Archive for the ‘ Collections ’ Category

Prosper Ratings

Every borrower listing on Prosper is assigned a Prosper Rating - a proprietary rating developed by Prosper that allows us to maintain consistency when assigning a rating to the listing. Continue reading Prosper Ratings: A Refresher

Before discussing the results of the test, let’s review what we were testing. In November 2007, 74 loans that would have been included in the December Debt Sale were selected for a test of applying a legal collections strategy. These loans had an outstanding principal balance of approximately $705,000. They were placed at Hunt & Henriques, a prominent California debt collection law firm.

Once placed with the firm, these accounts were sent a “demand letter” stating that the balance would be accelerated in 30 days if an acceptable payment arrangement was not negotiated.  Continue reading The Results From the Legal Collections Test

One of the key challenges in collecting on unsecured installment loans is providing the borrower an incentive to continue to making payments when they come under financial distress. If you don’t make a payment  on a credit card you can’t keep charging on it. In the case of a house or a vehicle loan, the lender can repo/foreclose on the secured asset. On an unsecured loan, the borrower has already received the funds – so there is no loss of utility when they stop paying.

One way Prosper has been successful incenting distressed borrowers to pay is by Continue reading Collections – Hardship Arrangement are Benefiting Lenders

[Opening Note: This is a two part blog – in the second part, which will posted shortly, we do a general review of the Legal test].

Unfortunately the wheels of justice move slowly. We first announced the “New Agency Test” about 23 months ago. We filed suit 18 months ago. We finally had our first scheduled trial of a contested case last week. Continue reading Legal Test Update - “Judgment in favor of Plaintiff”

Overseeing Operations in a start-up environment is a delicate balancing act. There is a constant tradeoff between quality and the necessarily thin staffing levels of a startup. Looking at a front office operations area, customer service is an example of this dilemma. Inbound call volume can be Continue reading Renewed Customer Focus