There’s no bonus for the person already using the service. There’s only a bonus for the person signing up. If they were to give bonuses for referrals, then they’d fall under a different SEC category (something about “selling interests” or giving advice or something) and thus have different regs that they’re not set up/don’t want to handle.
It is, and I did.
As Chessic Sense noted, the bonus is to the new person signing up; an existing client who invites you doesn’t get anything except a warm glow :).
Oh - and as I understand it, the hundred dollars is reported to the IRS as income - which makes sense. Plus of course whatever earnings you have on that hundred dollars, that would be either interest or dividend. They don’t send out 1099s for the interest income unless a single loan’s income is greater than 10 dollars, which is annoying. You could have 5 bucks in income on each of a hundred loans, but you won’t get a 1099. I assume then you just have to take the figures from the year-end statement and plug those into the tax forms. Whether it should be interest (how I treated my 79 cents last year), or dividend, I’ll need to check before this coming January.
Huh - I just reread the whole “invite” page and it now seems that recipients get the hundred dollars ONLY if you invest 10,000 or more. WTF???
Used to be they gave you the bonus (which was a bit smaller, admittedly - 25-50 bucks) regardless.
So much for that! Sorry, enderw24 and Raza!!
I was going to sign up for this, but one of the fine print checkboxes requires the lender to attest to having income greater than $70,000 and assets greater than the same. I’m presuming it’s a tax thing, but it rules me out and is a little weird.
heh. Well thanks anyway. I’ll still look into it this weekend. I’m willing to put as much as $500 into this investment initially. But $10,000? Nu uh. No way.
Hell, me neither!
I’ve deposited something less than 600 dollars total, over the course of the year, and have the attitude that if it makes money overall that’s fan-dandy-tastic, but it’s nothing I can’t afford to lose and it’s a learning experience.
We may have a windfall in a few months and I might go crazy and put another 500 bucks in… but won’t be transferring any major assets just now.
Whelp, I took the plunge.
$250 invested in 10 different people. My portfolio’s 6A, 3B and 1C for a theoretical 9.13% return rate.
It was interesting looking at people’s applications. For the most part, I could get a good sense of who I thought would be most likely to pay off their loans. A few I took a gamble on but at $25 it’s nothing too crazy. Almost all of them were credit card/student loan refinances.
The ones that wanted to use their loan to buy a wedding had to pay me $25 just for the privilege of punching them in the face.
So I guess now I just sit and wait.
::checking::
No money yet. I’ll check again in an hour.
Dang - I didn’t know we could link up with those sorts of loans. So what’ll you invest the face-punching 25 bucks in? :).
Actually I agree on the wedding expenses. A wedding is NOT something to go into debt for, IMO. My BIL and SIL each had the 20 grand weddings and the parents chipped in money they couldn’t afford, to help pay for same, and 20+ years later they’re no more married than we are (with a wedding that cost under a grand). So even tho Chessic Sense’s analysis above indicates these to be relatively safe, I’m not playing.
And… welcome to the dark side, LOL. You’ll be able to see the accrued interest starting once the loans actually issue. There’s typically a few days between when it’s fully funded and issued, and when the month starts (I guess it doesn’t disburse for a few days then interest starts accruing).
My near-term goal is to get enough loans that I’ve got one coming due every day or two. I’ve pretty much got the entire month covered now except for one persistent gap between the 2nd and 8th of the month. Somehow the timing of sufficient cash / the right loan haven’t converged yet. :p. My next sufficient-cash moment should be in about 10 days and maybe this’ll be the month!
I’m also fairly close to the point where I will have enough cash flow to invest in a new loan each month just from the repayments (still a couple dollars short now).
Just ordered #31 a B1/36 CC refi.
#32! Move over Wells Fargo!
Interesting that the interest rates seem to be falling. Is this an effort to stay competitive with other loan providers?
I think it’s more along the lines of not having people throwing money in that they cannot afford to lose since there is no refund option and it’s very easy to get in over your head.
I’d bet it is.
At my credit union right now, I could get a car loan for 2.99 % and a 36 month signature loan for 10.75% (a 1 year loan would be less than 7%).
I just signed up for my first two loans, a B3 and C2, both debt consolidations. After examing rates of return and my comfort level with the amounts/risk, the B/C seemed to be sweet spot.
Okay, this past Friday I jumped in…with $250 
[SIZE=2]Because I’m in New Jersey, I can’t fund notes on the Lending Club main site. Although I heard Chessic’s cough loud and clear, because I’m planning to work up to a sizable investment, in addition to not having a second residence in one of the approved states, I’m just not comfortable skirting the legality. However, I can invest, and have, in their secondary market under FolioFN.
Now that I’ve taken a plungelet, here are the differences between the two sides of the investing tool that I’ve been able to ascertain.
On the Lending Club side, you invest in loans that are not yet fully funded. On the FolioFN side, most, if not all loans are already fully funded. The note you are contemplating purchasing is being sold by a Lending Club member who, for whatever reason, is looking to liquidate his or her note(s).
On the Lending Club side, I believe the minimum you can invest in a loan is $25 (someone correct me if I’m wrong here). On the FolioFN side, there is no minimum. You pay whatever the asking price is, whether it’s 99 cents, or $13.87, or whatever.
On the Lending Club side, you invest for one of two terms, 36 or 60 months. On the FolioFN side, there is no minimum investment term. You invest for the balance of the term of the specific loan. An advantage of this is you can factor in the borrower’s payment history on the loan you’re interesting in before purchasing the note. Of course, as the saying goes, past performance is no guarantee of future returns, but it’s an additional piece of intelligence that those who invest on the Lending Club side don’t have.
Like the Lending Club side, FolioFN investors have access to the borrowers credit information, employment history, salary, debt load, reason for opening the loan, and the questions and answers communicated between potential investors and the borrower before the loan was originally funded.
An added feature on the FolioFN side is the ability to purchase notes at a discount (or markup).
The 8 notes I purchased below were all originally 36 month loans, and all borrowers have made 0 late payments. Loans are either for debt consolidation or to pay off credit cards.
[/SIZE][SIZE=2]
-
$14.38 @ 7.68% Int on $7200 with 12 payments left, A2[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2] -
$8.76 @ 8% Int on $6500 with 12 payments left, A3
-
$12.35 @ 7.51% Int on $10,000 with 14 payments left, A4
-
$51.00 @ 11.89% Int on $25,000 with 20 payments left, B4
-
$55.00 @ 11.36% Int on $23,500 with 30 payments left, B5
-
$25.00 @ 13.22% Int on $8000 with 26 payments left, C2
-
$25.00 @ 13.22% Int on $7500 with 26 payments left, C2
-
$58.51 @ 13.47% Int on $8400 with 18 payments left, C4
And there you have my $250
I have a high probability of seeing these loans closed on time and paid in full, except possibly #5, for which it is too early to tell. My expected rate of return across all 8 loans is 12.05%
I’ve already accrued $1.88 cents in interest even though I recently purchased the notes, because one of the loan’s payments was this weekend. Another one of my notes has a payment due today (10/26), and another on 10/28, so even though I purchased the notes only a few days before the scheduled payment, I get the full interest payment.
I’m just going to watch how things play out with these 8 loans over the next few months. If I’m comfortable, I’ll probably drop $1000 across 40 or so loan notes in January.
[/SIZE]
Very cool guys! I love read updates. Sounds like I’ll have to go the route of Onomatopoeia, because LC isn’t allowed in PA.
Updating my own comment: They’re about a point lower (in the A-class range anyway) than similar-grade loans already in my portfolio.
I’ve got a total of 28 loans, most for 25 dollars but a handful for 50. One is fully paid. One hasn’t had a payment since May 28 and is in collections. One just funded (an A2, at under 6%). One is under a “payment plan” which seems to be adjusting the due date by a few days but otherwise is keeping current. One has prepaid all but about 5 dollars of my 25 bucks.
Just checking in to crow that I just received my first payment, after only 5 days as a member. 83 cents! Woo-hoo! What should I buy first? 
There’s a payment scheduled for tomorrow for a different loan for $1.91. Where’s my top hat, monocle, and cigar? I’m rollin’ in it, man!
As you can tell, I’m liking this, probably a bit too much. :eek:
My only issue is the 83 cent payment was actually scheduled for yesterday, but when I logged in yesterday morning, the status was “Processing”, and didn’t change to “Current” until approximately 30 minutes ago today, at which time the payment showed in my account. There seems to be a 24- to 36-hour period of processing for some reason. Anyone else experiencing this?
Anyway, I think I’ll treat myself to a steak dinner at Ruth’s Chris tonight, now that I’m so rich and all, not to mention suddenly cool and important. 
I’m finding that it takes a tad over 4 full business days for the payment to actually show up in the cash balance. So if it’s due on Monday, my cash increases the Friday. If it’s due on Tuesday, it hits the following Monday. If there’s a holiday in there, it takes a full calendar week. If you’re truly getting credited in 24-36 hours that’s much better!
Cool! Then I have absolutely nothing to complain about. Want some of this caviar? 