one, trying to figure out what I wanted to do,) I took a job at Citi Bank as a teller. From there I became involved with the selling aspect, and I eventually became a loan officer for home equity lines of credit. I moved to Boston to go to school and worked at a local bank as a loan officer, and when I met my wife, we moved to California.
PROFILE
Brian Mingham
A bit of ground that he can call his own:
Brian Mingham, CFSI Loan Management By Charles Peckman, Originate Report
M
itigating the risks associated with construction loans runs thick in Brian Mingham’s blood. His company, CFSI Loan Management, is based in Los Angeles and oversees the entire process, from contractor review to project feasibility reviews, and from fund control to draw inspections. Mingham, who founded the company and serves as its chief executive officer, ensures that construction projects are completed on time, on budget, and ready for permanent financing. Although CFSI has professionals coast-to-coast, its operations center is located in Denver, Colorado.
Mingham’s company works within a niche that is particularly valuable to lenders. While lenders that originate construction loans are practiced in evaluating borrower creditworthiness, they are often not experts in assessing construction risks such as determining a general contractor’s ability to complete a project, or proper costing for labor/materials in a construction budget, or mitigating the potential of subcontractors and suppliers filing mechanic’s liens on a property. Each one of these issues can cause a construction project to default.
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CFSI lends its expertise to lenders in the form of portfolio audits, as well. Some lenders rely on their partners to manage the construction process from start to finish. These lenders engage CFSI to audit the documents obtained by their partners for contractor review, project feasibility and construction draws/inspections. CFSI provides a detailed analysis of the construction risk in the portfolio and offers suggestions on meeting industry best practices. Mingham admits, however, that these core competencies stem from the team of professionals he has assembled – after a twenty-year career in the finance sector, Brian began CFSI in May of 2013. Mingham’s experience varies “from boots-on-the-ground to executive,” and he has held positions at Countrywide Home Loans, JP Morgan Chase, and NRES. Originate Report sat down with Mingham to discuss his career and the inception of CFSI.
What brought me to begin CFSI was a long, but rewarding journey. I’ve always been a traveling person – when I finished high school and started community college (like every-
In 2009, after 15 years in the mortgage business, I found myself out of a job in a city where that job took my family and me. We knew that we wanted to move back to Southern California, but after trying to find a job, I decided to start my own company. Initially, I started a property preservation company that supported lenders on the default side of the business, but that quickly grew into a national service provider. I used the contacts I gained in the mortgage business to contact people in different aspects of the business; this helped me begin my inspection company, asset management company, construction company, and seven years ago, CFSI. I started CFSI as the “hedge” company which would be going strong as other default businesses were waning. My thought process was correct because we put the default business on the shelf, and have stepped on the gas the last few years and focused on growing a world class Construction Loan Risk Management company. Even though I have brought CFSI into a space of prosperity, I felt an extreme sense of apprehension when I first decided to venture out on my own; after all, we were on the heels of a brutal recession, and I was in my mid-30’s living in Florida with my wife and young son. Being unemployed is not a pleasant experience, and today my friends and colleagues say “I can’t believe you took lemons and made lemonade.” I wouldn’t have been able to start my company without the large corporate experience I had. This experience, however, was quite draining; but even though these experiences were monotonous at times, they allowed me to gain knowledge in a litany of fields, including the mortgage sector and strategic development. The process of creating CFSI wasn’t a solitary one, however – I wouldn’t have been able to do this without my team. Hiring the best team in the industry is always a challenging part of building a successful business. We were fortunate to hire a couple of critical people who created a great team around them and has allowed us to grow, provide excellent customer service, and allow a work/life balance. Our operations center is located in Denver, CO and we have a few employees scattered around the country to provide early and late coverage for our clients. We are in the mortgage business after all, and moving vans are waiting, contractors need to get paid, and our clients rely on us to provide the same excellent service they give their customers, so they earn the repeat business. Our company helps lenders reduce risk related to construction projects nationwide. Our high touch, customer-centric approach allows lenders to concentrate on originating construction loans while CFSI manages the construction phase from beginning to end. From Brian Mingham: continues on pg. 8
