Update on the Kris Roglieri Saga

The trustee overseeing Kris Roglieri’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case asked the Court on Tuesday to convert it to a Chapter 7. That’s because among the facts to come out of that and related proceedings thus far is that Roglieri did not ever maintain financial records for his various business entities, has no revenue coming in, and has no path to keeping his businesses going. The trustee also noted the added complexity of an FBI investigation and that the Receiver in a related civil case believes Roglieri owes creditors more than $100 million, funds that were allegedly derived from a ponzi scheme.

A Chapter 7 is a liquidation. The Court still has to approve it. A Chapter 7 trustee would have added powers that allows them to pursue assets for the benefit of creditors. The assets would be sold off.

Up until at least one month ago, Roglieri’s wholly owned business, the National Alliance of Commercial Loan Brokers conference (NACLB), was still soliciting for sponsorships. However, the ability to purchase tickets was shut off in early April and as of last week the conference website has gone completely offline. Roglieri previously attested that $436,237 was outstanding and due to Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas for their 2023 conference. The Receiver in the Prime Capital Ventures case has also argued that the NACLB bank account had been the recipient of at least $20,000 in allegedly misappropriated funds and that $200,000 had been withdrawn from the NACLB’s bank account to aid in the present legal defense of Roglieri.

Staying Vigilant in the Funding Business

There’s a lot of funny business going on these days, so here are some things for you and your merchants to look out for:

The LOC Bait and Switch
A scammer offers the customer an impossibly good deal on a line of credit that is contingent on first entering into some other product. After the customer enters into the first transaction, the LOC offer and the scammer disappear. If your customer is susceptible to falling for something like this, make sure to advise them ahead of time accordingly.

The Mystery Funder
Despite a customer claiming to work exclusively with you as a broker, at some point a third party mysteriously enters the process and offers a separate deal to them to compete with you. Although there could be many reasons for this happening both legitimate or otherwise, including the customer not being completely forthright about exclusivity, you should communicate with your customer beforehand about who or who not to expect a communication from. Also, there are methods you can use to mitigate this by plugging up common attack vectors like an email address or phone # on a submitted application. Allow an attorney to guide you on how to do this most effectively and legally.

The Debt Advisor
Beware the debt advisor who claims they are there to help a merchant reduce the obligations of their loans or advances as many do not understand the contracts they claim to advise on. Because of this, they can potentially push a customer into a much worse situation than they otherwise might’ve been in. A merchant’s best bet is to communicate directly with the source of capital on their own. Oftentimes a contract spells out the proper protocol to follow depending on what the situation is.

Pac-man
They got hot full packs for sale including bank statements, social security #s, and other data ready to send your way! Before engaging in any such transaction, please consult with an attorney about the potential implications of doing something like this. Same goes for you if you were thinking about “selling your declines.”

The Ghost
Brokers often complain about customers falling for obvious scams over the phone, including the classic LOC scam, however, brokers can be just as susceptible to the same tactics. Before working with any lender or funder, you should conduct a full range of due diligence on them. This includes investigating their precise address, who the owner is, what their background is, what their ISO contract says, what their merchant contract says, etc. Too often brokers are drawn in by a commission they believe they stand to make and a smooth talking biz dev rep they talked to on the phone and skip over all the fundamentals. If the funder turns out to be a scammer, then you’ve potentially placed customers with that scammer and put yourself doubly at risk. A commission isn’t worth waiving due diligence. The stakes are too high for this industry.

Don’t Just Say You Can Do SBA Loans, Learn How to Broker Them

“As in anything else, once you master the learning curve, you’re fine,” says Bob Coleman. “The reason why SBA lending is difficult is you may not know the rules.”

And that’s where Coleman comes in, a former lender turned news source and educator of SBA loan brokers, he offers his own online course called the Certified SBA Loan Broker Training, which is open to commercial loan brokers of various backgrounds that want to master SBA. Without training, brokers unaccustomed to the process can get lost and bogged down if they try to figure it out on the fly.

For instance, “If you drop something off at your lender, the lender is going to come back with 15 things and you may not know exactly what they want,” Coleman says, “and therefore the difficulty arises when you don’t know exactly what the lender wants and you ask the borrower and then it becomes a long drawn out affair.”

It’s precisely this scenario that scares brokers accustomed to light paperwork and perks like 2-hour approvals in the short-term working capital space from even attempting to try their hand at SBA. But even the merchants can be scared off by a longer more arduous process. Coleman also acknowledges that there has been a collective awakening throughout the mainstream commercial finance space that speed is on every business owner’s mind.

But speed can be a matter of experience and just knowing what to do, how to do it, and who to do it with. Besides, in an era of creeping one-stop-loan-shops that can do it all, it will become increasingly difficult for today’s broker to tell a customer that they don’t really know how to do the harder stuff and to always default to a short term loan or MCA when the broker next door is ready to put an SBA loan together if that’s the best course of action. As most brokers are aware, many short-term working capital brokers also offer equipment financing at the very least and vice-versa these days.

“A successful broker is one that cultivates a relationship with a few lenders,” Coleman says. “A broker is more entrepreneurial [versus an in-house business development officer], has access to a number of different products, and they work with a core level of lenders or funders.”

And that all comes down to training, which Coleman’s course offers for SBA.

“The loan broker course is geared for loan brokers who have a basic knowledge of commercial lending,” Coleman says. “We’re not going to go through and tell them how to analyze an income statement or a balance sheet, but we are going to tell them what SBA lenders are looking for.”

Coleman’s course is designed to take 12 weeks, though with it being online those enrolled can move at their own pace. As a benefit those taking the course get access to Coleman himself and can ask him questions and can join his weekly live show. There’s also the Coleman Roundtable where brokers and lenders dial in together once a week so that lenders can provide updates on what type of deals they’re looking for.

“It’s always a moving target of what the lenders will do,” Coleman says, “As we go through economic cycles, lenders tweak their credit boxes of what they want, and the brokers have to understand the lenders have a tremendous amount of pressure from a lot of stakeholders on how they want their portfolios to look.”

To that end, any broker that maybe tried their hand on an SBA loan in the past and walked away discouraged shouldn’t give up on it entirely.

“SBA is constantly changing,” Coleman says. “If you had a bad experience three or four years ago with a particular lender, forget about it and find out what’s new.”

Capify Announces New Appointment to Lead Broker Division

Leading online SME lender, Capify, has appointed Mike Morris to lead its broker business in the UK.

Mike joins Capify after five years with Funding Circle, most recently as Head of Business Development, where he was responsible for leading the lender’s broker network.

With nearly 20 years experience in the finance industry, including time at Close Brothers retail finance, Mike will focus on the growth and expansion of Capify’s introducer relationships and its marketplace offering.

“I’m hugely excited to join Capify to build out its broker programme and exponentially grow this channel for one of the first online SME lenders in the UK market,” said Mike.

“Capify occupies a vital place in the funding landscape – offering much-needed fast, flexible and responsible solutions for businesses. We’re focused on ensuring that introducers understand our offering and how we can help their clients. Our growth will then be realised by launching new products that go up and down the credit spectrum, providing the best possible service to enable the brokers, and ultimately the clients they represent, to get the funds they need to thrive in the current climate. Our goal is to have an offering for all types of businesses so we can be a one-stop shop for brokers and their clients. I look forward to Capify announcing these new offerings in the near future.”

Capify was launched in the UK in 2008, against the backdrop of the global financial crisis, when many small and medium-sized businesses were struggling to access funding from banks. Last year it was named the UK Credit Awards SME Lender of the Year (up to £1m). The company was founded initially in the United States in 2002 making it one of the world’s first online alternative financing companies for SMEs globally.
John Rozenbroek, COO/CFO at Capify, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Mike to the Capify team. Brokers play an integral role in helping businesses understand the complex funding landscape and the types of finance that are best suited to their needs. His appointment underlines our commitment to introducers and marks an exciting new stage in Capify’s continued growth.”

ABOUT CAPIFY

Capify is an online lender that provides flexible financing solutions to SMEs seeking working capital to sustain or grow their business. Alongside its sister company, Capify Australia, the fintech businesses have been serving their respective markets for over 15 years. In that time, it has provided finance to thousands of businesses, ensuring the UK’s vibrant and vital SME community can meet the challenges of today and the opportunities of tomorrow.

For more details about Capify, visit: http://www.capify.co.uk

Capify Contact:
Ash Yazdani, Marketing Director
ayazdani@capify.co.uk

Media enquiries
Sam Gallagher, Director
sam.gallagher@1473media.com