LendStreet

LendStreet, founded in 2010 by Jerry Nemorin and Tom Coombs, operated as an online lending platform focused on assisting consumers in financial distress. The company's primary service was to provide debt refinancing and restructuring for individuals with significant debt burdens. The business model centered on negotiating discounted payoffs with creditors and then issuing a new, consolidated loan to the consumer at a lower interest rate. This approach aimed to help clients manage their payments more effectively and rebuild their credit.

The inspiration for LendStreet came from co-founder and former CEO Jerry Nemorin's background in investment banking at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, where he worked on corporate debt restructuring. Observing the financial crisis and the subsequent earthquake in his native Haiti, Nemorin was motivated to apply similar financial strategies to help individuals facing financial hardship. His experience on Wall Street provided the foundational expertise for LendStreet's methodology. Nemorin holds a BS from the University of Florida and an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia.

LendStreet's platform worked by directly paying off a client's existing creditors with the proceeds of a new loan, enabling a reduction in the total debt amount and more manageable monthly payments. The company utilized its own proprietary credit analytics to assess a borrower's ability, capacity, and intent to repay, aiming to identify individuals who were financially distressed but not insolvent. This data-driven approach allowed LendStreet to underwrite loans for a segment of the population, often with FICO scores around 580, that traditional lenders might overlook. Over its history, the company raised a total of $17 million in equity and $110 million in a conventional debt round from investors including Prudential Financial, Radicle Impact, Kapor Capital, and Accion. According to multiple sources, LendStreet is no longer in operation.

Keywords: debt consolidation, debt refinancing, consumer lending, financial distress, credit rebuilding, personal finance, fintech, Jerry Nemorin, loan restructuring, consumer debt, credit counseling, online lending, debt relief, financial health, subprime lending, impact investing, social impact finance, alternative lending, debt management, financial inclusion