Hard Money Experience GOOD!


I had worked with this company in the past & had prompt response on my requests for a hard money loan.


I worked with Steve Jacobs & David Errante. They tentativly
answered all of my questions on their programs & although they had
said they were busy & were tough to reach by phone, they always
returned my calls.



It was a fairly simple loan (485k residential
purchase) & the requirements were basic as it was based
on the equity in the property. There was an upfront due diligence
charge to underwrite the file but I know that is standard in the
industry & their charges were the lowest I could find. Especially
in this market there are many borrowers SHOPPING with no commitment to
close on the loan & it would help me get my client to closing with
some interest in the deal.



My borrower decided against the offer but for all of my future hard money deals, I'm sending over to them. They has an unbeatable hard money source with flexibility to work in this market.

BRIGGS & LAY PRO, INC.

Are looking for investor Scammed by Hard Equity Financing because we were scammed by Hard Equity Financing and we were are not able to get any contact information of several other people scammed by Hard Equity Financing on a (http://mortgagegrapevine.com/thread/?thread=560889) website with the complants are listed below.  However, we were able find several complants, but we would like their contact information in order to file a Class Action Law suit against Hard Equity Finance/Financing.

HARD EQUITY FINANCE- SCAMMERS!!!! WARNING!!!!

THEY ARE SCAMMERS. DAVID ERANTE JR. IS OWNER. THEY ARE IN FLORIDA. TOOK CLIENTS DD FEE AND AFTER 2 MONTHS CAME BACK DENIED SAYING VALUE WASNT THERE AFTER THEY HAD APPRAISED IT. THE VALUE WAS FINE 3 WEEKS AGO. THERE ARE NO LIENS ON THE DEAL AND THE LA WAS ONLY $100K. BORROWER HAS MID 600 FICOS.
DONT SEND THEM A DIME!
I SUBMITTED 8 DEALS TO THEM AND THEY ALL GOT AN LOI. I HELD BACK SENDING ANY MONEY ON MY OTHER CLIENTS UNTIL I COULD SEE THE FIRST ONE CLOSE.......WHICH NEVER DID AFTER 3 MONTHS...HE WAS TRYING TO GET ME TO SEND MORE MONEY FROM MY OTHER DEALS BUT I WOULD NOT.
by Ronirvinebroker April 9, 2009 7:54 PM

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by moneygirl4u April 9, 2009 9:04 PM

DD fee on lousy 100K loan, for real.
by Seabiscuit April 9, 2009 11:38 PM

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by bsinger April 10, 2009 8:22 AM

The same thing happened to me. I sent them 4 deals and they didn't come through on anything. One of my clients is actually attempting to take legal action. This group is a complete scam. After they stopped replying to any of my messages, one of my referral partners left a message for them saying that he had a deal for them to look at and they called him back within hours. After he said that he had sent them a couple of deals that he hadn't heard back on, David just hung up. DO NOT DEAL WITH THESE PEOPLE!
by gregors April 10, 2009 12:47 PM

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by HARDMONEYTAMPA April 10, 2009 12:55 PM

I am glad for coments on hard equity finance. I was getting ready to send them the DD fee and the rush fee. David in florida send me my pre-approval letter with broker agrreement..Everything looks so professional that I wouldn't be able to know..THAT THEY ARE SCAMERS!!
by holita May 22, 2009 1:17 PM

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by covenantfinancial1 May 26, 2009 12:13 PM

Thank you everyone for your comments. I ALMOST sent them a loan package. I have read complaints on another mortgage message board at http://forum.brokeroutpost.com/loans/forum/2/270150.htm
I appreciate the "heads-up". I thought it was strange that no one answers the phone during business hours especially if you select the "due dilligence department". Someone SHOULD always answer the business phone during business hours.
by 50thstateloans July 7, 2009 11:12 PM

Be careful. This people might be link to Steven Muehler. Exact same thing happened to my last year. Long story short, we should be getting a judgement against him and his LA Investment Capital or whatever name he might be using now next week. 18+ months looking for this guy. Im sure he is running away. The address on his fake website is a fake address.

People, do not send money up front to anyone.
by biotech July 10, 2009 10:20 AM

This is ridiculous, maybe if you so-called.... I mean "so-called" entreprenuer's.... would stop contacting "Finance Brokers", "Angel Investors" and "Private Equity Firms", you would probably get some place!

Did it occur to you, that if they were successful at what they do, they would not be charging upfront fees! All of you got burned because you may be some of the dumbest people on Earth, stop looking for a Venture Capital firm to invest in your venture! THEY DO NOT DO START-UPS!! A Start-up to a Venture Capital Firm is a company that has been operating for 1-3 years!

Get clue, Get a PPM or Private Placement done and contact companies like:

www.PrivateEquityCap.com (Good)

And work on getting private investors of your own. Stop thinking there is a firm out there that can "fund" you because you have a "Great ROI".

If you got burned, Good, odds are you would have pissed the money away anyway!

by TheEnlightenedFew September 30, 2009 5:52 PM

I to have attempted to use HEF- Hard Equity Financing.. same thing pre approval letters galore.

Got two deals in the works and one is ready to close and the lender is no were to be found.

The second deal is a no brainier- fully rented 3 unit. Positive cash flow and good equity and still nothing except for the fact that i'm out $2500 so far
by solarian August 11, 2010 6:45 PM

All of this is very good information and many of you will recall my "flagging" Associates Capital Trust back in June of this year for very similar reasons.



Now, here's the underlying problem which is now facing the LEIGITIMATE commercial and hard money investor community: FEES payable for appraisal, environmental, geologic (if applicable) reports, legal opinion(s/ due diligence), title research and a frequently required visit to the site/location/project by the lender.



No lender is going to pay those fees on behalf of a client who at that stage is something of an unknown quantity as is their project. If a full blown MAI appraisal is required the client could be looking at a fee of $2,500 up to $15K just for the appraisal.



A client has to be prepared by the Broker to EXPECT fees of this type and it is the Broker's responsibility to carry our basic due diligence of the lender before recommending them to their client.



Verify is the lender is registered as a corporate entity with their home State and when was that entity established? Who are the corpoprate officers? Is their address "real" or a rented mail box which is something you can easily find out by calling the US Post Office serving that zip code? Are requested fees being wired to a bank account with a different name than the lender's business name? Are they registered and in good standing with their home State's Department of Banking?



These are all easy to accomplish basic "101" principles.



OK, let's move forward to the point where due diligence has been satisfactorily completed and the lender/investor releases their L o C. In most cases, the borrower will be required to pay a "Commitment Lock Fee which could be 1% - 2% of the loan amount.



This is particularly true with commercial hard money lenders and is designed to secure the commitment of the applicant and that fee is applied as a credit towards Closing Costs.



HOWEVER...if some legitimate issue is discovered that materially affects the collateral (or the client)the lender may have to vary offered terms (at best) or may decline from proceeding further (at worst).



There are some lender names that are frequently "slammed" here for VERY GOOD REASON because it would seem that they earn a significant part of their total revenues from their receipt of fees more than Points earned on funded loans. LEGAL? The way in which their documents and agreements are written keeps them marginally within Federal and State laws because they will typically be able to prove to regulators that they do in fact a number of loans per year.



That said, if it can be proven that there is a continuing pattern involving a high ratio of declined loans vs. funded loans there may be a case to be built and indeed there are a number of borrowers who are suing one such lender in a collective suit citing the RICO Act. I have heard tape-recorded testimony provided by both current and ex LOs of this particular lender which most certainly suggests that advance FEE INCOME generation was a priority.



These types of practices cast a dark cloud of suspicion on an otherwise legitimate lending sector and are hazardous to those of good intent.



I have just had a "hard money" deal evaporate because my client REFUSED to pay a $10K due diligence fee on a loan amount of $5-million. The lender agreed to cut the $20K into two instalments with the other $10K to paid at closing. VERY FAIR! I know for a fact that this client won't be able to improve on that anyplace else and may well come back only to find that the lender has bolted the door!!

by Financinal 154 August 26, 2010 8:42 PM

Please contact:

BRIGGS & LAY PRO, INC.

(800) 216-8871 Ext.5