Prosper Lending and Borrowing - Loans

mohanlatha · Post by **mohanlatha** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 8:37 am

Hi,
I came across a site called prosper.com in Forbes mag. It also featured in finance.yahoo.com couple of days ago. This is basically e-loan site. Wondering if anyone has experience in lending or borrowing money from this site ?
TIA
knm

shoonya · Post by **shoonya** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:00 pm

With prosper.com, you are giving out loans directly to the individual. So in return for better interest, you take the some of the risks that a bank would - default of loans. Not that its bad, but just that you need to be aware of the risks.

Overall, if you have $500 to give out, its a good idea to split it up amont 8-10 people so that you reduce your risk of defaults. prosper.com website has statistics for these on their website - pls read the fine print associated with these reports as statistics can be misleading.

mohanlatha · Post by **mohanlatha** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 12:06 am

Thx for your reply. Are you actively involved in lending/borrowing from that siite ? I read all the fine prints and FAQs, but getting to know from someone who's done it has more weightage.
TIA
knm

Mel · Post by **Mel** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 11:24 am

Its got lots of info and discussions with folks who've been there for almost a year. I wouldn't bet my house on it though, probably no more than 1% of my total assets.

FreeSpirit · Post by **FreeSpirit** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 11:05 pm

I have monitored this site since it was open for business with intention of lending once the model matures. In last few months this has got lot of traction. But in the sub-prime lending defaults are increasing. So do your own DD before you lend anything.

hoag2004 · Post by **hoag2004** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 10:50 pm

Prosper.com was founded by ebay founder Pierre Omidyar. It has a good model. However, one thing that makes me uncomfortable is that they absolutely require you to give your personal details (SS #, etc) - atleast this was how it was when I checked into early last year

Mel · Post by **Mel** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:14 am

hoag2004;10621Prosper.com was founded by ebay founder Pierre Omidyar. It has a good model. However, one thing that makes me uncomfortable is that they absolutely require you to give your personal details (SS #, etc) - atleast this was how it was when I checked into early last year[/quote]

What's wrong with that? Doesn't VG or Fidelity or ING ask you for that info? Remember this is not an underground lending system. This is completely legit, they have to send you tax information and you have to pay taxes. How can they do this without SSN, etc?

Defaults on sub-prime lending is up, as mentioned above, so tread very very carefully.

Desi · Post by **Desi** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 10:29 pm

Any lenders on prosper from our site? Any borrowers? (fair disclosure - I am a lender)

cyberabadi · Post by **cyberabadi** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 12:39 am

Desi;39915Any lenders on prosper from our site? Any borrowers? (fair disclosure - I am a lender)[/quote]

I have an account set-up to be a lender. Just for the heck of understanding how it works. But, haven't done any so far.

Any thoughts on www.kiva.org. My wife wants to do something thru them as she worked with a senior team-member and also as the money goes to under developed economies.

Desi · Post by **Desi** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 4:13 am

I have heard about Kiva but not signed up for it yet. I will explore it tomorrow.