This document details the methods Nimbus Loans employs to construct each piece of content, the reasons you can rely on our figures, and the procedures we follow when corrections become necessary. Our objective is straightforward: provide guidance robust enough that a credit counselor could confidently share it with someone facing financial hardship.
Why should borrowers care about an editorial policy?
It means we do not guess. When we say a state caps fees at a certain level, we have pulled the statute. When we compare two loan products by total dollar cost, we have calculated from actual fee schedules filed with regulators. You are not reading marketing copy dressed up as advice. You are reading a process.
Our fact-checking policy requires human verification of every citation. AI does not generate statute numbers or dollar figures. A person pulls each one and matches it to a Tier-1 or Tier-2 source.
What criteria shape our coverage decisions?
We follow borrower pain, not search volume.
Our topic brief starts with a practical question: what does someone need to know before they sign? From there, we build three types of pages.
Money pages explain definitions and real-dollar cost comparisons. We rank alternatives by total cost, not by convenience. State hubs map the legal framework, provide statutory cites, list regulator contacts, and add city overlays for all 50 states. City pages translate those laws into practical implications for where you live.
Each page type serves a different moment in a borrower's decision. Some people need to understand what "APR" means before they can compare two products. Others need to know whether their city has additional protections beyond state law. We build for both.
What's our correction process for errors?
We fix it fast and tell you.
Our corrections process applies to any error, whether it is a typo in a regulator's phone number or a misread statute. When we correct, we note the change and the date. We do not silently edit.
Pages also age. A statute passed last year may have been amended. A regulator may have moved offices. Every page enters a 12-month review cycle from publication. Even if nothing has gone wrong, we check.
Site ownership and why transparency counts
You deserve to know who is speaking to you.
Our ownership disclosure explains how Nimbus Loans operates and how we are funded. We are not a lender. We do not take payment to rank one product above another. That matters because comparison sites often do. When you understand our incentives, you can judge our advice more clearly.
Applying our guidance the way professionals do
Think triage. Counselors do not start by recommending products. They start by understanding the problem and ranking solutions by cost and risk.
Here is how to apply our pages to your own situation:
- Identify your state and city. Start with the state hub to learn the legal ceiling on fees and the regulator you can complain to.
- Calculate the real cost. Use our money pages to translate advertised fees into total dollars you will repay.
- Rank alternatives. Compare the loan against lower-cost options we list, even if those options take longer or require more paperwork.
- Verify the lender. Check that the company is licensed in your state using the regulator contact we provide.
- Read complaints. Search the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database for patterns with that lender.
- Know your exit. Understand whether your state allows extended payment plans or cooling-off periods.
- Document everything. Save screenshots of terms, save our page with its review date, and keep regulator phone numbers handy.
This is the same method a nonprofit counselor walks through in a first session. We have just written it down.
Frequently asked questions about our operations
Why do you remove facts instead of just adding a question mark?
Because "maybe" does not help you make a decision. If we cannot verify a claim against a Tier-1 or Tier-2 source within 48 hours, we pull it. The page goes live without that sentence. We would rather be incomplete than wrong.
How do I know your 12-month review cycle has actually happened?
Check the bottom of any page. We publish the last review date. If you see a page past its 12-month mark, that is a bug and we want to know.
Can I trust the APR ranges you list for specific lenders?
We label those clearly as the lender's own claim, sourced from Tier 4. We do not independently verify every APR quote. We include them so you can see what lenders advertise, but we do not treat them as confirmed fact.
What if my state regulator is not on your list?
Tell us. State banking and consumer-finance regulators change names, merge, or move. We maintain current contact information as part of our Tier-1 sourcing. A missing regulator is an error we will fix.
Do you ever recommend payday loans?
We explain how they work and what they cost. We also explain cheaper alternatives. Our job is to make the tradeoffs clear, not to steer you toward any product. If you have better options, we want you to see them.
Key takeaways to keep in mind
Every number on this site has a source you can check. Every page gets reviewed within 12 months. Every correction is noted. We are not here to sell you a loan. We are here to give you the same information a credit counselor would use to help you find the least expensive way through a tight spot.
If you spot something that looks off, tell us. We built this process to be tested.