Brent has left PWCC

[Exhibitman]

Lots of the biggest modern cards fell like stones last year, whether it was the end of a frenzy, steroids, injuries or just poor performance. The 1986 Fleer MJ RC PSA 10 was a $700K card for a minute 2+ years ago and has settled back down to a pre-pandemic sub $200K range. If you loan 50% on a card and the card drops 70%+, you are at a loss, especially if you use either recourse financing or entered into specific debt covenants to get the cash to lend out, if your lending decisions were injudicious, and if you offered non-recourse loans to the card owners. My guess is that some combo of those factors was in play. PWCC may not have been insolvent but it could easily have run afoul of loan covenants that would allow the lenders to take control and force a sale. Maybe don't get greedy and stay in your lane, and definitely don't bet your company on a fickle market.



PWCC wouldn't be the first lender to get killed by collateral declining in value. Look at the commercial real estate market. Many banks are playing 'pretend and extend' for zombie commercial real estate loans right now; they know the values of their collateral have tanked. Office building owners in SF and NY and other major cities where remote working has taken root are handing keys to lenders and walking away from hundreds of millions in investments. I'm involved with one such scenario right now where my clients are waiting to see if the borrower defaults in October when the next installment payment comes due.

[Oscar_Stanage]

Makes sense. I read more about this - geez I did not realize modern fell THAT much. And I understand some borrowers just walked away from the loan and cards lol. Seems like really low quality clientele. Curious if that’s considered defaulting from a personal credit standpoint

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Lots of the biggest modern cards fell like stones last year, whether it was the end of a frenzy, steroids, injuries or just poor performance. The 1986 Fleer MJ RC PSA 10 was a $700K card for a minute 2+ years ago and has settled back down to a pre-pandemic sub $200K range. If you loan 50% on a card and the card drops 70%+, you are at a loss, especially if you use either recourse financing or entered into specific debt covenants to get the cash to lend out, if your lending decisions were injudicious, and if you offered non-recourse loans to the card owners. My guess is that some combo of those factors was in play. PWCC may not have been insolvent but it could easily have run afoul of loan covenants that would allow the lenders to take control and force a sale. Maybe don't get greedy and stay in your lane, and definitely don't bet your company on a fickle market.



PWCC wouldn't be the first lender to get killed by collateral declining in value. Look at the commercial real estate market. Many banks are playing 'pretend and extend' for zombie commercial real estate loans right now; they know the values of their collateral have tanked. Office building owners in SF and NY and other major cities where remote working has taken root are handing keys to lenders and walking away from hundreds of millions in investments. I'm involved with one such scenario right now where my clients are waiting to see if the borrower defaults in October when the next installment payment comes due.

[BeanTown]

Let’s not forget Charles Keating and the Lincoln Savings and Loan scheme. Their assets included old surplus of military equipment from the 60s and 70s. I lost half my early child hood savings with that scumbag.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I still can’t quite get over how far and fast he fell. Not quite tSam Bankman – Fried, but up there.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I still can’t quite get over how far and fast he fell. Not quite tSam Bankman – Fried, but up there.

Hubris Peter, lots of folks in business confuse making decisions based on their ego Instead of sound business practice, slippery slope indeed and the more you decide for your ego and less for practical business the harder the consequences. Plus he's shown he lacks moral character by throwing his wife to the wolves at the National while hiding in the corner.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I would say the card doctors, he knowingly dealt with, for decades are more indicative of his character then the single show with Betsy. He had a lot of things going for him, and in fairness was something of a visionary, but, as you say, his hubris, and in my opinion, lack of a moral compass, ultimately did not serve him well in the hobby.

[glchen]

I still remember meeting Brent to pick up my winnings when PWCC was still just a couple of small offices in Oakland. He should have just cleaned up the shilling and bad behavior and stuck w/ ebay. Here is one card that I won from PWCC a few years ago.