Just to add to the conversation, upfront fees are not unheard of, but they should definitely not come without a crystal clear LOI first. Aside from the dozens of real estate deals that have appraisals, the deals I've done with upfront fees were SBA, a hotel deal and an ABL facility. They all were basically also appraisals, but they included much higher than average appraisal fees (site visits and much deeper underwriting). They also were commitment fees to prevent the client from going off and taking the lender's offer, all of their DD, and wasting everybody's time, and the balance what wasn't used (itemized) was credited out of the closing points. As a broker I try to stay away from these things, but upfront fees do have their place.

NYCTuga, you got robbed, and you should definitely report on whatever other online resources (Ripoff Report etc), you can find. Also call the police, they might be interested.

But that's what these crooks do. Take a fee slightly smaller than it makes sense for the merchant to chase after or be worth hiring a lawyer.