The Loan Committee™

Last week, the U.S. Small Business Administration shut down its 7(a) loan program again, leaving thousands of small business owners scrambling to finance a wide range of business projects. This shutdown was swiftly overturned, as Congress approved an increase in the 7(a) program cap to $23.5 billion for the remainder of this current fiscal year. That’s $4.75 billion more than the current ceiling that had effectively been hit, necessitating the shutdown. President Obama quickly signed the bill into law. Crisis averted. Or is it?  read more… Source: Fountainhead Commercial Capital.

Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter may be old hat for some early-stage startups in Florida if House Bill 275 is approved by state lawmakers.  House Bill 275 would legalize equity crowdfunding — a financial process that allows companies to accept funds from investors in exchange for company stock. The kicker is that potential investors don’t have to be overly wealthy, which opens the pool for more investment capital.  Author:  Matthew Richardson.  Source:  Orlando Business Journal.  Learn more…

Perhaps the most aggressive financing structure (in terms of leverage) available to borrowers is Credit Tenant Lease (“CTL”) financing.  While most traditional financing structures emphasize the value of the real estate (the lenders’ collateral), CTL financing structures are based on the credit of the tenant and the structure of the lease with the real estate value being secondary.  Author: Brandon Wilhite.  Source:  Metropolitan Capital Advisors.  Learn more…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a complaint against Dynamic Construction and Roofing, LLC of Florida as part of an announcement that included 62 enforcement actions requiring renovation contractors and training providers to protect people from harmful exposure to lead dust and debris, as required by EPA’s Lead-based Paint Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) standards.

The enforcement actions include 55 settlements and six complaints issued between February and October 2014 for renovations performed on pre-1978 homes and child-care facilities. All of the settlements require that the alleged violators certify their compliance with RRP standards and, in most cases, pay civil penalties. In two of the settlements, the violators agreed to fund voluntary lead abatement supplemental environmental projects, which require the removal of lead-based paint and post-construction testing to ensure that no hazardous conditions remain. The settlements led to $213,171 in civil penalties and the violators coming into compliance with federal law. These recent actions are in addition to EPA’s settlement with Lowe’s Home Improvement in April 2014, which included a $500,000 civil penalty as well as implementation of a corporate-wide RRP compliance program. Source: US EPA  read entire article…