In the last 18 months various states have instituted new rules, regulations or laws related to (1) need for licensure to wholesale (2) restrictions on marketing of a property in which you do not have ownership and (3) disclosure requirements when dealing with a homeowner that makes it clear to the homeowner that the contact signed with the wholesaler is not a definitive “sales” contract, therefore making it less likely home owners will sign4.

Learn the eviction procedure for your area, perhaps contact a lawyer in the field to help you with this one, and get the fraudster you're currently housing out on the sidewalk to sleep in a cardboard box where they belong.You're going to lose plenty of money here, but this will never happen to you again, and you can minimize your losses if you move as quickly as possible.

Is it tied to changes in the market, a response to new regulations, or part of a long-term plan?

That would bypass many city/state regulations that force landlords to rent to people here illegally. 

Quote from @Adam Macias: Wholesaling as it is today will be a thing of the past.It’ll truly be strange to even hear people and gurus trying to make big money off it.The more people try wholesaling but then end up not having an end buyer or cancelling contracts or trying weird things like novations, the more all of real estate will be regulated and cause requirements like licensing to be able to transact more than just your personal resident purchase.Which I don't know why hasn't happened sooner.Here's all the states (in red or yellow) requiring a license to wholesale or at least have started the process:Credit: REITipsterI think licensing and regulation is a beautiful thing that should happen if you plan to be an wholesaler and do more than one deal... which is going to be the case for anyone taking this business seriously.Or even it being regulated to need a real estate agent to do more than one deal outside of buying a personal residence.I've had plenty of failed attempts with agents in pursuit of wholesale deals and I know exactly why, it's not because the agent couldn't find me deals, it's just not practical to think there's opportunity for the numbers a wholesaler needs to make a profit on top of everyone else needing to these days.Because the only sellers who truly can sell at a deep enough discount are usually those who ran out of time and just didn't do something sooner with their situation.I know many coaches and gurus will disagree with me but there’s no regulations on youtube gurus and what they teach either.If we look at the current state of the market in hot cities, the availability of online resources to the average homeowner, how many deals can you possibly believe are available at 70% of ARV?

Low Down Payment OptionsGerman lenders often offer financing programs requiring only 5-10% down payments, particularly for primary residences.Strong financial regulations in Germany support these low down payment options.3.

membership is something like APPL which is just non regulated group of private investors working on best practices but there is no authority behind them like  state license or NMLS registration has ..

People’s Republic of Asheville is more concerned with STR regulations than people living in boxes on the streets.

The fact that they knew about this and didn't tell you up front says to me they were hoping you didn't actually run reports. 2) Be sure to know the regulations in your jurisdiction.

I also doubt very seriously that any brokerage/custodian is going to allow this kind of loan with 401k assets; it's likely going to need to be a 401k general purpose loan, which is highly regulated (as someone else mentioned).