I'd never
lend money on an informal basis. That's just asking to flush a friendship down the shitter. It's about expectations. I'll take a loss for people. I've done that with this house in Maine! But I won't give money
expecting it to be paid back. With large sums in informal arrangements, it seems payments are either slow or non-existent. That kind of shit just erodes relationships.
That said, I heard a commercial for this place:
CircleLending - private and personal loans, family and friend loan creation, loan documentation and loan servicing for private mortgage, personal lending, business funding, and seller financing or owner financing
I don't know what their fee structure is like, but I could see myself entertaining the notion of lending in a formal setting through this.
Jam it back in, in the dark.