[mistamca]

Steve, are you advocating all fee agreements to be against the law? Why can't business owners make their own decisions? Does Big Brother have to look after every transaction? Whenever I finance a deal that the bank doesn't pay me, I have to get a fee agreement in place, otherwise it's not worth my time. Yes, the SBA outlaws it, so I don't do it there. However, my skill, which translates into value, as a broker is to know how to do these complicated things, why should I be able to get paid? Just because the lender also pays?

This. There is a time and place for everything. Also, the SBA does allow fees but you need to really follow the letter of the law. I have charged north of 5K worth of fees on a SBA deal but you better believe that every dime is documented & has an audit trail. (Standard doc prep fee, bookkeeping fee, in-depth doc prep, training, etc)