A good loan request answers the questions a lender will ask before the lender has to ask them. This entry sets out what we need to form a view, what a complete package looks like for each kind of collateral and the gaps that most often slow a request down. It applies equally to borrowers who come to us directly and to debt brokers acting for them.
The published checklist
Every request starts with the form on our contact page. It routes the request directly to the people who decide. Our published list of what to send is short:
- Link to an executive summary or deal memo
- Link to the schedule of collateral (real estate, receivables, inventory)
- Link to the borrower or sponsor bio and track record
- Link to the sources and uses of funds
“Share a link to non-confidential materials (teaser, deck or data room); we sign NDAs promptly when there is mutual interest.” Our forms take links, not uploads. If the material is confidential, send a summary first; if the request fits, we move to an NDA quickly.
What a complete package answers
Our reply standard is: “We read every submission and aim to reply within a few business days of receiving a complete package, whether or not we proceed.” A complete package is one that lets us answer six questions:
- Who is borrowing? The legal borrower, its owners, the people who run it and the equity they have at risk.
- What secures the loan? The collateral, what it is worth today and the evidence for that value.
- How much, and for what? Sources and uses, and how the loan fits with any other debt or equity.
- What happens during the loan? The business plan: lease-up, construction, growth, a transition or a portfolio realization.
- How is it repaid? Sale, refinance or cash flow, and why that path is credible under less favorable conditions.
- When? The date you need to close and the reason for it.
If any of the six is missing, we will ask for it. The faster those answers arrive, the faster you get a clear reply.
Materials by collateral type
The essentials differ by loan type. The table is a guide to what usually lets us form an initial view; it is not an exhaustive diligence list, which comes later.
| Loan type | Initial materials that usually help most |
|---|---|
| Real estate bridge | Trailing 12-month operating statement, current rent roll, business plan and budget, purchase contract or existing loan terms, exit assumptions |
| Construction or completion | Budget with costs to date and to complete, schedule, contractor and contract type, permits status, any lender or appraisal reports |
| Asset-based (ABL) | Recent monthly financials, receivables aging, inventory summary by location and category, equipment list, customer concentration |
| NAV loan | Schedule of portfolio investments with cost and current value, valuation policy, recent reports to investors, expected realizations |
| Lender finance | Originator’s credit policy, loan tape, historical performance by vintage, servicing and collections data |
| Royalty or contract | The underlying agreement, payment history, counterparty information, any forecasts and the assumptions behind them |
For more on what each loan type involves, see the loan types overview and the focus areas for real estate bridge and construction, asset-based lending, NAV lending, lender finance and royalty monetization.
Presenting the numbers
Sources and uses
A clean sources and uses table is the single most useful page in a request. It should balance to the dollar and show every source (our loan, sponsor equity, seller credits, any other debt) and every use (purchase price or refinance payoff, renovation or construction budget, interest and other reserves, closing costs, fees). An illustrative example, for arithmetic only:
| Sources | Amount | Uses | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior loan | $18.0M | Purchase price | $21.0M |
| Sponsor equity | $7.0M | Renovation budget | $2.6M |
| — | — | Interest reserve | $0.9M |
| — | — | Closing costs and fees | $0.5M |
| Total | $25.0M | Total | $25.0M |
In that illustration the loan is 72% of total cost. Whether that works also depends on value; see leverage: loan-to-value, loan-to-cost and debt multiples.
Value and the exit
State what the collateral is worth today and what it will be worth when the plan is done, and show the basis for both: a recent appraisal, a broker opinion, comparable sales or, for financial assets, the valuation method. Then show the exit with a margin for error. A refinance that works only at today’s best rates and the plan’s best rents is fragile. See coverage and liquidity tests.
Common gaps that slow a request
- No equity number. We need to know what the borrower has at risk, in cash or contributed value.
- Book value instead of realizable value. Receivables that are 120 days past due, inventory that is obsolete or equipment valued at cost tell us little about what we could recover.
- Unbalanced sources and uses, or uses that hide fees and reserves.
- An exit with no alternative. One buyer, one refinance lender or one event.
- Changing facts. If key information shifts during review without explanation, confidence falls quickly.
Reasons we decline
When we decline, it is usually because the position is not senior, the leverage is beyond our limits, the collateral is hard to value or realize, the exit depends on a single outcome, or the request falls outside our criteria. Our published exclusions also include loans we would not hold on our own balance sheet and reaching for yield at the expense of collateral coverage. None of these is a judgment on the borrower. They are judgments about fit, and we would rather say so early.
For brokers
Tell us about your mandate when you submit. Brokers are protected: we respect mandates and protect buy-side and debt brokers on introduced transactions. A broker who has already assembled the six answers above gives the borrower the best chance of a fast, clear reply.
Next
Once there is a fit, the next stage is the term sheet. See from term sheet to funding and servicing, the chapter overview working with Caldrion and our longer guide, Bringing Caldrion a loan request.
This entry is general information as of November 2026, not investment, legal or tax advice, and not an offer of securities.