A personal loan is not impossible to secure if you have challenged o less than optional credit. It is not hard to receive a bad credit rating, because so many things factor into determining your credit score. Divorces and criminal records are all recorded in your credit report and even these things can have a negative impact on your credit rating.
Three things are going to improve your chances of securing a personal loan with reasonable terms, if you have a less than optional credit rating. The first thing is taking the time and effort to do some credit repair and letting it take effect.
The next thing is finding someone to cosign on the loan and the third thing is putting up substantial collateral to back up the loan. What lenders prefer most is a home or real estate with substantial equity in either one of them.
When applying for a personal loan while you have bad credit, you are going to have to do some explaining to the lender as to what the loan is for and how you ended up with your negative credit rating. You will have better luck getting the loan if it is for something like paying down previous bad loans, or credit cards that have been contributing to your credit problems.
What has worked for many people is consulting a qualified credit councilor who is experienced and knowledgeable in the area of securing loans with less than optional credit. Either way the bad credit rating is not going to help you with the interest you will end up paying on the loan. Bad credit means higher risk to the lender and unless you can do some damage repair on your credit rating it is going to follow you throug the loan process.