Private Money Lender

[Sara Enyart]

We are new to this. We found a “private money lender” through a post on a local real estate marketplace Facebook page. He offers 100% funding at a 5% interest rate. We submitted an application. The application asked for some basic information. No SSN or bank information. It did ask for the amount of the loan requested “in words” which I thought was a little strange, but we’re new to this, so I don’t know what’s normal and what’s not. All he has asked for to this point is a copy of my driver’s license and either a copy of a bank statement or pay stub (which we have not provided yet). From reading some of the posts, 5% interest rate and no website (and nothing comes up when I Google his name) are red flags. We’ve decided to step back and do what we should have done initially. We’re going to ask for his website, a number so we can call and chat, and references. Is there anything else we should ask or look for to know if this is a scam?