anyone try the prosper thing?

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b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,470
1
81
Howdy.

As late as the end of December, I still had a hold on my account. Called about once a month, emailed about once a week...

Then, one day in January, with no email or phone call explaining why, I could access my account again.

I immediately pulled out all the money that wasn't in loans, and monthly withdraw money freed up from loans.
 

homercles337

Diamond Member
Dec 29, 2004
6,340
3
71
I would totally do this if i didnt just spend $500 on a new CPU, mp3 player, and a tv tuner. Mah. Future...
 

theGlove

Senior member
Jan 13, 2005
884
0
0

you loan out money to people who setup fake accounts/ids....
they take your money
you dont see them or your money ever again

we can't all be mofia bosses
 

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,470
1
81
Originally posted by: theGlove

you loan out money to people who setup fake accounts/ids....
they take your money
you dont see them or your money ever again

we can't all be mofia bosses

How do they set up fake accounts?
 

91TTZ

Lifer
Jan 31, 2005
14,374
1
0
Originally posted by: b0mbrman
Howdy.

As late as the end of December, I still had a hold on my account. Called about once a month, emailed about once a week...

Then, one day in January, with no email or phone call explaining why, I could access my account again.

I immediately pulled out all the money that wasn't in loans, and monthly withdraw money freed up from loans.

They were testing out their ability to gank yo' money.

They'll let this thing grow until it reaches a critical mass, then they'll gank everyone's money and live like a Nigerian King. Only they won't need you to lend them money via Western Union, they'll already have your money.
 

FP

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2005
4,568
0
0
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Originally posted by: b0mbrman
Howdy.

As late as the end of December, I still had a hold on my account. Called about once a month, emailed about once a week...

Then, one day in January, with no email or phone call explaining why, I could access my account again.

I immediately pulled out all the money that wasn't in loans, and monthly withdraw money freed up from loans.

They were testing out their ability to gank yo' money.

They'll let this thing grow until it reaches a critical mass, then they'll gank everyone's money and live like a Nigerian King. Only they won't need you to lend them money via Western Union, they'll already have your money.

That is why you spread your risk out by making microloans of $50-$200. Additionally these loans are directly tied to their credit score. So if they bail their credit score is affected.

If nothing else, you get to claim the defaulted loans as losses on your taxes.
 

jme5343

Platinum Member
Nov 21, 2003
2,333
0
71
Originally posted by: binister

Any updates on your situation? I am considering lending out some money.

(sorry for the uber-bump)

I am also thinking of starting an ATOT lending group. Probably based on lifer status and Heat. Would anyone be interested?

How about Lifer or heat? I've got decent heat 73-0-0, but I doubt I ever make lifer...

Anywho, the $$ I have out has worked well. I've got the $$ sitting around, so I'm thinking about paying off my existing prosper loan and getting another.

For those who claim this is only for those with bad credit...do some research. For me, it was simply more convenient (and fun) than going down to my bank. The bank that loaned me the money to buy my house without asking so much as paycheck stubs, work #, DL#, etc. We actually had fun watching the rate keep getting smaller and smaller.
 

markgm

Diamond Member
Aug 23, 2001
3,291
2
81
After signing up and checking it out, we *should* start an ATOT group. Would anyone be interested?
 

FP

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2005
4,568
0
0
Damn, signing up makes me nervous.

You have to give them your SSN, drivers license number, bank account number, and possibly the USERNAME and PASSWORD to your online banking site if you want instant verification.
 

FP

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2005
4,568
0
0
Originally posted by: jmebonner
Originally posted by: binister

Any updates on your situation? I am considering lending out some money.

(sorry for the uber-bump)

I am also thinking of starting an ATOT lending group. Probably based on lifer status and Heat. Would anyone be interested?

How about Lifer or heat? I've got decent heat 73-0-0, but I doubt I ever make lifer...

Anywho, the $$ I have out has worked well. I've got the $$ sitting around, so I'm thinking about paying off my existing prosper loan and getting another.

For those who claim this is only for those with bad credit...do some research. For me, it was simply more convenient (and fun) than going down to my bank. The bank that loaned me the money to buy my house without asking so much as paycheck stubs, work #, DL#, etc. We actually had fun watching the rate keep getting smaller and smaller.

Actually I thought the groups were for lenders too. I was unaware the groups are for borrowers. Since I will be lending I don't need to be part of a group.
 

MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
Originally posted by: FelixDeKat
Originally posted by: jmebonner
I'm currently 100% funded, down from 14% to 11.5% I'm hoping to see it finish around 11%.

[rant]


Similar to what dmcowen said, I had Chase up my rate to 29.99% from 11% out of the blue. No late payment, no nothing. No explanation other than, "factors on your credit report indicate a higher risk of default" WHAT???? First, I pulled the report, everything's fine. I've not been late on ANYTHING in 9 years. Second, someone's at risk of not paying, so you jack their rate by 18%??? Yeah, great logic. They couldn't pay before, but now that you've upped the rate to a usury fee, they'll pay. (I guess it kinda worked for me, I'm paying it ofF)

My prosper loan at 11ish % will pay chase. I believe I'll leave a $20.00 balance on the card and use it to fill my motorcycle now and then. I'll pay it before interest accrues, that way they can keep sending the bills and making no profit off me.

[/rant]


Im sorry but Chase has been on my sh*t list since 2005 for the same nonsense. I had two old accounts that I was paying off slowly because along time ago I locked in some favorable rates at the highest possilbe balance. One has been closed since 2002. The rate hasnt gone up at all despite 17 rate hikes by the Fed during that time period. It was a Wachovia account, then it was acquired by Bank One, now Chase owns it. Those evil bastards decided to bump it up a quarter point, despite the fact that the previous two lenders left the rate alone for three years!

Thats not all - I had another account with First USA that was changed to Bank One, then acquired by Chase. This was an active account with a relatively decent rate. I had a "balance transfer" balance and also a purchase balance. Ive had the card since 1993 and they always applied payments to interest with the rest going to principal, which was treated as one combined balance. The comes Chase...not only do those snakes double the interest rate, they change the card to a dual balance. What this means is that before one balance gets paid down you have to payoff the higher rate balance first. In the meantime, the interest calculated on the lower rates balance is added back into it in the form of negative amortization. In other words, it grows each month! In my case to the tune of $40 per month on top of all other interest calculated for an effective interest rate of nearly 35%!!!!!!!!!!!. I work for a bank and knew they were trying to pull a fast one. They claimed to have notified me, which was bullsh*t, because I know what dual balance accounts are and would have closed the damn thing. I called and argued for about six months and even asked for arbitration (being that you cant sue credit card cos anymore), in the meantime they sat their happy asses back and just lapped up the money. All this was to no avail. Bastards!

I allocated all resources, curtailed all spending, etc, and sent every extra dollar to those cards. I then transferred everything else away from them and paid it all off. I will never, ever, ever do business with Chase again. Ever. And this story will be told to discourage people from doing business with Chase. They are pure evil and should be avoided at all costs.

OMG; I agree 100%! :| I went thru this sh2t for years with Chase and Sears. Know why they do it? It's very simple, actually:

They know you're carrying a balance because you can't pay it off! It's in your agreement that they can raise the rate to whatever they want to, period.

I was in the exact same situation. Carrying $2K+ balances on 4 different cards for years. My rates went from 11%-15% to 30% within a few months. No late payments, no missed payments, NOTHING bad from me.

When i called to bitch, they said (and I quote):

It's unfortunate that you feel you're being treated unfairly. Several factors on your credit report contributed to the recent elevation of your interest rate. If you would like to close your account with us, please remit payment in full and we would be happy to accomodate your request. :

:Q

After YEARS of being a good little consumer, I get a kick in the balls for a "thank you."

Well, I got my truck paid off in September of last year. That freed up almost $1K/mo. I got a signature loan at 11% and paid off and closed all but two credit cards.

OH, they were so upset! :roll: I even got personalized emails asking me why I closed my account after "Such a long and pleasant relationship."

Guess what? I cut and pasted their emails to me and told them to KISS MY ASS. Really. In those exact words. I have letters from them showing said accounts paid in full and closed. I have no worries anymore. Granted, it took years to get here. Now I'm paying one lender back for the next two years. My payment is 1/3rd what my CC payments were every month.

Banks suck. Credit cards suck. If you can't write a check for "it", then you cannot afford "it."

Oh yeah...Prosper.com. Too risky for me. Why would I loan my hard-earned money to people that can't get a loan thru normal channels? I would to a FRIEND who I've known for awhile and lives nearby. But to some internet deadbeat? Nope. Oh...and give my SSN, bank info to some random website? Bwuahahhah! My ass.

 

ivol07

Golden Member
Jun 25, 2002
1,475
0
0
After much research I decided I would give prosper a try. I just bid $500 into 6 different loans.

1) $50 @ 29% w/Credit rating of D
2) $100 @ 9% w/Credit rating of AA
3) $100 @ 8.25% w/Credit rating of AA
4) $100 @ 25% w/Credit rating of E
5) $50 @ 29% w/Credit rating of E
6) $100 @ 20% w/Credit rating of D

Combined interest rate of 18.25%

My plan was to spread my money 50/50 between higher risk and low risk. I was pretty excited until I actually went to go find people to lend money to. All the hard luck stories made me feel like they were all scams. None of these loans are 100% financed yet so I'm not fully commited. But I'm going to let this $500 ride for at least a few months and see what happens.
 

Double Trouble

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
9,270
103
106
Am I missing something? I obviously have not researched this properly yet, but what exactly protects you from the person just taking the money and disappearing? So their credit gets messed up.... so what? Who's going to hire the collection agency? Of course a collection agency will cost $, so basically on a smaller loan, if someone just bails you're SOL?

Also, I'd think most people with decent credit would just go through normal channels, they have no incentive to go through an 'alternate' channel. Wouldn't that mean adverse selection, and thus a very very high risk factor for a relatively nominal return?

Interesting idea, but this seems VERY sketchy.
 

ivol07

Golden Member
Jun 25, 2002
1,475
0
0
Originally posted by: tagej
Am I missing something? I obviously have not researched this properly yet, but what exactly protects you from the person just taking the money and disappearing? So their credit gets messed up.... so what? Who's going to hire the collection agency? Of course a collection agency will cost $, so basically on a smaller loan, if someone just bails you're SOL?

Also, I'd think most people with decent credit would just go through normal channels, they have no incentive to go through an 'alternate' channel. Wouldn't that mean adverse selection, and thus a very very high risk factor for a relatively nominal return?

Interesting idea, but this seems VERY sketchy.

The website (prosper.com) has contracts with collection agencies and you select which one you want to use in case it's needed prior to lending the money. Prosper.com will pay for it. Of course there is risk, but that's why the potential return is higher than average. The potential for fraud (or defaults) is also why prosper.com urges you to diversify and not put all your money into one loan. If you have 20 $50 loans losing one won't be as huge of a deal than if you put all your money into one loan. Also, when you're deciding whether or not to lend these people money you can see their credit history so you get a pretty good idea of the person's character beforehand. Overall I would say it's no riskier than buying something on ebay and hoping the person ships it....except on ebay I can't see their credit history.
 

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
i like the idea in concept, but i think i would need to see this get a lot bigger before i'd put my money and information out there.
 

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,470
1
81
Originally posted by: ivol07
Originally posted by: tagej
Am I missing something? I obviously have not researched this properly yet, but what exactly protects you from the person just taking the money and disappearing? So their credit gets messed up.... so what? Who's going to hire the collection agency? Of course a collection agency will cost $, so basically on a smaller loan, if someone just bails you're SOL?

Also, I'd think most people with decent credit would just go through normal channels, they have no incentive to go through an 'alternate' channel. Wouldn't that mean adverse selection, and thus a very very high risk factor for a relatively nominal return?

Interesting idea, but this seems VERY sketchy.

The website (prosper.com) has contracts with collection agencies and you select which one you want to use in case it's needed prior to lending the money. Prosper.com will pay for it. Of course there is risk, but that's why the potential return is higher than average. The potential for fraud (or defaults) is also why prosper.com urges you to diversify and not put all your money into one loan. If you have 20 $50 loans losing one won't be as huge of a deal than if you put all your money into one loan. Also, when you're deciding whether or not to lend these people money you can see their credit history so you get a pretty good idea of the person's character beforehand. Overall I would say it's no riskier than buying something on ebay and hoping the person ships it....except on ebay I can't see their credit history.

Interesting analogy
 

Rapidskies

Golden Member
May 27, 2003
1,165
0
0
Are there any fees involved for the lenders, transfer fees, % cuts, etc? If not how does prosper the website make money?
 

sager66

Member
Oct 16, 2004
164
0
0
Originally posted by: Rapidskies
Are there any fees involved for the lenders, transfer fees, % cuts, etc? If not how does prosper the website make money?
What a slacker . . too lazy to even research the FAQ. Probably a Mac user!

"How does Prosper make money?

Prosper charges a 1% or 2% loan closing fee each time a loan is funded. The amount of the fee depends on the borrower's credit grade, and is paid by the borrower at the time a loan begins. In addition, Prosper charges lenders an annual loan servicing fee of 0.5%-1%, depending on the borrower's credit score, which accrues daily along with the loan interest."

 

thepd7

Diamond Member
Jan 2, 2005
9,423
0
0
Originally posted by: tagej
Am I missing something? I obviously have not researched this properly yet, but what exactly protects you from the person just taking the money and disappearing? So their credit gets messed up.... so what? Who's going to hire the collection agency? Of course a collection agency will cost $, so basically on a smaller loan, if someone just bails you're SOL?

Also, I'd think most people with decent credit would just go through normal channels, they have no incentive to go through an 'alternate' channel. Wouldn't that mean adverse selection, and thus a very very high risk factor for a relatively nominal return?

Interesting idea, but this seems VERY sketchy.

I never thought about your point in reference to people with good credit going through normal channels, I believe you have made a really good point here. If someone needs a short term loan or just a small amount of money why wouldn't they go through a bank or no interest credit card if they had good credit. I am only 21 yet I can get a credit card with almost a year no interest on purchases or balance tranfers (no fees on balance transfers either). I know my credit is good but it's not incredible. Why wouldn't people follow this option instead?
 

ivol07

Golden Member
Jun 25, 2002
1,475
0
0
Originally posted by: thepd7
Originally posted by: tagej
Am I missing something? I obviously have not researched this properly yet, but what exactly protects you from the person just taking the money and disappearing? So their credit gets messed up.... so what? Who's going to hire the collection agency? Of course a collection agency will cost $, so basically on a smaller loan, if someone just bails you're SOL?

Also, I'd think most people with decent credit would just go through normal channels, they have no incentive to go through an 'alternate' channel. Wouldn't that mean adverse selection, and thus a very very high risk factor for a relatively nominal return?

Interesting idea, but this seems VERY sketchy.

I never thought about your point in reference to people with good credit going through normal channels, I believe you have made a really good point here. If someone needs a short term loan or just a small amount of money why wouldn't they go through a bank or no interest credit card if they had good credit. I am only 21 yet I can get a credit card with almost a year no interest on purchases or balance tranfers (no fees on balance transfers either). I know my credit is good but it's not incredible. Why wouldn't people follow this option instead?

Short term loans from Bank of America start at 8.99%, short term loans on prosper start at 7.73%. If for whatever reason I needed $10k in cash (wedding, vacation, business expenses, etc.) I would rather get a prosper loan than the super high fee my CC charges for cash withdrawls or the higher rate from a normal bank for a loan. I agree that not everyone will see this as a viable option, but for some it's a good option.
 

crownjules

Diamond Member
Jul 7, 2005
4,858
0
76
Why would people with good credit prefer to use Prosper? Because going through banks can be a gigantic hassle. For instance, I have a decent credit score (~700) and was denied a small loan because I had a couple of late payments on credit cards several years back. I would have needed a co-signer to get the loan. So even if you do have a good credit score, your actual credit history can still haunt you for a long time and prevent you from getting a loan. And who wants to deal with credit card companies more than you have to?

This is interesting. I think I will check it out when I get home tonight.
 

Rapidskies

Golden Member
May 27, 2003
1,165
0
0
Originally posted by: sager66
Originally posted by: Rapidskies
Are there any fees involved for the lenders, transfer fees, % cuts, etc? If not how does prosper the website make money?
What a slacker . . too lazy to even research the FAQ. Probably a Mac user!

"How does Prosper make money?

Prosper charges a 1% or 2% loan closing fee each time a loan is funded. The amount of the fee depends on the borrower's credit grade, and is paid by the borrower at the time a loan begins. In addition, Prosper charges lenders an annual loan servicing fee of 0.5%-1%, depending on the borrower's credit score, which accrues daily along with the loan interest."

Your right I didn't look to hard thanks! *Runs to is Mac*

 
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