Sean Murray is the President and Chief Editor of deBanked and the founder of the Broker Fair Conference. Connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on twitter. You can view all future deBanked events here.
Articles by Sean Murray
Stacking Lawsuit Results in Settlement Before Trial
June 19, 2018A lawsuit between RapidAdvance and Pearl Capital over tortious interference will not be going to trial after all, deBanked has learned. Originally scheduled to begin on June 25th, the parties have reportedly reached a settlement.
Neither party would respond for comment.
RapidAdvance filed its lawsuit against Pearl in November 2015 with the hope that they could set a precedent against “stacking.”
The suit was filed in the Circuit Court of Maryland under Small Business Financial Solutions, LLC v. Pearl Beta Funding, LLC, Case No. 411478-V.
Settling Up: Debt Settlement Companies Paid Yellowstone Capital and Everest Business Funding a Half Million Dollars to End Lawsuit
June 12, 2018
A group of debt settlement companies and ISOs have entered into a settlement they’re unlikely to forget. A lawsuit that accused Corporate Bailout, Protection Legal Group, Mark Mancino, Michael Hamill and others of tortious interference with merchant cash advance contracts has led to a settlement in which the defendants agreed to pay Yellowstone Capital and Everest Business Funding $500,000. They also agreed not to offer any services to Yellowstone or Everest merchants in the future, deBanked has learned.
The original complaint alleged that ISOs had partnered with companies that purport to offer debt relief services to merchants with MCAs. In practice, the complaint said, debt relief was a code word for deceiving merchants to breach their existing agreements so that they could pay fees instead to the debt relief companies.
When asked to comment, Yellowstone Capital CEO Isaac Stern said that there were companies that offer this kind of service the right way but that was not the case here. “The way they’re going about it is really wrong,” he said.
Of note is that the bound parties were not just debt settlement companies but also ISOs and a law firm (Mark D. Guidubaldi & Associates, LLC dba Protection Legal Group).
Additional companies not named in the original complaint but nonetheless bound to the settlement are Mainstream Marketing Group and Corporate Client Services LLC. Websites for both companies say that they offer small business debt relief services.
Coast to Coast Funding LLC, who the defendants represented they had no control of, did not participate in the deal.
The settled matter is not the first of its kind. Everest and Yellowstone have been hammering debt settlement companies with lawsuits this year, according to court records examined by deBanked. In January, Everest sued MCA Helpline and Todd Fisch for tortious interference, and just last month Yellowstone filed a Petition to recover funds that were allegedly fraudulently transferred by Settle My Cash Advance.
In the latter case with Settle My Cash Advance, the defendants are alleged to have actively coached a merchant to hide his money in new bank accounts and hide the paper trail rather than pay the money owed to Yellowstone.
Speaking about no case in particular, Stern said “Imagine getting a commission on a deal [where you help a small business get funding] and then sending it to a debt settlement company. If there are ISOs that are doing that, we’re going to come after you hard.”
Commercial Financing Disclosures Bill Approved in the CA Senate
May 31, 2018The use of an annualized cost metric on loan and non-loan contracts alike is now one step closer to becoming the law in the State of California. On Thursday, SB 1235 was approved on the Senate floor. The bill calls for commercial finance companies to disclose an Estimated Annualized Cost of Capital. In previous hearings, the bill’s author, Sen. Steve Glazer (D), stated that it was his intention that this apply to merchant cash advances as well.
“This estimate includes all charges and fees incurred for the financing, assuming you make all payments when scheduled and adhere to the terms of the agreement. This number is based on the estimated term. If the actual term is shorter than estimated, the annualized cost of capital may be higher than shown. If the actual term is longer than estimated, the annualized cost of capital may be lower. This is not an Annual Percentage Rate (APR).”
Here is how to calculate the Estimated Annualized Cost of Capital as set forth in the bill:
(1) Divide the total dollar cost of financing by the total amount of funds provided.
(2) Multiply the result in paragraph (1) by 365.
(3) Divide the result from paragraphs (1) and (2) by the term or estimated term of the financing in days.
(4) Multiply the result from paragraph (3) by 100.
(5) The result from paragraph (4) shall be labeled “The Estimated Annualized Cost of Capital.”
In addition, commercial finance companies will also have to disclose the total dollar cost of the transaction and the total amount of money the merchant will receive net of all fees.
The bill must now pass through the solidly Democrat-controlled Assembly and be signed by the Governor to become the law.
More Small Businesses Seeking Merchant Cash Advances Than Factoring
May 23, 2018
Seven percent of small employer firms in the US that applied for financing in 2017 applied for a merchant cash advance, the latest report by the Federal Reserve shows, while only 4% applied for factoring. Small employer owned firms were defined as businesses that have 1 to 499 full-or part-time employees. 69% of those surveyed generated less than $1 million in revenue last year. That revenue demographic may be on the low end for the factoring industry though. Factoring’s popularity in that demographic, however, decreased in 2017, according to the report. The 4% figure of small businesses that applied for factoring in 2017 was down from 7% in 2016.
Auto and equipment loans had the highest approval rates among all financing options available to small businesses, at 82%. Merchant cash advances followed behind them at 79%. Lines of credit and business loans carried approval rates of 69% and 62% respectively. SBA loans came in at 54%.
When it comes to satisfaction, online lenders such as Lending Club, OnDeck, CAN Capital, and PayPal, have markedly improved over time, the report shows. The net satisfaction score of online lenders has increased from 19% in 2015 to 35% in 2017.
On transparency, online lenders rank at about the same level as large banks, though applicants were more likely to be dissatisfied with the interest rates of an online lender and the long and difficult application process with a large bank.
Missed Broker Fair? Get the Kit and Presentations
May 21, 2018
If you missed Broker Fair, you can still get your hands on some of the gear and the presentations. Simply email info@brokerfair.org and ask to be shipped a copy of the Broker Fair Kit. The accessories, which will only be provided while supplies last, include a USB drive with the day’s presentations, a Broker Fair bag, a Broker Fair shirt, a deBanked magazine, a Broker Fair handbook, and more.
Also, don’t wait too late to REGISTER for deBanked’s half-day event in San Diego on October 4th. deBanked Connect: San Diego will connect funders, brokers, and folks from the industry for networking and cocktails!
Broker Fair 2018 Story Continued
May 18, 2018A continuation of Broker Fair 2018 through photos:
We’ll publish the entire cache of them in the coming weeks.
JOIN US OCTOBER 4TH IN SAN DIEGO AT THE ANDAZ FOR A SPECIAL HALF-DAY INDUSTRY NETWORKING EVENT
Couldn’t find yourself in any of our photos? We’ll publish the full album in the following weeks.
The Broker Fair 2018 Story Through Photos
May 18, 2018Broker Fair 2018 was an amazing day of inspiration, education, and opportunities. We’ve posted some of our photo footage below:
JOIN US OCTOBER 4TH IN SAN DIEGO AT THE ANDAZ FOR A SPECIAL HALF-DAY INDUSTRY NETWORKING EVENT
Couldn’t find yourself in any of our photos? We’ll publish the full album in the following weeks.
Broker Fair 2018 Pre-Show Photos
May 17, 2018Photos from the Broker Fair 2018 May 13th Pre-show party at The William Vale in the Vale Garden Residence. Photos from the conference will be published separately. We hope you had fun.
