Anyone heard of David Shell, private money lender, "Secured Lending Solutions" in OH?

Question

Hi everyone, just curious if anyone has heard of or done any business with David Shell, of Secured Lending Solutions? The website looks legit, there's a picture of him and his wife Shelley Shell. I'm using the phone number on the website to speak with him directly. And there's a physical address in Ohio on the website, along with a PO for their second location in Tennessee. I also found a registration of the LLC and his name on the OHIO.gov website, though it was only filed recently on June 12, 2023.

The website www.SecuredLendingSolutions.com comes up fine on my office computer and my phone, but at home my anti-virus program says the website is being blocked because it's "infected" with a "URL:Blacklist". I looked that up and that's not technically an infection, it's just saying the site may not be safe so the anti-virus blocks it. That's the only thing that's making me wonder if this could be a scam. Other than that nothing fishy in my conversations, no upfront fees being asked for, just a private loan of $200K-$300K on a property with over $1M equity.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

couple things jump out at me that give me pause.1. there is no such thing as a certified lender .. 2. they say they make loans to owner occ homeowners but have no license to do so.3. they are advertising for people to help them underwrite the files collect data etc. you don't just pay referral fee's to anyone who responds to do this work.. that's funky. the 30% down or equity cross collateralization  makes sense, although time consuming to verify the value of the cross collateral. No mention of their terms or interest rates so I did not see those.. just be careful of rates that are too good to be true and or significantly under market.. Market right now for private / hml is 2 points and 10 to 15%.  On a deal like yours might get a tad better but not much. Also companies that just advertise pre approval letters for the asking is suspect. if you already own the property and go through the motions with them and they dont fund and your not HURT if they dont fund then just continue on and see how it goes .. Do NOT send any money to them and of course closing through a reputable title company or closing attorney.

PS  just looked  at the website deeper.. they offer foreclosure rescue to homeowners this requires state license and NMLS registration which they have neither.. as by law our license numbers must be prominent on your website.  I would be very cautious they maybe new to this and don't realize those loans made without a license would be illegal.  So previous advice stands.. play along make sure if they dont fund it does not screw up your timing or anything and never give up front money . closing takes place at title company once their funds are in the title companies accounts.

Chris Seveney · Answer

@Vahe Ohannessian

If unsure do everything through a title company. Have the title company communicate with them and in five minutes they will be able to tell if legit

Mateo Oquendo-Chandler · Answer

Best advice anyone can give you is that if you aren't confident, I just wouldn't use their services. How are you going to feel every day not knowing if you are going to get blind sided by something? If you have a good deal, you won't have any issues finding a reputable lender.

Vahe Ohannessian · Answer

Thank you all for your responses. They determined that there were additional requirements for them to do the loan which I could not meet, so we've parted ways. Perhaps that's a sign that they weren't just looking for an upfront fee from me and they're legit, but I can't be sure.

For those who were asking, the terms were 10% and anywhere between 5-10 points, which we didn't get far enough to nail down.

Erik Estrada · Answer

What terms are they offering?

Robin Simon · Answer

Agreed - plenty of options out there with vetted lenders, and terms / rates of loans like this are generally consistent, so unless you are getting a great deal / offer from a PML w/o much of a track record (which in and of itself is a red flag) - its probably better to go with a more vetted lender

Anyone heard of David Shell, private money lender, "Secured Lending Solutions" in OH?

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