Our September Member Spotlight shines on RAM Financial Group!

What should we know about RAM Financial Group?

RAM Financial Group is a well-established property tax lender in the state of Texas. After a couple decades focused on municipal finance, RAM is now returning to its private lending roots as more property owners around the country are seeking flexible, alternative financing options to fill growing cash needs. RAM has 9 satellite office locations across the country and serves all three time zones.

How long has your company been an AAPL member?

We just joined!

What benefit are you most looking forward to from membership and why did you join the association?

I was a partner in a private mortgage lending business about 20 years ago, and back then we were AAPL members when the association was much smaller. The information, networking, education and exposure to the industry that we gained from membership was incredibly valuable at that time, and I expect that we will have a similar experience today.

We took a significant hiatus from private lending after 2008 simply because we had other business verticals that we wanted to focus on. However, under the umbrella of RAM Financial, we’re now coming back around full circle and exploring what it would look like to add a private lending vertical to our existing platform. We came to the AAPL first so that we can merge back into the private lending industry responsibly and with a cohesive understanding of today’s lending environment.

What, if anything, would RAM Financial Group like to contribute to fellow AAPL members and the private lending industry?

Our company has a substantial amount of knowledge about different aspects of real estate finance. That’s not necessarily limited to direct mortgage finance. We’ve spent the past 16+ years developing expertise in property taxation, impounding and tax foreclosure, for example. Whatever knowledge or niche expertise we have, we’re more than happy to share with fellow members. We have been exposed to more than 300 real estate markets across the country. Not only do we have practical knowledge of market trends in at least a dozen different states, we also understand a variety of statutory nuances that exist in those states.

What differentiates RAM Financial Group in this space?

Private lending was our original core competency when we launched our first venture decades ago. However, it hasn’t been our focus for quite a few years.

So, while we’re not new to private lending, we have some catching up to do as we meaningfully enter the space again. We’re both new members and longtime industry participants all at the same time.

What’s an interesting or little-known fact about RAM Financial Group or its leadership?

While focus is often on external risks and mitigation, we have a unique perspective on internal risks.

RAM stands for “Redemption Asset Management.” “Redemption” is common terminology in the property tax space, so on the surface our name makes basic industry sense. However, to those in the know about our history, RAM was built as a direct response to internal failings under a prior organizational umbrella.

Many years ago our leadership learned some hard lessons about the importance of partnership structuring, Fund structuring, and the critical role that lending partners play in an operation. It’s one of those lessons that is best learned through experience, even if the experience itself can be quite painful.

We’ve learned plenty from past successes, but we’ve learned even more (and gained a significant amount of organizational strength) from overcoming those past failings. We own that reality and allow it to breed humility into the way that we deal with our customers, our industry partners, and our team members.

###

To see yourself in the spotlight or nominate a member, complete this form!