Los Angeles business loan broker: one application, 20+ funders, honest advice

How the business loan broker model works

Here is the whole model in four sentences. You fill out one application and send one set of bank statements. We know which of our 20+ funding partners approve files like yours, at what amounts, and how fast. We send your file to the two or three that fit, collect the offers, and put them side by side with total cost, term and payment. You pick, or you walk, and we are paid by the funder when a deal closes.

That last part matters, so we say it plainly. PMF LA is compensated by the funding partner on funded deals. Most of our programs carry no fee to you. Where a program does involve a fee to you, such as some SBA packaging or larger commercial placements, it is disclosed in writing before you sign anything, and on SBA deals it is reported on the SBA’s required fee form. You will never find out about a fee after funding.

What we are not. We are not a lender. We do not fund with our own money, and we do not make credit decisions. We are not a lead seller; your file goes to the funders we pick for it, not to a list. We do not pretend to be a bank, and we do not call ourselves an SBA lender. We package and place SBA loans with preferred lenders as an agent.

PMF LA is the Los Angeles office of the Premium Merchant Funding network, which has placed more than $5 billion for over 10,000 businesses nationally. The LA office alone accounts for $550M+ of that. Read more about how the process works.

Business loan broker vs. direct lender vs. bank

Owners search this comparison because every option claims to be the best route. Each one is the best route for someone. Here is who.

The pattern: a bank is the cheapest capital if you qualify and can wait. A direct online lender is fast if you happen to fit their one box. A broker is the right call when you do not know which box you fit, when you have been declined, when you want to compare, or when you need someone local who will pick up the phone.

Is a business loan broker worth it? When yes, when no

Honest answer: not always. Here is how we would decide if we were you.

A broker is worth it when:

• A bank has already declined you, or you know you would not pass a bank’s credit box (under 2 years, under 700, a loss year, a restricted industry).
• You need funds in days, not weeks, and want more than one offer.
• You are not sure which product fits: term loan, line, equipment, SBA, factoring or an advance. Picking wrong costs more than any broker fee ever would.
• You are carrying stacked advances and need someone who knows which funders consolidate.
• The deal is complex: multiple entities, a partner buyout, real estate plus working capital, a franchise resale.
• You value a human in Los Angeles who has seen a hundred files like yours and will tell you which offer to take.

A broker is probably not worth it when:

• You have a 720+ score, two profitable tax returns and a 20-year relationship with a bank that has already offered you a line. Take the bank’s offer.
• You qualify for a city or nonprofit program, such as an LA EWDD microloan, a LISC or CDC Small Business Finance loan, or an IBank-backed loan. Those are the cheapest money in the city. If you qualify, take it; we will tell you if we think you do.
• You need under $10K. A business credit card is simpler.
• You want to shop ten brokers at once. Every hard pull hurts the file. Pick one with a real office and let them work.

Our promise on this: if a bank or a nonprofit program is the better route for you, we say so on the first call. We would rather earn the referral when you come back for the next deal.

What we place: 14 programs, one file

We are a multi-product broker. That is the point. The same bank statements qualify you for different products at different costs, and our job is to show you the whole menu, not the one thing we happen to sell.

• Working capital term loans, $10K to $20M, 6 to 24 months, same day to 3 days. Our most common placement.
• Business lines of credit, $25K to $500K, revolving, unsecured or secured, 24 to 48 hours.
• SBA 7(a), 504 and Express, packaged and placed with preferred lenders as an agent. Lowest cost of capital, 45 to 90 days, 680+ typical.
• Equipment financing and leasing, for production gear, restaurant kitchens, medical equipment, trucks and machinery. 600+.
• Revenue-based financing and merchant cash advance, $10K to $2M, 24 to 48 hours, 500+. Plus consolidation of stacked advances.
• Invoice factoring and purchase-order financing, for apparel, staffing, trucking and any business with slow-paying commercial customers. No credit minimum.
• Longer-term business loans for expansion and acquisitions.
• Commercial real estate and owner-occupied purchase financing, often alongside SBA 504.
• Programs for 500 to 600 credit, where we know which funders say yes and what they will ask for.

Our funding partners include national online lenders, specialty finance companies, equipment lessors, factors, SBA preferred lenders and a few regional banks. We do not publish the names because the panel changes and because funders ask us not to, but we will tell you on the phone who we are sending your file to before we send it.

Our Century City office, and the neighborhoods we serve

PMF LA is at 10100 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars, across from Westfield Century City. Validated parking is in the building garage. We are a short drive from Beverly Hills, Westwood, West LA and Santa Monica, and about 20 minutes from Downtown outside of rush hour.

Most clients never visit. The whole process runs by phone, text and email, and same-day funding does not require a signature in person. But some owners want to sit across a table from the person handling a six-figure decision, and we like that too. Call (213) 349-8151 to set a time.

We serve all of Los Angeles County and have placed businesses in nearly every part of it: restaurants in Koreatown and Silver Lake, apparel companies in the Fashion District, production vendors in Burbank and Hollywood, drayage carriers in Wilmington and San Pedro, medical practices in West LA and Pasadena, contractors in the South Bay and San Gabriel Valley, auto shops in Van Nuys and North Hollywood, retailers on Melrose, in Old Pasadena and at the Beverly Center. Our nearest neighbors, Beverly Hills, Westwood, Century City itself and West LA, get a specialist who can meet at your location.

Beyond the county, we work throughout Orange County and the Inland Empire and, through our funders, in all 50 states. What an LA business gets that a national aggregator cannot offer: an advisor who knows restaurants lose six weeks of sales every winter and the ports slow in February.

What to expect on the first call

The first call takes 10 to 15 minutes and there is nothing to prepare. Here is what happens.

1. We ask what the money is for and when you need it. Payroll Friday is a different conversation than a second location in the spring. The answer decides the product.
2. We ask about your business: time in operation, monthly deposits, entity type, industry, current debt and any existing advances. Roughly, not to the dollar.
3. We ask about credit, as a range. We do not pull it on this call. If you know your score, tell us; if you do not, that is fine.
4. We tell you what fits. Which programs you likely qualify for today, which you do not and why, what each would roughly look like in amount and structure, and what we would recommend. If a bank or a city program is the better route, this is where we say so.
5. We tell you what to send. Usually 3 to 4 months of business bank statements as PDFs and an ID. For larger or SBA deals, tax returns and a debt schedule.
6. We tell you the timeline. Same day, 48 hours, a week, or 60 days, depending on the product.

After the call, one advisor owns your file. You get their direct line. Offers come back with total cost, term and payment side by side, plus California’s required commercial-financing disclosure with any offer, showing total cost and payment terms before you sign. Start with the three questions at /apply or call (213) 349-8151.

Questions to ask any business loan broker in Los Angeles

Whether you work with us or someone else, ask these before you send a single statement.

• Where is your office? A real address you can visit. Many “LA brokers” are a phone bank in another state with a virtual suite.
• Who pays you, and how much will I pay? The answer should be in writing before you sign. Ours: the funder pays us; any fee to you is disclosed up front.
• How many funders will see my file, and which ones? Two or three that fit is good practice. Twenty at once is a shotgun that triggers a flood of calls and hurts your standing.
• Will you show me every offer, including the ones that pay you less? Yes should be the only answer.
• Will you tell me if I should not take any of them? A broker who has never told a client to wait is a salesperson.

Also check for Google reviews with real detail and a footer that says plainly the company is a broker, not a lender. Ours does.

Your routes to capital in Los Angeles

If you qualify for a city or nonprofit program, take it. We will tell you if we think you do.

How PMF LA structures deals for LA businesses

Examples are illustrative of how PMF LA structures placements; amounts, terms and approval depend on the funder and your file. Not an offer of credit.

Frequently asked questions