All Forum Posts by: Nathan Roach

@Clint Weir 

Because the bank account linking takes 3-5 days (ACH) we let investors know that they should start the process right after verification.  Otherwise, you could find out wind up missing out on a property because of the ACH delay.

@Chad Clanton is correct, though – it's not required to view investments, participate in discussions, or otherwise interact with the site.  It's only necessary once you want to participate in an investment or create a project as an issuer.  I'll talk with our tech guys about cleaning up the messaging on the emails so that's more clear.

Also, I want to be clear that we do not ever touch investor money prior to closing.  It's all escrowed through the third party escrow agent.  We use the bank ACH linkage to provide the escrow with the proper source of funds.

• Payments received from investors for the purchase of securities (investment commitments) must be directed to and deposited in an escrow account with a bank or other depository institution located in Texas. The funds must be held in escrow until the amount raised from all purchasers is equal to or greater than the minimum target offering amount specified in the issuer's disclosure statement. If the offering is withdrawn or terminated by the issuer, TCP, or general dealer, or if the target amount of the offering is not raised by the time stated in the issuer's disclosure statement, all of the funds must be returned to the investors in full. See Rule 139.25(f).

More details on their site -- Escrow of funds

I'm the founder of MassVenture.com. You're right that we're a new company, but we've been fighting for the right of Texans to invest in their communities for a long time. (more on that later). But the short answer to why we need to collect data such as a residence or driver's license is that we're required by law to do so. It's an investor verification mechanism set out by the Texas State Securities Board. Tons of info on their site at: http://www.ssb.state.tx.us/Important_Notice/Texas_Intrastate_Crowdfunding.php

We are regulated by the state and you can see our certificate of registration through the state.

I've been meaning to write up a blog post with some of the history of how the new laws came to pass, but haven't gotten through it all yet. I know we could use a bit more of that kind of info.