Dan J. Harkey

Master Educator | Business & Finance Consultant | Mentor

Private & Hard Money Lending

Valuable Insight and Information About Private & Hard Money Lending

Private Lending Runs on Trust. Brokers Make It Work

In private and hard money lending, brokers and agents don’t just “find money”—they engineer the transaction. They act as intermediaries with fiduciary responsibilities, aligning Borrower needs with investor requirements while keeping the deal anchored to collateral value, risk, and an executable exit strategy. This site provides reliable insight—from structuring to underwriting to documentation—so your deals are defensible and your outcomes predictable.

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Can You Acquire Property Subject to a Seller’s 3% Loan Without Notifying the Lender?

Most trust deeds and mortgage documents have an alienation clause, referred to as a due-on-sale clause, providing for an acceleration of the debt on the transfer of ownership

A Few Borrowers’ Withheld Material Facts Which Complicate the Loan Underwriting Process

Lenders rely on receiving all material facts available to make their credit assessment of the collateral property and the borrower. When information arrives in sketchy or inconsistent forms, it complicates the process.

AB-3108-Makes it a felony for any mortgage broker or loan originator to knowingly misrepresent the purpose of a loan.

This law, which focuses on making loans to single-family owners of occupied properties, tightens accusations of fraud by a mortgage broker while simultaneously inviting borrowers and hungry lawyers to sue the lender and mortgage broker for fraud. This recent law was signed by Governor Newsom in California, amends Section 4973 of the Financial Code.

Clear and Present Danger: When He Tried to “F” Over His Soon-To-Be Ex-Wife

Honey, I Didn’t Think You’d Mind!

Skin in the Game: Does the Principal Have Motivation to Perform?

Why It’s Essential in Real Estate Lending

What Condo and Multifamily Property Owners Need to Know in 2025

California’s SB-326 and SB-721:

The Illusion of a Down Payment in the Mind of a Fool

A borrower is attempting to rationalize the fact that the tenant is paying off the owner of the property to cancel the lease and vacate the property, which belongs to him as a financial asset. He suggested that the amount of the lessee’s payment to the property owner as consideration for cancelling the lease should be considered his down payment because he is getting such a good deal on the vacant commercial property.

Institutional Theft: The Systematic Transfer of Wealth from Ordinary Taxpayers to The Elites.

The people are kept busy through entertainment outlets and through continuous propaganda to ensure the status quo. The process occurs repeatedly with only minor grumbling by the people.

Honey, I handle the Business in the Family: I didn’t think it made any Difference.

Silence is not always golden when the consequence is alienation from your spouse; lonely days and lonely nights are forthcoming. Distrust and hostilities in future dealings are a sure thing.

Appraisers' Opinions of Values: All Are Not Equal

Some Appraisal Reports Are Useless

McMansion Blues: In Many Cases, The Transition Is Not Worth the Hassle

Inflationary Pressures Have “Come Home to Roost,” Where the Rising Cost of Property Taxes, Property Insurance, Association Dues, Capital Improvements, and Maintenance, added together, in Many Cases, Is More Than the Property Loan Payment.

Note Hypothecations: A Key Concept in Real Estate Finance

Note hypothecations involve understanding two separate and distinct loan transactions. The first part involves how someone ends up owning a note and a deed of trust as a financial asset, and the second part describes how that person willingly conveys the legal title of those documents to another party as collateral for a loan.

Real Property Liens and Encumbrances: Recorded Claims Against Properties

Affecting Real Property Ownership

Make Profits Purchasing Promissory Notes Secured by Real Estate

Note purchases are a large, sophisticated industry designed for sophisticated investors, typically those who are accredited.

How To Reinvent Ourselves, Part II

When Failures Are Within Our Control

Private Money Trust Deed and Mortgage Investments: Investors Find Good Yields with --

Investing in trust deeds and mortgage investments is popular because the yields are high compared to similar investments, considering the associated risks, management, and time consumption.

Private Money: Procedures and Strategies for Loan Originations

How do brokers and lenders locate hard money loans?

SB-549: We Could Have Guessed That This Was Coming:

The California government, using taxpayer dollars, gets into the development game in the Palisades and Eaton fire rebuilding efforts.

The California Shifting Real Estate Landscape: High-Density Housing on Steroids

The California Legislature has passed laws that significantly alter the development approval process, shifting it from local municipal jurisdiction to the state level.

SB-326 and SB-721: Condo and Multifamily Inspection Laws: California 2024

These two new inspection and repair laws have added significant expense to associations, which must be paid by raising association dues. Some owners cannot afford the increase in dues.