Can someone help me with a few Hard Money lending questions?

[Robert Anderson]

Hi, I want to become a hard money lender in Massachusetts. I’ve been involved with a few small house flips the last couple years. I’ve never had to borrow money. I’m tired of flips And want to be the money guy. I’m not rich, but I have enough to do about 3 or 4 solid loans at at time. I’m aware that when it comes to lending money, I better know what I’m doing or it can go south quickly. I generally just want to ask a handful of questions if anyone can help me out, that would be awesome ). 
here are a few questions.

Do I need a License to be a Hard Money lender in Massachusetts? If yes, what’s the name of the license?What type of attorney would I contact? 
what department of Massachusetts would I call? 
can anyone send me a link that pin points exactly what I need to do to become a lender? 

I talked to someone this week from Massachusetts department of finance and banking, he didn't seem to know much about this field. He said if it's 4 loans or less, I just need to set up an LLC. I don't feel confident enough to go by his advice, and find out I'm breaking laws. any info someone has to offer, I'm listening . I'm also willing to pay a fee for anyone's time and services that have knowledge of this field. I know I'm going to think of 20 more questions when I post this.
ok thank you all for reading this. Have a great day

Bob A

[Ann Bellamy]

Do I need a License to be a Hard Money lender in Massachusetts? If yes,

what’s the name of the license?

NationwideLicensingSystem

What type of attorney would I contact?

You need an attorney with many private lending clients.  Not just a real estate attorney.   Go to the registry, look up some private mortgages, and some times on the discharge there is a "Return to" field, which would be the attorney.  Although with electronic filing, there will be very few with this field.  Alternatively, call some of the larger hard money companies and ask them for the name of their attorney.  They might give it to you.

what department of Massachusetts would I call?

See link for NMLS above

can anyone send me a link that pin points exactly what I need to do to become a lender?

You will find that while the link gives you specifics, it's the questions you didn't ask that are more important.  Find yourself a good attorney.  The reason that a real estate attorney is not enough, is the attorneys who handle closings for institutional lenders only know how to close the deal, and are typically provided loan docs by the institution, because they have attorneys on staff to ensure compliance.  Real estate attorneys usually know nothing about lending compliance. 

I'm assuming that by 3-4 deals, you have over 1 million available for lending.  In general, in MA, if you don't have at least a million to lend (aside from your other assets toward retirement, housing, etc) then you don't have enough to lend.  All that networking and marketing, and then you are suddenly out of money.  Then you are telling all those people "oops, sorry, I can't do that deal right now."  Part of the reason to use a private lender is speed to close.  

You may want to consider finding 1 flipper or buy and hold investor you trust, and partnering solely with that person.  You two together can grow your portfolio significantly without spending time marketing for new borrowers.  Just an alternative to consider.