Lendingclub.com Peer-to-peer Loan Website Puts Lenders on Hiatus

Lending Club is No Longer Allowing Lenders to Give Money Towards New Loans

For approximately a fortnight now, Lendingclub.com, one of the premier peer-to-peer lending websites has not allowed lenders to give money to new borrowers. The website www.lendingclub.com gives sparse details as to the reasoning behind the shut down nor has any status been posted as of this time.

Peer-to-peer lending websites like Prosper.com and lendingclub.com are a link between borrowers who need small loans and people who are willing to fund the loans. These loans are unsecured loans but have historically had relatively low default rates. On Lendingclub.com, fewer than 2% of all loans listed are currently late and none have been charged off since the website began (just under a year ago). For a more in depth look at what lendingclub.com does see my previous article about peer-to-peer lending, by clicking here.

On their website, under lender information, there is a link that says that Lending Club is registering their service for "promissory notes to be offered in the future." It is uncertain right now if lenders will be able to lend money utilizing Lending Club in the near future as there has been no updates about the project since it began.

There has been some speculation on to the exact nature of the shut down of the website. However, some web speculation and water cooler talk has focused on Lendingclub.com being an unregistered lender service and possibly looking towards getting a broker-dealer license according to www.wiseclerk.com. However, as Lending Club has already started a contract between its borrowers and its lenders, it is contractually allowed to continue them while applying for appropriate licensure. However, looking into their blog and their AboutUs website, Lendingclub.com is not allowing any more information or status to be leaked as of yet.