Why are we successful? Why do we deliver seemingly impossible results? How do we protect real estate? How do we successfully navigate high earners through workout?
The answer lies in knowing what your opposition wants. You can control the outcome of any negotiation or transaction if you know what your opposition wants. Instead of focusing on the desires of our clients; “my client wants to keep his home” , “my client wants his PG released”, “my client wants to avoid a judgement”, we instead focus of what the banker wants, and from our experience in workout we know exactly what that is. Through delivering what the banker is seeking we simultaneously achieve our objectives. This happens because the bank wants to work with us. We already know what they need, when they need it, and we cooperate immediately. If someone does have real estate, they need to know the liquidated value and how much is owed against it. If someone is a high earner, they need to see their monthly personal expenses along with their recent tax returns.
We give them this information up front, and if there is exposed equity or liquid cash, we settle for an agreed upon amount that covers the client’s liquidated net worth. The bank gets what it wants, a settlement short of a legal battle that is equal to or greater than what they would experience through a forced liquidation or bankruptcy. And if you’ve noticed, we too have achieved our objectives. We worked with the bank so there is no judgement (likely), we account for the equity in real estate in a liquidation scenario and therefore our client keeps their home, and because we show the bank the required monthly expenses of our clients, their income is also not a stake. Instead of picking a fight, we give the banker what they want as quickly as possible and all of a sudden your recent enemy becomes an ally.
Many bankers are astonished at this approach as many borrowers in default will avoid the bank, have horrible communication, do not cooperate with the data and documents requested of them, and when they do finally communicate with the bank, the first words out of their mouths are “I want this or I need that”…. That doesn’t work. You need to know what the banker wants and find out a way for both sides to be successful. Deliver the opposition what they need and you too will succeed.
So this all begs the question… What does the banker want? Simple, the want to protect their SBA guaranty (for SBA loans) and they want a settlement offer that actually reflects the value of assets and of the guarantor, and finally, they want cooperation. The bankers we deal with have hundred of defaulted loans they are currently working on in any given moment. Cooperation, documentation, honesty, respect of their binding regulations, and adequate settlement are the only things they are looking for.
This is where we come in. Recently I dealt with a high earner who had high income and multiple properties…. We settled almost $300,000 in debt for $20,000… I knew what the banker needed. I did not dodge him, I did not express what my client wanted or needed, I cooperated completely. Without him having to ask me I got all of the documents nessary to support both the bank and the SBA’s regulations and helped the bank secure its SBA guaranty… And when all the facts were laid out, the real estate had no value in today’s economy and my clients monthly expenses were deemed justified and his income was not at jeopardy.
I knew what my opponent needed, I gave it to him, we became allies,and together we both won.
Call us, 413-584-2581, we can do the same for you.