Hey all, 

  I was wondering if anyone had experience with First Choice Loan www.firstchoice-loan.com out of Sacramento California? I filled out a very  vague "application" and was "approved" quickly which seems a little fishy. Anyone had experience with this lending group? I can provide more info if needed. Thanks! -Jeremy

well CA based lenders that do loans on one to four units must have either

real estate brokers license  and NMLS registration or a consumer finance license

and usually its mandatory to have that on their website.

also telephone number is LA  address is Sacramento.. I mean the website looks fine except for those 2 little things.

as long as they are not hitting your up with up front due diligence and depends on what kind of loan your looking for.

many many quality lenders in CA that are able to perform and are properly licensed.

pop on to lendinghomes website you will see what I mean about licenses it will be clearly denoted on their website at the bottom that's the first thing I look for when I look at these sites.. in states I know you need licensure for 1 to 4..

now like in Oregon commercial purpose 5 unit or more  new construction .. retail etc no licensed required.

WA for instance 1 to 4 if its business purpose no license required and its were you domicial is were the licenses are mandatory.

also quick approvals is a big red flag to me personally.

@Jeremy Tompkins   There's a lot of red flags on this one. 

If you go to the California Secretary of State's website, you can search for their business name (which they say on their website is registered in the state of Ca) and see that there is no business registered with that name: https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/

You can also go to the NMLS website that @Jay Hinrichs mentioned and see that none of the people on their website, including the loan officers, are licensed: http://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/ (The loan officers' names "Stephens Anthony & Green Glenda don't even sound like real names.)

Lastly, if you do a little Google searching by the company's phone number, you can actually learn quite a lot.  I saw ads on other sites for this company that don't even sound like they were written by someone whose native language is English, which made sense when I came across these sites that reference the First Choice Loan site being created by some sort of Nigerian scammer:

https://db.aa419.org/fakebanksview.php?key=127175

https://scamsurvivors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=61730 (on this link scroll down on the page and you'll see the company you posted, or just search the page by their company phone number)

Hopefully you didn't submit any personal info when you filled out their application.

I use Citadel as my primary hard money lender. They have piles of their own money and seem to close the most loans with the least points and no pre-pay penalties. They're a wholesale lender so you'd need to go through a broker, feel free to reach out if you want me to put you in touch.

Originally posted by @Kyle J. :

@Jeremy Tompkins   There's a lot of red flags on this one. 

If you go to the California Secretary of State's website, you can search for their business name (which they say on their website is registered in the state of Ca) and see that there is no business registered with that name: https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/

You can also go to the NMLS website that @Jay Hinrichs mentioned and see that none of the people on their website, including the loan officers, are licensed: http://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/ (The loan officers' names "Stephens Anthony & Green Glenda don't even sound like real names.)

Lastly, if you do a little Google searching by the company's phone number, you can actually learn quite a lot.  I saw ads on other sites for this company that don't even sound like they were written by someone whose native language is English, which made sense when I came across these sites that reference the First Choice Loan site being created by some sort of Nigerian scammer:

https://db.aa419.org/fakebanksview.php?key=127175

https://scamsurvivors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=61730 (on this link scroll down on the page and you'll see the company you posted, or just search the page by their company phone number)

Hopefully you didn't submit any personal info when you filled out their application.

kyle you dug deeper than me good work..  like I said I just go to the front page of these websites  no NMLS NO state license no Bueno if they are in states I know that require them..  issue is most people don't know what states require licenses and what don't..  

You guys rock! Thanks a ton for all the help.