Disclaimer

CommercialMortgage.com is sponsored by C-Loans, Inc.  When you enter a potential commercial mortgage loan into this website, you will be given a Suggested Lender List with the contact information of each bank or commercial mortgage company.  You can then call or email these lenders to assess their general interest in your deal.

C-Loans, Inc. is not your commercial mortgage broker, nor are we your agent.  CommercialMortgage.com is just a mindless computer program that suggests possible commercial mortgage lenders.  Unlike a human agent, this computer program cannot be there in person to advise you, nag you, or cajole you to get flood insurance, a toxic report, a roof inspection, or a structural engineering report.   

While we believe that each of the banks and commercial mortgage companies that appear on your Suggested Lender List is legitimate, reputable, and ethical, C-Loans, Inc. makes no warranty to this effect. Should you have a bad experience with one of these lenders or commercial mortgage companies, please notify us immediately.

Here is the danger.  The commercial lending industry is plagued with con men who pretend that they are commercial mortgage lenders.  These con men are very, very good.  Their scheme is to issue a fake term sheet (conditional commitment letter) with very enticing terms.  When you sign it, you will be asked to send in $5,000 to $10,000 for third party reports.  Since every legitimate commercial lender requires a similar fee, its hard to spot the con.  Then they cash your advance fee check, they never fund, and they stop returning phone calls.  Whenever we suspect a “commercial lender” is using this confidence game, we immediately de-list them; but they soon pop up under a different name.  It’s like playing whack-a-mole.

To make matters worse, these con men are very smooth and talk a great game.  Someone once taught me the way to spot a con man.  “Pick the one man in the room who you are sure is not the con man; and he will be your con man!”  How can you protect yourself?  Maybe this blog article on advance free fraud will help.

It is customary for commercial mortgage lenders to require some sort of application fee to cover the cost of the third party reports. This application fee also is legitimately used by lenders "to get the deal off the street". Therefore, you should not be alarmed if one of these lenders asks for an application fee. On the other hand, however, you should obtain a written agreement with the lender detailing under which circumstances you will be entitled to a refund of your fee. C-Loans, Inc. is not responsible for disputes between borrowers and lenders regarding application fees and third party reports.