AAPL has never been busier, and neither have the people helping move it forward.

What a lean internal team of three once handled has expanded into a seven-person operation fully embedded across programming, partnerships, member services, events, content, and strategic initiatives. That growth has created more capacity to execute projects from “good idea” territory into actual deliverables.

At the same time, AAPL’s committees continue to serve as the association’s operational nerve centers. We’ve said goodbye to passive discussion groups or ceremonial line items on a website in favor of highly engaged industry professionals contributing expertise, pressure-testing ideas, identifying gaps, and helping shape initiatives that directly affect the private lending ecosystem.

The result is a more active association with more channels for member input, faster initiative development, and a deeper bench of operational support behind the scenes. The following is a snapshot of what those committees have been building, refining, monitoring, and occasionally arguing about productively on your behalf.

For members looking for more, AAPL’s quarterly Virtual Town Halls offer live committee updates, expanded context around active initiatives, and direct access to the industry professionals helping shape them. We are also extending these conversations into select National Lending Experts events through in-person Town Halls, creating additional opportunities for members to engage with AAPL leadership, committee representatives, and fellow operators in a more interactive setting.

Education Committee

The Education Committee is focused on converting scattered expertise into structured, usable training that members can apply in real operations.

Leading the charge is the Intro to Private Lending course. It’s built to orient newer professionals while giving firms a stronger baseline for internal onboarding and team development. To avoid a one-dimensional curriculum, the committee is pulling insight from operators across lending models and market cycles.

Also moving through production are several packaged learning programs:

AI: A Practical Executive Program

Defaults and Workouts

CFM Expansion: Operational Deep Dive

Already live are the DIY Background Check course and Media Fakes course, and the Fraud Committee is finalizing coursework on Straw Buyer Fraud and Appraisal/Valuation Fraud.

Live programming is increasingly anchored to real operational friction rather than abstract theory. Upcoming webinars and roundtables tackle state licensing requirements, broker operations, fraud trends, and business design issues, all areas where lenders routinely encounter regulatory or financial complexity.

Private Lender magazine remains one of AAPL’s most consistent educational channels. Member subject matter experts write the content, with much of the editorial pipeline shaped by committee input on industry gaps and emerging challenges. The article on Dutch and Non-Dutch interest reserves on page 40 reflects that approach, moving beyond definitions to address servicing mechanics and capital implications.

The committee is also identifying underused resources already available to the industry, particularly legal and compliance materials, with plans for tighter integration into AAPL’s broader education ecosystem.

Fraud Steering Committee

The Fraud Steering Committee continues to turn known fraud patterns into scalable tools, operational safeguards, and practical education.

A major development this quarter is the launch of a new AAPL member discount for private-lender-optimized background checks through Business Screen. The partnership expands member access to borrower and business diligence resources while reinforcing stronger front-end screening practices. Members preferring a hands-on approach can also access the new DIY public records background check course developed jointly by AAPL and Business Screen.

The educational pipeline remains active, with new courses on Straw Buyer Fraud and Appraisal/Valuation Fraud nearing completion. These programs help lenders identify fraud indicators earlier in the underwriting life cycle, ideally before the lesson arrives disguised as litigation expense or collateral impairment.

The committee also evaluated several concepts for improving fraud intelligence-sharing without manufacturing legal headaches in the process. A proposed member fraud alert board generated strong interest, but privacy concerns and governance considerations shifted the conversation toward a more controlled intake process using AAPL’s existing reporting infrastructure. Members impacted by fraud schemes are encouraged to submit information at aaplonline.com/comments.

Rounding out this quarter’s fraud tool kit are AAPL’s partnership with RicherValues for appraisal oversight support and ongoing conversations with VerifyDial around identity and fraud detection infrastructure.

The broader strategy is to move the industry away from informal whisper networks/fragmented anecdotes and toward a more disciplined fraud prevention framework built on verification, education, and controlled information-sharing.

Ethics Committee

The Ethics Committee is tightening the way risk is identified, assessed, and communicated across the private lending ecosystem. The committee is now implementing new background check protocols for incoming AAPL members, with a deliberate focus on patterns of serious misconduct rather than one-off mistakes or administrative noise. The goal is straightforward: identify structural risk before it enters the network.

The committee also addressed a live Code of Ethics enforcement matter involving an AAPL member that engaged in large-scale data scraping and AI-driven profiling of private individuals and then refused requests to correct or remove inaccurate information. Rather than align with AAPL’s standards, the firm forfeited its membership. Separately, the committee is reviewing a matter tied to potentially misleading advertising practices involving direct references to competitor entities.

Education remains one of the committee’s strongest preventive levers. Two Ethics Committee members contributed feature articles to this issue aimed at addressing common ethical blind spots in the industry. Jacob Therrien examines the “buck stops here” mindset around responsible use of industry tools (p. 74), and Kemra Norsworthy covers the ethical use of public records (p. 78).

Government Relations Committee

The Government Relations Committee is actively tracking policy developments that may shape the operating environment for private lenders, whether or not immediate action is warranted.

Current watch items include the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, rent stabilization proposals in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and California’s AB-1957. Historically, the GRC monitored legislative developments internally and elevated them to members only when action became necessary. That model is evolving toward broader visibility across policy touch points so members have clearer insight into what is being watched, why it matters, and where intervention may eventually be called for. Read more on pages 54 and 56.

One emerging issue under review stems directly from member concern: Pennsylvania’s treatment of prepayment penalties on smaller loans. The committee is evaluating the issue through several lenses, capital deployment constraints, borrower implications, political optics, and stakeholder alignment across lenders, brokers, and capital providers. This research will inform whether advocacy makes sense in Pennsylvania or comparable jurisdictions.

To ensure the committee’s priorities reflect actual member pain points rather than theoretical ones, the GRC is also circulating a broader survey on regulatory friction points affecting private lenders. Share your perspective through the one-minute survey at aaplonline.com/comments.

Finally, the committee is positioning AAPL’s operational initiatives, such as background checks, fraud alerts, and appraisal validation resources, as evidence of meaningful self-governance for advocacy discussions.