General Needs Loan

The General Needs Loan Program at Hebrew Free Loan Society (HFLS) provides interest-free loans of up to $7,500 to low- and moderate-income residents of New York City’s five boroughs, Westchester, or Long Island. These general loans cover expenses that borrowers cannot meet with their own resources or help bridge a period of unexpected income loss.

In order to apply, your annual pre-tax household income must be at or below the income limit for your household size. If your annual pre-tax household income is slightly above the limit listed below, please contact Loan@HFLS.org to speak with a Loan Officer about your specific situation. You may still qualify for an HFLS loan.

Loans of $5,000 or less are repayable in installments of $250 per month over 20 months. Loans of more than $5,000 are repayable in installments of $300 per month over 25 months.

**Currently, all loans have a one-month grace period before repayments begin. ** Repayments are made on either the 5th or the 20th of each month; borrowers select their preference before HFLS disburses the loan. All loan repayments are made by electronic debit of a checking account.

• Since HFLS lends to households, a married couple is considered one borrower. If an applicant is married or partnered, he or she must include their spouse’s/partner’s information in the application.

Loan applicants must have annual pre-tax household income at or below the income limits for their household size.

• 1 person: $91,540 household income

• 2 person: $104,650 household income

• 3 person: $117,760 household income

• 4 person: $130,755 household income

• 5 person: $141,220 household income

• 6 person: $157,435 household income

• 7 person: $162,150 household income

• 8 person: $172,615 household income

Loans of $5,000 or less are repayable in installments of $250 per month over 20 months. Loans of more than $5,000 are repayable in installments of $300 per month over 25 months.

**Currently, all loans have a one-month grace period before repayments begin. ** Repayments are made on either the 5th or the 20th of each month; borrowers select their preference before HFLS disburses the loan. All loan repayments are made by electronic debit of a checking account.

Since HFLS lends to households, a married couple is considered one borrower. If an applicant is married or partnered, he or she must include their spouse’s/partner’s information in the application.

1. Complete and submit the online loan application for this program.

2. Follow the instructions you’ll receive in an email from HFLS to complete the ID-Pal identity and ID document verifications and authorize HFLS to view your recent checking account transactions through Plaid.

3. Remind your guarantor to complete the ID-Pal verification and online guarantor form. They will receive an email from HFLS containing the link and instructions for ID-Pal, and they may then complete the guarantor form. (HFLS emails may go to their spam/junk folder; please ask them to check there if they do not see HFLS emails in their inbox.)

After receiving the completed application, guarantor form, and both ID-Pal verifications, an HFLS Loan Officer will contact you to request any missing information and schedule a 15-minute loan interview by phone. 

During the interview, the Loan Officer will ask any questions they have about your application, explain the loan closing process and loan terms, and answer any questions you have.

**Due to the high volume of applications, we ask that you do NOT contact HFLS about the status of your application. ** HFLS reviews _complete _applications only in the order in which they are received. If you have not heard from a Loan Officer, it is because one of the steps above is not complete or because HFLS is processing applications that were completed before yours.