Getting a hard money loan these days is about as easy as opening up your computer and typing in the words into a search engine. That is why many people want to know if they can sue a hard money lender in the event that they feel that they have been taken advantage of in some way. Put another way, they want to know if they have legal standing to sue if a hard money lender has committed fraud against them.
What Does Fraud In Hard Money Lending Look Like?
Let us first define the problem before we even begin to try to understand if it is possible for us to sue for the fraud in the first place. What does it look like exactly for a hard money lender to have committed fraud?
In most cases fraud in lending is when a person is made certain promises about the loan that they are considering applying for that just seem too good to be true. It seems crazy that some of these lenders find it necessary to make promises like this when they are already charging interest rates that are so far above what a typical loan would go for. However, some lenders will try to do this just to reel in a few more unsuspecting customers.
What Is In The Realm Of “Too Good To Be True?”
You have to realize that there are gimmicks, and then there is just outright fraud. Gimmicks are the kind of teaser promotional rates that are offered by some lenders just to get some customers to sign up and trust them in the first place. Those are not fraudulent loans. Those are just one-time only specials that are meant to be the gateway to a person borrowing from that same lender again in the future.
Fraud is when a lender makes a promise that they simply do not keep. If they say that they will only charge you a certain incredibly low interest rate forever but then go back on their word, that is fraud. You have to understand the difference between the two things before you go rushing off to find the nearest lawyer who can take your case. Remember, in some cases you are just being drawn into good marketing and not a fraud case.
What Are Your Rights?
You do have the right to sue a hard money lender if they happen to be in violation of laws against fraud, but you are going to have a high bar to get across in order to win your lawsuit. Most likely, your case will need to be pretty sympathetic to a jury before an attorney would even consider touching it. You will have to prove damages and prove that you were lied to by the lender in order to win a judgement.
It is up to you to find a lawyer who might consider taking a case like this in the first place. There are special lawyers out there who will do this, but you are going to have to do some digging around to find them. If you happen to come across one who can do this for you, rejoice in the fact that you have gotten so lucky. It probably means that you have a good attorney on your side and that your case is pretty strong as well.
Never give up on your case if you believe that there is something there, but just remember that a lot of people believe that they have a strong case until an attorney declines to take it up for them.