Can an 18-year-old get a personal loan?

Legal requirement: To sign a binding loan agreement, you must be at least 18 years old in all states (19 in Alabama and Nebraska). There is no maximum age restriction under ECOA.

Practical barriers at 18: Credit history is often the real challenge, not age. Most 18-year-olds have little or no credit file, which means lenders can't score them. Without a FICO score to underwrite, mainstream lenders decline or require a co-signer. A few lenders use alternative underwriting based on income and bank data (Upstart uses educational background, for example).

Best path for an 18-year-old with no credit: (1) Open a secured credit card immediately - your deposit becomes your credit line, and on-time payments create a credit history. (2) After 6-12 months, you'll have a credit file a lender can score. (3) Alternatively, become an authorized user on a parent's long-standing credit card account, which adds that account's full history to your credit report immediately.

With a creditworthy co-signer: An 18-year-old with no credit can often get a personal loan with a parent or relative co-signer. The co-signer's credit and income are the primary qualification factors. Both co-signer and borrower are equally liable, and the loan appears on both credit reports.

Minimum income requirement: Age 18 is achievable but income is often the other barrier. A verifiable part-time or full-time job with 1-3 months of pay stubs is the baseline documentation needed.