Hopes Crushed on 6 Month Late Loan

I had my fingers crossed. I saw a dagger on a 6 month late Prosper.com loan, meaning a payment (a rather large one) was attempted. It had a regular payment number (did not start with “OP”), so I could only assume this payment was initiated by the borrower.

This borrower has had an interesting history. First becoming 3 months late, and then catching up late last summer. Then only to go late again in November, with only one inconsequential small payment made at the 33 day late mark. Now it’s 6 months late.

I was hoping that this again was an attempt by the borrower to make good on her promise to pay me back. It turns out she’s still a deadbeat.


Here’s a screen shot of the pending payment:

And the screen shortly after the payment failed. We still don’t get to see a history of failed payment attempts, which is kind of frustrating. They just go *poof*.

As I’ve said on many other delinquent and defaulted loans of mine, I wouldn’t bid on this one today. I know, hindsight is 20/20, but thanks to deadbeats like this, it’s rare for me to find a listing that I can’t imagine some sort of scenario where the borrower will default.

You’d be amazed at the sort of things I consider red flags these days. Pretty trivial stuff, and probably not even correlated to defaults or anything. But these are the thoughts that run through the head of an old lender - deadbeat until proven otherwise. I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry.

This would probably also explain the few number of loans I’ve made in the past year. If I can find a reasonable listing on Prosper, I’ll bid. A quick look at my recent Prosper loans will show you how many good loans I’ve found lately (10 loans since the new year if you’re too lazy to look it up – 2 of which I’ve met personally).

So, I’ve been spooked. I guess that’s what happens after you’ve been burned enough times by deadbeat borrowers on Prosper.