In observance of Earth Day, Prosper surveyed US consumers last week to better understand their financial attitudes towards implementing eco-friendly home improvements.

The main finding is that although consumers have a strong desire to implement energy-saving home improvements, they are deterred by the high costs of these projects:

• 91% care about conserving natural resources
• While 60% of survey respondents listed ‘saving money on bills’ as an incentive to adopt a green lifestyle, 75% of respondents indicated that they are deterred from pursuing energy-saving home improvements due to high costs of implementation.

As a community for social lending, Prosper offers eco-conscious Americans with good credit histories a way to connect with their like-minded peers to fund green projects in an affordable way. A separate survey of Prosper lenders found that 25% of respondents have bid on borrowers’ loan listings to support green projects, and 93% of respondents would consider bidding on such listings.

1. Are you concerned with conserving natural resources?

2. Which of the following is the number one incentive for you to implement energy saving personal / home improvements? (please select only one)

3. What is the number one deterrent for you to implement energy-saving personal / home improvements? (please select only one)

4. What types of personal / home improvements have you invested in to save energy? (please select all that apply)

5. About how much did you spend in 2007 on energy saving personal / home improvements?

6. What types of personal / home improvements do you plan to implement in 2008 to save energy? (please select all that apply)

7. How much do you expect to spend on energy saving personal / home improvements in 2008?

The following is a guest post by a Prosper member: CreditKarma…  You can use the Prosper Performance tool to estimate default risk for Prosper loans.

When I was a marketing and risk analyst with a credit card issuer, the customer’s credit score never really mattered per se. My concern was always with the default risk for any given score. For example, it was more important to know that a 720 FICO™ Score customer had a 1 in 237 probability of default. The score was meaningless to me (the lender) without the corresponding risk probability.

As such, I always wondered why Fair Isaac and credit bureaus used arbitrary scores when default risk is so much more informative to all parties. If I had to speculate, I would guess the following reasons:

1. Intellectual Property Protection - It is probably much easier to patent and copyright some arbitrary score and score algorithm than it is to patent logistic regression (the math term used in developing scores) and an arbitrary score range.
2. Consumers Don’t Want to Be Labeled - Consumers may object to such an outright classification as default risk. To say one person is a 450 FICO™ is probably not as offensive as saying that person has a 1 in 3 chance of defaulting on a loan.

Today, the reason is moot as it has become ingrained in consumers. As I read the comments in various blogs and discussion forums, I am still amazed at the level of mis-information accepted as truth. People claiming there certain scores are FAKO’s* or that doing X will yield Y result in your score. I personally think the confusion stems from the number of data sources, models, default variables, and uses of scores. It took me a degree in mathematics, economics, and 10 years of industry experience just to get my arms around credit scores and credit uses.

All this brings me back to the question: why doesn’t the industry just share your default risk? Isn’t that just an easier thing to understand than some arbitrary score range. Some people may object to a probability label but as they say, “a rose by any other name…”

Editor’s Note: *FAKO or Fake-O has been around for years, but the term was popularized by Suze Orman fairly recently. Orman is, admittedly, on Fair Isaac’s payroll.

The weekend for college basketball is upon us.  Personally, I cannot get enough college basketball and this weekend is no exception…  I mean, there are only 3 men’s games and 3 women’s games Saturday through Tuesday.  Is that enough?    When the games are for all the marbles then 6 is enough….

Enjoy the games, but first here are some great blog posts from around the P2P Lending and personal finance blogosphere…

LoanChimp is going bananas with an excellent series — Quick Chimp Tips for the New Lenders:

• Admit You are a Noob
• Prosper Loans are Not Handouts
• Don’t Gamble With Your Bids
• Consider Each Listing Carefully
• Read Between the Lines
• Ask Questions, But Be Nice
• Loans Really Do Go Late
• Don’t Get Mad
• Instead Take a Deep Breath
• Learn From Your Mistakes
• Success is Possible

HollowOak gives a great primer on Cease and Desist Letters

RateLadder Updated Prosper Credit Grade Vintage Curves

ProsperousLand reports Prosper Interfering With Presidential Politics

Blogging Away Debt offers 3 B.A.D. Ways to Reduce Your Debt

brip blap offers 31 causes of failure #5 — Lack of Self Discipline.

Cash Money Life tells us How to Do a Phone Interview

Lazy Man has been Budgeting for a Tank

The Digerati Life offers 5 Clever Ways Other Entrepreneurs Can Help Your Business

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RateLadder is a Prosper lender and has been since July, 2006.  He has a passion for p2p lending.  He owns RateLadder — My Prosper.com Journey and other P2P Lending Adventures, P2P No Bank the P2P Blog Aggregate, and ProProsper — Professional Tools for Prosper Lenders featuring SQL access to Prosper data.

This is a guest post by Prosper member poppadollars.

A lot has been written about identity theft the last few years. Many people are concerned, and rightly so, that someone will hijack their good name and credit and abuse it. Typically, someone will discover the problem after some time has elapsed and problems have mounted to the point their credit has been seriously impaired. Maybe they apply for a loan and are rejected when normally they would have been approved. Maybe a collection agency contacts them about a delinquent account they never heard of.

Maybe a credit card statement they have routinely received fails to show up in the mail.

After further investigation they may discover loans and credit cards obtained in their name they never applied for or had thrown in the trash. In some cases it may appear that someone has created a whole new life at another address based on their name and credit history.

How can you discourage identity theft?

1. Check your credit reports from all three reporting agencies at least once a year (it is free). Follow up on any suspicious activity or accounts you do not recognize.
2. Reconcile your bank and credit card statements each month and follow up on any unusual transactions.
3. If your mailbox is accessible from the street, rent a PO box and have your bills sent to the PO box (or pay them on-line). This will avoid the bulk of the offers that come to a box on the street where anyone can easily divert them to their own use.
4. Buy a shredder and shred anything that has your name and account information on it instead of discarding mail in the trash. It is too easy for someone to dumpster dive and pull your financial information.
5. When using your credit card only deal with reputable merchants. Use third party payment options like eBay’s “Paypal” service or a service from your credit card company to pay for items on-line without disclosing your account information to the vendor.
6. Never give out personal or financial information over the phone or on-line to someone who has cold called you. Ask for a name and phone number. If they claim to be from someone you normally deal with, obtain the phone number independently through the phone book or other means to make sure you are calling who you think you are calling. Do not click on the links sent in e-mails to access contact web sites. It is very easy to create a web site that looks authentic, but is not the company you think you are dealing with.
7. When you mail checks to pay bills, place the envelope in the post office or a collection box, not a mail box accessible easily from the street by anyone in a vehicle. Checks can easily be altered.

Sometimes we joke that the best identity theft protection is to run all your credit cards to the limit and borrow as much as your are able. That way your identity is not worth stealing, but a better solution is to be vigilant and take some routine steps to make yourself less accessible a target.

March madness is in full swing.  How are your brackets?  Mine you ask?  Let’s just say I had Georgetown winning in one and Duke in another.  Translation: I was out of my office pool VERY early.  Hopefully you are fairing better.

Here are some of our favorite posts from around the blogosphere…

Prosperous Land discusses More On Prosper Loan Diversification

LazyMan hypothesizes in The Future of P2P Lending - Dusting Off My Crystal Ball 

brip blap dispenses 15 ways to make your 9 to 5 a 10 

Cash Money Life discusses Job Searching While Employed

The Digerati Life offers tips on how to Survive A Recession, Think Long Term

For Blogging Away Debt it is Time to Buy A New Pair of Jeans - Quality Vs. Cheap

WealthBoy asks Is the Worst Behind Us in the Stock Markets?

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RateLadder is a Prosper lender and has been since July, 2006.  He has a passion for p2p lending.  He owns RateLadder — My Prosper.com Journey and other P2P Lending Adventures, P2P No Bank the P2P Blog Aggregate, and ProProsper — Professional Tools for Prosper Lenders featuring SQL access to Prosper data.