I'm looking at getting a good multiplier on stock I own for a business I want to start and/or even a charity I want to found. I received the following spam from Hedgelender
"Greetings,
We are the leaders for stock loans. What we can offer:
- Up to 90% Loan to Value on your stock or bonds * No Payments or Quarterly payment * Rates starting at 4% * Major exchanges around the world
*if you are interested in becoming an agent please call to find out if your territory still has some openings.
/VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION/
Best Regards,
Danielle Stafford
1.800.244.7616Anyone hear of this company? Their website looks fine, but I've never heard of them before. How do I check them out to make sure they're legit? Here's what I've done so far:
1) I gave a call to my local credit union, which doesn't give loans to businesses or non-profits. A bank officer there talked to me and said he used to work as a business loan officer for a local bank. He said when he worked at that bank they would only give 50% loan on stocks (in other words, they'd give a loan of $50,000 for $100,000 in stock as collateral for that loan) due to stocks fluctuating in price. If I were to have it in cash and in a long-term CD at their bank, they would give 100% loan (i.e., $100,000 CD gets a $100,000 loan). However, he said he worked at a traditional bank ... but, even given that, he's never heard of any lending institution giving ten times the value of an asset for a loan. But he did say things might have changed since he left commercial banking. He recommended I call the Attorney General of Virginia to find out if they have anything on the company. The company's website said they're located there.2) I call the Virginia Attorney General and got passed around from the agency that oversees lending to the one that oversees stocks to back to the lending to records. No one had an answer. Virginia has very loose regulation of lending institutions. However, the person down in Records checked to see if they're at least registered with their state. They're not. She said that to her would be a major red flag, but that's about all she could say. She then gave me the number to the Federal Trade Commission and suggested I talk to them.
3) Federal Trade Commission had nothing on the company and wondered why someone referred me to them. He suggested I contact the federal SEC, my state's SEC, and SBA.4) The federal SEC didn't have anything on them and since the company didn't trade or sell stocks, they said they wouldn't regulate them. By the way, very nice polite woman answered the phone there.
5) My state SEC was more helpful. She learned that they're actually registered in Delware but that was about it. She will check with people that have taken off from the office early that day (Friday) on Monday and see if they know of anything.6) When talking to the Better Business Bureau, they said the company was in "good" standing with them and said that meant they have been in business for at least one year, are registered with BBB, and have had no complaints registered against them. They could say no more.
7) I left a message on my state's SBA's telephone number about this issue and asked for a call back with anything they know of this company.8) I left a message on Delware's Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division and asked for a call back with anything they know of this company.
Is there any source that could give me something more solid on this lending institution?
Also, what do you think of the deal they offer and what they say on their website?
Thanks in advance!
Scott Jensen