Are lenders typically looking for a bribe? I’ve heard of shady business going down with lenders. What should I do if I run into this? Is this common in the industry?
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[{"id": "go2opv5", "text": "I had a county commissioner try to shake me down once.  I didn't play ball and my project took almost 2 years to get approved.  A couple of years later he was being arrested and so were a bunch of developers that bribed him.", "replies": [{"id": "go2ryvk", "text": "Not gonna ask who turned him in.", "replies": [{"id": "go3yaff", "text": "He had evidently been shaking people down for years and probably got too comfortable with it.  His family had been in the area for generations and he was a commissioner prior to me getting in the business. I'm guessing they ended up trying to shake someone down that was related to judge or cop or something.", "replies": [{"id": "go5s2fz", "text": "I bet that was investigated for a LOONG time before he was arrested, too.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "go2pe3a", "text": "If it\u2019s the US and you\u2019re working with accredited lenders (bank and non-bank) you should not be paying bribes.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "go2sw8x", "text": "Dude no. Are you borrowing money from the mob?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "go2t8q9", "text": "Um call the police? What type of question is this?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "go2tr0m", "text": "If you need to pay a bribe to a lender, you\u2019re the sucker. They should be buying you lunch/paying the tab for your business.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "go2vwd3", "text": "The fact that you\u2019re hearing of shady lending practices should immediately raise a red flag reminiscent of \u201808", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "go2wvne", "text": "Sounds like someone\u2019s doing their first comm deal and has never had to put up an expense deposit before lol", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "go2x6hx", "text": "You left this kind of vague as there are many types of lenders for different stages of a deal, but I\u2019m trying to think of a scenario in which this is.. *possible*..? \n\nConstruction/bridge loan - it\u2019s often private money, they can charge what they want. If they\u2019re charging crazy high origination points or rate, then go somewhere else. If you can\u2019t go elsewhere bc you don\u2019t have a track record, have poor credit, or can\u2019t come up with enough cash to cover your end of the deal, then you have to put up with whatever they\u2019re charging. It\u2019s not a \u201cbribe,\u201d it\u2019s just that you\u2019re a bad risk and they need to be paid to take that risk. But, if at any point you find yourself hand delivering a briefcase full of hundred dollar bills or wiring money to an account in the Cayman Islands, you\u2019re probably doing something wrong. \n\nAgency financing - it doesn\u2019t matter who you \u201cgrease up,\u201d the loan has to be underwritten to guidelines and no individual can sidestep them. \n\nOther - If you met the \u201cloan officer\u201d in question on a street corner outside of a casino, or at any pint they use the word \u201cvig,\u201d then again, you\u2019re doing something very wrong.\n\n*Note: none of this applies if you\u2019re in a third-world country. You\u2019ll just have to follow local \u201ccustoms\u201d on such payments. Most advice you\u2019ll get here will be geared towards developed countries*", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "go2xxsh", "text": "Upfront non-refundable fee?  Maybe.  Bribe? No.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]