Dear All,
Firstly thank you to Steve for emailing us and informing us of the thread. Very kind. I will try to answer the more pertinent points below in order;
gaspilot - regarding the names theBridgeCrowd.com and BridgingCrowd.com. The company and the website initially started out as theBridgeCrowd.com. As we developed, some of our investors commented that they thought the company was a Bridge Club (cards) and not a lending / investment company. As such we decided to the change the name to the BridgingCrowd. We actively use both domains and both email address. Unfortunately due to the amount that had been spent to date on SEO and marketing for theBridgeCrowd and the goodwill that Google had attributed to it, our web team felt it more prescient to continue the dominant hosting at thebridgecrowd.com and hence why bridgingcrowd.com points to this domain name.
shimself & Brackneilboy - regarding directors age and experience, I will explain more and be as transparent as possible. The primary shareholder and MD is Louis Alexander (32) 98% owner and his wife Charlotte Alexander (29), 2% owner. I, Louis Alexander was a commercial barrister and also an investor and co-founder of other companies. I sold my positions in the other companies and formed Social Money Ltd t/a the BridgingCrowd in 2012. Prior to this, the company was incubated and partnered under another bridging company called Braehead Finance Ltd from which it sources many of deals. This is bridging company that has been in operation since 2009 and is run by father who underwrites all the loans that the BridgingCrowd participate in. As a family we invest our funds in over half of every loan deal and offer the other half out to investors. My father has been involved in bridging for 25+ years. He was the senior accountant for the one of the largest shareholders of Jerrold Holdings and Lancashire Mortgage Corporation which is the the largest bridging and alternative finance company in the UK. To date, in all our loans via both companies (Braehead Finance and the BridgingCrowd) we have had zero capital losses with the former having succesfully traded through the credit crunch.
shimself - regarding participating in the loan prior to or after completion. We offer two structures and it depends on the a) the size of the investors funds and b) the origination of the deal.
In short - if an investor has substantial funds and can take whole loan parts (or large chunks) and they are contracted directly with the borrower (circa £500,000+ in investable funds). If the investor(s) wish to lend smaller funds over a large number of deals, the process is simpler and easier for the investors to be assigned part of the loan agreement with the borrower. We as family commit all our funds to each deal so that we can give the borrower comfort that we will complete on the first day that he / his broker enquires. The loan may or may not complete for a variety reasons, so rather than inform all investors of an upcoming deal that may or may not complete and waste investor(s) time, we only inform you of deals that are ready to complete. If no-one wishes to co-lend, then we take the whole loan. If they do, then great. But this system is the smoothest and simplest for us and based on the feedback we have had, our investors agree.
gaspilot - thank you for recommending us below and dipping you toe in.
batchoy - we do not currently offer an online platform that you can lend through. To date our investors have actually said that it is easier to commit via emails as they do not need to login / remember passwords and go direct to a website. They simply press reply to an email with the amount that they wish to invest. This helps if use your phones a lot for emails. Investors are then notified if they made it into the deal in time and to have the funds ready for completion by a certain date. It is quite straightforward. That being said, we have mooted having an online investable platform and I am keen to see what other people think about it? It would really help me if anyone on here has invested via us and via other online companies and let us know which they prefer and why. (Gaspilot I am looking at you here
I will try to monitor this thread over the next few weeks.
If you have any other questions please email me at Louis@thebridgecrowd.com or Investors@thebridgecrowd and we are happy to help.
Kind regards
Louis Alexander
MD
Adam A says -
Avoid The Bridge Crowd they are dishonest!
Here is my review on Google
www.google.com/search?q=bridge+crowd+reviews&oq=bridge+crowd+reviews&aqs=chrome..69i57.12232j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#spf=1573795459326DO NOT TRUST Bridgecrowd they are dishonest. They offer very low rates to get you interested and then lie and run down the clock to just 24 hours before an existing loan is due to complete. Bridgecrowd reneged and massively increase the interest rate. Rob Johnson, their Head of Underwriting is deceitful and dishonest, Kyle Hunt their Underwriter the same. Mr Hunt agreed on the phone that an instant savings account with over £100,000, for which he had a statement was acceptable as income, however now I see their plan of running down the clock, as when I asked him to confirm this, via email, he refused to do so and when escalated the query and asked Mr Johnson he said what would I do if he didn't. When I called a few days later they hung up on me but I had to carry on with the application as an existing loan was close to maturing and they knew that. I was also told by my broker, swbf.co.uk that Bridgecrowd Business Development Manager, Amer Watson also confirmed my savings were acceptable. How can 3 people at Bridgecrowd all be wrong? Bridgecrowd claimed to have not received a First Class letter from my bank and also claimed to not received a Guaranteed Delivery letter from the same bank. All this time the clock was counting down and they knew it was. They were caught out when the bank provided the name of the person who signed for it. The bank kindly offered to call Bridgcrowd directly and did so, but Bridgecrowd refused to speak to them. I often had to go over the same items 3 times and one item 4 times. The clock was counting down. Bridgecrowd then wanted proof. Delay tactics and just stalling for time. Bridgecrowd after many attempts confirmed the house was on the market, but then said it has to be with a reputable Estate Agent. The house is marketed by Purple Bricks, who state on their Home Page to be the no 1 for selling houses the last two years running and is a plc company. How can they not be reputable, more delaying tactics. Several weeks went by, with their solicitor often not replying and all the time the clock was ticking, as an existing loan with another company was coming to maturity, which Bridgecrowd's loan was to pay off and they knew this. They stalled and made more demands that were 100% met promptly. My credit score was in the highest category 969 out of a maximum of 999 on Experian. Bridgecrowd insisted on making a video of me logging on to my bank's current account, I suspect to see the User ID and Password so I covered the screen and they did not call. Not a penny was being paid to me, but all to the existing lender. They claim it was part of their security, I suspect criminal activity to see my login details. I have never been asked to do this before. I am so concerned Bridgecrowd know so much about me, I have applied to open a new account at a different firm. Just 24 hours before completion, after I paid for the survey, complete legal fees, in total over £2000 Bridgecrowd massively raise the interest rate knowing I needed to re-finance before my loan expires and Bridgecrowd manipulated the timing and thought I was so desperate that I would take any percentage rate. They were wrong. Bridgecrowd also charge a 6% default fee every 6 months in addition to a 3% default rate per month. I have not seen 6% per 6 months from any other lender, but I was tempted by the low regular rate. They also told me they are increasing their LTV which also did not happen. I immediately called my existing lender and gave them all the details of what has happened, including Bridgecrowd's name and they were very sympathetic. I told Bridgecrowd I do not want their money at any rate. Imagine if you were late in paying Bridgecrowd. These are dishonest people. Go to another lender. There are plenty of more honest lenders out there. I feel lucky I got away from these crooks, that is exactly what they are. They thought I would just accept any rate. No I won't Bridgecrowd, how many more lies would there be. How often do you do this Bridgecrowd? I have no interest in doing business with you. I will complain to the FCA.
Here is a person's review that says he is an investor:
Fraser Coutts
1 review
2 years ago-
I am having to litigate against this company following paying them money in good faith.
When I requested that my money be returned, many assurances were given that it would be, but their Managing Director has prevaricated greatly and has failed to return it !
Their business model relies on members of the public investing money with them. My experience of their business morals and conduct are such that I must warn you against giving them your money, as they seem quite prepared to bite the hand that feeds them and, certainly, have no concept of the importance of good customer relations !
Another review says Losses.
I will also sue for last legal fees when The Bridge Crowd were never going to lend at 0.78% per month but ran down the clock. If they do not provide me with a copy of the survey this morning I will add that cost. My current lender is sympathetic but any losses will be added.
If a company is knowingly being dishonest, how does an investor know they will not build up the company and then run overseas etc
This company even wanted me to login into my current account via a video link. I suspect criminal activity.