As the oldest and largest association representing the private and peer-to-peer lending industry, we regularly receive requests from lenders, researchers, and legislators about everything from the size and scope of the industry all the way down to the minutiae of origination fees and average loan terms.

While this data is readily available for the conventional mortgage industry, which by law is required to report transaction details to various federal agencies, private lenders for the most part do not have such reporting requirements. And to date, there has been little specific research into the private lending industry as a unique niche within the larger finance market.

As the private lending industry has exploded, so too has the need for measurable, statistically relevant data, both so lenders can benchmark themselves against others and so that the industry can gain relevance. We have learned this firsthand when advocating to legislators on behalf of private lenders: money speaks. And until we can do more than guesstimate the details, it is hard to be taken seriously.

While AAPL has long understood the need for such research and information, the means and capability to begin such an undertaking remained out of reach—until now. We have designed survey questions that will maximize data quality and relevance, and built a platform to enable us to regularly collect responses.

However, there are two factors that require your participation to make this a success:

Large Sample Size // A few respondents does not make for a statistically relevant report. Some of the most impactful research surveys into the housing industry began small but grew through the organization’s ability to reach the right people. Through our own reach and those of participating partners, AAPL is positioned to do just that, with our survey signups already numbering in the hundreds pre-launch. Sign up to respond at aaplonline.com/survey.

Regular Reporting // A benchmark survey that accurately measures an industry must not only have a long list of respondents; it must have respondents who respond regularly. Within longer market cycles, we know the private lending industry ebbs and flows as a reflection of the larger housing market. While an annual survey cannot capture these vagaries and a monthly survey is too burdensome for smaller lenders, we settled on a quarterly survey to capture seasonal market cycles.

Why Participate?
From a purely business-oriented standpoint, companies that respond to the survey have a leg up in terms of being able to regularly benchmark their business both regionally and nationally. Instead of setting interest rates and other loan terms based on guesses or anecdotal information (like visiting their main competitors’ websites), participating companies receive anonymized and aggregated data compiled from all survey responders. Lenders will also gain a better understanding of their true market share, enabling them to set goals based on hard data.

But who it is that originates the survey is also important. AAPL is an impartial, nonpartisan association—the first and only such organization to launch a private lending industry survey. We will never sell your survey responses, and data tendered outside AAPL will always be anonymized and aggregated. We will not use your survey responses to sell products or services to you. Our goal, rather, is to better enable us to position the industry— in essence, to better do the job we promised we would: support your private lending business and the industry