Lending Club was my first Peer-to-Peer borrowing experience. At first, they turned me down. That was a downer, but soon after I got my rejection notice, they contacted me and after answering some more detailed questions about my financial situation, they set up a loan listing for me. Here is the original listing:

Replace Air Conditioning

Amount Requested $2,050
Loan Purpose Home improvement project
Loan Grade C4
Interest Rate 11.22%
Loan Length 3 years (36 payments)
Monthly Payment $67.33 / month
Funding Received $2,050 (100.00% funded)
Lenders 16 people funded this loan
Loan Status Current
Loan Submitted on 9/18/07 5:43 PM

This was when Lending Club was brand new – they were fighting with the proven Prosper platform. The personal attention that I received was pretty amazing in this “low-touch” internet age. Once my loan went into the system, it funded in a matter of days. As you can see, 16 individuals ponied up money and are now receiving payments from me via the Lending Club at a rate of return just over 11%. Hey, that is pretty good for all parties – lower than credit card interest (for the most part) and for the investor, much higher than CD interest rates.

Lending Club has just come out of a “quiet period” while they were doing a filing with the SEC. During that time they were not accepting new lenders and as a result the borrowing slowed down also. Now that Prosper.com is going into a quiet period, the best alternative is now the Lending Club for borrowers. I just checked the site and there are only 100 active listings – people looking for funding. If you are looking for a loan with competitive rates and reasonable lending standards, then take a look at the Lending Club – now is a great time to get into the marketplace before more competition show up looking to borrow money.

Lending Club is Available to Residents of the following states
Alaska – Arizona – Arkansas – California – Colorado – Connecticut – Delaware – Florida – Georgia – Hawaii – Illinois – Kansas – Kentucky – Louisiana – Maryland – Massachusetts – Michigan – Minnesota – Mississippi – Missouri – Montana – Nevada – New Hampshire – New Jersey – New Mexico – New York – North Dakota – Ohio – Oklahoma – Oregon – Pennsylvania – Rhode Island – South Carolina – South Dakota – Texas – Utah – Vermont – Virginia – Washington – West Virginia – Wisconsin – Wyoming