Experiences with financing--- Mountain America Credit Union?

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kkterry

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I couldn't find any information on this, if there is some somewhere I would love to be pointed in the right direction.  We are looking at a couple of financing options and the one with the lowest rate for us is through Mountain America Credit Union.  However, it has a balloon payment that the dealer says people simply refinance with Mountain America at the time it is due and they've never heard any negative feedback.  I am wondering if anyone here has used Mountain America Federal Credit Union (with or without a balloon payment)?  What was your experience with them?
 
We used them for our trailer loan a few years back. No balloon though. Easy process with no surprises. I would be worried about a balloon in a period of increasing rates, but you probably know that.
 
Balloon payments are primarily for specialized borrowing situations, but some dealers or buyers use them because it makes the monthly payments low [until the balloon comes due!).  Usually a poor choice for buyers, especially if financing a rapidly depreciating asset like an RV. You end up with a big payment due and insufficient collateral for a new loan on a used RV.  If that kind of loan is the only way to make the payments affordable, you probably ought not to be buying.  But that's your call...

What sort of questions do you have about Mountain America?  You probably don't need to worry about them sending out a leg breaker if you miss a payment, but any lender is going to start re-po if you get too far behind.  Other than that, it's all about interest rates, length of term, and requirements for upfront or back-end payments.  You should compare the terms of the loan (interest rate, time period, etc.) with other lenders and choose the one that is least expensive for your needs over the length of the loan. Not just monthly payments.
 
That is who the dealer we bought from used for ours.  I didn't really care for the balloon idea, but it's not due for 20 years, be dead by then, I'll let the kids/grandkids worry about it.  It was the lowest interest rate/payment I could find, so there is that.  Easy people to deal with, no issues of any kind, have had it about two years now, no problem. 
 
The balloon payment at the end makes the monthly payment lower because you aren't paying much (if anything) toward the principle. The downside is that you pay interest on a higher amount of money for the full time period of the loan.  In my opinion, a 20 year RV loan with a balloon payment is a financial disaster. The best you can hope for is to die before the RV does (take good care of it!!) and let the lender collect from your estate if he can.

Make sure there is no clause in the loan contract that let's them unilaterally demand full repayment before the end of the term, cause you would be in deep doo-doo if you got a letter in the mail saying you have 30 days to pay skatey-eight thousand dollars. Especially when the RV is worth half that. They should only be able to require immediate full payment if you default on the loan.
 
A balloon payment on an RV is little like financing dinner.

In 24 hours it will be a pile of **** but you still owe money for it.  You go to refinance it but you have nothing but this pile of **** for collateral.  They say you need more collateral or all the money.  Now you have to look at another place you can find collateral like a home.  You now have yourself in a situation where you are borrowing against a home to pay for a pile of **** that was a great dinner years ago.

"People SIMPLY refinance" says the dealer.  I would want to read every little spec of that paperwork!
 
I have been a M/A customer for over twenty years with zero problems ,,,,other than their demand for payment.

Nor would I expect any - they are a big outfit and a chartered financial institution, not a neighborhood loan shark.  The potential problem is the balloon type of loan, not the lender.  The 12 year fixed RV loan from MACU is a much better choice except for one thing: higher monthly payments.  Most lenders don't even offer a long term balloon loan for RVs, because they know it is a trap for buyers who get seduced by the attractive payments.

There are plenty of situations where a balloon loan makes good sense, but an RV isn't one of them [my opinion, of course].
 
We used MACU and as a company they seem awesome. Easy to work with. They have tons of different financing options. Just call MACU directly and talk to a loan agent, and ask about options without a balloon payment.
 
I couldn't find any information on this, if there is some somewhere I would love to be pointed in the right direction. We are looking at a couple of financing options and the one with the lowest rate for us is through Mountain America Credit Union. However, it has a balloon payment that the dealer says people simply refinance with Mountain America at the time it is due and they've never heard any negative feedback. I am wondering if anyone here has used Mountain America Federal Credit Union (with or without a balloon payment)? What was your experience with them?
I'm a recent client of theirs, there don't seem to be any problems, I like it, I can tell you more if necessary.
 
Why not try a credit union in whatever town you live in or nearby? Even if you aren't a member, find out if you could join and finance your purchase right away. I have been a member of a credit union for 40 years, and the nicest thing about financing my motorhome was that I could finance the entire purchase, and then pay it down in chunks when I chose to with no penalty. In other words, when I sold my house and car before full-timing, I put some extra money on my loan. And then a few months ago, I had some unexpected cash and paid it off entirely. No penalty and a lot of flexibility.

With the balloon payment, you might be dead in 20 years, but you also might be involved in an accident or get caught in a tornado and find out you owed a lot more money on your loan than the value you got from your insurance company.
 
I'm a recent client of theirs, there don't seem to be any problems, I like it, I can tell you more if necessary.
I made a mistake and didn't say that, sorry. Mountain America.... Oh, I didn't have a very pleasant experience with them. Terrible client service. After you call to get help the employees replying the phones never know anything more than the mechanized system. They put you on hold for each question so they can call somebody else for help. I have been waiting to deposit a check for 4 days. After that, I searched for other services and the internet offered me https://www.yhdistalaina.com/luottojen-yhdistaminen/ . Everything was done here quickly and reliably. It was nice to be served by them.
 
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