He can walk in and tell them at the credit union what he would like to do and they will show him his options. A $10k loan could still be a personal loan. Most credit unions will help him pick the best option. They will not steer him towards the wrong type of loan. They are there to help their members. They make money on any type of product by not paying taxes to the state.

It’s a personal loan. He should just go in to the credit union and apply for the loan. They will look at his income, current outstanding debt and credit report. If his current debt combined with the requested loan goes above a certain ratio (there is a standard, but each institution can use their own) they will deny the loan. If his credit score is low they will deny the loan. I wouldn’t suggest the low credit score loans, the rates are very high, the penalties for missing payments are very high and they don’t look very good on credit. The credit union only gets paid if they lend you money so they want to, and if they deny you, you REALLY don’t qualify and should wait until you do to avoid the penalties.

Just go in and apply.