There used to be several ways to be able to get a loan. Now, with the credit crunch it has become considerably harder. For example, if you are in the market for a new or used car or just want to reduce your monthly payments on your car, there are a couple of different ways that you can get financing. Most people opt for the traditional route of securing the loan with the car and going to the bank or a dealership for the financing. While this can work well, there may be times when you prefer to have an unsecured fixed rate loan instead. This changes the whole face of a loan and can make it difficult to get an approval. Dealers for example, will not offer this type of loan and a bank will usually need to have the loan at least partially secured.

A new trend has emerged in banking thanks in a large part to the housing crisis. Right now, getting an unsecured loan is almost impossible, even if you have great credit. Even if you do get a loan, the interest rates are continuing their upward climb and it can be very hard to get a decent low rate for a loan. This translates into spending a lot more money every month and over the course of the entire loan.

One of the better ways to get an unsecured fixed rate loan is through a Peer to Peer Lender. There are many different ways to do this, but one of the easiest ways is using Prosper.com. This is a p2p lending community that is available in the United States. It is made up of lenders from across the country, and good, credit worthy borrowers who are looking for financing. If you wanted to look into paying off an existing car loan with a personal loan from Prosper, the process would be very simple.

First, you would need to create an account on the site. They screen for credit ratings, so you will need to provide a valid social security number for your account. While all credit ratings may be eligible, it is best to have a very good rating before joining. If your credit could use a little help, you may want to work on raising your score before you join.

Once you are a member, you can post a listing for your unsecured personal loan for your car or any need you may have. You can state how much interest you are willing to pay – its best to start higher so that the Lenders may bid the rate down - and how much you need (maximum of $25,000). The basic terms are three years, fixed rate loans. Once your listing is posted, lenders from the Prosper community will be able to bid on it. They may meet your interest rate or they may even undercut it.

Commonly, more than one lender will bid on a loan request. This allows the community to share the risk and makes it easier to get an unsecured personal loan for the borrower. Once enough lenders have bid on the loan and it is fully funded, the borrower will be able to get their loan. The whole process is streamlined and it is easy to complete.

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