Syndicating Debt VS Equity

[Tyler Bobo]

Several people on here recommended the Best Ever Syndicating book, which I a halfway through and had a question I wanted to get out before I forget.

He mentioned you can syndicate for debt as well as equity.  In my smaller deals I use debt investors all the time, usually just 1 deed of trust to fund a distressed single family.  If I have more than one, there's more than one deed of trust and in case of default the 1st position is a way stronger position.

How does this work for a syndication, like if there's 30 debt investors there's not 30 liens correct?  Is there just one and they would end up owning the company/property together in case of default?  And since they're debt investors they're not owners so are they not limited partners in the deal like equity investors would be?  

Thanks for your time!

[Brian Burke]

If a secured note is syndicated, typically the investors would own fractional interests in the note.  For example, if ten people each contributed $100,000 on a million-dollar note, each investor would own an undivided 10% interest in the note.  This avoids the problem with one investor being subordinate to another on the title chain.  If there was a foreclosure, they'd all own a 10% interest in the property.  It can get really messy.

This is why, in addition to securities laws, some states have additional laws related to fractional note sales, so be sure to get good legal advice before taking on this strategy.