Whether you are a self-employed borrower with a seasoning of funds and reserves issue, a real estate professional trying to provide their client with all the options available to them, or a mortgage broker who wants smart funding to achieve their client's goals, private money is a great tool that gives the borrower lending luxuries such as the ability to make cash-like o ers.
6 Aureus Finance Group: Setting the Gold Standard
By Mark Dewyea, Contributing Writer for Originate Report
12 Ani Kamikyan: Forging Your Own Path in the Lending Industry
By Mark Dewyea, Contributing Writer for Originate Report
22 Old North Capital Fund: Capital When You Need It
By Charles Peckman, Contributing Writer for Originate Report
24 Rice Park Capital: Leveraging the Economies of Scale
By Mark Dewyea, Contributing Writer for Originate Report
18 The Machines Are Going to Put You Out of Business: Automate or Die
By Nema Daghbandan, Esq., Geraci LLP
32 The Rise of Non-Performing Loans and Opportunity for Investors
By Edward Brown, Pacific Private Money
14 Gary Bechtel, CEO, Red Oak Capital Holdings
28 Romney Navarro, Partner,
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Streamline Funding
37 Arixa Capital Originates More than $1 Billion in Loans in 12 months, Surpassing $3 Billion Since Inception
38 Lightning Docs Recognized as Private Lending Industry Standard
Business Purpose Loan Documents Named Official Loan Docs of The American Association of Private Lenders (AAPL)
Welcome to the AAPL Special Edition of Originate Report!
“Saying hello doesn’t have an ROI. It’s about building relationships.” -Gary Vaynerchuk
The quote above is an apt observation from a master and a primary motivating factor for people who continue to attend conferences such as AAPL year after year. An oft-repeated notion in business, “people do business with people they know, like, and trust”. Nowhere is this more important than in the Private Lending Industry which is, at its core, a business built on relationships. Networking at events and dedication to a service mindset are important factors to ensure lasting success.
For this month’s cover story, Setting the Gold Standard, Originate Report had the distinct privilege of sitting down with Trixy Castro, CEO and Founder of Aureus Finance Group, to discuss their impetus for re-entering the private lending game and the standards they have set to ensure market dominance. Curating an executive team handpicked to “bring back the old-world standards of concierge service”, Castro once again has set her sights on providing a robust suite of offerings designed to meet the needs of her real estate clients. Through the addition of a seasoned team, Aureus is dedicated to service and relationship-building which will ensure longterm growth and repeat business. The team so strongly believes in this philosophy that they weaved the concept into the fabric of their firm itself through their choice of a company name. Read this month’s cover story to learn more about Aureus’ entry into the space and how their unwavering dedication to providing unparalleled service is setting the gold standard in Private Lending.
Our next issue of Originate Report is a Year in Review edition, and we are looking for your thoughts on the coming year. We want to hear what worked and didn’t work in 2022 for your company and get your thoughts on 2023.
It’s time to #shareyourstory with us. Contact us to find out how: submissions@originate.report. All 2023 editions are now available.
Until next time,
Somewould call Aureus CEO & Founder Trixy Castro “crazy” for wanting to create another powerhouse firm after all her previous success. Castro was the Creator & Founder of Genesis Capital, an extremely successful private lending firm, and Genesis Auctions (later Hudson & Marshall), one of the country’s top real estate auction companies. Why would someone want to start all over and build another team and firm from scratch? To that, she will tell you: “…passion. It is a strong and deeprooted passion of mine to help people build their businesses –businesses that help provide housing and housing options nationwide.” It is safe to say, one person’s crazy is another person’s passion.
Aureus Finance Group
When Castro created Aureus Finance Group in early 2021 with a few members of her executive team, the goal in their minds was simple – to bring back the old-world standards of concierge service to a modern and robust new lending space. The name of the firm was chosen because Aureus is a Latin word meaning “gold or high value gold coin.” Setting a gold standard requires a team and focus worthy of its name. Their goal was built on the same foundation that all of Castro’s previous ventures made fundamental: though the market may be unpredictable and unsteady, we will be the partner and rock our clients can lean on for help.
Aureus Finance Group is a private lender focusing on lending products for residential real estate investors and developers. Their loan programs are built specifically with borrowers’ needs in mind. Offered products span from bridge lending to ground up construction for resell and hold models, as well as 30-year rental loans for single assets, portfolios, and multifamily properties. Aureus’ impressive suite of DSCR Rental Loan products is robust with programs designed to meet the various needs of real estate investor clients.
As the real estate landscape continues to evolve in the postpandemic world, Aureus Finance Group has emerged as a leader in the residential investment space, driving sustainable growth and accruing a consistent track record of satisfied clients. Originate Report had the distinct pleasure of speaking with several members of the Aureus team to get a behind-the-scenes look at what makes this trend-setting newcomer to the private lending scene a truly special organization.
When discussing the creation of Aureus, Castro stated, “Aureus is the long-dreamt culmination of seasoned talent from all verticals and aspects
of finance, lending, real estate, technology, public relations, and business development. We wanted to combine all of that with a true concierge-style approach.” Aureus is stitching together a fragmented industry through a broad product suite offering while always putting people at the forefront.
The people are truly what make Aureus an industry leader.
While the company may be newer, the team certainly is not. This handselected group consists of seasoned veterans in the finance and real estate world, combined with skilled talent from other verticals, including tech and development, marketing, human resources, and loan operations. Aureus’ executive team have all known each other for years, as most of them worked together at Castro's other successful firms. “It’s really more like coming back together with family members you have not seen for a few years… like coming home in a sense,” said Chief Compliance Officer Brittany Starkey. Starkey has known and worked with Castro for more than fifteen years, and they have been side by side for multiple successful ventures. Starkey was a founding member of the Genesis group of companies. She led the creation and expansion of a securitized note offering for Genesis Capital that then became an institutional loan securitization product.
Aureus Finance Group: Continues on pg. 8
In addition to the CCO, Chief Investment Officer & GC Derrick Grüner, Esq., is also a former Genesis original team member where he served as Chief Legal Officer. Grüner possesses almost three decades of real estate and finance industry experience. Prior to his executive leadership roles, he was a partner at a large AV-rated East Coast law firm where he represented private equity, investors, lenders, borrowers, owners, developers, operators, and contractors. Grüner was more than excited to be back with the family that was built at a previous venture. "There is no replacement for the colleagues and friends that you have been in the trenches with while building something substantial and successful. I look forward to doing it again and making Aureus our most expansive and impressive firm yet,” he emphasized.
President CJ Russell also brings a uniquely relevant background, especially to the current market. Russell ran operations and client management for ServiceLink Auction, where he was responsible for increasing sales and inventory volume and execution. Before joining ServiceLink Auction, Russell developed a proprietary tech and consulting company that became the framework for Auction.com's workflow. While at Auction.com, he developed and launched the HUD CWCOT Auction program, growing it to 4,000 assets monthly nationwide and consistently hitting record revenue targets. With Russell leading
Brittany Starkey CCO, Aureus Finance Group
the charge at Aureus is certainly a winning differentiator as the country stares down the possibility of a more unsteady market. With years of experience crossing downturns and the distressed auction space, Russell’s unique experience provides Aureus Finance Group a wealth of knowledge for their borrowers as things become more volatile.
Vice President of Lending Operations Megan Castleton was recruited early on in Aureus’ team building, not only for her two decades of experience in the mortgage lending space but for her development and use of automated underwriting systems, analyzing and establishing operations procedures, and underwriting guidelines for unique product offering in the market. Castleton’s talent and abilities in building and scaling lending platforms in the Commercial and Consumer lending space are second to none. She has large plans for Aureus’ future and how proprietary process and automation will blend with unparalleled service and a humanistic approach. “Often
Derrick Grüner, Esq. CIO & GC, Aureus Finance Group
times, when we see more and more firms automating a specific process, so much of the necessary customer interaction and white glove service falls victim to technology…our goal is to offer the most valuable balance of both, so the borrower always receives the most positive outcome,” Castleton commented.
Apart from the executive leadership, Aureus has recruited some of the most outstanding talent not only in the financial and real estate verticals but across multiple areas of focus, including technology and development, marketing, human resources, and lending operations. Castro’s team have curated talent across different areas to offer distinct and proprietary options for the borrowers and broker partners as they move forward and expand. With an incredible team, Aureus Finance Group is not going anywhere, even amidst the volatile market that may be on the horizon. Aureus is here, with heels dug in to help their borrowers weather the storm and come out ahead.
Aureus Finance Group: Continued from
With a downturn being immanent to most, it is hard to envision a private lender that traditionally supported a strong flipper’s market steaming full force ahead when so many in the space have suffered losses and even shut their doors permanently. When asked for his thoughts on the future of not just flipping but the state of the housing market itself, Russell voiced that “it is possible there may be some distress or default volume. However, we expect it to be less
VP of Lending, Aureus Finance Group
significant than the last downturn… certain dynamics and marketspecific nuances may increase investor appetite in certain DMAs to rehab housing stock, and there may be more beneficial markets that still support healthy fix-and-flip margins, while we will most likely see much more fix-to-rent strategies emerging from all areas.”
Whatever the goal is, as the world heads farther into the ‘wait-and-see’ era brought on by COVID and global
changes, the team at Aureus Finance Group has been nose down, at the grindstone, prepping for the market that is to come. Having formed her first and widely successful venture right after the 2008 crash, Castro is no stranger to cyclical trends and market roller-coaster changes. Aureus’ goal was to assemble a team that knows how to partner with investors to grow even in a volatile market and then be poised waiting for the wave, as this is their sweet spot and truly where their differentiation resides. With a forward-thinking CEO at the helm of a diversely talented team, it will be exciting to see how Aureus sets the bar even higher for service and reliability with an everchanging landscape of lending.
Aureus Finance Group is not simply wanting to be “another lending option.” They are here to partner with their clients and facilitate business needs. Their goals have been laid out over the last year, waiting for the right moment that the market would shift, and their unique blend of experience and "know-how" would be unequivocally unmatched. That moment has arrived. They have not come to the table to only bring back the gold standard. As their motto claims, Aureus is here to be the gold standard.
For more information, please visit: https://aureusfinancegroup.com/
CJ Russell President, Aureus Finance Group Megan Castleton Aureus Finance Group
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Every career trajectory is unique. Individuals tend to gravitate towards a profession that matches their respective personalities, although the path to finding the right job is not always linear—it can be a long, circuitous journey full of challenges, personal growth, and lessons learned. That was definitely Ani Kamikyan’s experience, who leveraged the interpersonal skills she garnered in the retail industry to propel her into an immensely successful career in the lending sector.
Originate Report had the pleasure of sitting down with Kamikyan to discuss how she got involved in the financial sector and what inspired her to launch her own business as a mortgage broker affiliated with Dynamic Financing Group, Inc. Her story is a motivating reminder of the power of hard work, determination, and staying true to who you are.
A Passion to Help Kamikyan did not grow up wanting to be a mortgage broker—she just knew that she wanted to help people
in some capacity. She initially intended to become a doctor, but those plans changed when her educational goals were put on hold following a car accident. Instead of getting discouraged about the setback, she used the personal skills she developed in the retail industry to obtain a job as a personal banker.
“I became immediately fascinated with the financial industry,” recalls Kamikyan. “I loved being able to advise clients on how to optimize their savings and become more
FEATURE ARTICLE
Ani Kamikyan
Founder & Mortgage Broker, Dynamic Financing Group, Inc.
profitable.” Her passion propelled her to VP of Underwriting at LBC Capital, where she spent nearly six years assisting real estate investors in obtaining much-needed capital to pursue their goals.
Kamikyan’s initial success in the lending industry motivated her to strike out on her own as a mortgage broker, a role in which she applies her critical thinking and analytical skills to continue fulfilling her childhood dream of helping people. “From a young age, my main goal in life was just to help people,” she explains. “As a lending professional, I help borrowers obtain the capital they need to pursue their goals while simultaneously providing optimal returns to our investor base, which is truly a win-win for me. I get to help both sides with every transaction, and everyone comes out in a better position than when they started.”
The professional autonomy and ability to flex her inherently creative personality is an aspect of being a mortgage broker Kamikyan enjoys.
“When I get a job, I want to know everything,” she emphasizes. “What can we do? How can we do it? The devil is often in the details, so I make sure to be precise and detail oriented. Over the years, I have developed the ability to quickly assess a client’s credit, income, and asset backgrounds to determine appropriate pricing structures and risk analyses. This allows me to weigh a broad spectrum of potential concerns and develop contingency plans to ensure prompt and comprehensive issue resolution.”
Kamikyan has launched an Instagram page to educate the public on the advantages of private money loans and how they can assist real estate investors in tackling upcoming projects. She addresses a range of issues and promotes awareness of the unique upsides of private money funding options, such as interest rate stability: “A huge benefit of the type of private money lending that I facilitate is that these fluctuating interest rates we have been experiencing as of late do not impact the loan products we have to offer,” she states. “Our interest rates remain stable and are not dependent on the market, making our private money financing options ideal for borrowers.”
A major selling point Kamikyan feels makes hard money loans an ideal solution for investors is the quick turnaround time from application to funding. “Typically, we can complete the entire underwriting process the same day that we
receive an application,” she notes. “Good luck trying to get that kind of turnaround working with a conventional mortgage provider— you can be waiting for weeks or even months before being approved. Speed and efficiency are the names of the game when it comes to successful real estate investing,” she observes. “Our flexible hard money loans are specifically geared towards investors, offering them the flexibility and quick processing they need to remain competitive in today’s extremely active marketplace.”
For more information, please visit: https://www.dynamicfinancegroup.com
Ani Kamikyan Dynamic Financing Group, Inc.
I have been in the Commercial Real Estate Finance industry for over 36 years, in different capacities, at many companies. The last 25 years has largely been spent on the lending side, building/ expanding, or re-tooling platforms. My last two Companies, Money360 and Red Oak Capital, were both in the Private Lending space. I like this space because while we still operate in a regulated en vironment, it does not have the same oversight constraints as a tradition al lender like a Bank, Life Company, or Credit Union. This allows us to be more nimble, creative, and entrepreneurial in our deal structures. We can move much more rapidly to identify market oppor tunities and address them, which brings value to our investors, intermediaries, and borrowers.
Q: What is your current role and what do you do day-to-day?
I serve as Chief Executive Officer for Red Oak Capital Holdings and Oak Real Estate
Partners, an affiliated Institutional lend ing platform. I also sit on our Board of Managers and Investment Committee. My day consists of capital raising and loan originations efforts, as well as run ning overall strategy and managing our investment thesis. As we are still estab lishing our brand in the marketplace, there is a fair bit of travel involved to events and conferences in support of these efforts.
Q: What excites you about your role today?
I love to be part of building businesses and that is why I joined Red Oak two years ago. I can leave an imprint on the business as we continue to retool and grow it, expand our product lines, recruit people, and better establish the brand. Being able to interface with our employ ees, investors, capital partners, interme diaries, and borrowers gives me a great view of the market, the opportunities in it, and how we can address its continually changing dynamics.
Q: Can you explain a time where you faced adversity or had struggles early on in your career? Where did it all begin? How did these experiences mold and shape you into the leader you are today? How much time do you have?! I generally think I have been fortunate during my career. Having experienced a few down cycles clearly has presented adversity, but everybody was going through it at the time. I have been part of closing businesses and laying off large numbers of people or being part of those downsizings/shutdowns.
I think going through adversity or tough times gives you a better perspective for the future for addressing issues that arise and presenting solutions to them since you have already lived through something similar! I have always tried to take a longterm approach to building or retooling companies, so the lessons learned from the past help guide me in some of my de cision-making processes today.
Q: Is there anything that you wish you could go back and tell yourself at the beginning of your career?
Be prepared to get your teeth kicked in on regular basis! Just because it is going great today does not mean anything, as the business can change very quickly based on factors within the industry, the country, and the world that you have no control over. Be patient, learn all you can about the business, and do not burn any bridges. The person working for you today may be your boss in the future.
Q: Who is someone that has had a significant effect on your career and why?
I have been very fortunate to work with a number of great people during my career. I would say the person that
Gary
Gary
was instrumental in helping to get me into the business is Jim Warmington of Warmington Homes. Without him taking me under his wing and making introductions, I probably would not be in the business today. Another person who impacted my career would be my first boss, Fritz Swinehart. He taught me the business basics but also taught me how to conduct myself and provide great service to clients, as well as maintain the ethics for long-term success.
Q: What has been your favorite aspect of being an in private lending over the years?
I am proud to have been part of a growing area of the industry that really did not exist twenty years ago. I started in the Life Company space back in 1986, and while that part of the mortgage business will always be here, it is very conservative in nature and typically only provides long-term financing, whereas the Private Lending space can provide all different forms of capital in a more rapid, and in certain cases, aggressive manner. That ability to be creative and responsive to changing market conditions is very appealing to me and provides an opportunity to fully utilize the gray matter.
Q: What would you consider to be the highlight of your career thus far?
That is a tough one. Being part of the build-up and sale of Belgravia Capital to FINOVA and growing that to a multibillion-dollar platform (before closing it down as FINOVA imploded) was one. Another would be returning and helping to triple the size of Johnson Capital from $1B to over $3B in annual loan volume.
Most recently, being involved in helping take Money360 from $25M in closed volume and six people when I arrived in August 2015 to over $1.8B in closed loan volume and two successful CLOs and 40 people in early 2020 before COVID. Our entire story has not been written yet, but
I am thrilled about what we have been able to accomplish in a relatively short period of time at Red Oak/Oak Real Estate. We have built a platform that exceeds $300 million in AUM.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job? Least?
What I enjoy most about my job is working with great people, providing unique financing solutions to our clients, allowing our investors opportunity to receive above-average risk-adjusted returns, and being part of the building of successful platforms. What I do not like, and we are seeing this regularly, is companies that get into the business and misrepresent themselves as lenders when they do not have capital to lend. When they do not perform, they damage the reputation of those of us that are viable platforms. I like to call these groups “blenders,” as in, brokers representing themselves as lenders.
product offerings to take advantage of changes in the market, as it is never static.
Q: What tools do you use to aid you in your role to be most efficient, organized, and focused?
I have always tried to utilize technology in business, but I am pretty basic in my ap proach. I use my yellow notepad and make sure I return calls and emails promptly.
Q: Has your role changed significantly to address the current environment?
I have always been a hands-on type be cause I love the process of structuring deals and helping in our teams’ sales efforts. Whether on the origination or capital markets side, you have to adjust as the markets and business environ ment changes. What worked six months ago generally will not work today for many reasons.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who has just started out in private lending?
Be prepared to pay your dues and learn the business first. Do not think this business is all about making money, unless you want to have a short career.
Q: How will private lending change to adapt to the current market trends?
Q: Is time or money more valuable and why?
Today, I would have to say time, but do not get me wrong though, I still like the money part! You can never get the time back; you can always make money.
Q: How do you make sure your company stays ahead in this industry?
Never be satisfied with where you are today. Always be looking to how you can improve the business and expand your
As I have stated a few times, though regulated, the private lending business tends to be much more entrepreneurial than the traditional lending business, and the people within in it are very quick in coming up with new loan products, exit strategies, and marketing to address the changing conditions. This is one of the fun parts about the private lending space.
For more information, please visit: https://www.redoakcapitalholdings.com/
Lightning Docs is a fully automated, cloud based loan document solution developed by Geraci LLP. Its brief, interview-style questionnaire allows each set of documents to be tailored to your exact terms with no redraw fees or contract period.
Documents available in all 50 states
Easily customizable to fit your needs
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No redraw fees or contract period
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Create any business purpose loan (Bridge, DSCR, fix and flip, and many other product types)
ARM, interest only, partial amortization, and all other amortization types
In my first year of practice, my now business partner Anthony Geraci said to me, “Nema, in ten years technology is going to make transactional attorney jobs obsolete. Legal Zoom has already started removing entry-level corporate work, and they are going to keep advancing and eventually put us all out of business.” At the time, I dismissed his assertion as an overly pessimistic futurist proclamation. Boy was I wrong.
I started practicing law in 2010. Like now, I was preparing loan documents. Back then, we had a form bank of documents that we would use when preparing a set of loan documents. There was a Word document for the
Promissory Note, another for the Deed of Trust, etc. Clients would send us deal terms in an e-mail and
I would get trained from a senior attorney about which documents we should use in the form bank based on the type of deal that was in front of me. In each loan folder there were usually 10-15 Word documents which together made up the loan. We worked with a handful of clients and typically charged about $600 for a set of business purpose loan documents. The process took about 3-5 business days, and everyone was okay with that.
Each year, we gained more and more clients, started hiring more attorneys, and tried to figure out
ways to become a little faster at what we were doing. As is typical for a law firm, we would increase our billing rates, first to $775 for loan documents, then $800, then $1,000. Instead of multiple different Word documents, I put my law degree to great use and formatted a few different loan document sets which would cover different loan scenarios, including one set for a loan with a personal guaranty, another when there were two borrowers, etc. Better yet, I figured out how to use an Excel mail merge process where I could code various fields such as the borrower’s name and property addresses. I would complete the coded fields and then VOILA! Loan documents were 70% complete by
the time I filled in the Excel sheet. We were not a law firm; we were becoming a tech company! Or so I thought.
In 2014, I tried increasing our fee to prepare loan documents to $1,200 and for the first time started to see opposition from our clients. They were explaining to me that interest rates were going down, more market competition was present, and that borrowers were becoming fee sensitive. At the same time, we were growing as a law firm and in order to retain the top talent, we needed to increase the salaries we were paying our attorneys to prepare documents.
I found myself in a bit of a pickle. Worse yet, we had hit a scale and size
where we were handling so many transactions that attorneys were re-using old loan files to try to gain speed, but in the process, they were making mistakes by not clearing out old transactional data. Our clients were rightfully upset. No one wants to pay for an attorney who produces poor work product.
I didn’t know it then, but the World had changed, and we were in a fight for our survival.
with no errors. There is an old saying that you can only ever get two of these three: Cheap, Fast, or Good. I was now tasked to produce all three, and if I couldn’t, we would no longer have jobs.
During that time, our clients were primarily California mortgage funds who started calling me to let me know that they were planning on making loans outside of California to keep their interest rates up for their investors. They wanted our law firm to prepare loan documents with the help of local counsel to make sure that the documents were enforceable in each state in which they were lending. I was really stuck from an efficiency perspective. I had no way to keep a form bank of documents with all these states and making sure the documents were updated. We were constantly revising documents each time we entered a new market, and often updating them again when we re-entered a state based on a recommendation of outside counsel.
I was named partner at Geraci LLP in December 2015. At the time, there were six attorneys on my team, including me, and a new reality set in. Clients demanded loan documents be produced cheaper, faster, and
One of our clients requested to purchase a set of template loan documents from us. He asked if I could code them using a free online tool. I told him that I didn’t know what the tool was and could not help. Instead, I kept trying to figure out how to maximize using mail merge and other Excel based tools in order to try to reduce drafting time for loan documents.
The problem was that loans were becoming exceedingly complicated. Gone were the days when there was a single borrower, with a single principal, signing loan documents. We were dealing with complex entity structures, complex deal terms, multiple properties, and multiple states, making basic automation useless. Instead of being 70% complete by the time we were done with the Excel file, we were at best 25%. We were Good but not Cheap or Fast enough.
One Sunday I was playing catch up as I often had to do, and I remembered my conversation with my client about the free online tool he was using. I went to the company’s website and spent the next several hours watching tutorials and various
Lightning Docs: Continues on pg. 20
from pg.
videos of how the software worked. Unlike mail merge where you needed to use different document sets for different loan scenarios, the software permitted a user to start using conditions. For example, I could write a condition which stated that if there was no text entered into the “Guarantor” field, then the document stack should not produce the Guaranty. Better yet, it would modify the recitals in other documents to remove any reference to a Guarantor. While this may sound easy, it was in fact revolutionary. The software was dynamically sentence structures based on the conditions we were programming. We were beginning to build loan document automation software.
From 2015 to 2017 we pushed our first software to its limits. We hired outside consultants who would code our documents, started coding custom client conditions directly into the loan documents, and began to see the fruit of our labor. We were able to keep our prices down and were delivering work product that was fast and high quality.
Then, in 2018, I read a book called Tomorrow’s Lawyers by Andrew Susskind. The book discussed automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and a bunch of other buzzwords that I had heard but knew little about. The author’s basic premise was that the lawyers of tomorrow would only do three
things: strategy, tactics, and negotiations. He also discussed how you should take most job tasks and then break them down into their most basic units and determine whether the task could be: (1) performed by software, (2) offshored to a non-attorney for almost no fee, (3) performed by a non-attorney due to lack of complexity, (4) performed by a remote attorney at a cheaper labor rate, or in the worst case scenario, (5) performed by an attorney on your payroll locally. He rightfully noted that clients would continue to push down fees and lawyers would need to only focus on tasks that require a high degree of skill: strategy, negotiation, and tactics. Anything repeatable would not be done by an attorney; better yet, anything repeatable would not be done by humans at all.
I then started to think about how these principles applied to my area of practice. To prepare a set of loan documents, I need to:
1. Obtain the terms from the client (could be done by software if we can either tap into a client’s CRM system or have them enter terms online).
2. Obtain documents from the cli ent such as operating agree ments, articles of incorporation, title reports, and other docu ments (could be done by some one who is skilled enough to understand what documents are necessary and why, and have an ability to read through the docu ments to understand if there are deficiencies).
3. Analyze the documents provided to determine signature authori ty, determine what form of title
policy is correct, determine what types of title endorsements the loan should have, and determine whether the loan was compliant from a regulatory and statutory perspective (needs a highly skilled attorney or someone trained by an attorney).
4. Input the terms into software to generate the documents (could likely be outsourced to a cheap labor source).
5. Produce the documents using software.
6. Review the documents to make sure they are complete, compli ant, and match the client’s desires (requires a highly skilled attorney based on complexity).
Up to this point, we had attorneys performing all six tasks above. We immediately hired several loan processors, purchased best in class automation software, and began furiously coding and re-engineering the way we practice law.
I looked at the task list above and started breaking down the time and expertise and stopped thinking about the preparation of loan doc uments as a single task which cost around $1,000. Instead, it was six distinct tasks and we needed to be able to offer our clients the ability to pick and choose which ones they wanted us to perform so they could control costs and purchase only what they wanted.
and instantaneously receive the same loan documents that we would have produced by using the same automa tion we use in house. The deals can have multiple borrowers, multiple properties, prepayment penalties, in terest holdbacks, impounds, complex entity structures, construction, mem bership pledges, collateral security agreements, and a myriad of other complex drafting features and yet be downloaded instantly. We offer this as a standalone service to our clients for as little as $200 per loan file. In 2022, the system generates almost 2000 loan files monthly and averages around $1,000,0000,000 in total loan amounts each month across a little over 100 clients nationally.
issuing a Letter of Intent? Are you the only person who is technically trained to perform each and every task that you perform at work? If not, you may not realize it now, but you’re fighting for your survival as well. We are just scratching the surface of what software can produce and if you are not harnessing technology and breaking down every task into its basic units, you are on the wrong side of history.
Today, we have built out a fully au tomated online loan documentation system called Lightning Docs. A cli ent can go online, enter loan terms,
Now I spend most of my time focus ing on advancing automation at the company. At any given time, I am working with numerous outside technical vendors including web developers, internal and external document coders, and workflow consultants to try to create a better loan document solution. We built a best in class nationwide online loan document solution that produc es thousands of loan documents per month, and we’re not stopping anytime soon. But what about mod ifications, forbearances, loan sale agreements, and other loan-related agreements? What about private placements, litigation pleadings, and all other legal documents? If it’s repeatable, it’s automatable.
But what about you? Do you repeat any task daily? Do you manually update a Word document when
Technology is great – it lets us perform tasks in less than an hour which used to take us 6-8 hours. But here’s the thing: someone with technical skills is looking at your job right now and figuring out how to do it cheaper, faster, and better.
Maybe Anthony wasn’t so crazy after all.
About the author: Nema Daghbandan is a Partner with Geraci LLP and the CEO of Lightning Docs. His practice revolves around the preparation of documents and provid ing compliance advice nationwide. He spends most of his days trying to fig ure out how to make loan documents cheaper, faster, and better.
https://geracilawfirm.com/
Nema Daghbandan, Esq. Partner Geraci LLP
Ifwe learned anything from the classic baseball movie Field of Dreams, it is that “if you build it, they will come.” But if you do not have it, or in the case of real estate –access to capital – the building part can be impossible.
Enter Old North Capital Fund, a North Carolina-based company with a mission to provide loan products that empower investors with agility, openness, and relationship building. Originate Report had the opportuni ty to speak with Brandon Stein, Pres
ident of Old North’s parent company, The Loan Store. Stein offered insight into how Old North navigates a com plicated lending marketplace and of fers value for its borrowers.
“The whole field is starting to experience the other side of the red-hot market we saw throughout the pandemic, and with rising rates and margin compression amongst lenders, we were looking for an outlet with a unique product offering, not only for real estate investors but also for our broker partners as well,”
Stein stated. “Old North Capital Fund was a timely opportunity for us. We have made these products available to our more than 600 wholesale brokers at The Loan Store and our local real estate investors in North Carolina and Tennessee.”
“Old North Capital specializes in asset-based loans on non-owneroccupied residential properties for investors who need quick and reli able funding,” Stein explained. The Fund currently offers four different loan programs: fix & flip, bridge, construction, and transactional loans.
Generally, Old North will lend up to 70% of the ARV (after-repair value) of the property or will lend up to 90% of the purchase price plus 100 percent of the rehab. This, Stein said, is a safeguard for the Fund’s portfolio because it ensures both the borrower and lender’s interests align in seeing a project to fruition. “We work with an experienced group of borrowers and mortgage brokers across our operational states, and at the end of the day, it is rewarding to see business-purpose loans originated to our customers who previously did not have access to this sort of product through The Loan Store.”
partnership growth, the value of partnering with Old North is clear: rather than hinder the process by adding steps and limiting availabili ty, the Fund focuses on closing deals as fast as reasonably necessary.
a 2-1 Buydown and Debt Service Cred it Ratio for investment properties.”
Looking forward to the future of the lending sphere, Stein mentioned this ‘dual arm’ approach will behoove The Loan Store and Old North.
To Stein, who has over ten years of experience in lending, loan produc tion, counterparty management, and
It is no secret that the market is cur rently undergoing a period of stabili zation, but rather than focus on the negative aspects of a less-than-pre dictable environment, Stein noted that Old North takes these challenges and turns them into opportunities.
“As inflation is taking its toll on the economy and we are seeing historically low inventory, builders are working to keep up with demand and the cost of raw materials. We see borrowers who need access to capital but do not have the opportunity. What I am proud of at the Fund is our ability to source and match qualified borrowers with access to capital.” Stein commented.
In addition to ensuring consistent access to funding, Stein added that the synergy between Old North and The Loan Store results in lasting val ue for borrowers. “The synergy is as tounding,” he vocalized. “Ultimately, it generates a more robust product offering for our broker partners and investors. The Loan Store can now offer industry-staple products like conforming loans and non-tradition al lending options such as fix and flip and construction loans. We have continued to focus on expanding our credit box to also offer loans such as
“The beauty of having these two different companies and two different options is that we can evolve quickly on one arm or the other,” he responded. “We currently lend with The Loan Store in 26 states, but Old North is a more boutique, local lender in North Carolina and Tennessee as of now. Our goal for Old North is to focus on growing geographies where we can provide financing in historically underserved areas throughout the country.”
While some lenders take up to 30 days to close a loan, Stein emphasized how Old North Capital prides itself on underwriting in 24 to 48 hours and coming to a quick credit decision in addition to never charging junk fees, running credit checks, or requiring bank statements from borrowers. To learn more about Old North Capital, or to get started on a loan application today, visit oncfund.com.
For more information, please visit: https://www.oncfund.com/
Park Capital Management
LP is a Minneapolis-based private investment firm whose goal is to deliver consistent returns to its limited partner base by leveraging its experience in the residential and commercial mortgage industries. One of their investment strategies focuses on acquiring companies that originate and manage residential transition loans (commonly referred to as “fix & flip” loans) and singlefamily rental loans (SFR). Rice Park Capital’s investment approach involves facilitating the inherent growth potential of its portfolio companies via collaboration and a mutual objective to build a large sustainable and scalable business.
Originate Report had the opportunity to sit down with Mark Filler, Partner at Rice Park Capital, who spends his time on investments in operating companies, with a focus on loan originators in the fix & flip and SFR loan industry. With over 25 years of mortgage sector experience and almost 35 years in lending company acquisitions, he is able to provide insight into Rice Park Capital’s residential lending acquisition strategy whose goal is to build a nationwide private lending company.
The current economic climate is proving to be challenging to navigate for lenders. As the real estate mar
ket cools amid rising inflation and interest rates, net profits are com ing down. With an uncertain future looming on the horizon, it can be an understandably stressful inflec tion point for lenders experiencing a tighter profit margin, when lenders had grown accustomed to the boom ing market we saw less than a year ago. Lenders that sell their loans are subject to the volatility and constant tightening in the capital markets while lenders that hold their loans have a substantial competitive advantage.
That’s where Rice Park Capital believes its investment strategy comes into play. The firm launched its acquisition efforts over a year ago, with the end goal of building a mortgage/housing ecosystem that
generates income for all involved entities. With the dynamics of the lending industry constantly shifting, more and more small and midsized lenders are realizing that larger competitors can generally offer superior products and pricing, have more reliable loan buyers and warehouse lenders, economies of scale, and liquidity to quickly ramp up their business operations. To remain competitive with larger firms, Rice Park Capital believes one of the ways to achieve its investment goals is by acquiring lenders and branches with exceptional management teams who are seeking to improve their company’s growth potential. Rice Park Capital believes it has the experience and resources necessary to help these companies achieve their business goals.
The Rice Park Capital strategy involves acquiring successful private lenders to create an origination network with the requisite capital base to retain originated loans and improve the borrower experience. The Rice Park Capital team’s goal is to provide capital and strategic insights to the lenders it acquires with an overarching aim of facilitating the organic growth of these businesses through investments earmarked for hiring additional sales and operations personnel, increasing marketing budgets, and updating technology. They believe this approach translates into better products, pricing and financing, all of which has the potential to accelerate growth.
“Say you have two lenders each doing $450 million of business annually,” says Filler. “Combine those and now you have close to $1 billion.” This extremely effective concept leverages the resultant increase in shared assets and scale to benefit investor and lender alike. “Branches and lenders are leveraging their combined loan volume, brainpower, best practices, and scale efficiencies,” Filler says. “This frees up more funds for technology and marketing initiatives to generate more leads to gain an edge.”
Rice Park Capital believes the injection of capital and resources is a stimulus that drives growth opportunities for lenders that partner with Rice Park Capital - the acquired branch or lender optimizes its scale, volume, and profit margins which has the potential to generate favorable returns for the owners that sold their business as well as Rice Park Capital’s investor base. “We believe our monetary and strategic resources have the potential to allow these lenders to operate more cost effectively, obtain better warehouse financing, and improve customer service thus enabling the prior owners to scale their business even further,” says Filler.
Filler and the rest of the Rice Park Capital team conduct a thorough analysis when evaluating prospective lenders and branches to partner
with. “The single most important criteria in the evaluation equation is the quality of the management team,” notes Filler. Finding the best team, with the right values and culture, and aligning incentives is critical.
And while Rice Park Capital assists its lender partners in sourcing addi tional capital, they also provide an additional asset that is arguably just as effective in producing long-term success. “We don’t just provide capi tal. Our goal is to provide our exper tise as well,” Filler emphasizes. “With years of industry-specific experience and the lessons learned in the acqui sition process, we are able to provide actionable and effective insights to the companies we acquire.”
Rice Park Capital has plans to scale their fix & flip and SFR strategy as prudently as possible, with a goal of increasing production to $2 billion annually. By prioritizing exceptional management teams looking to bridge the competition gap between larger lenders occupying the same market place, the Rice Park Capital team be lieves that providing equity for future growth and balance sheet capital for lenders will allow them to grow their business and withstand unstable eco nomic factors and headwinds.
For more information, please visit: https://riceparkcapital.com/
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Kevin
CEO, Streamline Funding
Q: How many years have you been in Private Lending and why did you enter this field?
I have been in the industry for nearly 14 years. I entered out of necessity, not out of desire. In 2008, like many in the lending industry, I found my self out of a job and scrambling for the next opportunity. How I entered the space was serendipitous because I was not trying to. However, I am happy I did as today it is part of who I am.
Q: Where did you get your start?
There was once a time when I was a conventional lender. 2008 and the accompanying Great Recession changed that career path almost overnight. In searching for a way to satisfy my clients’ financing needs, I stumbled across “hard money” in a Google search. When I learned that
hard money had the luxury of mak ing its own lending decisions, I was hooked. While pitching a loan, I was thrown a curve ball when the con versation pivoted to "hey, you want a job?" I accepted the offer, and 13 years later, I am still here. Today, I am the CEO of the firm and could not have written a better script.
Q: What do you do for your firm? How do your contributions affect your company at large?
When people ask me what I do, I tell them I obsess. I obsess over people, culture, numbers, and the market. That alone keeps me occupied, but I also have a job to push for the growth of people, capital, and the company. My title is CEO, and my role is that of the face and voice of the organization. But my responsibility is to the success of the firm and our stakeholders.
I have contributed a lot to the firm during my tenure. However, I believe my biggest contributions are still to come. On our quest to be the largest and best boutique private lending firm in the country, one day I hope to see all those who have contributed to our accomplishments successfully retire from the industry and make room for a new class to carry the torch.
Q: How have you seen your company grow in spite of or because of current market conditions?
The growth we have seen has been an opportunity. There is more opportunity to capture business from underserved segments of the markets now than ever before. At year-end, we will have more loan production than last year or any year in our history. That growth was spurred by product and market innovation and not by what we were doing over the last few years on this epic run that we have been on since Wall Street entered our space.
Q: What are some of your goals for 2022 and beyond?
While the number has changed each year we grow, our goals have not. We have always striven to be the best. More specifically, we aim to be the biggest and best boutique pri vate money lender in the nation. Our mantra is “we help builders grow.” We will achieve this when we can provide our clients with the resourc es to become the most successful boutique investors and homebuilders
Romney Navarro: Continues on pg. 30
from
in the nation. With making the client the focus, the goal is easily attain able. Our goal is to be the first-choice lender for the best in the business.
Q: What does success look like for you?
Seeing people grow is what drives me. Therefore, I associate success with the growth of those around me.
Q: What is something most people don’t know about you or your company?
We wrote our first loan in 2002 out of the trunk of a 1998 Toyota Corolla.
Q: What steps are you or your company taking today to make an impact on the industry?
The private lending industry has evolved a lot since Streamline Fund ing was founded in 2002. The insti tutionalization of our industry has become the norm, so my response here may seem a little countercultur al. I strive to continue to push that private lending remains in the hands of local experts and advisors, not na tional, generalist investors. We are looking to keep a segment of the in dustry boutique because we believe boutique is more meaningful to the client and to the community.
Q: What piece of advice did you personally receive early in your career that has helped shape decisions you’ve made?
I have had the good fortune of investing my personal funds into many different deals. However, when I first started out, I did not. I started as a lender thinking about commissions more than anything else. Then, I met one of the investors whose money we were lending and ultimately putting at risk. She was my business partner’s mom. Whether I received advice verbally or it just dawned on me, I always remember the statement, “would you invest your mother’s money into this deal?” If the answer is yes, it is almost always a good deal. If the answer is no, it is almost always a bad deal. I still think about this when making a loan decision, and it has been at the forefront of my mind for the last 13 years.
brate and acknowledge this, as each of them are entrepreneurs who make the world go round.
Q: Are you involved in any asso ciations, networking groups, or the like that have influenced your career path?
I am involved in many different things, from associations to net working groups, to masterminds to teams. They all serve their purpose and provide me value. I like to think I deliver value to those around me in each of those groups. However, several years ago, I was fortunate to learn about the American Asso ciation of Private Lenders. The re sources there were instantly mean ingful to me. The people that I have met there, including many at Geraci, have been influential to me and my career path. They all strive for the same thing I do – growth.
Q: Tell us about a person or organization you admire. How have they made an important impact on you, the industry, or the world?
I admire my clients. They are the salt of the Earth and the lifeblood of my business. Every one of my clients puts it all on the line to grow their investments, and I never take that for granted. I make it a point to cele
While the number has changed each year we grow, our goals have not. We have always striven to be the best. More specifically, we aim to be the biggest and best boutique private money lender in the nation.
Q: If you had a clean slate to start over and do anything you wanted to do, what would that be?
This is a loaded question, but a simple one for me. I would focus on helping a few people achieve their wildest dreams instead of helping a bunch of people solve a financing problem.
Q: What is the best advice you could give someone thinking about mak ing a leap into Private Lending? Keep it simple, stupid.
For more information, please visit: https://streamlinefunding.com/
By Edward Brown, Pacific Private Money
Itis no surprise that mortgage rates have dramatically in creased over the past year. In July 2022, 30-year fixed rates for both conforming and high-balance loans had reached 5.375% according to sources such as Guaranteed Rate, which is up from the low 2% range in early 2021. Obviously, such an in crease in rates can influence house prices as buyers try to buy a house they can afford.
up with their mortgages by not going into default. Second, the Fed increased rates to stave off even more inflation than the country had been experiencing since the change in presidency. We might see a rise in non-performing loans (NPLs) as homeowners fight to keep up with inflation, as well as rising interest rates that impact mortgages and other borrowings such as credit cards and auto loans.
However, the rise in interest rates goes far beyond just what buyers can afford for a new purchase. First, adjustable-rate mortgages will climb dramatically, which impacts homeowners trying to keep
During The Great Recession, the US saw a huge wave of mortgage defaults. This was primarily due to a credit bubble, as lenders were too eager to make loans. There was little oversight regarding these loans,
and borrowers who should not have received loans still qualified. Fast forward 15 years, and real estate prices have increased substantially to overcome the devastation of the previous drop. Thanks to DoddFrank, banks are now only allowed to make loans to borrowers who can demonstrate an ability to repay. All of this makes for a strong real estate market, and we should not experience the same wave of foreclosures. However, that does not mean we will not see them. When there is a spike in interest rates and inflation as we have recently experienced, homeowners can get behind in their mortgages. Without the government moratoriums put in place during
Covid, banks will have to start foreclosing or sell off mortgages to keep within Federal guidelines of Reserve Requirements. Banks may try and work modifications or other remedies to assist homeowners, but sometimes there is not much the bank can do except file notices of default and start the foreclosure proceedings.
One major difference in today’s real estate world as compared to The Great Recession is that many homeowners have ample equity. The homeowner has the possibility to preserve some equity by selling their house rather than deal with foreclo sure. However, many homeowners in the lower end of the market will still
lose their homes. One reason is that the homeowner has not researched the value of their house; they just as sume that if they cannot pay, they lose their property. Another reason is that some homeowners are headstrong about staying in their residence and trying to fight a legal battle, only to be on the wrong end. Unfortunate ly, by that time, it is too late to try and save their equity. Even when the lender points these things out, many borrowers stick their head in the sand and let the chips fall where they may.
When the economy was doing well pre-Covid, real estate prices were steadily increasing and there was confidence in the marketplace. How ever, in “normal” times, one might offer 50% +/- of the face of the NPL note, as there is a fair amount of work that goes into managing an NPL regarding foreclosure, forbearance, modifications, bankruptcies, and possible lawsuits by the borrowers.
As interest rates rise and the sup ply of NPLs is sure to increase, one should expect the prices of the NPLs to decrease allowing investors to po tentially pick up handsome profits.
Investors have been clamoring for yield so much that even NPLs were commanding unheard-of prices.
In the early 1990s, the S&L crisis provided such opportunities to investors swooping up “bad loans” as the S&Ls were directed to unload these mortgages into the market very quickly. As the dust settled, these investors profited as they picked up loans or property at discounts only imaginable. Discounts of more than 60% were not uncommon. At such a discounted price, the investor appeared to risk very little. There was so much room for error, almost any loan to be purchased was worth the risk. We may not be in that same situation now due to restrictive banking regulations and the fact that real estate has held its own since The Great Recession. Despite this, there should be opportunities for investors to pick up discounted loans with fairly large margins; however, the average investor is prohibited from buying these loans due to the
Edward Brown: Continues on pg. 34
relatively large amount of capital needed to enter this space.
For those investors who have the wherewithal to participate in pur chasing NPLs, they should have a sophisticated team to assist them. There will be a need for analysts to do a deep dive into the values of the property to which the loans are se cured, contractors to help facilitate potential rehabbing of the property if/when the property reverts to the investor, legal analysts dealing with the various foreclosure laws in the states where the properties are locat ed, and good real estate sales people to not only give BPOs but help facili tate the eventual sale of the property or assist with the possible rental.
One strategy to consider is to approach the NPL borrower and try to re-write or modify the loan. Turning an NPL into a performing loan brings immediate cash flow. Because of the discount obtained in the purchase, the new note holder has the flexibility of making the note more attractive for the borrower. For instance, if a note that has a face value of $100,000 has 20 years to go, and has a note rate of 6% that was purchased for 60 cents on the dollar from the bank, the new note holder could offer to lower the balance to $90,000, reduce the interest rate to 5%, and have a great asset that can either be held for cash flow or sold in the secondary market.
One additional factor that may help in modifying the NPL’s notes is
that according to Bank of America’s internal data, rents continue to rise. July 2022, year over year, showed an increase in rents of 7.4%. Most people want to keep their home, and if the lender can give them advantages to saving it, most homeowners will jump at the chance, especially when their alternative is to be thrown into a rising rent market. The lender must contemplate whether the strategy of keeping a homeowner in their home makes economic sense.
Sometimes, evicting a homeowner and immediately selling the house may make sense. In some cases, the lender may invest money in rehabbing the property in-house for additional gain. However, the time it takes to rehab, the expense, the value of the house after rehab, and time to sell can be uncertain.
When a homeowner is going to get foreclosed on, there are avenues to delay the inevitable, including filing bankruptcy. Due to Covid and court budgets, this delay may be prolonged more than the lender anticipates, especially in judicial-only states. Yet, the strategy of keeping the homeowner in place and working out a new deal can produce immediate cash flow, as the borrower will
start making payments instantly. In addition, the costs to modify a note is less than a normal foreclosure cost.
The good news from the lender’s point of view is that, due to the pur chase of these loans at steep dis counts, the rate of returns of more than 15% is not uncommon. After the note is modified, the lender can flip the note to a note buyer as a perform ing note which will command a high er price than an NPL, or the lender may choose to keep the note for the cash flow. In the case of choosing to sell the note, the lender may be wise in waiting to experience six months of performance by the borrower, as most note holders desire. Otherwise, they may discount the note for uncer tainty reasons, such as lack of histo ry, more than the lender wishes.
https://www.pacificprivatemoney.com/
Edward Brown Investor Relations Pacific Private MoneyAs interest rates rise and the supply of NPLs is sure to increase, one should expect the prices of the NPLs to decrease allowing investors to potentially pick up handsome profits.
September 13, 2022, Los Angeles, CA – Arixa Capital is pleased to announce that the Company has now funded more than $1 billion of loans to real estate investors and developers in the last twelve months and $3 billion since inception of its first lending fund in 2010.
“We have accelerated our origination growth this past year by successfully expanding into new markets such as Phoenix –deepening our penetration into the multifamily bridge and construction space and attracting many new talented borrowers to work with us,” said Greg Hebner, Managing Director of Arixa Capital. “Our entire team is excited to reach this milestone and we know our success is only possible with the ongoing support of our clients and industry colleagues.”
Arixa provides transitional business purpose loans on real estate projects ranging from single family homes and urban subdivisions to smaller apartment buildings and mixed use properties, primarily in the Western U.S.. The Company has funded more than 1,600 loans since inception, with most loans ranging in size from $1 million to $15 million.
“Our announcement underscores how lending to real estate investors and developers deserves to be recognized as a whole new asset class. With over $100 billion of such loans outstanding, and growing, Arixa aims to be both a leading provider of non-bank real estate loans, and a leading investment manager specializing in creating portfolios of highquality, high-yield, short-term real estate loans to be used by high net worth and institutional investors as part of their overall portfolio,” shares Jan Brzeski, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer.
“The future has never been brighter for our industry and we want to continue to be a leader in our markets, serving the most experienced and successful real estate investors, builders and developers,” added Hebner.
Arixa prioritizes educating investors of all kinds about real estate debt, publishing a series of resources including white papers and FAQs. Access these resources at www.arixacapital.com/investor-resources.
Arixa Capital is one of the Western U.S. market’s premier private real estate lenders and fund managers, providing small balance loan solutions to lower middle-market residential and commercial investors and developers. Since inception, Arixa has originated more than $3 billion in loans and generated attractive risk-adjusted returns for its partners and investors.
Jan Greg SethNamed Official Loan Docs of The American Association of Private Lenders (AAPL)
Irvine, CA, October 11, 2022 – Lightning Docs, a proprietary cloud-based business purpose loan document generation system, has been named the Official Loan Docs of The American Association of Private Lenders (AAPL). Created by Geraci LLP attorneys and partners, Lightning Docs sets the standard in loan documents for the private lending industry. Users simply answer a few questions and can download attorney grade loan documents.
“Lightning Docs is an innovative and efficient way for our Private Lending community to have access to needed high-quality loan documents. This makes the process seamless, productive, and cost effective,” Eddie Wilson, CEO & Chairman of AAPL.
“Lightning Docs is a step in the right direction for the future of Private Lending,” said Nema Daghbandan, Esq., Partner at Geraci LLP. “This tool was created to fill a need for writing business purpose loans and allows clients to navigate the system autonomously, yet with the benefit of utilizing attorney-reviewed legal language that applies to loans of all types everywhere in the country. This allows clients the choice to control the entire loan document creation process at a fraction of the cost of working with attorneys. Lightning Docs currently generates more than $800,000,000 in loans each month and is set to exceed $1 Billion a month in loan doc creation before the end of 2022.”
As an official sponsor of AAPL’s 13th Annual Conference, Lightning Docs will have a booth and will also be conducting demos on the exhibit hall floor during the show.
“The American Association of Private Lenders is the oldest and most established national private lending organization in the country. They demand high standards and accountability as a requirement of membership and understand that an industry which self-governs is least likely to be regulated externally. We are so honored that they have identified Lightning Docs as the industry standard for business purpose loan documents. We look forward to partnering with AAPL for many years to come,” said Daghbandan.
When you are at the conference, be sure to stop by Lightning Docs’ booth or set up a demo with the team and witness firsthand, the future of private lending.
Lightning Docs is a proprietary cloud-based business purpose loan document generation system developed in-house by the attorneys and partners at Geraci LLP. Lightning Docs permits its clients to generate business purpose loan documents nationwide at the click of a button. The system will generate any business purpose loan documents including bridge, fix and flip, ground up construction, DSCR rental, portfolio rental, etc. The documents have been used for numerous rated and unrated securitizations and are considered the industry standard for the private lending industry. For more informa tion about Lightning Docs please visit https://lightningdocs.com/ or contact Nema Daghbandan at nema@geracillp.com or 949-379-2600.
Geraci Law Firm is the nation’s largest law firm dedicated almost exclusively to the private/non-conventional lending space and is the leading legal resource for specialty lenders, asset-based lenders, private lenders, and non-bank insti tutions. Our legal departments include Banking & Finance, Corporate & Securities, and Litigation & Bankruptcy, offering lenders a vertically integrated suite of services while our Geraci Conference Line provides networking and educational opportunities to the industry at large. For more information on Geraci LLP, visit https://geracilawfirm.com/ or contact us at 949-379-2600.
