In these uncertain agricultural economic times there have been difficult decisions made that create the tension in the relationship between lender and borrower. When this happens and foreclosure is on the horizon, borrowers will usually look to find a new lender. It is important to research and talk to a potential lender that is not local. There has been a wave of untrustworthy brokers/originator/loan officers that take advantage of farmers current situations. Often they collect large amounts of money in in the form of “due diligence fees” and promise funding while sending it to a lender they know will decline the loan. We have come across several borrowers that have fallen into these unfortunate situations. While there are those companies and individuals that use these tactics, there are many of those who do not take advantage of these situations. This goes to show that proper research and conversations when searching for a loan is a must.  Since we primarily deal with debt restructuring and non-traditional lending we have seen a great deal of these situations.

Every situation is different and it should be treated as such as there is not a one size fits all when it comes to distressed loans. We have dealt with full structured liquidations to simple refinances and everything in-between. Given the low crop prices, droughts, and other negatives there has been lots of pressure in the industry. It is important to understand that most local banks do not want to foreclose if they really don’t have to. They live and work within the communities and want to work something out to keep a client on the books or help them get financing that fits somewhere else. We have been able to work directly with many local banks that are having a difficult time keeping these loans and do not want to foreclose for several reasons.

At SAF we will work on packaging your loan and finding the right fit for you and do not charge any due diligence fees unless we get a formal approval and an appraisal and title work are ordered.  We encourage to ask questions and find out who we are as well as any lender you are working with. It is always ideal when you can put a name with a face and meet someone in person. Most of the time we will meet with our borrowers at their operation and go over any questions and look around. This helps us get a better understand and allows the borrower to feel more comfortable with us.  By building and maintaining relationships with banks and borrowers it has helped make our process easier.