Law Center News
Prof. Odinet presents empirical research on online marketplace lending at contract law conference
Prof. Chris Odinet presented his research paper titled BitCredit: Marketplace Lending and the Consumer Experience on Feb. 25, 2017 at the International Conference on Contracts.
The conference (also known as KCON) was hosted this year at the Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, CA from Feb. 24-25, 2017. The conference annually draws contract law scholars from across the globe to discuss cutting edge issues in negotiation, drafting, and transaction dynamics, and more.
Odinet’s paper explores the emerging online financing industry known as marketplace lending. “Marketplace lending firms are companies that use big data to make lending determinations without the use of paper loan applications and brick and mortar buildings that are typical of traditional banking,” Odinet explained. “Because of the technology consumers and small business, who make up most of marketplace lending’s borrowers, are ostensibly able to get access to small value, short-term credit at a lower cost.”
In his paper Odinet gives an overview of these companies, explains their popularity, and discusses how they are (or are not) regulated. The paper also looks to a dataset of complaints lodged by consumers against seven of the major marketplace lending companies in the US so as to better understand the experience of consumers who engage with these firms.
A summary of Odinet’s presentation can be found here at the Contracts Law Prof Blog, as well as blog entries for many of the other panels at the conference. The photo above is provided courtesy of Prof. Mark Burge (Texas A&M), who is a co-editor of the Contracts Law Prof Blog.
Odinet joined the Law Center faculty in 2013. He is a frequent speaker on issues related to mortgage finance, real estate, and consumer financial protection. He is a 2016-18 Louisiana Bar Foundation Scholar-in-Residence and recently was appointed as an inaugural real property scholar with the American College of Real Estate Lawyers/American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law. Odinet is also one of Louisiana’s four delegates to the Uniform Law Commission, a national state law reform body. View his scholarship by clicking here.
RSS News Feed