All Forum Posts by: Chad Clinton

BACKGROUND

I'm an inactive investor following a big deal gone bad that hurt me in a significant way financially. I used two of my rental properties as collateral assignment for a big a big project with a hard money lender that went bad.

The large project was foreclosed on and taken back by the hard money lender. Because they were a secondary lien holder over my two rental properties, the hard money lenders couldn't legally take my properties, but they could stop any sales or take all the profit after the initial loan was paid off. So, I've been waiting for the first position lender to foreclose on my rental properties, but neither property has yet been foreclosed on.

ACTUAL QUESTION

I did a recent check and found that the hard money lender doesn't appear to be in business anymore. With that said:

-DOES THIS MEAN THAT THOSE LIENS ON MY INDIVIDUAL RENTAL PROPERTIES ARE NO LONGER VALIDING, WHICH WOULD ALLOW ME TO SELL OR DO SOMETHING WITH THE PROPERTIES?

-WHAT ARE SOME TOOLS/RESOURCES I COULD USE TO FIND OUT THIS INFORMATION MYSELF?

It's really good to get so many helpful and positive responses. I appreciate any and all advice, tips, and shared experiences that you guys have.

Good Day Biggerpocket Family, I'm relatively new and was looking to start 2015 out with a bang. I've been out of real estate actively for about 5 years, but very eager to get back. My last endeavor as an investor ended with me getting burned in a major condo deal in Washington, DC. To fund the deal, I used a hard money lender and 2 of my rental properties as collateral assignment to secure the funding. It worked well on my first project, but the cost of the money was too expensive and I didn't really make a profit (rookie mistake on my part for being too eager and accepting what I could get in order to do the deal.) On my second project using the same formula, the results were even worse. My contractor got into an argument with the neighborhood ANC, who pushed to get a stop work order on my project. Long story short, I got behind on the schedule, which really hurt me since I was making "large" interest only payments.

I was forced to file for a bankruptcy to protect my assets as the hard money lenders came after me. Needless to say, this experience soured me on participating in real estate investing, but I've never lost the love for the business of real estate.

After years of maturing and learning on the sidelines, I'm really ready to get back! As a father raising a young son, I want to be able to provide the financial security that my family needs and I know that real estate is a great avenue for that.

I'd love to hear from all the savvy investors in this forum for suggestions on the best ways to restart my investing career!