A NINJA loan is a slang word for a loan given to a borrower with little or no effort made by the lender to check the borrower’s capacity to pay back the debt. “No income, no employment, and no assets” is what it means. Most lenders require loan applicants to show proof of a consistent source of income or sufficient security, but a NINJA loan skips this step.
Prior to the 2008 financial crisis, NINJA loans were more frequent. Following the crisis, the US government implemented new laws aimed at improving standard lending standards across the credit sector, including tightening loan-granting procedures. NINJA loans are becoming more uncommon, if not extinct.