topic Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience in General Credit Topics

LendingClub.com - My Experience

willuw — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 21:53:46 GMT

So, my small business is growing and I went to LendingClub.com for a loan for the business after many good reviews.

Asked for a loan of $2,000. It was fully funded within a couple of hours. They asked me to call to verify phone number - I did and they instantly approved me over the phone, they said they released the funds and they would be deposited in my account the next day.

I even received an email that my loan was approved and I would be receiving my funds by the next business day.

Awesome! Great experience!

Next business day rolls around and I check my account - no funds. Later I get an email saying my loan had been denied. What???

I ask them why and they said they "heard" from an "undisclosed source" that my loan was for college education which they can not fund.

I have my 4 year degree and a technical two year certificate and have absolutely no desire to go back to college and never made a mention of it for this purpose - the loan said for business major purchase..

Well after arguing with several people and supervisors - they refused to honor their loan just because a "source" said it was for college education. Not happy..

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

llecs — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 02:50:10 GMT

Wow! That's nuts. It's also weird they promised the funds the next day. My $15k loan funded very quickly within a couple of days, and then it took another week before they verified my income, reviewed my pay stubs, etc. Did you answer any questions indicating that it was for school?

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

willuw — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 06:20:45 GMT

@llecs wrote:
Wow! That's nuts. It's also weird they promised the funds the next day. My $15k loan funded very quickly within a couple of days, and then it took another week before they verified my income, reviewed my pay stubs, etc. Did you answer any questions indicating that it was for school?

It took mine an hour tops to get funded ($2k) They never verified my income or asked for pay stubs.

I answered no questions which makes me question where they got the whole college education thing even more...

Not cool at all for approving a loan and then declining it the same day the funds were suppose to be in my account for a made-up reason..

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:47:16 GMT

I'd take my business elsewhere.

But, in case you still want business with them....

I'd call them back, speak to the higher ups, and super-nicely explain (to as many people as it takes) that someone has confused you with another person. You probably already did this, though. Did you confirm whether the "source" provided other identifying information, such as both first and last name, birthday, SSN, etcetera, to differentiate you from another person with a similar name. What they are doing is upholding slander and defamation of character! Offer to pay the loan back in 30 days to prove it. Don't use the funds. Pay it back in 3 weeks, paying increments, such as at 10 days, 15 days, and lastly at 21 days. Then apply for another loan. This should support your credibility. I hope they give you another chance, if not because you want future business with them, then just so you can make a point.

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

willuw — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:48:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'd take my business elsewhere.

But, in case you still want business with them....
I'd call them back, speak to the higher ups, and super-nicely explain (to as many people as it takes) that someone has confused you with another person. You probably already did this, though. Did you confirm whether the "source" provided other identifying information, such as both first and last name, birthday, SSN, etcetera, to differentiate you from another person with a similar name. What they are doing is upholding slander and defamation of character! Offer to pay the loan back in 30 days to prove it. Don't use the funds. Pay it back in 3 weeks, paying increments, such as at 10 days, 15 days, and lastly at 21 days. Then apply for another loan. This should support your credibility. I hope they give you another chance, if not because you want future business with them, then just so you can make a point.

I have taken my business elsewhere - it's a shame as their rate was pretty decent. They refused to tell me who or what "the source" is or even look into it. They refused to let me talk to a supervisor telling me they already did and the supervisor can't do anything. I even offered to send them RECEIPTS of what I used the loan money for to prove that it was definitely not for education. They declined this as well and said their decision was final (yet they approved it and funds should have already been in my account) Doesn't seem right to me...

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:44:08 GMT

Takes all kinds to make a world... lower ranks included.

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 22:05:39 GMT

I just wanted to post this info to share.

According to them:

Inquiries don't count if they're not within the last 6 months

4 inquiries is the max

You can reapply six month later if declined (like I was)

Business loans report to personal CR

They only pull TU

The pull is a SOFT pull

They don't ask for SSN unless the system needs to, then it's a hard pull, I believe (you can check on this)

Minimum score is 660

Balance showing on more than one card is too much (you can check on this, too)

The rep said there is no human involvement in the process, so the "system" automatically declines once you've exceeded the limits. I called back, and confirmed that there is no human factor when deciding at all. I'm not sure what they were getting at with the OP's horrible experience, but I think something is severely wrong with they way they processed the application.

A thought occurred to me, too. OP, check on your TU report notes and see if there is a notation there about school loans. I've had some weird notes on my reports that prevented me from getting a higher limit on my personal loans last month that I requested deleted. Check the other CRs, too. I had a couple negative notes about my current and previous addresses that raised some eyebrows unnecessarily, along with some erroneus name spellings. All I had to do was just request the CB to remove them, and presto!, no more questions or delays. Anyway, this may not be your issue, but just wanted to pass along my experience. YMMV.

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

Swapmeet — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:21:58 GMT

Try prosper.com. I have recently opened an account and began investing over there, since tax free muni bonds have such low coupons in these days of very low interest rates.

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

willuw — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:24:17 GMT

@Swapmeet wrote:
Try prosper.com. I have recently opened an account and began investing over there, since tax free muni bonds have such low coupons in these days of very low interest rates.

I actually tried prosper - but I was denied because my credit score was not high enough for them..

Some guy from LendingClub has started calling me like 3X a day while I am working telling me to call him immediately but won't state why..Kind of over them already and would rather find the funding elsewhere..

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

Swapmeet — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:31:41 GMT

@willuw wrote:
@Swapmeet wrote:
Try prosper.com. I have recently opened an account and began investing over there, since tax free muni bonds have such low coupons in these days of very low interest rates.
I actually tried prosper - but I was denied because my credit score was not high enough for them..

Some guy from LendingClub has started calling me like 3X a day while I am working telling me to call him immediately but won't state why..Kind of over them already and would rather find the funding elsewhere..

Wow, this is odd. The information that I have read says that prosper has easier underwriting requirements, which is why they offer slightly higher returns than Lending Club. Oh well, I guess this just goes to show that I can't believe everything that I read (I read it in the "Prosper vs. Lending Club" article at investorjunky). Maybe Prosper has changed a bit since the article was written.... It seemed reputable at the time, but I trust your first hand experience.

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

willuw — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:37:10 GMT

@Swapmeet wrote:
@willuw wrote:
@Swapmeet wrote:
Try prosper.com. I have recently opened an account and began investing over there, since tax free muni bonds have such low coupons in these days of very low interest rates.
I actually tried prosper - but I was denied because my credit score was not high enough for them..

Some guy from LendingClub has started calling me like 3X a day while I am working telling me to call him immediately but won't state why..Kind of over them already and would rather find the funding elsewhere..
Wow, this is odd. The information that I have read says that prosper has easier underwriting requirements, which is why they offer slightly higher returns than Lending Club. Oh well, I guess this just goes to show that I can't believe everything that I read (I read it in the "Prosper vs. Lending Club" article at investorjunky). Maybe Prosper has changed a bit since the article was written.... It seemed reputable at the time, but I trust your first hand experience.

No idea. Lending Club straight out says you have to have a minimum FICO of 660 which I barely do right now. I just did a search and I see that they say it is 640 - yet I got declined..Someone says that Prosper uses "Experian proprietary score" and I have no idea what mine is..

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

willuw — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:40:44 GMT

Just verified, the exact reasoning from Prosper:

Your credit score does not match the minimum required for a Prosper loan

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

Swapmeet — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:51:54 GMT

I just verified on Prosper.com that their minimum score is 640, which you qualify for......weird. Oh well, you said that you had other sources, so it is irrelevant what Prosper's site says. I have pasted the location below, which, coincidently, offers another option incase one does not meet the minimum credit score.

http://www.prosper.com/account/common/preregister.aspx?role=Borrower&validate=True&lcatid=2&amount=5000&creditquality=4

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

willuw — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:53:51 GMT

@Swapmeet wrote:
I just verified on Prosper.com that their minimum score is 640, which you qualify for......weird. Oh well, you said that you had other sources, so it is irrelevant what Prosper's site says. I have pasted the location below, which, coincidently, offers another option incase one does not meet the minimum credit score.

http://www.prosper.com/account/common/preregister.aspx?role=Borrower&validate=True&lcatid=2&amount=5000&creditquality=4

640 using "experians" score... Apparently way difference then Fico..

I have actually researched many of the "options" prosper recommends and most of them offer extremely high APR / are loan sharks.. No thanks

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

Swapmeet — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 21:07:52 GMT

@willuw wrote:
@Swapmeet wrote:
I just verified on Prosper.com that their minimum score is 640, which you qualify for......weird. Oh well, you said that you had other sources, so it is irrelevant what Prosper's site says. I have pasted the location below, which, coincidently, offers another option incase one does not meet the minimum credit score.

http://www.prosper.com/account/common/preregister.aspx?role=Borrower&validate=True&lcatid=2&amount=5000&creditquality=4
640 using "experians" score... Apparently way difference then Fico..

I have actually researched many of the "options" prosper recommends and most of them offer extremely high APR / are loan sharks.. No thanks

lol, figures. I have not researched any of them, so again, I trust your first hand knowledge. I do wish you luck and hope that you find the funding that you want.

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

Anonymous — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 03:35:12 GMT

Just an update... I called LendingClub today and they confirmed that the score model/system is Classic Fico08. So, my score can now be updated in my sig. I suppose this is a way to know your TU Fico without getting a hard pull.

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

Swapmeet — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 04:29:01 GMT

How did you get your TU08 from Lending Club? Walmart updates mine each month for free because I have a walmart card. I was not aware that peer to peer lending sites do this. I'd like to find someone that offers Experian Ficos...lol. I already get my EQ from score watch and TU from Walmart.

Re: LendingClub.com - My Experience

llecs — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 05:15:24 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Just an update... I called LendingClub today and they confirmed that the score model/system is Classic Fico08. So, my score can now be updated in my sig. I suppose this is a way to know your TU Fico without getting a hard pull.

No kidding?! As of 2 yrs ago they used TU98, same as on here. Interesting they changed.