Coleman Report

March 23, 2015 By Bob Coleman Editor, Monday’s Movers and Shakers Steven Ellsworth Joins Fountainhead Commercial Capital as Chief Credit Officer “Steve is widely recognized among small business lenders as one of the nation’s leading credit officers,” says Chris Hurn, Fountainhead Founder and CEO. “We are fortunate to have him on board as we build…

March 20, 2015 By Bob Coleman Editor, Fraud Friday During the great recession, the president of Premier Community Bank of the Emerald Coast approved a series of loan transactions that netted him almost $300,000 in cash and wiped out $743,000 of his real estate loan debt with Bank of America. Sean Davis solicited a straw…

March 20, 2015 By Bob Coleman Editor, Feedback Friday Last week, I asked for comments about the theory SBA 504 construction loans are exempt from being classified as a High Value CRE from the regulators. And, I got answers! Teresa Mandelin, President of Southwestern Business Financing Corporation in Arizona writes, “I am the presenter who…

March 19, 2015 By Bob Coleman Editor, Small Biz Lending Calendar America’s SBDC will be September 8-11, 2015. If you are in the area, plan on stopping by. It’s a great event for networking, and to learn more about what Small Business Development Companies are doing for Main Street. America’s SBDC, September 8-11, San Francisco…

March 19, 2015 By Bob Coleman Editor, Coleman Report Interview with Rocky Pintozzi and Bobby Sheth at the 2015 Choice Hotels Owners Council Investment Conference in San Antonio. Bob Coleman: “Welcome to the Choice Hotels Owners Conference in San Antonio. I am here with Rocky Pintozzi and Bobby Sheth, tell us what about this event…

March 18, 2015 By Bob Coleman Editor, Small Business Stats Did you know 56 million employees are employed by 5.7 million small businesses? • Almost all firms with employees are small. They make up 99.7 percent of all employers nationally. • Firms with fewer than 100 employees have the largest share of small business employment.…

March 18, 2015 By Bob Coleman Editor, Main Street Wedensday Including raising SBA loan authorization levels. The National Small Business Association says the credit crunch is real, and continues to negatively impact Main Street. The Problem? Small-business owners face unique challenges when trying to obtain financing. Start-up and expanding small businesses frequently do not have…

March 17, 2015 By Bob Coleman Editor, SBA Hot Topic Tuesday SBA continues to push for greater control and regulation of all SBA loan program participants. Their next niche? Loan Service Providers. There are 90 LSPs with over 900 lender agreements approved by SBA. Three LSPs sign 29% of all agreements. The OIG was SBA…

March 17, 2015 By Bob Coleman Editor, Hot Topic Tuesday In a major policy victory for new NADCO Chief Barbara Vohryzek, the adults in the room at SBA have concluded SBA will no longer require any documentation on open-ended indemnities on 504 loan applications. Simply, SBA’s requirement was delaying loan closings and creating mounds of…

March 16, 2015 By Bob Coleman Editor, Mug Shot Monday For a total of 35 counts of bank fraud and conspiracy reads last week’s indictment. The method of the alleged fraud? Raise your hand if you’ve read this before. Photoshopped docs. Fake tax returns. Creative financial statements. And add loans in family members names to…