If you are experiencing temporary cash flow issues and your bank has shut its doors to additional lending, there may be an alternative. Peer-to peer lending services are starting to pop up all over the Web.

These services are like an eBay to lending funds.  The prospective borrowing tells their story and requests a specific loan amount and rate. The borrower is rated by a crediting rating service, which is posted to their profile. Then other individuals bid on the loan and the rate. The "lenders" fund only a very small portion of the loan individually, so there may be 200 lenders funding a $10,000 loan. Therefore, if the borrower defaults, the lender is out only $50 on any specific loan.

The interest rates vary depending on the borrower's credit report. They range from about 8% to 25%. The term of the loans is short -- less than 5 years.

These are some peer-to-peer lending services on the Web: https://www.loanio.com, https://us.zopa.com/bo/NHome.aspx and www.prosper.com.