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[112233]

With very little savings, I thought my dream would have to be put on hold even longer, and that I’d have to go back to a “real job”.

Enter Prosper.com. The only place where an individual like myself could get a car loan without having a job… well, on paper I looked good.

I borrowed $12,000 with the plan to buy a van and fund myself for the first 6 months. It was from this money that I paid wayyyy too much for Van. Ugh.  ...

http://www.borderhopping.com/the-bottom-line-the-history-and-future-of-border-hoppingcom/?hide_new_visitor=true

[misssalaska2000]

With very little savings, I thought my dream would have to be put on hold even longer, and that I’d have to go back to a “real job”.

Enter Prosper.com. The only place where an individual like myself could get a car loan without having a job… well, on paper I looked good.

I borrowed $12,000 with the plan to buy a van and fund myself for the first 6 months. It was from this money that I paid wayyyy too much for Van. Ugh.  ...

http://www.borderhopping.com/the-bottom-line-the-history-and-future-of-border-hoppingcom/?hide_new_visitor=true

OMFG.  Didn't they check employment?  Verify paystubs?  OMFG.

[misssalaska2000]

Upon further reading, it seems this person didn't really plan for the trip.  Expenses like, say, TUNEUPS FOR A VAN YOU ARE DRIVING THOUSANDS OF MILES.

Agh!

Good for him for pursing his dream, bad on him for not planning it more appropriately.



ETA: It's a him, not a her.

[Nora_Lenderbee]

OMFG.  Didn't they check employment?  Verify paystubs?  OMFG.

Prosper never did that, IIRC.

Is this person's loan current?

Gas has been a big pain. If you think you have it bad, imagine having to fill up a 23 gallon tank every couple days.

Yes, imagine! Try to imagine it BEFORE you start the trip!

[misssalaska2000]

OMFG.  Didn't they check employment?  Verify paystubs?  OMFG.

Prosper never did that, IIRC.

They called me at work (looking for HR... I was HR) to verify my employment, and I recall other people's loans being canceled because they didn't send in a paycheck stub in time.  (Or something like that.)

[Nora_Lenderbee]

Correction. Prosper verified those things for some borrowers, but not for all. Also, if a borrower said they were not employed when they submitted their listing, there was no check on other income.

[God-Father]

The borrower said they purchased the van in Michigan and drove from Michigan to Ohio.

I searched all loans made in the last year for about $12,000 in Michigan and nothing turned up even close to this story.   

[NewHorizon]

Here's his listing:
http://www.prosper.com/lend/listing.aspx?listingID=158954

How do I know?

In the Q&A, he mentions one of his web sites is called ephective.com.
Registration info for ephective.com shows the registrant is [redacted].

Registration info for borderhopping.com (see the above OP) also shows [redacted].

Looks like his loan has been current all along.  (link)

EDIT: to remove borrower's full name so as to make this thread eligible for the Lobby.

[misssalaska2000]

It also looks like he listed his income, which was not verified.  (Per the story.)

Those pics look like the same Cory in the blog, so I'm guessing you found it.

Yay on keeping it current, however.  That's awesome.

[112233]

at least he's current even though he lied about his job and prosper didnt verify anything (12K too small?)

[NewHorizon]

Not to up front about the "new car" purchase either.  I wouldn't have pictured a panel van - much less one he couldn't afford to keep in good repair.

Anyway, an excerpt from an offline message he sent to me:

I have never defaulted on anything and don't intend to now.

*>shrugs<*

[misssalaska2000]

at least he's current even though he lied about his job and prosper didnt verify anything (12K too small?)

Mine was $8k (granted, HR status), and was still verified.  I can't imagine $12k is too small.

My guess is they just randomly selected ones to verify.

[ira01]

at least he's current even though he lied about his job and prosper didnt verify anything (12K too small?)

Mine was $8k (granted, HR status), and was still verified.  I can't imagine $12k is too small.

My guess is they just randomly selected ones to verify.

Our best understanding was that Prosper used certain factors (credit grade, size of loan, etc.) to evaluate loans, with certain groups of loans having a higher likelihood of being selected for verification.  But clearly chance played a large role as well.  And we know that overall, Prosper verified relatively few loans (I can't quite remember what the S-1 said, but wasn't it like 25%?).

[112233]

all I can say is that you have a 100% chance of being verified if you ever said porn freak in prosper's forums

[ira01]

all I can say is that you have a 100% chance of being verified if you ever said porn freak in prosper's forums

 

Or if you suggested hooking to a borrower.  Or if you told new lenders about prosper's own official forums.  Or if you mentioned .org in your profile.  Or . . . .