Norada Capital Management suspending payments

[Paula Impala]

I invested in Norada Capital Management and was coming here to connect with others who have invested. Did not receive my payment from Norada this month (June) and just received the following notification in my email.

Any thoughts or recommendations from fellow investors.  Thank you in advance for any advice or insight.

Dear Valued Investor,

I hope you are well. As a lender (aka “Maker”) to Norada, you are a valued member of the Norada family.
The purpose of this correspondence is to provide you with an update on the repayment under the terms of the promissory note (“Note”) as an obligation of Norada Capital Management, LLC (“Norada”).
As with all businesses, Norada is subject to market factors that could impact its ability to make payments. Due to current market conditions and unforeseen financial challenges, we have decided to temporarily suspend distribution payments. This decision was not made lightly and comes after thorough deliberation and analysis of our current financial position.
This requires us to exercise our right to convert your Note and issue equity (aka membership interests) in Norada. You will recall that your Note allows Norada to convert the outstanding balance owed into equity and that it can redeem that equity in the future by repayment of the Note principal in full. There is nothing required by you related to your Note being converted. It happens automatically upon notice being sent.
As such, this email will provide you notice that Norada has chosen to exercise its right under the Note §6 to issue equity to you in Norada. Your equity is valued at the unpaid face value of the Note plus any accrued but unpaid interest. We expect to be in a position to redeem your interests in short order, and we will keep you posted, as always, on any developments in this regard.

We understand the importance of distributions to our investors and recognize the impact this decision may have on your financial planning. Please be assured that this suspension is temporary. We are committed to resuming regular distributions as soon as our financial situation stabilizes and improves.

Our primary goal is to ensure the long-term stability and sustainability of our business. By temporarily halting distributions, we can preserve capital, manage our resources more effectively, and invest in key areas that will drive future growth and profitability.

In the interim, we are taking strategic steps to strengthen our financial health, including cost-reduction measures, revenue-generating initiatives, and debt restructuring options. Our management team is dedicated to navigating through these challenges and emerging stronger.
We greatly appreciate your understanding and patience during this time. We remain committed to transparency and will keep you informed of any significant developments. If you have any questions or need further clarification, please feel free to contact me directly. (I will do my best to reply to your email in a timely manner.)
Thank you for your continued trust and support.
Sincerely,

Marco SantarelliFounder & CEONorada Capital Management

[Don Konipol]

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Don Konipol:

@Jay Hinrichs

“this seems like a mini private mutual fund.. Marco is very successful in the selling of turn key space so this seems to be a pretty big departure for him.. But I dont know him personally at all or his background . Over the years though I have seen commissions to his firm on my huds for the clients I fund..”

maybe but seems more like a SPECULATIVE hedge fund,   Is THAT what the debt investors signed up for? 

I have no clue what they think they signed up for and as you mentioned I suspect many did not fully understand it. Just like we are seeing in the MF syndication space.. or when Peer st.. went banko  etc etc. devil was / is in the detail buried on page 46 of the offering memorandum.

Although Norada is not unique in branching out to different product since by now they have a monster client base that can easily be marketed.. I have seen different product offered by other Turnkey marketing companies as well.

I knew some of the Peer Street management.  They were tech guys who thought tech was the answer to underwriting real estate debt deals.  Apparently, they were doing ok in the residential space, but competition was making it impossible for them to meet the expectations of their venture capital backers.
So, they asked me to walk them thru a commercial deal.  I found one for them (I received the points and they provided the capital - love it!   It was an office building owned by a somewhat shaky business, but did have numerous long term roof leases for wireless providers.  We got an appraisal and I told them to lend no more than $3 million; in fact I negotiated a $3 million loan with the borrower on their behalf.  About a week later I get a call from Peer Street telling me they closed the deal, but decided to lend $5.6 million???  Further, I had negotiated 12 months interest reserve; they cut that to 3 months.  Anyway, I cashed my check for $224,000 and wished them luck.  They actually told me thank you but don’t need you anymore; we’ve “figured it out”!   
The borrower defaulted once the interest reserve ran out; Peer Street then turned around and lend the defaulting borrower AN ADDITIONAL $500k to cover 9 months interest!.  Obviously, their accounting did not require this to be reported as in default so they kept the fantasy going.  Of course once the interest reserve ran out, they now had a $6 million + defaulted note on their hand.  Unbelievably, the borrower calls me and asks me to help him talk Peer Street into accepting “equity” in his business in lieu of debt.  

Look, for those inexperienced in the investment space.  Doesn’t matter if the sponsor is the largest firm on Wall Street; doesn’t matter if the Guru is a well know TV personality; doesn’t matter if the person selling the get rich program is President of the United States or Premier of Russia; those that do not do a complete and thorough due diligence are open to losing their investment.