Frequently Asked Questions

Mobilization Funding lends funds to contractors and manufacturers to help bridge the gap between the start of a job and the influx of the first draws / receivables related to those jobs.

We are a unique, short term lending platform that can serve as an alternative to cash advance or factoring loans. We provide upfront funding for your awarded contract, that way you, the contractor, have solid financial footing to fulfill the project as you were hired to do.

The funding process involves the client filling out a simple application, requiring some financial documents and a phone call with one of our loan officers.

Once finished, and if approved, we will send you a term sheet to show you exactly the cost of the loan. The entire process takes about five business days once the paperwork is submitted.

Mobilization Funding does not have a residential lending program.

Yes. We can provide funding any time after a contract is awarded.

From initial call to funds disbursement, the process takes up to 30 days. This timeline is heavily dependent on how quickly the prospective borrower can complete their application, their availability to review cashflows, and sign and submit loan documents.

Borrowers can go through our processes in as little as two weeks – the ball is in your court! It’s also important to note that the first loan approval process will always be the longest. Once we have gone through the initial underwriting of your business, and formed that relationship, the second, third, fourth, and fifth loans can be approved in as little as one week or less.

Yes, we often partner with financial brokers who are looking for lending alternatives for their commercial clients.

The money from the loan can be used for any job related costs – labor, supplies, equipment, insurances, etc.

It does not cost anything to go through the application, cash flow, and loan approval process. Once you are approved and have obtained your Mobilization Funding Loan, there is an origination fee and interest charged on the principal balance of the loan only.

Our daily simple interest rate is 0.158%, which equates to 4.75% monthly, but because our loans are customized for your project, this can be misleading as the interest rate is only applied to the outstanding balance of the loan at any given time – meaning if you have a $200K loan, but it only has a $100K Principal balance then you would only pay interest on $100K.

In the underwriting process, we will develop a loan structure by building out the Project Cash Flow with multiple disbursements aligned to provide you access to the dollars you need and when you need it. This minimizes the impact the loan has on your project’s profit margin.  This ensures you are not accruing interest on the full principal balance of your loan on day 1 and minimizes the overall cost of the loan. 

Generally, you can be approved for up to 20% of the contract’s value.

YES.

The short answer is no. We do not require us to speak directly with your customer, but we do need to ensure payments made to you per the terms of the contract are directed to the project account created under the name of your company. 

We do not require payment made out to Mobilization Funding or jointly to you and Mobilization Funding.  We work in the background as much as possible to ensure our clients can still follow their standard operating procedures when partnering with us. While we fight to erase the ‘financing partner’ stigma in construction, we understand not all borrowers are ready to openly discuss it with their GC.

The only communication Mobilization Funding has with the GC comes in the form of a funds directive – a one-page document that changes the account payments made per the terms of the contract are deposited.  In other words, when our customer does the work, the work is approved, and it is time to be paid the GC agrees to direct the payment the the project account created in the name of our customer’s company.

The Funds Directive can be sent to the GC from Mobilization Funding via DocuSign, or directly from you – truly eliminating any contact between MF and your GC.  If you are already paid through some form of electronic ACH or software system (Textura, or GC Pay as an example), we can work with that system too. 

Mobilization Funding is here to help you do just that! We understand that the hardest part of any project can often be getting the capital up-front to get mobilized. And when you’re trying to take on new projects, while waiting for your retainage to come in from the last project you completed, it can put a huge strain on your cashflow, and that’s exactly where we come in.

While we want to build long-term strategic partnerships, our main goal is that one day your business’s cash flow is so strong that you no longer need us. Forming long-term strategic partnerships with our clients is paramount.

We’re here to help you take on contracts you may not have felt comfortable with because we truly understand your cash flow challenges and how to navigate the drawn-out payment schedules that we see so often in construction projects. Our funding provides you with the necessary cash to fill those gaps and keep your project on schedule.

We work hard to ensure that the flow of funds happens as seamlessly as possible. When you’re ready to request a disbursement, simply request through our online portal and select whether you’d like to be paid via wire (instant) or ACH (next-day).

Once you sign on to work with Mobilization Funding, a dedicated account manager will be assigned to your business. Think of them as the staff accountant at the end of your hallway – able to assist with any servicing needs - helping you as you work through your project and making sure all subs, vendors and suppliers are paid on time and as you designed them to be.

The repayment of the MF loan will also be determined well before the first dollar is disbursed. We align our repayment with when YOU get paid! Taking percentages of invoices or  pay apps received throughout the project to pay down the loan as the project progresses and it has become cash flow positive. 

Mechanically we will open a project funding account (a checking account) at Valley Bank.  We open this account up in your business’ name and tax ID so your client is still able to pay your business directly. You will have access to see all that goes on in this account and this is how funds are disbursed onto the project when you request them and how funds are received in relation to any project receivables as well.

1. How do I access and utilize loan dollars?
   • We strategically disburse funds as they are needed and on a weekly basis to keep interest costs to a minimum. These funds can be used for any project related expenses such as direct employee labor, subcontract labor, materials, equipment rental, or even a bond premium if applicable. 
   • We also take into consideration the payment terms for your expenses and pay applications to determine how much cash on a weekly basis you need to cover the expenses due that week and when receivables are coming in. This exercise is extremely helpful to identify when your cashflow gets tight and see how different terms with suppliers or better payment terms can impact your project’s timeline and interest costs.  The goal is always to borrow as little as possible and pay it back as fast as possible.
2. Can we fund multiple projects/contracts at one time? 
   • Yes, we can fund multiple projects/contracts at one time and will determine the overall need during our first call together. With a new relationship we will usually look at one project/contract at a time and make sure the business is a good fit for our loan program and that we would be the right solution for the challenges you are experiencing. Once we grow the relationship more and get comfortable with one another we can look to fund multiple projects at one time and will keep these as separate loans to keep it simple and organized. We only utilize one project funding account and any projects we are funding will flow through this account. 
     • Once we get to this stage it is a much faster turnaround from the initial project we funded because we have already reviewed the business and completed our due diligence. We then just have to review the project/contract for each new possible loan and will need updated financial statements as time progresses. 
       • We do not have to redo the entire application process all over again with each additional project you are looking to fund.

No, Mobilization Funding’s loan program can accommodate projects that have already started and even some that have been paid on already. It depends on our clients and what is needed at the time we are starting together.

The main program we offer is our mobilization program where we can provide up to 25% of an executed contract to help you get mobilized at the beginning of your project before you start the work. The second option would be very similar but just take into consideration the existing contract and what is left to finish on it and left to be paid.  In these instances, we may look at multiple projects to help accommodate and get started.

The other loan program we have is for Purchase Orders (PO’s) and in these cases we can advance up to 70% of them to help get the order or job completed and delivered.

If a project gets delayed or if payments take longer to come in that is perfectly fine and almost expected as it is usually not if but when things change in construction. This is why we spend as much time as we do on the Project Cashflow Schedule to try and make it as accurate as possible, but we understand it won’t be perfect.

We don’t charge any late fees when there are delays in a project or when payments are slow to come in, and you only pay interest on the actual days the loan has a balance. The most important thing is if the payment is still good, but just delayed under normal circumstances related to construction.

We are flexible, however, and understand that changes/delays happen and are usually not at any fault of our clients. We work with you through project challenges and create strategic plans when needed. We ask that you keep the MF Team up to date with consistent communication as this will allow us to be proactive and help you work through those challenges versus reacting to them at a future date when options become more limited.