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Is Private Lending for You?
If you do not have outrageously generous, rich relatives, you might think that, when it comes time to get a loan to buy or renovate a home, that your bank and credit union are your sole sources of major capital. However, the Internet has revolutionized the way we do business and, now, how we can get loans. While it has been accused of separating people from person-to-person interaction, the Internet has actually started to bring people back together in business.
Prosper.com is currently the United States’ largest person-to-person (P2P) lending company on the Internet. It functions as sort of a loan E-bay, allowing people to bid on loans they wish to invest in, and buyers to get whatever amount of money they want, for the price they are willing to pay. Prosper allows people to invest as little as $50 per loan they wish to finance. This enables people to spread their money around a wide area, providing for a wider variety of investment.
One of the most unique and compelling aspects of the private lending scene is the ability for borrowers to tell their story. The lending company has no way of knowing whether someone’s request for $10,000 to pay off their sick kid’s medical bills is true. You might be helping sent Little Johnny off to college or remodel the bathroom; then again, you may just be funding someone’s drug habit.
Private lending companies have tried to make fraud a minimal part of the private lending experience. All borrowers and lenders go through a full credit check and the lending company will send the account to collections for borrowers who default. This may not mean that you will get a return on your investment; some people will sail off with money, never to be seen again, only to return to lending companies with another sob story.
If a P2P lending company collects the funds that you invested, you still may not see a return. The costs of collection agencies can easily take 50% of the debt that the borrower owes you, even if they manage to collect. This issue is starting to be addressed with lending companies, like Zopa.com, are offering investor insurance. They will cover up to $100,000 in investor funds.
For borrowers, private lending can be an excellent way of gaining funds for projects, school, or expenses. In return for lower rates than most credit cards, people can gain thousands of dollars for whatever purpose they want it for. Most P2P sites don’t encourage people with a bad FICO score to apply for a loan until they’ve improved their score.
Many people with less-than-stellar credit can take advantage of the opportunities of P2P lending with less problems than many have at conventional institutions. One thing that helps is the ability to tell a story – whether it’s to explain that you need to build an extra bedroom for your ailing mother or to pay debts left over from a hospital stay.
P2P lending is a newcomer on the scene, owing its inception to the Internet. It has brought back lending as a personal experience, as lenders can choose borrowers based on their credit score… or based on their stories. If you are a borrower, looking for a way to escape outrageously high credit card interest, you might try looking at one of these companies.
The Severe Drawbacks of Payday Loans
Although payday loans may seem like the easy way to fix your current financial problems, they are not. Instead there are many drawbacks to using payday loans, and you can benefit by learning about these before ever applying for, or receiving, a payday loan.
The extremely high interest rates charged by payday loan companies is one of the biggest drawbacks, and it is something that should deter you from ever using one to hold you over until payday. Some states have gone so far as to ban payday lending companies from offering loans to residents because of the predatory interest rates. In fact, some interest rates are so high that the companies can easily be considered ‘loan sharks’. These companies are often making huge profits by giving high interest loans to desperate people.
Why would people even consider applying for a payday loan with the high interest rates? For one thing the advertising campaigns run by most loan companies make it appear extremely easy to get a loan and just as easy to pay it back. The companies will simply ask for a canceled check to get your bank information and will get their money back directly from your account. What the ad doesn’t tell you is that because of the high borrowing fees and interest rates you will have double, triple, or quadruple the amount that you actual borrowed taken back from your bank account.
Harassment for non-payment is also a drawback to using a payday loan company. The amount which you are loaned must be paid back, and this may not be accomplished with just one paycheck if you took out a large sum of money. Instead the company will work with you to set up a payment plan that is explained to you before the loan is finalized. The company will make the payment plan seem reasonable and convenient hiding that you are often paying back additional fees. If you are late on a payment or a payment attempt is returned because of insufficient funds companies will call your home and work place constantly. Some will even contact your neighbors and family members to embarrass and harass you. Many payday loan companies have even found ways to go around the laws set in place by the Fair Debt Collection Act so that they can harass loan holders without fear of legal retribution.
Finally the largest drawback to payday loans is the fact that they are not a permanent solution to a long-term financial problem and can often cause more financial woe. If you are living paycheck to paycheck and experience a sudden emergency that requires quick cash, a payday loan will only cause more headaches for you rather than actually help you. You will still end up with an additional bill to pay to a lender that will usually not be reasonable if you experience repayment problems. It is important that you realize this and find alternatives to getting the cash you need in order to avoid serious financial problems later or even bankruptcy.