Find records

Use the Docket

Open the Docket

Start with the four counts for a view of your watches, borrower reports, new reports and affected lenders. Then check the person you plan to fund.

  1. Check before you fund

    Enter a handle, payment tag, email or phone and choose Check. Read the results or no-match warning in the same card.

  2. Review your exposure

    Open Exposure for unread notifications and Your book’s matches for borrowers connected to a Warden record.

  3. Follow the evidence

    Watchtower, Most Wanted and your watches open the relevant records. A dossier’s Registry breadcrumb takes you back to Everybody.

Interactive example

Check before you fund

Fictional identities. Switch outcomes to see what each means.

u/example_match
1 matching record

u/example_match · matched on handle

Open the dossier and review its sources before deciding whether to fund.

A match opens a record to investigate. No match means this check found no matching Warden record; it is not an all-clear.

Browse the Registry

Open the Registry

Everybody lists one dossier per subject, including subjects without reports. Use the report lanes when you want individual accounts and evidence.

  1. Narrow Everybody

    Filter by On record or Disputed, community, activity in the last 7, 30 or 90 days, Bounty or Subjects I reported. All time removes the activity cutoff. These filters apply to Everybody only.

  2. Choose the order

    Most recent shows newest activity first across dossiers and reports. Oldest first reverses the order. Changing sort starts again at the first page.

  3. Open a record

    Choose a handle for its dossier. Report lanes include All reports, Cases, Intel, Contributor-submitted, Multi-source and My reports; your My reports bookmark still works.

  4. Keep browsing

    Load more adds rows without removing those already shown and keeps your chosen order. Your standing shows factual contribution counts.

Interactive example

Filter and order

Fictional records. Choose a status, then change the order.

3 example subjects · most recent first

  • u/example_alder
    On record
  • u/example_birch
    Disputed
  • u/example_cedar
    On record
The filter changes which example records appear. Sorting changes their order, while the selected status stays applied.

Read and clear notifications

Open the inbox

Opening the Docket creates one notification when a Warden subject exactly matches a borrower in your book. Warden read access is required.

  1. Read the alert

    Find unread Warden notifications in the Docket, bell or inbox. Each names the borrower in your book.

  2. Mark it read

    Choose Mark read on one row, or Mark all read in Exposure to clear only its Warden notifications. Read notifications stay read; your matched-borrower count remains.

Interactive example

Read an alert

Fictional example. Try Mark read, then reset.

Unread alerts
1
Borrower matches
1
Unread
u/example_borrower

A borrower in your book matches a Warden record.

Reading an alert clears its unread count. It leaves the borrower match on record.

Notice a new borrower report

Open the Docket

A new report raises a fresh notification when its subject exactly matches a handle or active Reddit alt in your book, even after you read the first alert.

See how reading an alert affects the counts.
  1. Check what changed

    Return to the Docket or open the bell. The alert names your borrower, the new report kind and its severity. You do not receive an alert for your own filing.

  2. Read the evidence

    Open the dossier from the notification and review the new report.

Contribute

File a sourced report

Record what happened with a source that another lender can review.

  1. Set your attribution

    Add your contributor display name in Account settings.

  2. Describe and source the report

    Choose File a report in the top bar. Enter the subject’s primary handle and what happened, then add a source link or supported file.

  3. Review and attest

    Check the details before filing.

Fictional example

A sourced account

  • Subject

    u/example_borrower

  • Factual account

    Repayment was due on 12 September. As of 18 September, I have not received it.

  • Source

    Example agreement and dated payment history.

  • Attribution

    Example lender

Keep the account, its source and your contributor name together. These details are fictional; no report is filed.

Add what you know

Find the dossier

Connect an identifier to the right person and explain how you know.

  1. Add the detail

    Open the dossier and expand Add what you know. Choose the identifier type, enter its value and, when available, describe how you know.

  2. Save to the record

    Choose Add to this entry. It saves immediately with your display name and date.

Record when someone makes good

Find the dossier

A vouch keeps the positive side of the record separate from warning reports.

  1. Describe what you can support

    Open the dossier and choose Vouch. Explain what happened in your own words.

  2. Add your vouch

    Choose Continue. Your entry appears in Made good & vouches.

Add a discussion remark

Find the discussion

Use the discussion for factual, sourced context.

  1. Write the context

    Open the dossier’s Discussion section and enter your remark. Include the source behind what you know.

  2. Post with attribution

    Choose Post. Your display name identifies the remark.

Corroborate a report

Open reports

Add your own experience to a report only after reading its evidence.

  1. Review the account

    Read the report and its sources. Confirm that the same thing also happened to you.

  2. Add your corroboration

    Choose Corroborate on the dossier or I was also affected on the report.

Manage your contributions

Remove your own identifier

Find your identifier

Remove an identifier you contributed when it should no longer appear on the record.

  1. Find your contribution

    Open its dossier and choose Remove mine beside the identifier.

  2. Review and confirm

    Review the identifier, then confirm the change.

Request an identifier’s removal

Find the identifier

Ask staff to review an identifier contributed by another member.

  1. Flag the identifier

    Choose Request removal on the other member’s identifier.

  2. Explain the reason

    Give a short, specific reason and choose Continue.

Edit your own words

Open a dossier

Update your own vouch or discussion remark. Other members cannot edit your entry.

  1. Change your words

    Choose Edit on your entry and revise the text.

  2. Save or leave it as it was

    Choose Save to apply the change, or cancel to leave it as it was.

Withdraw your own contribution

Open a dossier

Withdraw your own vouch, remark or corroboration when it should no longer appear.

  1. Review the withdrawal

    Choose Withdraw on your entry and read the confirmation.

  2. Confirm the change

    Confirm when you want the contribution removed.

Recovery

Prepare a recovery letter

Open letter kit

Prepare a letter from your case details, then review it before use.

Choose the right template

Open the letter kit, fill in your case details, and choose a payment reminder, formal demand or final notice.

Review the whole letter

Replace every placeholder and check the details before copying or printing.

Fictional letter excerpt

Payment reminder

Subject: Repayment reminder: $125.00 due 12 September

Hi Example borrower,

Quick reminder about the loan I sent you on 1 September via bank transfer: $125.00, agreed on Example platform to be repaid by 12 September.

Example lender

An excerpt with fictional case details. Review the complete letter in the kit before using it.
Payment methods and recovery context
Back to the recovery playbook

PayPal & Venmo “Goods & Services” for loans

LoanLedger’s recommended setup: send the loan as Goods & Services (G&S), and take repayment as Friends & Family or any other way. Lending is a service you provide. Sending it as G&S keeps a dispute route on the money you send; taking repayment outside G&S means no one can open a dispute on money that’s been repaid. Borrowers break agreements more often than lenders do, so the protection sits with the lender.

What the platforms publish

PayPal Goods & Services

Purchase Protection (US), last updated 26 January 2026 · checked 23 September 2026 · Read PayPal’s terms

What PayPal publishes
  • Covers payments sent as Goods & Services. Friends and Family payments are never covered.
  • Loans aren’t named. Excluded: “payments that are equivalent to cash” and “financial products or investments of any kind”.
  • Item Not Received: open the dispute within 180 days of the payment. A dispute closes after 20 days unless you escalate it to a claim.
Worth knowing
  • PayPal decides each claim on its facts, and anything it finds its terms prohibit isn’t protected.
  • The seller fee: agree who pays it before you send.
  • Captures the borrower’s legal name & email: gold for Warden + court.

Venmo Goods & Services

Purchase Protection in the Venmo User Agreement, effective 24 August 2026 · checked 23 September 2026 · Read Venmo’s terms

What Venmo publishes
  • Covers payments marked for goods and services. Personal payments marked between friends are never covered.
  • Loans aren’t named. Excluded: “financial products or investments of any kind”.
  • Open the dispute within 180 days of the payment, after asking the borrower to resolve it first, and answer Venmo’s requests for documents on time.
Worth knowing
  • Venmo decides each claim on its facts, and anything it finds its terms prohibit isn’t protected.
  • One-tap toggle most borrowers already understand.
  • US-only: no use for cross-border lending.

What lenders report

Field reports, not rules: what lenders tell us happened. No names. Updated 23 September 2026.

  • Documented G&S claims are being decided for the lender. Lenders report PayPal siding with them when the agreement, the payment and the missed date are clear in writing (relayed to LoanLedger, September 2026).
  • G&S is the common way to send a loan. Across six lending communities, post titles name Goods & Services 1,858 times and Friends & Family 90 times (May 2025 – September 2026, LoanLedger’s archive).

Bottom line

Send the loan as G&S, take repayment any other way, and keep the agreement in writing where both of you can see it. If a date is missed, ask in writing first, open the dispute inside the 180 days, and keep small claims as the route for anything a platform doesn’t decide. A dispute is a route, never a guaranteed recovery.

When it goes wrong anyway

Escalate on paper: demand letters PayPal and Venmo both count their 180 days from the payment, not from the missed date, so a long repayment plan can outlast the window. A written demand trail is what wins disputes and small-claims cases. Three fill-in templates: reminder → formal demand → final notice.

Open the letter kit

Lender etiquette: the positive lane

How good lenders keep the network healthy

  • Check before you stack. If a borrower already has an open loan, talk to that lender before adding another. Two loans the other lender doesn’t know about is how good borrowers drown, and how lenders get burned by surprise.
  • Report facts, not feelings. A Warden entry is a warning to inspect, never a verdict. File what happened with receipts; skip the accusations the evidence doesn’t carry.
  • Close the loop. When a defaulter makes good, flip your entry to Repaid or Recovered, and vouch when someone resolves things fairly. The record cuts both ways, and that’s exactly what makes it trustworthy.
  • Keep your own book clean. Record loans when you make them, confirm repayments in the thread, and keep terms where both sides can see them. Lenders who document protect every lender after them.

Building up your borrowers

Reliable borrowers are made, not found

  • Start small, grow on repayment. A first loan is an audition: keep it an amount you can lose. Every clean repayment earns the next tier, and the borrower earns a history other lenders can see.
  • Confirm repayments publicly. A “repaid, thank you” comment in the thread is the borrower’s receipt. It costs you ten seconds and builds the track record that gets them better terms next time.
  • Set dates people can hit. Align due dates with paydays and say exactly what happens if a date slips. Most defaults start as a missed date nobody talked about.
  • Reward the comeback. A borrower who defaulted and then made good took the hard road. Mark it, vouch for it if it’s true, and let the record show the recovery. That’s the incentive that gets money paid back after things go wrong.

Contribute

Used G&S to recover? Tell us how it went. Did PayPal or Venmo side with you on a defaulted loan, or deny it? Share the outcome on the actor’s dossier so other lenders know what actually works before they rely on it.

Find the dossier