Private Lending Insights

In Episode 34 of Private Lending Insights, Rocky Butani interviews Aleksandra Simanovsky, founder of Adige Asset Advisory , to talk about the RTL securitization market and how securitizations work, including loan pooling, bond investors, cash flow waterfalls, funding costs, the economics of securitization versus whole loan sales, why securitizations can provide lenders with greater funding flexibi...

Rocky Butani interviews Boris Dorfman, fund manager and partner at LBC Capital , about the state of private lending and real estate investing in 2026. The conversation explores why transaction volume has slowed in 2026, how elevated interest rates are affecting residential and commercial real estate, and how private lenders are adapting their underwriting and lending strategies. They also discuss...

Rocky Butani interviews Nema Daghbandan, CEO of Lightning Docs and Partner at Fortra Law, for a data-driven look at the private lending market in 2026. Nema shares what Lightning Docs is seeing across more than 300 lender clients, including trends in RTL and DSCR loan volume, interest rates, competition, foreclosures, and fraud. They also discuss the Figure acquisition of Kiavi, how AI is changing...

In this episode of Private Lending Insights, Rocky Butani interviews Jeff Tesch, CEO of RCN Capital , one of the nation’s largest private lenders and a leading wholesale lender serving mortgage brokers. Jeff shares RCN’s outlook on the private lending market, the states seeing the strongest lending activity, and why ground-up construction continues to be one of the biggest opportunities for invest...

In this episode of Private Lending Insights, Rocky Butani interviews Kirill Bensonoff, CEO and founder of New Silver, a technology-driven private lender based in Connecticut. Kirill shares how New Silver evolved from building loan origination software into a nationwide private lender funding fix & flip, ground-up construction, and DSCR loans.  The conversation covers lending trends, AI and aut...

Rocky Butani interviews Kevin Kim, Partner at Fortra Law and one of the leading securities attorneys advising private lenders and mortgage fund managers. We discussed rising defaults, increasing competition, and key risks facing private lenders in 2026. We also talk about a mortgage fund in Northern California that recently collapsed, what investors should look for, and why transparency, third-par...

Rocky Butani interviews Shafiq Taymuree from Stonecrest Financial , a California-based private lending firm with nearly $300 million in annual loan originations. They talked about Stonecrest’s unique lending programs, including consumer bridge loans that allow homeowners to buy a new property before selling their existing home, as well as a revolving line of credit program used by real estate inve...

Rocky Butani talks with Robert “Alex” Baker and Kent Liggitt from Coastal Equity Group, a direct private lending firm based in Charleston, South Carolina. They discuss Coastal Equity’s rapid growth, closing over $200M in annual loan volume (mostly ground-up construction), trends they are seeing, capital markets, their lending guidelines, and the Southeast markets seeing the most development activi...

Rocky Butani talks with Christian Faes, CEO of F2 Finance, LLC. Christian shares his journey from founding and scaling a multi-billion-dollar U.K. lending platform (LendInvest) to launching F2 Finance in the United States. The conversation covers F2’s balance sheet lending model, bridge loan guidelines, land and commercial deal appetite, state-by-state strategy, and how they compete in a highly co...

Rocky Butani interviews Melissa Martorella, Esq. , Partner at Fortra Law , for a deep dive into wholesale capital structures in private lending. Melissa breaks down the legal and compliance considerations behind wholesale lending, white labeling, table funding, and correspondent lending , with a focus on residential transition loans (aka hard money). The conversation covers state licensing require...

Rocky Butani talks with Bryan Ziegenfuse and Chris Tereo , Co-Founders of i Fund Cities , a national private lender based in Philadelphia. They discuss the company’s impressive 2025 growth, funding close to $900 million in private loans, their boots-on-the-ground expansion strategy , and trends in construction, fix & flip, and DSCR lending . The conversation also covers market forecasts for 20...

In this episode of Private Lending Insights, Rocky Butani interviews Nema Daghbandan, Esq., CEO of Lightning Docs and Partner at Fortra Law. They discuss nationwide trends in private lending interest rates, loan volume, and market dynamics for both bridge and DSCR loans — based on real data from thousands of transactions each month on the Lightning Docs platform. Nema breaks down rate movements ac...

Rocky Butani interviewed Jon Hornik, Managing Partner of Private Lender Law and President of the National Private Lenders Association (NPLA), to discuss the Baltimore DSCR fraud scheme that shook the private lending industry in 2025, affecting dozens of lenders and millions in loans. Jon explains how the scheme worked, who was impacted, and what the NPLA is doing to fight fraud and protect lenders...

Rocky Butani talks with Wesley Carpenter, Co-Founder and Partner at Stormfield Capital, a Connecticut-based private lender and debt fund manager with $750MM AUM. Wes discusses the 2025 market outlook, the state of bridge lending, and how Stormfield serves investors across the East Coast. He shares insights on loan volume, underwriting discipline, the company’s capital structure, and its plans to e...

Rocky Butani interviewed Paul Jackson, President & CEO of Residential Capital Partners, one of the few private lenders offering 100% financing for residential & multifamily rehab projects nationwide. Paul shares his insights on the real estate market, ground-up construction trends, and how ResCap has maintained steady lending volumes for 16+ years. Learn all about their loan program, borro...

Rocky Butani interviews Anthony Geraci, founder of the newly re-launched Geraci Law Firm and a long-time leader in the private lending space. Anthony discusses his recent split from the firm he originally built, his continued focus on supporting private lenders, and his vision for the future of the industry. Anthony shares his perspective on major trends shaping the industry — from the rise of cap...

Rocky Butani interviews Vance Hillstrom , CEO of Rubicon Mortgage Fund , for a wide-ranging discussion on California’s evolving real estate market, Rubicon’s conservative lending philosophy, and what it takes to survive and thrive in today’s private lending landscape. Rubicon has been originating bridge loans for nearly 20 years, funding deals exclusively with capital from its $150 million discret...

Rocky Butani interviews Dave Orloff, CEO of American Heritage Lending for an in-depth discussion on DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio) loans. They explore current market trends in mid-2025, interest rate volatility, updated loan guidelines, and what makes AHL’s DSCR program stand out — including high LTV options, 40-year loan terms, fee stacking, and their approach to short-term rentals and multif...

Yieldi's principals, Joe Ashkouti and Josh Lloyd, spoke with Rocky Butani to talk about bridge loans for commercial and residential investment properties, their lending guidelines, the company's unique capital structure, and more.  Visit Yieldi's profile on PrivateLenderLink.com to learn more and to contact them:  https://privatelenderlink.com/profile/yieldi/?utm_source=lender-link-podcast This in...

Solomon Suleymanov, Partner and Director of Originations at We Lend LLC, spoke with Rocky Butani to talk about private/hard money lending in the New York City metro area.  Visit We Lend’s profile on PrivateLenderLink.com to learn more and to contact them:  https://privatelenderlink.com/profile/we-lend-llc/?utm_source=lender-link-podcast This interview is Episode #15 of the Private Lending Insights...

Jack Miller, President of Gelt Financial, spoke with Rocky Butani to talk about hard money loans for small commercial properties, their unique lending guidelines, the company's long history, and more.  Visit Gelt’s profile on PrivateLenderLink.com to learn more and to contact them:  https://privatelenderlink.com/profile/gelt-financial/?utm_source=lender-link-podcast This interview is Episode #14 o...

Briana Hildt, Co-Founder and CEO of Cardinal Capital Group, shared some insights about private lending in New England, the state of the market, their lending guidelines, the company's growth over the past few years, and nuggets about each of the different metro areas in the region. Visit Cardinal's profile on PrivateLenderLink.com to learn more and to contact them:  https://privatelenderlink.com/p...

Jon Hornik spoke with Rocky Butani to share his thoughts on the trade war’s impact on the private lending industry as of late April 2025. He also shared insights about the National Private Lenders Association (NPLA). Hornik serves as the Founder, Executive Director, and General Counsel of the NPLA. In addition, Hornik is the Managing Partner and Chair of the Private Lender Law Group at LaRocca Hor...

Andres Saias, Chief Lending Officer at RBI Private Lending, spoke with Rocky Butani to share some insights about their growth in the past few years, their national expansion, and what's happening in Florida.  Visit RBI's profile on PrivateLenderLink.com to learn more and to contact them:  https://privatelenderlink.com/profile/rbi-mortgages/?utm_source=lender-link-podcast Connect with Andres on Lin...

Kevin Kim, securities attorney and partner at Fortra Law, spoke with Rocky Butani to share some insights about private mortgage funds and the secondary market for private lending in early 2025. Kevin specializes in fund formation and has assisted tons of private lending companies with securities and capital raising legal matters. Visit Fortra's profile on PrivateLenderLink.com to learn more and to...