All Forum Posts by: Dakota Fleming

Just was contacted by David Schultz. Been getting so many of these scammy emails lately, and Bigger Pockets always has a thread for each scammer. These fake lenders always email with no business sig and barely a Sincerely, Name and always offer a fishy PDF or free crappy website when asked for company info. Also, they thrive on upfront costs (usually what they call "Commitment Fees"). They'll offer some sob story about how they need to know they can trust you before funding your loan and the commitment fee will be reimbursed after closing (though non-refundable if you don't close the loan). Anyway, I've gotten so many of these and read through everyone's experiences that I ended up finding out how they pull their **** off. Basically, they offer amazing terms, like 4% interest on a 30-year fix&flip bridge (???), then ask for personal info (usually driver's license, one asked for bank statements and tax returns, etc.). Normally, hard money lenders don't ask for this, so that's Fishy Red Flag #17. Promises upon promises are made, such as 3 day closings (yeah right) and 100% financing, even for beginners. They then ask for that commitment fee upfront (illegal for banks to charge upfront fees besides appraisal/AMC fee, by the way). This has been anywhere from $1,500 or so, up to like $5,000. After payment, everyone I read about who fell for these got their loan terms changed unexpectedly before closing, due to "borrower analysis" and bad credit, etc. (Why didn't you tell me that BEFORE I paid the upfront cost???) Now, interest rate is up to 15%, with a 6-month bridge, and more closing costs added (surprise?). You then back out of the deal due to all the ******** changes and are stuck with no refund on your commitment fee (non-refundable if you don't close, remember?) Sound like a good deal?? Yay!!!

PS - David Schultz emailed me and said he worked for Trust-Funding, an entirely different scam lender that has emailed me in the past. That was pretty much a dead giveaway, especially since people quoted him as coming from a totally different lender (Funding Stoned (cough) Stone). See my comment and the thread on BP for "Trust-Funding, Inc".

PPS - They just emailed me again as I'm writing this comment... same company, different guy (as if I have forgotten them in the four hours it's been since they last emailed me the exact same prospect welcome email). Unbelievable.

Just got an email from this same group. I have been getting 10+ emails a day from fake lenders just like this (one of them was actually Britz Finance Inc). Stay away from these lenders!!! They all charge up-front “commitment fees” which is technically illegal. No email signature, crappy website with spelling errors, and best of all, amazing 1 star reviews on places like BP!

Just was contacted by Jeremy Gaston, And now I’m seeing others have been contacted by him and his associates as well. I have been researching various hard money lender’s in and out of my area for months now, and no lender will offer 100% financing to a beginner at a 4% interest rate! Definitely wanted to see if this was a scam, and turns out that was the smartest thing to do. Please see attached the first email they sent me and pictures of the PDF they sent when asked for loan terms. They advised me to “revert immediately” if I found anything wrong with their terms, which I thought was a little odd. Not a major giveaway, but the rest of these posts will certainly halt any further activity on my part with this so-called “lender”. Thank you everyone for the help!