Why You Should Hire a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

If you have experienced a workplace accident that resulted in an injury, you are probably wondering where you should turn for help and support. Your injuries could result in expensive medical fees and prevent you from reporting to work while you recover. 

Unless you get a fair settlement or win your fight in court, you could get stuck paying for your losses out of your own pocket, which is a situation you will want to avoid. If you would like to optimize your odds of getting a favorable outcome so that you won’t need to struggle to pay your expenses, enlisting a workers’ compensation lawyer is the only smart move. 

Your Company Won’t Always Have Your Interests in Mind

You likely trust your employer to do the right thing if you have never dealt with a workers’ compensation case, which is understandable. Even though the legal system designed workers’ compensation to give injured workers a fair payout, your employer will have its own interests in mind, not yours. Your company won’t want you to get the compensation you deserve because it will affect the company’s bottom line. 

Building Your Case

Keeping your needs in mind at all times, your workers’ compensation lawyer will review the details of your case and collect the evidence in your favor. A skilled and compassionate legal expert will look at your medical bills, witness statements and other things relevant to your case. This process will let your lawyer prepare and organize the facts in a way that will boost your chance of winning your legal battle and achieving your objectives. 

Defending Your Rights

In a perfect world, companies would respect an employee’s right to seek compensation after an accident takes place, but that is not what usually happens. To discourage other employees from filing claims, some managers will harass, demote or fire employees who stand up for their rights. 

Although such actions are illegal, companies are often careful to cover their tracks and avoid detection. You won’t need to worry about that situation when you have a lawyer in your corner because she will know the things for which to look. When you have a lawyer on your team, your company will be much more careful with how it handles your case. 

Negotiating a Settlement

Workers’ compensation lawsuits are long processes that can quickly become complicated, and juries are not predictable. To help you avoid a long battle and to get you your compensation as quickly as possible, your lawyer will speak to your company to reach a fair settlement that makes sense for you. Throughout each step, you will know what is happening and get advice on how to proceed in a way that will give you the best odds of success. 

Fighting in Court

A quality lawyer will offer advice on whether you should accept the settlement, but the choice will always be in your hands. If you feel as though the settlement is fair and that it will cover your expenses, your lawyer will accept the deal. Your lawyer, however, will take your fight to court and present your case to a judge or jury if you are not thrilled with the settlement terms. 

Final Thoughts

While the costs of a workplace injury can add up faster than you might think, workers’ compensation can help if you follow the right steps. You will need a talented and caring lawyer on your side so that you can get a fair payout that will ease the pain of your situation. Confidence and peace of mind are what you can expect when you have a proven workers’ compensation lawyer, and you will know you have made the right call.

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Are there additional costs during the refinance process?

Along with the basic costs of a refinance project, there are often some additional costs that many people do not take into account. These costs can sneak up on an individual and create a bad financial situation when a little bit of planning would have saved a lot of trouble.

Here are some of the most prevalent additional costs that you may see if you are trying to refinance.

The Mortgage Application Fee

Before you even get started with the process of refinancing, you have to pay a fee to turn in the application. Depending on your state and financial institution, this fee may be between $250 and $500. You should look out for other fees like this throughout the process, because this will not be the only fee that you take on as you try to refinance.

The Appraisal Report

If you are looking for a lender to give you money based on the value of your home, that lender will likely require an appraisal given by a company that the lender trusts. Along with this appraisal comes a fee. Usually, the appraisal report fee will run between $300 and $600. Depending on what the report finds, you may have to come out of pocket with more cash to make up for the low loan to value ratio. Alternatively, you may have to put down money for mortgage insurance.

The Loan Origination Fee

If you are asking for a more expensive loan, then the loan origination fee will be more expensive as well. This is a fee that is not flat – you will pay about 1% of the total value of the loan that you want. For instance, if your principal balance to be refinanced is $500,000, then you will have an origination fee around $5000. You may have a little bit of room to negotiate this fee depending on your good faith estimate, but in most cases, you should keep around 1% handy.

The Document Preparation Fee

The people who want to see your documents will charge a fee for preparing them. Lenders will typically make this fee anywhere between $200 and $500. There is no way to get around this fee, so you should just grin and bear it.

Flood Certification

Depending on which area of the country you are in, you may have to get flood certification for your lender to consider refinancing your home. There is a discussion in Congress about reforming the National Flood Insurance Program bill. If the Reformation goes through, the areas of the country that are subject to a flood certification fee may change. Make sure that you understand exactly where this fee applies so that no one can apply it to you unjustly.

Title Insurance and Title Search

Your lender needs to make sure that you actually own the title to the home the you are trying to refinance. It is not enough for you to say this – the lender needs to look for the documentation in the public record. This requires an official title search. The cost of this title search is usually between $200 and $400. This is especially prevalent if you still have a lien on the home that comes from another bank.

Title insurance helps protect the lender against any problems that may occur if the title needs to transfer. Rates on this type of insurance vary a great deal, although you should look to pay between $400 and $800 depending on the total value of your property.

The Recording Fee

You will owe fees to the county or the city that your property is stationed in as well as to the lender. One of the most prevalent of these fees is called a recording fee. The county charges this for handling all of the official paperwork. Depending on the county that you are in, you should look to pay between $25-$250.

Amortization

This is perhaps the biggest cost that you will incur when you try to refinance your home. Amortization is a cost that applies from the second that you first begin your application. It refers to the method in which your payments are applied towards the reduction of your principal. Basically, all of the money that you pay back does not go towards your principal – some of it goes towards the interest. All of this depends on your amortization, and it can make a huge difference in the total amount that you pay.

This is far from a full list of the fees that you may incur if you are trying to refinance your home. Make sure that you understand the processes in your county and with the lender that you choose before you move forward with this.

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What Companies Provide Hard Money Loans?

With interest rates in the real estate markets set to rise, times may be getting ready to get tough for real estate developers. That said, it may also be a time of great opportunity. This is because as many large mainstream banking institutions continue to tighten their lending requirements, they also continue to freeze larger numbers of people out of the mainstream lending markets. Such individuals represent a sizeable chunk of the credit market. Hard money loans serve this market and help to fill the growing gulfs between regular banks and credit challenged people. While they do pose some real risks, they may allow careful individuals to finance successful projects that may be otherwise impossible to pursue.

Just What are Hard Money Loans?

Hard money loans are special cash offerings that people with less than perfect credit can apply and qualify for. Offered by hard money brokers, these loans often span amounts from as little as $10,000 to over $25,000,000 or more, making them useful for people who need to purchase or develop real property. Because they tend to serve individuals who need large amounts of money quickly but who may not have perfect credits scores, hard money loans can carry higher than average market interest rates. That being said, hard money brokers and offerings can fill holes in the regular real estate credit markets and allow for the development of properties that may otherwise lie dormant.

How Does the Hard Money Loan Process Usually Work?

While the hard money loan process may at first seem complicated, it can actually be fairly easy to grasp. The hard money market exists to serve loan applicants who are on regular institution loan-rejection lists. While such people may have had personal or commercial financial difficulties in their pasts, many of them are skilled and experienced professionals who may have simply had bad luck.

Since most regular banks refuse to do business with people with relatively low credit scores, these individuals are often obliged to find reputable hard money lenders in order to finance their personal or commercial real estate projects. Hard money lenders may raise money for these loans from a variety of sources, including regular banks and private venture capitalists. Once they secure funding, brokers then use it to finance their clients. Since they serve individuals with low credit scores, brokers usually require applicants to put up collateral. In the case of hard money loans, real estate assets such as land or buildings are often used for this purpose. Once an agreement is finalized between brokers and borrowers, the funding is turned over to clients for use as they see fit.

This process usually works well for all concerned parties, even though these loans tend to come with higher interest rates than regular bank loans. If all goes well with the borrowers and their projects, they will be able to repay their loans in the agreed upon time periods. If not, lenders may seek to recoup their funds by various means that may include using collateral lands to pay for outstanding loan balances.

What Situations are Appropriate for Hard Money Loans?

People who are interested in getting hard money loans should approach the process with caution since the consequences of defaulting on these kinds of loans can be high.

If used properly, hard money loans can be very useful in certain situations. These include:

• Short Term Loans: Hard money loans tend to carry higher than market interest rates that can span between 10-18-percent. At these rates, it makes sense for loan recipients to use their funds for short-term projects like buy and flip deals.
• Interim Loans to Prevent Foreclosure: People take out home equity loans for many reasons, including for medical bills or to send their kids to college. Sometimes these loans may go into default, which can lead to foreclosure. Individuals who are facing foreclosure but still have large amounts of equity in their homes can often use hard money loans to provide emergency funding until they find permanent refinancing options.
• Downpayments for Expensive Properties: Real estate opportunities come few and far between, and when they do appear it is vital for developers to seize the day. Many prime properties require large down payments to secure control, and sellers may demand these funds on short time frames. Hard money brokers can often finance these deals quickly and with little fuss, allowing savvy investors to take advantage of unexpected real estate opportunities.

A Caveat Concerning Hard Money Loans

Those planning to get hard money loans should be aware of possible issues that could arise. These issues include problems with repayment terms.

Since hard money loans often run into the tens of thousands of dollars and they also carry high-interest rates, it can be easy for loan recipients to fall behind on payments and find themselves in deep financial waters. If this happens, borrowers may find their collateral properties used to pay off delinquent loan amounts.

In order to forestall these very real possibilities, hard money loan hopefuls should carefully calculate their future payment amounts and realistically assess whether they will be able to repay their loans at the proposed interest rates. If not, it is in their best interests to negotiate rates and loan amounts that fit within their projected budgets. In addition to these steps, it is also important for applicants to work with reputable hard money loan brokers.

Working With the Right Hard Money Lender is a key to Success

While hard money borrowers should be careful, if they have worthy projects and they do their homework they can often find success in their endeavors. Doing this kind of homework partially involves locating honest and reasonable brokers.

Each state may have dozens or even hundreds of licensed hard money loan brokers, and many of them are also real estate brokers. As such, a good place for prospective loan applicants to start looking is with their local real estate brokerage associations.

These organizations can identify brokers who operate fairly and honestly, saving applicants much heartache in the process. Once applicants have a short list of possible brokers, they should look for any past or present financial legal issues associated with their chosen firms. Loan hopefuls should also take looks at the user or customers reviews from reputable review sites, as these can be valuable sources of real-world information. Finally, loan seekers should work with brokers who are interested in their projects and who offer them reasonable terms.

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What documentation does a borrower need to submit during the qualification process?

When you apply for a typical bank loan, you often get qualified by completing a detailed loan application and agreeing to have the lender review your credit report. The bank will usually provide you with estimated loan terms with a conditional pre-qualification. Essentially, your loan terms are conditional to your ability to comply with all of the lender’s underwriting requirements. The hard money loan process is unique, and the differences begin during the qualification process. 

Hard money loan terms are quoted based on the unique attributes of the loan request. Each loan request is individually priced. Hard money lenders do not have a predetermined list of requirements that they can make a quote conditional to. Because of this, you can reasonably expect to provide hard money lenders with a substantial amount of detailed information about various aspects of your loan request upfront to determine interest and terms. Remember that the more accurate and detailed information that you provide initially, the more likely you are to get an accurate quote based on legitimate interest in your loan request. Each loan request is unique, so there is not a specific checklist of documentation that you should include during the qualification process. However, by learning more about general requirements, you can get a better idea about what documentation may be required by your hard money lender. 

Applicant Information
While traditional banks and credit unions typically require applicants to have a good to excellent credit rating, hard money loans are a financing option available for applicants with lower credit scores. Be aware, however, that hard money loans are not permanent loans. If you have a lower credit score and use a hard money loan for real estate financing, your exit strategy may need to involve selling the property to a qualified buyer at the end of the hard money loan term rather than refinancing the hard money loan with a bank loan. 

Applicants need to document that they have sufficient cash available for the down payment and closing costs. Be aware that a typical hard money loan may require at least 35 to 40 percent or more of the sales price as a down payment. Lender fees may also be higher than with a traditional bank loan. As is the case with a traditional bank loan, a hard money lender may require you to document a minimum level of liquid cash reserves available after closing. 

These are the primary applicant requirements reviewed. However, information related to your real estate investment experience, your portfolio of investments, your personal income level and more may also be taken into account, and these factors may make your loan request stronger or weaker in various cases. 

Property Information
The property is heavily analyzed during a hard money loan process, but there are not firm requirements for the property. Many hard money lenders only consider specific property types, such as residential or commercial real estate. Therefore, look for a lender that offers financing on the type of loan scenario that you are dealing with. The property’s condition should be carefully outlined, including the need for repair work, the current value or sales price and the occupancy data. Many hard money loans are used to reposition the property in various ways. Because of this, include information about how you plan to reposition the property and what you expect the property value and potential net income to be after the repositioning is complete. The sales contract and any available third-party reports should also be provided to your hard money lender. 

Other Important Details
Some applicants will provide vague details regarding their plans to rehab a property, or they may throw unrealistic income projection numbers out for the lender to analyze. Be aware that a hard money lender will typically ask for supporting documentation to confirm your numbers. For example, if you plan to renovate a property, a licensed contractor’s estimate should be provided. If your repositioning plan includes leasing up a multi-tenant property at market rental rates, an analysis of market rents for similar properties should be provided. This should include addresses, unit sizes and other details about the comparable properties that are being used. 

Many banks will provide applicants with a checklist of specific items needed for a pre-qualification as well as for final approval. This is because they need to ensure that a loan request meets very specific guidelines that are predetermined. Hard money loans do not have these specific guidelines, so there is not a universal checklist that is given out to all applicants for all loan requests. Instead, the lender will need to see documentation that is specific to your unique loan request. To get a better idea about the type of documentation needed for your loan request, you can reach out to a hard money lender rep to discuss your loan request.

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How many financed properties can a borrower have open to still qualify for a loan?

The unfortunate reality is that many people who need a real estate loan cannot qualify for necessary financing through a bank, credit union or other financial institution. One of the reasons why some applicants are denied the financing that they need relates to the number of outstanding real estate loans that they have. Commercial lenders typically do not have this type of borrower requirement, and many commercial real estate investors have a dozen or more investment properties that are each leveraged with one or two real estate loans. However, residential real estate lenders typically do have this type of requirement for applicants. 

Traditional real estate lenders may limit you to having between four to eight leveraged residential properties at a time. Be aware that this is not a federal or state regulation. Instead, it is a specific requirement that the individual lender has. This means that if you have been denied financing because of this reason with one lender, you may still qualify for a loan with another lender. Because of how common this type of lending requirement is with traditional real estate lenders, it may be easier for some applicants to apply for a hard money loan to overcome this challenge.

How Other Outstanding Loans Impact Your Qualification
Using leverage for real estate investments is an excellent benefit that many investors understandably want to take advantage of. The challenge associated with carrying many outstanding loans relates to liquidity and the ability to navigate through downturns and other issues. Imagine if you have ten properties that were each significantly leveraged and turning a minimal profit. If the market took a turn downward and occupancy dropped in several of these properties at the same time, you may have to dig into your liquid cash reserve to stay afloat until the market rebounded. On the other hand, if most of your loans were almost paid off when this happened and you had a huge cash reserve, the downturn may not be a major issue. 

With this in mind, some lenders will analyze your entire financial situation closely to determine your qualification status rather than make a flat decision about approval based on the number of loans that you have. 

Understanding Hard Money Lender Requirements
Each hard money lender has unique underwriting requirements and guidelines. Most do not have stringent requirements regarding the number of loans that you can carry at any given time. They do, however, look at the overall risk associated with extending a loan to you. Your total loan balance in relation to total property value plays into this risk. In addition, your overall net income and liquidity also will be considered. 

Hard money lenders are typically more agreeable to higher-risk situations that do not conform to traditional lenders’ guidelines and requirements. However, this does not mean that a hard money lender will approve a loan request that does not make sense or that has considerable risks. Remember that hard money loans have a much lower maximum loan-to-value than what you will find with a traditional real estate loan. To qualify for a hard money loan, you may have to put 35 to 40 percent down or more. In the event that this empties your cash reserves and you have a portfolio of highly-leveraged real estate that is barely turning a profit, you can see that this scenario is riskier for a lender to consider. While the number of loans does not usually impact a hard money lender’s approval decision, the overall impact of leveraged real estate on your financial situation will be taken into account. 

How to Determine If You Qualify for a Hard Money Loan
Your primary goal right now may be to determine if you qualify for a hard money loan. After you have been turned down for financing with one or more other lenders, it is understandable that you may feel discouraged about the options. You may even be thinking about walking away from the opportunity in front of you because of the perception that financing is not available. However, before you give up, reach out to a few hard money lenders. It is not feasible to get a firm answer from a hard money lender by simply speaking with a lending rep over the phone. Because the full loan scenario will be examined for approval determining, you need to submit a complete loan request to a few hard money lenders. 

If you have been turned down for financing with other lenders because of the number of leveraged properties that you own, this may not be an issue with a hard money lender. To determine with certainty what your options are, reach out to a few hard money lenders. However, keep in mind that you may still need to address the leveraged properties later when you try to apply for a permanent loan within the next year or two.

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How do you determine how much leverage using hard money will give me?

The ability to leverage investment activities is a top benefit associated with real estate investing in comparison to some of the other investment vehicles that you could use. Leveraging essentially means that you are using borrowed funds to pay for a portion of the up-front cost of the investment. While you are not paying for 100 percent of the cost of the investment out of your own funds, your return on the investment will be based on the full value of the investment.

As you can see, using leverage strategically when buying real estate is essential for maximum profitability. However, the amount of leverage available to you varies from lender to lender and from project to project. Some real estate investment opportunities qualify for traditional financing with a higher loan-to-value. However, if you need to use a hard money loan for your project, you can expect a lower LTV. With a closer look at this aspect of hard money loans, you can better determine what LTV that you can reasonably expect when you seek financing from a hard money lender.

Understand How Hard Money Loans Work
Traditional residential and commercial real estate loans have very specific requirements and guidelines, and this ensures that only the least risky loan requests are approved for financing. Because these lenders only approve loan requests that the deem to be the least risky, they are able to offer a lower interest rate and a higher loan-to-value. 

On the other hand, hard money loans are provided by private lenders and investors who are willing to look at the merits of the project in a more individualized way. There is not a specific set of predetermined guidelines that a project must meet in order to qualify. Because of this, these loans may be riskier for investors and private lenders to make. The interest rate and the loan-to-value will reflect this. Essentially, hard money loans can be used to leverage investments that traditional lenders will not look at because of the increased perceived risk, and borrowers should expect to make a larger down payment and to receive a higher interest rate as a result. Because each loan request is unique, the pricing offered by hard money lenders will vary from project to project.

Compare Lenders
While a lower loan-to-value is to be expected with a hard money loan, be aware that there are not hard and fast rules regarding hard money leverage. Each hard money lender has unique loan terms and parameters, and this means that the best way to determine how much leverage you can obtain for your new investment opportunity is to compare options. Many reputable hard money lenders will advertise their highest loan-to-value offered for specific property types or types of projects, and you can often find this on a lender’s website. This makes it easy to narrow down your list of lenders to contact, but you still need to request a customized quote to get accurate information. 

Submit a Loan Request
Requesting a firm quote from a hard money lender is not the same as requesting a quote from a traditional lender. With a traditional lender, a standard quote is issued based on the expectation that the loan request will fall within predetermined parameters. With a hard money lender, a personalized quote is issued based on the specific attributes of the loan request. This means that you will need to submit a detailed loan request to each lender to obtain a firm quote. A smart idea is to create a loan package that outlines all pertinent information. You can easily submit a copy of the same package to each of the lenders that you want to obtain a quote from.

This loan package will outline the strengths and weaknesses of the applicants. It will also outline details about the property. This includes construction, development or rehabilitation costs. It also includes a takeout strategy involving a new permanent loan or a timeline to sell the property to an interested buyer after the work has been completed. Depending on how substantial the information is that you provide up-front, you may receive a conditional letter of intent or a firm quote. When comparing offers from different hard money lenders, pay attention to any conditions outlined in the quote that you receive. This will help you to determine which offer is most ideal for you. 

Leverage is an essential component of any loan request. It will affect your down payment as well as available cash reserves after the loan closes. Your loan amount will also impact your monthly loan payments, equity appreciation and numerous other factors. When you compare the leverage offered by different hard money lenders, analyze the options based on how they affect your immediate financial situation as well as the overall profitability of the investment in the long run.

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What differentiates hard money lenders from bank lenders?

When most people think about applying for a real estate loan, they immediately think about reaching out to the banks and credit unions that initially come to mind. This may include some of the largest and most well-known financial institutions in the country, a few regional banks and perhaps some local credit unions. To save time and energy shopping around for a new loan, these individuals may sometimes use the services of a mortgage broker. However, these well-known financial institutions are not the only real estate lending option available. There are times when it makes more sense to reach out to a hard money lender for assistance with your real estate financing needs. 

You may have heard the term “hard money” before, but you may not be certain what it means or how it pertains to you. Bank lenders and hard money lenders may be used to fund the same types of properties, but they typically do not compete with each other head-to-head. This is because they appeal to applicants in different ways. With a closer look at how these two types of lenders are different, you can better determine when you should reach out to a hard money lender for a real estate loan. 

How Bank Lenders Work
You may have previous experience applying for a real estate loan through a bank lender. Regardless of whether you apply for a loan with a larger or smaller bank, you will generally find that the lenders can quote you at least rough loan terms over the phone. When you complete a loan application and formally apply, you will learn if you qualify for their loan program. Their loan programs for residential, commercial and even construction scenarios usually have very specific criteria that you need to meet. This may include a debt-to-income ratio, a loan amount and LTV, a minimum credit score requirement, a minimum cash reserve after closing and more. There are also usually property requirements. For example, in most cases, an existing property must be in good condition with minimal or no significant deferred maintenance. If your loan request does not meet these and other requirements, the lender will decline your application regardless of mitigating circumstances in most cases. Essentially, either you meet all of the loan requirements or the financing request is declined.

What to Expect From a Hard Money Lender
A hard money lender, on the other hand, will not typically quote terms over the phone or via email without learning more about the loan scenario. Rather than trying to find loan requests that fit into a predetermined box of lending requirements, hard money lenders consider the attributes of each loan request to determine if the loan request has merits. Mitigating circumstances are considered. Properties funded with hard money typically are not already in good condition. Hard money loans are commonly used to renovate or rehab a rundown property so that it can later be sold or used as an income-producing property. There are not specific borrower credit score requirements, debt-to-income requirements or other requirements for the loan request, but the loan request must still be strong or have incredible potential. The loan terms are determined based on the lender’s perception of risk. Because these loans typically fall outside the typical lending parameters, hard money loans have a shorter term and a higher interest rate than bank loans. In addition, while bank loans may take two to three months to close in many cases, a hard money loan may take a few weeks or less.

Pulling It All Together
Essentially, many loan applicants will first look at traditional banks as a source of financing. This is because bank loan terms are usually more competitive. Hard money loans are often only considered when a bank loan is not possible or ideal. For example, a loan request may not qualify for a bank loan, or the loan may need to close faster than what is reasonable for a bank loan. As you can see, bank loans rarely are in direct competition with hard money loans. Because most major financial institutions have significant lending requirements, you can usually quickly determine if your loan request is feasible for bank financing by making a few phone calls. Be up-front about all aspects of your loan request so that you can get honest and accurate information from bank reps. If you determine that bank financing is not ideal, turn to hard money lenders as an alternative. 

Hard money loans are not suitable for all loan requests, but they are critical instances when a hard money loan is the only or the best financing option available. Now that you understand more about the differences between hard money and bank loans, you can more easily make an educated decision about which type of financing to pursue.

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