Eric's Credit Community

Thanks for reading my listing. The funds for this loan will be used to pay off some business debt.

I currently own 90% of a small but successful Internet business which accounts for most of my income. This business will be 9 years old in April 2007, and has been profitable for over 5 years now. Cash flow from that business is extremely strong.

My verifiable W2 income for year 2006 was $75,000, but my actual income is much higher (much of it is in alternate compensation to reduce payroll taxes). However, I will stick with the $75,000 figure since that can be verified.

From the W2 paycheck, my after-tax monthly take home is $4850 (I overwithhold taxes so I can get a tax refund). I have no credit card debt, no car payments, but I charge about $2000/month on my American Express which I pay off every month (which is why my debt ratio is currently 2% pre-Prosper-loan instead of 0%). My mortgage is $1750/month. All our monthly expenses except for utilities ($250/month) go on the American Express bill. I have lots of room left over to pay off the Prosper loan.

There's one delinquency on my credit report. It's a $50 Suncom Wireless bill which was paid off over a year ago, but the collection agency says it's $200 and I refuse to pay it. The bill was originally late because I moved houses, and the bill did not reach me in time, so they sent it to a collection agency. I am working with Experian and Equifax to remove this from my credit report. Other than that, I have never been delinquent on any payment in my life.

Despite the delinquency, I have a AA credit rating. As you can see from my credit profile, I have about 50 credit lines that total over $100,000, of which I only use my American Express (which I pay off every month).

I currently have access to more favorable credit terms than Prosper, but I like the idea of Prosper, which is why I'm doing this loan. I want to support Prosper and learn the process. I intend to start lending on Prosper in the next week or so, and I thought I'd go through the entire borrowing process first. This loan will most likely be paid off in less than 6 months, but you will be doing me a favor by bidding on it and educating me about the process here at Prosper. I realize it's a pain for you to initiate a loan only to have it paid off in a hurry, but perhaps we can stay in touch after the loan is paid off and I can do you a favor in the future.

By the way, this loan will not be used to fund Prosper loans. Those funds are separate and are already on their way from my bank account.

My manifesto as a lender would be to combat predatory lending and help out those in the vicious cycle of payday loans and very high interest loans. I see Prosper as more of a way to give back than an income stream. Some of my friends are already engaged in fighting predatory lending full-time (see www.self-help.org) but I see Prosper as a way to do my small share.

Eventually I'd like to start a group with no leader rewards to help out deserving E and HR borrowers who need a second chance (knowing that the group will probably suffer more defaults than the average group), but right now time constraints do not allow me to do this.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll bid on my loan.