When you’re attempting to secure additional financing for your small business, the absolute last thing that you’d want is to lose money in the process. While completely legitimate financial lending services like The Commercial Finance Group exist to help you, it’s worth mentioning that there are a number of illegitimate, scam-based ‘lenders’ out there who are out to take your money and personal information. To better inform our readers and clients alike about these illegitimate lenders, we’re going to go over a few common red flags as they relate to small business lending.
For decades of tried and true experience in the small business lending arena, you can count on The Commercial Finance Group to work with you and your small business situation to find the right amount of capital you need in a timeframe that won’t leave you high and dry and desperate for funding. If you’re curious about what our asset-based lending solutions can do for you, visit this page or read on about the cautions of less-than-reputable business loan companies.
Red Flag: They Ask For Money Up Front
The main point here is that no lender, broker, or loan officer should ever, EVER ask you up front for any sort of payment. If you’ve been asked for a down payment, registration fee, credit check fee, or any other form of upfront financial contribution, you know that it’s time to part ways and move on (and question why you ever considered doing business with them, at that).
Red Flag: A Lack Of A Physical Address
Having no physical address is actually a red flag for a lot of seemingly legitimate businesses. When considering a small business lender, ask for their physical office address. This address should be a real mailing address and not just a P.O. box, so make sure that you keep that in mind. If the financial provider in question doesn’t have any sort of physical address, there’s a good chance that they could be operating a scam outside of the United States.
Red Flag: Offering Business Credit Repair
If you have a brand new or even somewhat new business, no experienced and legitimate lender should expect your business to have an established good business credit. Some of these business credit or credit card repair services will offer to “fix” your business credit in order to make you more eligible for a business loan, but in reality, they’re mostly just out to take your money.
Red Flag: They’ll ‘Guarantee’ A Loan
A legitimate lender should never guarantee a loan, period. If a financial organization claims a guarantee that you will qualify for a loan before having received your application and actually received your financials – especially with promises like ‘regardless of low or no credit’ – then you can assume that the organization is shady and up to nothing good.
If you’re unsure about a lender in question (although with The Commercial Finance Group, our credibility speaks for itself), you can always contact the Better Business Bureau in your home state for more information about the potential lender in question.
You Have A Trusted, Reputable Lender At CFG
Our decades of small business lending and asset-based loan experience serve as a way to show our valued clients that they can trust The Commercial Finance Group for their loans for small business. Would you rather hear that from one of our dedicated working capital professionals? Get in touch with us today.
