ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., Feb. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Kennedy Funding Financial, LLC, one of the world’s largest private lenders, has suspended all lending in the U.S. Virgin Islands, encompassing St. Croix and St. Thomas, citing bureaucratic problems in the territory’s foreclosure process.
“Due to the incredible delays in the foreclosure process, we have decided to join many other U.S.-based lenders in this action,” said Kevin Wolfer, the firm’s CEO, citing the territory’s governmental process and courts. “These delays are preventing lenders from recouping their investment dollars in the islands.
“While the principals of our firm enjoy vacationing in St. Thomas and the other islands, and have found the local people incredibly hospitable, the exorbitant delays in completing a foreclosure process and the inability to even protect and preserve a property when it is being pillaged, we and other lenders have unfortunately been forced to make this difficult decision,” said Wolfer. “Because of the ongoing negative impact on the islands’ financial and real estate markets, it is incumbent upon local officials to correct these problems.”
Kennedy Funding will continue to lend throughout the U.S. and internationally, however. “We will continue to fund loans throughout the Caribbean region—we have recently closed loans in the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic, in fact,” said Wolfer. “We are actively pursuing opportunities and hope to one day resume lending in the U.S. Virgin Islands.”
Kennedy Funding Financial, LLC, one of the largest direct private lenders in the country, specializes in bridge loans for commercial property and land acquisition, development, workouts, bankruptcies, and foreclosures. The principals of the company have closed over $2.5 billion in loans to date. The firm’s creative financing expertise enables the closing of equity-based loans of up to a 70% loan-to-value ratio, from $1 million to more than $50 million, in as little as five days. Kennedy Funding Financial, LLC continues to actively seek new funding opportunities throughout the world.
