F. A.Q.

The Community Impact Fund (CIF) governs this Impact Loan Fund. CIF is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization responsible for responding to all inquiries, vetting all applications, and distributing funds to approved applicants.

CIF offers a 0% interest loan with a flexible payback schedule to individuals in need who are affiliated with the fund’s sponsoring organization.  To qualify for a loan, an individual (Borrower) applies to CIF for consideration. CIF conducts due diligence to ensure the borrower qualifies for assistance under IRS regulations, CIF policies and procedures and meets the basic eligibility requirements set forth by the applicant’s sponsoring organization.  Once approved for the Loan, a distribution of the approved amount will be made directly to a bank account provided by the Borrower.

In order to be eligible to apply for a loan, you must be a part-time or full-time employee of CBC Federal Credit Union or of one of the following designated partners: Boys and Girls Club of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme or Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Ventura County. You must be at least 18 years of age and have been actively employed for at least 90 days at your organization and in good standing.

Approval decisions are made based upon the information provided by the applicant.  Applicants are required to provide a completed application, and must meet the criteria reviewed in the pre-check section of the application.

Your sponsoring organization is committed to your long-term financial well-being. Therefore, as part of their Impact Loan Program, they are offering a savings incentive match of 10% of the loan payback to the Borrower to build their own emergency savings account if they meet certain qualifications.  Please visit the Savings Incentive tab on the main menu to learn more about this program.

Loans are based on the needs cited in the application. The minimum loan amount you can request is $500. The maximum amount is $3000.

A repayment schedule will be set up automatically for the full loan amount divided over 12 months. For example, if you take out a $3000 loan, you will have 12 payments of $250 starting 30-45 days after you receive your loan. As part of the application, you must sign a Promissory Note where you commit to paying back your loan. It is an agreement between you as a Borrower and the Community Impact Fund as the loan manager. You must pay back your loan even if you leave your current organization. Remember each time you make a payment on your loan it provides funding to allow someone else to take out a loan so even if you miss a few payments in the first 12 months, we still want you to continue to make payments until your loan is paid off in full. Your loan does not collect interest at any time.

No, this loan has a 0% interest rate.

Any loans received by applicants will not be deemed as taxable income.

No, at this time Impact Loans are not reported to the Credit Bureaus. We do complete a soft credit pull as part of the application process but this does not affect your current credit score.

Sometimes you may be in a situation where you can’t make a payment. We do our best to support you by allowing you to occasionally defer a monthly payment. This moves the payment to the end of your repayment schedule so you will still need to pay it eventually but it does not collect interest. Borrowers have the option to make a prepayment to pay off the loan faster and any prepayment will be applied to the final monthly payment schedule. HOWEVER PLEASE NOTE: Making a manual payment DOES NOT cancel your automatic payment that is set to withdraw each month. Therefore, if you don’t wish to have the additional payment withdrawn, you must email loans@communityimpactfund.org at least FIVE DAYS prior to the day your payment is due.

Loans will be distributed by CIF to the approved applicant directly to the applicant’s bank account that they provided as part of the application process.  Payments will be sent within 2-4 business days of the loan being approved. Please note, due to banking schedules, loans cannot be processed on weekends or national banking holidays. Please note. As part of the approval process, you will be required to confirm that two small “micro-deposits” 

Yes, you can change the date that your monthly payment is withdrawn from your bank account by signing into your loan dashboard via the SIGN IN button on the top right corner of this website. Once you have signed in, you can submit a Flexible Payment Request. IMPORTANT! In order to make this change, your Flexible Payment Request must be submitted AT LEAST 4 DAYS PRIOR TO YOUR CURRENT DATE. We can not stop any payment processing once it has begun. Questions? Contact loans@communityimpactfund.org. 

Yes, prepayments are applied to the final monthly installment. The borrower can access the platform by logging in and manually making a payment. HOWEVER PLEASE NOTE: Making a manual payment DOES NOT cancel your automatic payment that is set to withdraw each month. Therefore, if you don’t wish to have the additional payment withdrawn, you must email loans@communityimpactfund.org at least FIVE DAYS prior to the day your payment is due.

We want you to have success with your loan. The loan remains a 0% interest loan. If you miss a loan payment, it is automatically added to the end of your repayment schedule and you will be expected to pay next month’s payment and all remaining payments INCLUDING this payment. Every dollar you pay back on your loan goes back into the fund and allows your fellow employees to apply for a loan. You can continue to make payments at any time until your loan is paid off even if you have missed several payments. You can always come back and pay!

Please refer to the above, What are the terms of the Flexible Repayment Schedule?, for more information on how to address repayment challenges. You are expected to repay back your loan even if you leave your organization as an employee as the loan is made by the Community Impact Fund, not your employer.

Remember, the CIF team is here to help you be successful. The more you communicate with us, the more we can help you. Contact us any time at loans@communityimpactfund.org.

Please reach out to the Community Impact Fund loan administration team at loans@communityimpactfund.org