Commercial bridge loans across North Carolina property types.
Access equity or finance a project before permanent financing. Flexible commercial bridge across property types, up to $10M, on interest-only terms of up to 24 to 36 months. In North Carolina the structural questions are usury exemption, who is allowed to close a commercial file, and a foreclosure process that stays open after the sale. Business-purpose only, and every structure is set in underwriting.
Typical figures, subject to underwriting and market conditions. Not a commitment to lend.
How it works
Use bridge capital to reposition an asset, buy out a partner, or stabilize before a refinance. We move quickly on commercial deals that banks find too time-sensitive. When the asset is stabilized, we refinance you out of the bridge and into long-term permanent debt, which we also place in house, so you have a clear exit from day one.
Is a North Carolina commercial bridge loan subject to a usury cap?
No, and a bridge loan usually clears the exemption three different ways. NCGS 24-9 exempts a loan from Chapter 24's rate and fee limitations if any one of three tests is met: the loan amount is $300,000 or more, the borrower is a person other than a natural person, or a natural person borrows primarily for a purpose other than a personal, family, or household purpose. A seven-figure bridge loan to an LLC on an income property meets all three. Separately, NCGS 24-1.1 already lets parties contract for any rate agreed upon on principal above $25,000, with a published ceiling only at or below that. The reason to cite 24-9 rather than stop at 24-1.1 is the fee limitations, which 24-9 lifts as well. This is the cleanest usury carve-out in our footprint after the Texas large-loan rule.
Does an attorney have to close my North Carolina commercial deal?
The State Bar opinion we rely on addresses residential closings, and we are not going to extrapolate it. Authorized Practice Advisory Opinion 2002-1 reads the unauthorized-practice statutes as prohibiting a non-attorney from handling a residential real estate closing: no title opinions, no explaining the legal status of title, no advice on how to take title, no drafting legal documents. A non-lawyer may present documents, direct signatures, and receive and disburse funds. Whether that framing leaves commercial closings open to non-attorneys is not something we found an answer to, and it is not a question a lender should be answering for you. In practice most investors here engage North Carolina counsel on a commercial file anyway, for the title work and the entity documents. Ask your attorney before you assume the closing structure, and tell us who is closing so we can send documents to the right desk.
What does North Carolina charge on a large commercial transfer?
0.2% of consideration, and no tax at all on the financing. NCGS 105-228.30 sets the state excise tax at one dollar per $500 of consideration or fractional part, payable by the transferor to the register of deeds before recording. On a $10,000,000 asset that is $20,000 (10,000,000 divided by 500 = 20,000, times $1). Compare that with states that charge a full point on a commercial transfer, and it is a rounding error. The deed of trust records for a flat fee under NCGS 161-10, $64 for the first 35 pages plus $4 per page after, and there is no mortgage tax or intangibles tax on the note, so the size of the bridge facility does not drive the closing tax. Seven far-northeastern coastal counties add a 1% local land transfer tax under 1980s local acts; none of them touches the Piedmont markets like Charlotte.
How does the North Carolina foreclosure process affect a bridge exit?
It runs through the clerk and it stays open after the sale, which is why the exit plan gets underwritten hard. NCGS 45-21.16 requires a hearing before the clerk of superior court on at least 10 days' notice; NCGS 45-21.17 requires the sale notice posted 20 days ahead and published weekly for two successive weeks; and NCGS 45-21.27 allows upset bids for 10 days after the report of sale, at the greater of 5% or $750 above the last bid, with each successive bid restarting the 10-day clock. Practice sources put filing to sale at roughly 60 to 90 days. Two things follow for a borrower. First, if you are buying a note or a distressed asset out of this process, title does not pass until the upset-bid period runs clean. Second, at bridge sizes 45-21.16(f) allows the parties to waive notice and hearing for loans originally exceeding $100,000, which is a question for your counsel when you read your documents.
What does North Carolina cost my ownership entity in tax?
Less each year, on a published schedule. The corporate income tax is phasing out: 2.0% for 2026 and 2027, then 1.0% in 2028, 0.5% in 2029, and zero from 2030, already the lowest corporate rate among states that levy one. Franchise tax is $1.50 per $1,000 of net worth with a $200 minimum, C-corps capped at $500 on the first $1,000,000 of base and S-corps paying $200 on the first $1,000,000, but an LLC taxed as a partnership or a disregarded entity does not pay North Carolina franchise tax unless it elects corporate treatment. The individual rate is flat at 3.99% for 2026. We did not research the pass-through entity tax election, so ask your North Carolina CPA about that and about how a bridge-period loss flows through your structure.
What credit score do I need for a North Carolina bridge loan?
There is no minimum score on this program. Commercial bridge is asset-based, so the file turns on the property, the rent roll, the business plan, and the exit. We run credit, but it carries far less weight than it would at a bank, and weaker credit is usually answered with lower leverage rather than a decline. There is no hard credit pull to start, and a residential bridge file can close in as few as 5 to 7 days. Subject to underwriting.
How much equity do I need in a North Carolina bridge deal?
At least 25% at maximum leverage. We go up to 75% LTV and up to $10,000,000, so on a $4,000,000 property that is up to $3,000,000 from us and $1,000,000 from you (4,000,000 x 75% = 3,000,000). Terms run up to 24 to 36 months, interest-only, which is meant to cover a lease-up or a repositioning and a refinance, not an open-ended hold. The 0.2% state excise tax falls on the seller by statute. Subject to underwriting.
More CRE Bridge questions, answered on the program page
Local rules move. Every tax rate, fee, ordinance and market figure here comes from a primary source and carries the date we read it, and we correct them as the rules change. Where a number is mid-change or we could not verify it, we say so rather than guess. Before you commit a budget, confirm anything that drives it with the city or county, and talk to your attorney or CPA on questions of law or tax.
Published by USA Mortgage Funding, LLC, NMLS #152588. Researched from primary sources by our team, drafted with AI assistance, and every figure checked against its source before publishing. Where an answer rests on a public record, that record is linked under it. Figures read on 2026-08-12.
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