Lakewood Ranch Lending Launches Private Mortgage Note Program Backed by Independent Draw Inspection
Lakewood Ranch Lending
Scott Ward
Brenden Rendo
12-month first-lien notes target 12–13% annual returns; rehab capital released only after a third-party inspector confirms work on-site.
SARASOTA, FL, UNITED STATES, May 26, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Lakewood Ranch Lending (LRL), a new private real estate lender founded by veteran capital partner Scott Ward, today announced the launch of its private mortgage note program for investors seeking yield secured by real property rather than market exposure. Each note is backed by a first-position recorded lien on an identified Florida property, pays monthly interest over a 12-month term, and operates under a draw-control structure that holds rehabilitation funds in trust until an independent inspector verifies completed work.
In a market where benchmark yields hover near 5%, LRL targets a 12–13% annual range, paid monthly, on capital secured by physical collateral. Unlike pooled debt funds, every LRL investor is matched to a single, identified property with full visibility into the lien securing their position.
A Different Kind of Private Lending
LRL is built around three structural commitments that depart from the conventional private-credit fund model:
• First-position security. Each note is tied to one identified property with a recorded first-lien mortgage — not a blind pool, not a tranche, not a fund interest.
• Monthly interest payments. Investors receive scheduled monthly distributions over a 12-month term rather than waiting for fund liquidation or year-end true-ups.
• Independent draw inspection. Rehabilitation capital is held in trust and released to borrowers only after Brenden Rendo — an MFS-certified Property Inspector, ShieldHub IC01+ verified, licensed Florida real estate professional with a construction background and more than 1,000 completed property and draw inspections — confirms on-site that work has been completed as scoped.
"Investors have been told for years that yield requires risk and that risk has to be opaque," said Scott Ward, Founder of Lakewood Ranch Lending. "We built LRL to prove the opposite. Every dollar an investor commits is tied to a property they can see, secured by a lien they can verify, and protected by a draw process that an independent inspector — not the borrower, not us — has to sign off on. That is the structure I would want if I were writing the check."
Ward brings more than twenty-seven years of active origination across Florida's highest-growth corridors and over $1.5 billion in funded private real estate loans. He is a co-author of Private Lender Perspectives, serves on the American Association of Private Lenders (AAPL) Education Committee, and was the 2024 recipient of the AAPL Community Impact Award.
Why an Independent Inspector Matters
The decision to embed a named, independent draw inspector — rather than rely on borrower self-reporting or in-house verification — addresses one of the most common failure points in private lending.
"In private lending, the moment capital gets ahead of the work, the investor's downside opens up," said Brenden Rendo, Independent Draw Inspector for the LRL program. "Most draw disputes I see in the field come down to one thing: someone trusted a report instead of looking at the property. My job is to make sure that does not happen here. No draw is released until I have been on-site and confirmed the work — and that gives note holders a layer of protection that most private debt structures simply do not have."
Rendo brings more than five years of field experience as a property and draw inspector across Central Florida, with over 1,000 completed inspections for private lenders, hard-money funds, and insurance carriers. He is a certified Property Inspector through the Mortgage Field Services (MFS) program, a licensed Florida real estate professional with NextHome Neighborhood Realty, and holds an IC01+ ShieldHub background verification (ShieldID FL327141045) — the highest-tier credential recognized across the private-lending industry. Rendo operates as an independent third party, separate from both LRL and its borrowers.
Built for the Gulf Coast Triangle
LRL is headquartered in the Sarasota / Bradenton / Lakewood Ranch corridor — a region Ward has originated in for more than a decade. The program is open to qualified investors. Prospective investors can request an investor qualification call at lakewoodranchtrustdeeds.com.
About Lakewood Ranch Lending
Lakewood Ranch Lending (LRL) is a private real estate lender focused on Florida's Gulf Coast Triangle — Sarasota, Bradenton, and Lakewood Ranch. Founded by Scott Ward, a nationally recognized private lending authority with over $1.5 billion in funded loans, LRL offers investors first-position mortgage notes secured by identified Florida properties, with a 12-month term, monthly interest payments, and an independent draw-inspection process for any rehabilitation capital. Learn more at lakewoodranchtrustdeeds.com.
About the Inspection Partner
Brenden Rendo is an independent property and draw inspector serving Central Florida, with more than five years of field experience and over 1,000 completed inspections for private lenders, hard-money funds, and insurance carriers. A certified Property Inspector through the Mortgage Field Services (MFS) program, a licensed Florida real estate professional with NextHome Neighborhood Realty, and a construction-trained operator, Rendo holds an IC01+ ShieldHub background verification (ShieldID FL327141045) — the highest-tier credential used across the private-lending industry. He operates independently of Lakewood Ranch Lending and provides on-site verification of construction and rehabilitation work as a condition of capital release under the LRL note program.
Scott Ward
Lakewood Ranch Lending
941-526-0778
Scott@LakewoodLending.com
Investor Inquiries
Investor qualification call requests: lakewoodranchtrustdeeds.com
---
Forward-looking and performance language in this release reflects the program's targeted return range and structural design; past performance and stated targets are not guarantees of future results. Any offering of securities will be made only to qualified investors through formal offering documents. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security.
Scott Ward
Lakewood Ranch Lending
+1 941-526-0778
email us here
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
