

Those are pretty basic requirements.

TriPoint Lending credit score requirements

TriPoint Lending does not have a minimum credit score requirement. That being said, if your credit score is below 640, you are most likely to see very high rates, which may not be a good idea for you to take the loan. If your credit score is above 700, you are likely to get a very good deal with TriPoint Lending.

The actual problem with TriPoint loan qualifications

We’re going to level with you. Because this is TriPoint Lending, and because there is some controversy online that needs to get addressed, let’s get straight to how most people seemingly qualify for TriPoint.

TriPoint Lending specifically sends out mailers stating that you’ve been “Pre-Qualified” or “Pre-Selected” for a loan worth tens of thousands of dollars at an interest rate that usually falls somewhere between 4-5% APR. They even give you a breakdown of your estimated monthly payment on the mailer itself.

You’ll soon find that when you contact them, they pull a “bait and switch” on you, sometimes even at the last moment, stating that no, the offer they mailed to you no longer applies because after looking at your actual qualifications and credit score, you’re too much of a risk to give you that offer. Sure, maybe they won’t actually say that last part to you, but let’s be real, that’s almost always the reason.

They’ll then give you a different offer that’s more in line with your level of risk to them, and it’s almost never the tens of thousands of dollar loan at a 4 to 5% rate that was initially marketed to you.

Is TriPoint Lending legit?

Now this is where it gets really tricky.

The whole fiasco behind the numerous negative reviews online on TriPoint Lending often trace back to the mailers being sent out to potential consumers. They clearly give false hope that you can get a substantial loan at a great rate and pull the “bait and switch” on you at the last minute.

This is actually a common marketing technique, unfortunately, but many consumers, especially those who’ve never heard of or experienced this before, can’t help but feel that they’ve been scammed or at least misled to believing that they truly qualified.

This type of marketing sham has been around for ages. Doesn’t mean it’s ethical, but it’s there.

So the takeaway is that TriPoint Lending is legit, but if an offer is too good to be true, it is probably a bait and switch offer. However, keep in mind this happens with almost all lending companies. Double-check all the fine print in your offers before signing any papers.

Further points of contention: Transparency

Customers can get confused because of the way TriPoint, or rather Alleviate Financial LLC, structures their business.

Alleviate Financial LLC is the company that deals with financial services. However, TriPoint Lending is the company they do business as. What’s confusing is that TriPoint lending isn’t a financial company but rather a marketing lead generator business.

On the other hand, Alleviate Financial LLC is a Duly Licensed California Finance Lender.

It seems that the only client TriPoint Lending serves as a marketing lead generator is Alleviate Financial LLC. Kind of a misleading name if you ask me. You’d think you were getting loans from TriPoint Lending themselves, but apparently not.

Now, ok, maybe it’s just a really disorganized entity and perhaps they just thought of names on the fly without really thinking about how confusing it would be to consumers. But if you look at any mailers by TriPoint Lending, you’ll see that it’s highly unlikely to have been an unintentional oversight on their part. If you’re primarily a marketing lead generator business, don’t include “Lending” in your name, which clearly denotes a financial service.

It’s a shame, because Alleviate Financial LLC, for all intents and purposes, may be a legitimate financial company. In fact, they most likely are due to their status as a Duly Licensed California Finance Lender. They have certain requirements and standards they have to abide by.

Important note: From here on below, whenever we refer to TriPoint Lending, we actually mean Alleviate Financial LLC due to the above assessment.

What products does TriPoint Lending offer?

TriPoint Lending offers customized personal loans for various financial goals, including consolidation loans, credit card refinancing, home improvement, vacation funding, medical bills, etc. You can borrow a minimum of $5,000 up to a maximum of $100,000.

Does TriPoint Lending affect your credit score?

If you apply for a loan, then yes, it will affect your credit score. This is to be expected with any legitimate lending company. Generally, whenever you’re working with a company to secure a loan, always expect a hard pull on your credit. This will cause your score to go down usually to the tune of 10 points lower, but the bright side is that it’ll last no longer than one year. It’ll stay on your credit report for two years, but that isn’t all that bad in and of itself.

Can I pay off loans early without penalty?

Yes, you may pay off your TriPoint loans early without any penalty. But due to possible changes that we may not be up to date on, please check with TriPoint before signing papers.

What fees does TriPoint Lending charge for their loans?

TriPoint Lending makes it clear that the interest rates offered vary widely between 4.95% APR and 30% APR. It is a huge discrepancy, but it is to be expected as each individual can vary widely in terms of the amount of risk they pose for the lender.

However, as noted previously, be sure that you don’t assume any mailers marketed towards you as “Pre-Selected” or “Pre-Qualified” with a low-interest rate between 4-5% APR are what you’ll truly qualify for. These are scummy marketing tactics that hold no weight.

How much can you borrow from TriPoint Lending?

TriPoint Lending states that you can borrow a minimum of $5,000 and a maximum of $100,000, depending on your credit score and other qualifying requirements.

Where is TriPoint lending available?

They are available in California as they are a Duly Licensed Finance Lender in California specifically.

TriPoint Lending Reviews

TriPoint Lending has 3.75/5 stars as their review score on BBB and a whopping 5/5 on Google reviews. Reading into it more deeply, you can see a slew of one-star reviews. These reviews typically speak to the fact that they were pre-selected for a low-interest loan, but when their credit gets checked, they end up not qualifying for the same loan.

Although this is considered a bait-and-switch tactic, and some people consider them scams, it is a common tactic used by bands and loan services big and small. Even for those pre-approved for mortgages, they may find that the actual loan they will qualify for is far different than the one they were pre-approved for.

The million-dollar question:

Would I myself use the lending services of TriPoint Lending, or rather more accurately, Alleviate Financial LLC?

It’s true that I don’t like nor condone the marketing practices of TriPoint Lending. And the fact that it’s a common marketing tactic doesn’t make it ok. However, from an objective point of view, the actual financial company, Alleviate Financial LLC, is legitimately a Duly Licensed California Finance Lender. And truly, they could be an alright company, if not a great one. At the very least, they have to abide by set standards when conducting business.

So, if you can get past the confusing business structure and the misleading marketing tactics, I would treat Alleviate Financial LLC doing business as TriPoint Lending as I would any other lending company; that is, I would contact them with my information to see what I truly qualify for while shopping around and comparing it to other reputable lender loan offers.

If you are more weary of such companies, try repairing your credit score to get a better deal at more traditional institutions. Or enlist the services of credit repair companies such as Credit Glory.