People turn to any number of sources for loans or financing to cover their needs in tough times. Maybe they can borrow from a family member or a friend. Maybe they use services like mail-order catalogs that sell on credit (for a description of that system, see here, page 43).

But what about from a stranger over the Internet? Michelle Singletary, a financial columnist for the Washington Post, describes this sort of "social lending" here. Have any WarrenReports readers used such a service? What led you to use the service? What were your experiences? As the economy faces potentially serious trouble, I suspect many of these nontraditional lending networks will be popping up.