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
BFS Capital Secures $175M Revolving Line
February 20, 2018
BFS Capital has secured a new $175 million revolving credit facility from funds managed by Ares Management, L.P. (NYSE:ARES), according to a company announcement. Stephens Inc. acted as financial advisor to the transaction.
ARES is one of the largest global alternative asset managers with $106.4 billion under management. They previously announced a $100 million line for LendingPoint, an online consumer lender.
BFS Capital also recently announced that 2017 was their biggest year yet. They generated more than $300 million in originations for the year.
BFS Capital plans to use the new facility to accelerate the growth of its lending business.
“The market continues to appreciate our small business customer focus,” said BFS Capital CEO Michael Marrache in a prepared statement. “Our strategic partners, such as ISOs, also commend us for our data and underwriting expertise—based on 15 years of financings across multiple economic cycles—which enables us to better anticipate the future performance of our financings.”
Law Firm Sued for Tortious Interference With Loans and MCAs
January 31, 2018Rhode Island Superior Court has a tortious interference case on its hands. Small Business Term Loans, Inc., and BFS West, Inc. v Christopher M. Mulhearn, and Law Office of Christopher M. Mulhearn, Inc. is yet another front in the debt settlement war enveloping the alternative finance industry.
Here, the plaintiffs (known to many as BFS Capital), allege that Mulhearn and his law office attempt to persuade BFS Capital’s customers to breach their obligations to BFS Capital while routinely making misleading representations to their customers, including by promising to save them money by settling their obligations to BFS Capital for a discounted amount when they have no legitimate basis for being able to make such promises.
At least seven customers are alleged to have breached their agreements as a result of the defendants’ actions.
The defendants have not yet responded to the complaint. The suit is registered in Providence/Bristol County Superior Court of Rhode Island under case # PC-2018-0094.
Other such companies that have found themselves on the receiving end of a tortious interference lawsuit include MCA Helpline, Protection Legal Group, and Creditors Relief.
deBanked Connect – Miami (Recap)
January 30, 2018Thank you to everyone who attended our cocktail networking event in South Beach last week. It was a great opportunity for funders, lenders, brokers and others in the industry to connect with each other (many for the first time ever). Thank you again to Everest Business Funding, National Funding, Knight Capital Funding, NISO, Grand Capital Funding, and Venture Credit Solutions for sponsoring.
Below is a sample of our photos from the evening. If you attach any of your own on social media, please use #debankedconnect so that we can find them.
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Attorney Suing Dozens of MCA Companies Disqualified as Counsel
January 29, 2018
Rayminh Ngo, an attorney with Higbee & Associates that has appeared in no less than 80 lawsuits against merchant cash advance companies in New York State, hit a fatal roadblock in one case, court records reveal. That’s because Ngo and Higbee aren’t qualified to practice law in the State of New York. This disturbing matter was brought to light and evaluated by the Honorable Jerome C Murphy, a judge in Nassau County, late last month.
Platinum Rapid Funding Group, the plaintiff against a party that Ngo was representing, argued that the defendant’s attorney was in violation of Judiciary law §470, specifically that Ngo and the law firm did not have an office in New York State and consequently could not represent a client in New York.
Ngo denied the assertion and argued that he did in fact have offices there. But the evidence was not on his side. The two addresses he provided turned up empty, according to process servers who visited both locations. And the lease agreements submitted as exhibits were not valid for the time period in question.
“In the end, this Court finds that there is no evidence on this record that Ngo and Higbee had physical addresses in New York,” the order on the matter read. Ngo and Higbee were therefore disqualified as counsel of record. They have filed a notice of appeal in response.
That he has appeared in dozens of other lawsuits in the State was not addressed in the order, but it may be worth noting to his opponents both past and present that pursuant to this Court, they cannot practice in New York.
You can view the decision here.
The decision arose in Platinum Rapid Funding Group, Ltd. v. H D W of Raleigh, Inc. d/b/a Pure Med Spa, a/k/a Pure Cosmetic and Surgical Center and Holly Donielle Wybel a/k/a Holly D. Wybel, Index # 605890/2017 in New York Supreme Court.
deBanked Afterparty in Miami (Please read if you are planning on attending our event tonight)
January 25, 2018
Thank you so much to everyone who is attending our event tonight!
The interest has exceeded all of our expectations… and the hotel’s.
That’s why we’re planning on heading across the street after 8:30PM (when our event ends) to the Delano at 1685 Collins Avenue for continued networking!
Funders, ISOs, if you were not registered through EventBrite tonight or if you’re registered and want to continue connecting with the industry, we’ll be happy to see you after 8:30!
Thanks again for all the continued interest. We have been receiving all your calls, emails and texts about trying to squeeze in to the Gale rooftop tonight. Unfortunately, there are capacity issues that prevent us from making last minute exceptions.
See you at The Gale 5:30 – 8:30. Open bar. Must be RSVP’d.
See you at the Delano across the street after 8:30 (On the main floor and out back on the deck)
MCA Helpline, A Debt Settlement Company, is Sued For Tortious Interference
January 25, 2018
Debt settlement is under fire again. This time it’s a trio of defendants, namely MCA Helpline, LLC, Decision One Debt Relief, LLC and Todd Fisch individually, according to a complaint filed by plaintiff Everest Business Funding on Wednesday in Broward County, Florida.
Everest is seeking damages for Defendants’ tortious interference with at least a dozen of its merchant contracts.
“Defendants have engaged and continue to engage in the business practice of making misleading representations to Everest’s customers; namely, promising to save the merchants money on their existing contracts with Everest when they have no intention or ability to uphold such a promise,” the complaint states. “In so doing, Defendants tortiously interfere with Everest’s merchant agreements by inducing the merchants to breach their contractual obligations to Everest in favor of entering a new payment relationship with the debt relief company.”
Fisch is alleged to be the mastermind behind both MCA Helpline and Decision One Debt Relief.
Complicit ISOs were also put on notice. “To the extent any specific ISOs or their affiliates who have ISO Agreements with Everest have leaked information about Everest’s merchants to Defendants, or to any other third party, such conduct constitutes both a breach of the ISO Agreement and tortious interference with Everest’s merchant contracts,” it reads. “Through the course of discovery in this lawsuit, Everest plans to add as additional Defendants, as yet unidentified ISOs, which have been working with Defendants to target Everest’s merchant accounts in violation of their contractual agreements.”
Everest has been vigorously pursuing debt settlement companies. In September, they, along with Yellowstone Capital, filed a lawsuit against eight defendants (later amended to include 1 more) in New York.
Another lawsuit examining similar issues was also filed last year in New York. In Pearl Gamma Funding and Pearl Beta Funding v Creditors Relief, Pearl tacked on a defamation claim in addition to tortious interference. That case is still pending.
deBanked Connects With Miami on Thursday, January 25th
January 23, 2018
We’re really looking forward to seeing you at deBanked Connect this week on Thursday at the Gale Hotel in Miami. Our 3-hour networking open bar cocktail party from 5:30pm – 8:30pm is sure to be a great opportunity for funders and ISOs. This event booked up to capacity really far in advance and I apologize to everyone who waited too long and missed out.
Thanks to our incredible sponsors, specifically Everest Business Funding who is the headliner, but also National Funding, Knight Capital Funding, NISO, Grand Capital Funding, and Venture Credit Solutions.
Our next event will undoubtedly sell out as well. SO DON’T WAIT UNTIL IT’S TOO LATE TO SIGN UP! Broker Fair 2018 on May 14 at the William Vale in Brooklyn is our signature event!! With so many big names in the industry sponsoring it, it’s a must-attend event for sales reps and ISOs. You’ll be hearing tons more about Broker Fair in the coming weeks and months and I can’t wait to have you be a part of it.
There will be 4 of us from deBanked at The Gale on Thursday, including myself. If you are interested in being cited in a future deBanked Magazine story, be sure to connect with reporter Paul Sweeney who will be there with us.
Controversial Legislator Proposes 4% Interest Rate Cap in New Hampshire
January 22, 2018New Hampshire’s Live Free or Die attitude could be challenged by a bill introduced by the state legislature. House Bill 1800-FN-LOCAL, AN ACT relative to usury, proposes a maximum annual rate of interest allowed in all business transactions in which interest is paid or secured to be capped at 4%. Any interest beyond that would automatically warrant a $10,000 fine to the state treasury by the violator. If passed, the law would go into effect beginning April 1, 2018.
New Hampshire currently has no law governing interest rate limits.
One of the Bill’s sponsors, 86-year-old Representative Dick Marple, was arrested twice in 2016. One of those arrests occurred on the day that he was re-elected.
Marple’s interest rate cap bill and the $10,000 penalty therein for violations, is similar to another bill he proposed last month that would recognize “sovereign citizens.” House Bill 1653, would allow individuals to levy $10,000 fines against corporations and municipal agencies for failures to comply with a proposed modified Uniform Commercial Code law.
Marple’s sovereign citizen beliefs played out in a trial last year where he was found guilty of driving on a suspended license. In the Court’s order, the Honorable M. Kristin Spath wrote, “Although the Court urged Mr. Marple to actively participate in the trial, he declined to do so because of his continued belief that this Court does not have the authority or jurisdiction to hear these matters.”
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