Tales from the dis-Crypt-tion

Part II of the “Why is Prosper.com so Addictive?” Series

Prosper listing descriptions - you can’t make this stuff up.

Yes, I’m kidding. Of course you can make this stuff up. It happens every day and is another reason we are addicted to Prosper. (Scab Hollywood writers could have mountains of material to draw from here.)

As a lender, one of the unique dimensions of Prosper is the listing description. Because lenders are essentially competing with banks, entities which primarily rely on “the numbers” (credit scores and data points, income, etc..), many lenders feel that the listing description, the story provided by the borrower, can provide further insight into the credit worthiness of the borrower. These lenders feel that with this information advantage, they can successfully beat the bank. Some lenders also believe they possess the uncanny ability to read into these descriptions better than other lenders and can outperform, or beat, the performance of the average Prosper lender. I too rely on the borrower description as part of my listing assessment.

Often, a well written (and hopefully honest) description is a tremendous asset to the borrower, allowing them to get the funding they need to successfully originate their Prosper loan. However, just as often a listing description can torpedo the chances of funding. Either way, Prosper would be a cold, dry, and uninteresting place without these narratives provided by potential borrowers.

I have noticed (unscientifically, of course), that often the worse the borrowers credit is, the more creative and dramatic the description becomes (called dis-Crypt-tions). That’s not to say those with high ScoreX Plus scores (in the AA & A range) don’t become creative themselves, but even these high grade listings with wild narratives often suggest a larger underlying risk than the credit details show. (Many high grade dis-Crypt-tions involve risky investment ideas, such as stock timing and forex trading.)

The most notorious dis-Crypt-tions were composed by a borrower called JessM. From starting a furniture company with a degree in chemistry to needing a loan for a used car as a Pantene Pro-V model, her saga will live forever in Prosper lore. The tragic end to her shenanigans are detailed in this blog post and discussed in detail here, although it does offer one possible explanation of how she managed to get a $30,000 private investment into her patent idea.

Yeah, JessM was soooo 2006. What about right now? Very quickly I was able to find this gem, listing 261942. I’m not trying to pick on the guy, but it was the first one I came across.

Some notable lines from the des-Crypt-tion:

“This loan will be used to construct and sell a home” – off on the wrong foot
“i am asking for a loan for 25,000 just in case there are any unforseen expenses and to have some reserves.” – um, ok
“as soon as the home is built it will be sold for 110,000.00 dollars” – ok, keep going
“Please help me get off the ground on this project because i would really like to finish my college education” – where did this come from?
“I am a good candidate for this loan because I have 3 years of experience in real estate in san diego and Baja California.” – ouch
“5 years have passed and I have been very repsponsible" – sounds very repsponsible
“I have only a a honda ridgeline out on credit” – drives a nicer vehicle than me!
“have a positive outlook for the future” – I bet

A cursory google search of the screen name yields some interesting results as well (and a my space page with a link to the listing). Oh boy. It sounds like a very exciting and repsponsible plan! Yes, not as exciting as JessM, but entertaining nonetheless.


As you can see, the entertainment value in listing dis-Crypt-tions tie in handily with Financial Voyeurism; a peek at how some people live their financial lives and the stories they tell to continue their lifestyle. I swear, this stuff is better than reality tv, and is another reason we get addicted to Prosper…

Part 1 - Financial Voyeurism
Part 3 - A Lawyer, Doctor, and Statistician Walk into a Bar