Comments on: Poll: Have You or Do Use Peer-to-Peer Lending Like Lending Club?

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:55:18 +0000

I am surprised p2p isn’t a mainstream concept yet. It basically functions as a bank but cuts out the middle man.

BankVibe.com calls it an alternative to bank CD’s

http://bankvibe.com/an-alternative-to-bank-cds-certificates-of-deposit/

By: MK

MK — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:16:22 +0000

I tried to sign up on lending club but because of some sort of restriction it isn’t available to residents in a number of states, mine being one of those! So hopefully Lending Club will be able to overcome whatever regulation they need to to allow it to continue to expand into those places it is currently unavailable.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:47:21 +0000

@ Darin,

Now that you mention it, almost every one of them is a ‘D’ rated borrower.. Looking at the big picture, almost every ‘D’ loan I made has defaulted (with the exception of one ‘C’. 4 out of 11 sub ‘C’ loans I have made are still paying, all the rest have defaulted. I have one HR still going strong!

I have a ton of ‘C’ borrowers and only one has defaulted thus far (most of the loans are over a year old now).. Maybe the name of the game is to stick ‘C’ and above.. I’m not sure if the added yield is worth the risk of default going higher up the risk ladder..

I wonder what a straight ‘C’ portfolio would yield? Most are in the double digits and, from my small sample, the default rate seems pretty low.

Good luck!

By: 8 Ways To Prosper No Matter What Happens to The Economy | MoneyEnergy

8 Ways To Prosper No Matter What Happens to The Economy | MoneyEnergy — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:28:54 +0000

[...] plan yet? Jeremy from GenerationXFinance gives some good reasons for taking a look at peer-to-peer lending. Take on new projects at work; make yourself more valuable there. Get to know new people on the [...]

By: Darin

Darin — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:36:18 +0000

@Chris
Of the 7 that defaulted, were they the riskier loans (lower credit rating, higher interest rate)? Just curious.

I have 3 of 50 loans that are 2+ months late. They were some of the first I invested in and had more risk than I realized at the time (looking back at the criteria it seems obvious now). I also noticed that 2 of the 3 stopped making payments when Prosper went into their “quiet period” back in October. It seems like they feel they have less incentive to pay back even though it still affects their credit rating the same.

I’ve had 3 of the 50 paid in full in less than a year. They were all high credit rating, lower interest rate (but still above 7%).

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:35:59 +0000

I am with Prosper.com.. 7 out of 29 of my loans are in default (24.1%).. I am currently at a 14.57% average interest rate.. NOT liking that math right now.

The problem is Americans are loaded to the gills with consumer debt. The economy is crappy and their homes (if they own one) can no longer be their piggy banks due to depreciation. There also seems to be a decided lack of stigma to not paying what you owe in this country. It seems to be way to easy to walk away leaving the lender holding the bag. Where is the shame?

I, for one, will not likely put any more money into this kind of venture. I am moving on to real estate where I have the ability to kick a tenant out on the street if they don’t make their payment.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:20:47 +0000

I have a couple loans with both Lending Club and Prosper, and although my sample size is small, both loans are current. I love the idea and think it is a great idea. There is risk of course, but that goes with the territory.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:22:45 +0000

Jekil, yeah I am a little slow in adopting new things. There was a lot of hype about it early on and I was just kind of watching from the sidelines. What really got me on board was the secondary market Lending Club created so you can sell your loan on the open market. Before that I was a little concerned about being required to tie my money up for 36 months. Although I haven’t tried buying or selling notes on the market yet, so can’t say how effective that is just yet.

By: Matt SF

Matt SF — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:14:56 +0000

I’m a Prosper lender and 2 out of 16 loans are now late after investing in Aug 2008.

I’m not sure about lending more in this weak economy since a borrower would rather pay their mortgage and feed their kids than repay their personal loan.

By: Jen

Jen — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:15:23 +0000

It’s something I’m interested in, but I want to wait until I’ve bolstered my savings. Then I’ll lend out amounts that I won’t miss if the borrowers default.