Pandemic Darlings The pandemic economy, in original documents
Home Profiles Fountainhead

Profiles · Companies and entitiesControversial

ProfileCompany or group

Fountainhead

Lender or loan platform

PPP · PPPLF
Type
Company or group
Role
Lender or loan platform
Programs
PPP, PPPLF
Updated

The profile

Individuals and companies whose conduct was challenged or called into question during or after the pandemic. See sources: House fintech report, Dec. 1, 2022 SBA statement, Dec. 8, 2022 Banking Dive on SBA review, Dec. 9, 2022

  • Type: Nonbank Small Business Lending Company (SBLC) with SBA Preferred Lender Program (PLP) authority. Direct lender, not a marketplace or technology agent.
  • Legal entities: Fountainhead Commercial Capital, LLC, the SBA 504 and conventional-lending entity, founded February 2015; Fountainhead SBF, LLC, the SBA 7(a) lender of record for PPP and ongoing 7(a) work. Both Florida LLCs headquartered in Lake Mary (Orlando metro), FL.
  • Founded: February 2015, by Chris Hurn (his Mercantile Capital history is covered in his profile).
  • HQ: Lake Mary, FL 32746 (Orlando metro).
  • CEO: Christopher Hurn (2015 – wind-down, ~Q1 2023). Hurn is now president and CEO of Phoenix Lender Services, LLC, under Community Bankshares.
  • Role in PPP: Fountainhead SBF LLC was the lender of record for both PPP1 (2020) and PPP2 (2021). In PPP1 it drew on its existing FastTrack broker/referral channel. In PPP2 it became the first announced lender partner of Womply's PPP Fast Lane, launched February 23, 2021, and processed the bulk of its PPP volume through that channel. The company self-reported $4.72 billion in PPP lending over fifteen months (June 2021 release).

In the archive

Pandemic-role map

  • Reader shorthand: nonbank SBA/SBLC lender of record, first announced Womply Fast Lane lender.
  • What Fountainhead did for borrowers: originated PPP loans directly, first through its own broker/referral network and then at much larger scale through Womply's Fast Lane funnel.
  • What Fountainhead bought from other companies: bought borrower intake, automation, identity/account checks, and volume from Womply; funded the book with PPPLF advances.
  • Where responsibility sat: Fountainhead SBF LLC was the SBA lender of record and the PPPLF borrower; Womply supplied the borrower-facing workflow and technology services for the 2021 surge.

Before the pandemic (2015–early 2020)

Fountainhead was Hurn's second act in nonbank SBA lending after Mercantile Capital Corporation (see his profile).

The April 2020 PPP page described Fountainhead as "one of only 14 nonbank lenders licensed to make SBA 7(a) loans." That claim refers to the SBA's Small Business Lending Company program; Fountainhead acquired its SBLC license, with Preferred Lender Program status, from American Business Lending in 2019 (PYMNTS).

Before COVID, Fountainhead's product mix was SBA 7(a) working capital and owner-occupied real estate, SBA 504 projects, and low LTV conventional loans, marketed nationally through a broker/referral channel Fountainhead branded "FastTrack." The FastTrack page promised referral partners "substantial non-interest income (referral fees) essentially just for registering and referring" SBA and conventional transactions to Fountainhead.

During the pandemic (March 2020 – mid 2021)

PPP1: the SBA specialist, own channel

Fountainhead's April 11, 2020 PPP page shows it operating as a direct PPP lender from the opening days of the CARES Act. The intake form asked applicants whether they had a "FastTrack" partner and collected third-party originator, referral-partner, and broker fields. There was no external fintech name on the page.

The company's own June 2021 release gave a 2020 loan count and volume that exceed the originating-lender figures; the project's supply-chain table puts modeled 2020 SBA lender fees at about $15.5 million.

By January 22, 2021, Fountainhead's PPP2 portal was open for both first-draw and second-draw applications and explained the 25%-revenue-reduction test for second draw; the FastTrack referral-fee program continued to run in parallel.

Feb. 23, 2021: the Womply switch

On February 23, 2021, Womply launched PPP Fast Lane and named Fountainhead as its first announced lending partner (launch release).

The business case was explicit in the release: Womply identified roughly 41 million non-employer and independent-worker businesses that could qualify for PPP, while only 3% of 2020 PPP dollars had gone to businesses with zero or one employee. Fountainhead had the SBA lending seat.

The launch release said PPP Fast Lane "includes multiple layers of fraud prevention and identity verification"; Fountainhead's companion release listed tax filing verification, bank identity comparison, account identity verification, IP address filtering, and email and phone verification. Chris Hurn was quoted on the neglect of non-employer businesses by the traditional lending community, and Toby Scammell on Fountainhead's first-round record.

The average originated loan was about $15,160 (lender-fee table).

287,710 loans claimed, 272,227 originated

Servicing book (Fountainhead as the servicer of record, including loans it services for others): the company's June 2021 release said it had "funded 287,710 PPP loans totaling over $4.72 billion".

Origination book (Fountainhead as the originating lender, the basis for SBA fee assignments):

SliceModeled SBA lender fees
2020 PPPabout $15.5 million
2021 PPP (first and second draw)about $625.1 million
Total (272,227 loans / $4.13 billion)about $640.6 million

SBA's PPP data list Fountainhead as servicing lender on 287,686 loans: its own 272,227 and 15,459 originated by other lenders. That accounts for all but 24 loans of the gap between the company's figure and its origination book.

About 2% of Fountainhead's modeled fees came from 2020 and 98% from 2021, after the Womply launch.

Fees

PPP lender compensation ran by formula: 5% on loans up to $350,000, 3% on $350,001–$2,000,000, and 1% above $2 million. For a book that was 99% sub-$50,000 loans, the effective rate on most of the portfolio was the 5% tier (or the enhanced flat-fee structure for loans under $50,000 in the 2021 program). Its estimated $640.6 million in SBA lender fees (about $15.5 million from 2020 and $625.1 million from 2021; supply-chain table)

puts Fountainhead ninth among all PPP lenders by modeled fee income in the project's analysis, ahead of PNC Financial, Truist, Customers Bank, and Lendistry.

Those are gross lender fees before Womply's share. The Womply fee structure for Fountainhead is not in the public record with the specificity of the Benworth contracts documented in the Benworth arbitration (see that profile); no estimate of the Womply-attributable share is made here.

The Federal Reserve funding layer

For a nonbank lender with no deposit base, the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility was the program's structural prerequisite. The Fed's PPPLF let PPP lenders pledge PPP loans as collateral and borrow against them at 0.35%; the loans themselves paid 1% and generated a separately paid SBA lender fee.

Federal Reserve PPPLF data shows Fountainhead SBF LLC took $5.49 billion in gross advances across 362 draws, a total above the peak balance because loans were forgiven and the collateral pool turned over. The peak outstanding balance was $4.69 billion on 2021-06-10. First advance: 2020-05-07. Last advance: 2021-07-23. Interest rate: 0.35% throughout.

The 1% PPP loan rate minus the 0.35% PPPLF rate produced a 65-basis-point positive carry on the pledged book while the loans remained outstanding. The PPPLF was open to any PPP lender.

The SBA fee per dollar of peak PPPLF outstanding was approximately $0.14, using the modeled $640.6 million in fees against the $4.69 billion peak balance.

After the pandemic (mid 2021 – present)

The Crossroads announcement

On December 16, 2021, Crossroads Systems, Inc. (OTCQX: CRSS) announced an "agreement in principle" to acquire Fountainhead, subject to SBA consent and expected to close in the first half of 2022 (PR Newswire).

Crossroads already owned Capital Plus Financial, Blueacorn's lender of record (see the Capital Plus profile); its merger with Harvest Commercial Capital came later, in February 2026 (see the Harvest profile).

The deal did not consummate as announced; no public SBA consent or closing release has been located. Franchise Times reported that Fountainhead's partners voted to wind the company down in the first quarter of 2023 and that Chris Hurn moved to Community Bankshares (see his profile); a PitchBook entry records a 2023 acquisition of non-SBA assets by Knight Capital Funding.

No termination announcement or SBA consent denial has been located.

Fountainhead sues Womply for the loan files in Seminole County, Fla.

The Womply relationship ended in a contract fight documented in court records. Womply terminated the PPP Loan Referral Agreement in late May 2021 (notice received June 1), citing an alleged breach over a fee dispute, and did not return the loan files. On August 27, 2021 Fountainhead sued in Florida state court, seeking specific performance of the agreement's file-return clause: Fountainhead SBF, LLC v. OTO Analytics, Inc. d/b/a Womply, 18th Judicial Circuit, Seminole County, No. 2021CA002143 (Judge Susan Stacy). Because the agreement's arbitration clause carved out a party's right to seek injunctive or other equitable relief in court, the file dispute went to state court while the fee dispute stayed in arbitration.

The September 7, 2021 affidavit of CEO Christopher Hurn, filed in support of the petition, described the Womply "Fast Lane" platform and the related Teslar system and conceded that Fountainhead had paid Womply more than 80% of the amount Womply claimed.

This filing is the court record behind the Subcommittee's line (we have a copy of the report) that Fountainhead was ultimately forced to get "a temporary restraining order against [Womply], so they can't destroy these [PPP loan] documents." The actual relief sought was turnover of files under the contract, not an order against destruction; no temporary restraining order or injunction was ever entered. The court issued an Order to Show Cause on October 7, 2021; the show-cause hearing was rescheduled; and Fountainhead voluntarily dismissed the case with prejudice on November 18, 2022, consistent with a private resolution.

SBA investigates, December 2022; no public enforcement follows

After the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis released its December 1, 2022 report ("We Are Not the Fraud Police"), the SBA issued a December 8, 2022 statement saying it had launched investigations of several PPP lenders. The statement named Fountainhead along with Cross River, Celtic, Customers Bank, Harvest, Capital Plus, Benworth, and Prestamos. The SBA suspended only Womply and Blueacorn. Hurn's statement that the company would cooperate fully is reported by Banking Dive.

No public enforcement action against Fountainhead or Fountainhead SBF LLC has followed from that investigation in the public record. No SBA penalty, consent agreement, debarment, or debarment listing has been located. No DOJ criminal case, FTC action, CFPB action, SEC proceeding, or False Claims Act charge or settlement naming Fountainhead or Hurn as a defendant has been located.

Enforcement and litigation record

No PPP enforcement action. The SBA announced a review in December 2022; no public charge or settlement came of it in the record available here. The position is "under investigation, then no announcement"; it is not "cleared." No SBA OIG finding against Fountainhead has been identified.

The Quesenberry qui tam. United States ex rel. Bryan Quesenberry v. JMG Investments, Inc., C.D. Cal. No. 2:20-cv-08497, is a duplicate-loan FCA case targeting PPP borrowers (roughly eighty California small businesses) who allegedly received more than one PPP loan before December 31, 2020. Judgment ran against borrower defendants (DOJ release). Fountainhead was the lender, not the party accused.

DOJ criminal cases. Where Fountainhead appears in PPP criminal cases, it is the lender that received a false application, not the entity accused of filing one.

The borrower class action. Elizabeth M. Byrnes, Inc. v. Fountainhead Commercial Capital, LLC, C.D. Cal. No. 2:20-cv-04149 (Judge Pregerson), filed May 2020, alleged Fountainhead had solicited PPP applications it did not process fairly. The complaint alleged that it favored larger, higher-fee loans over smaller, earlier-submitted ones, leaving applicants stranded in a queue with assurances of funding that did not materialize. The theory was fraudulent concealment and unfair business practices under California law. The court dismissed the Second Amended Complaint with prejudice on November 24, 2021. The ruling addressed the sufficiency of the plaintiff's theory, not the facts of Fountainhead's queue practices.

The Rumson case. Rumson Wellness LLC v. Fountainhead SBF LLC, D.N.J. No. 3:25-cv-11931 (Judge Shipp), filed June 2025, is not a PPP case. Plaintiffs Rumson Wellness LLC, Taylor Ross, and Dylan Ross sued Fountainhead SBF, Phoenix Lender Services, and Community Bank & Trust over an SBA 7(a) loan tied to a failed Water Station Technology franchise investment. The theory — roughly, that the lender had negligently misrepresented the franchise investment's prospects and should be treated as a guarantor of the business outcome — was dismissed without prejudice in 2026. The New Jersey court found the complaint had not stated claims that could convert the lender into a guarantor of the franchise investment.

False Claims Act. No FCA charge, settlement, or qui tam intervention against Fountainhead as a defendant has been identified.

Current posture (as of mid-2026)

Fountainhead Commercial Capital and Fountainhead SBF LLC are wound down (Franchise Times); the company is not accepting new applications. The

Fountainhead SBF LLC SBLC license, one of the SBA's rare nonbank 7(a) slots, has not been publicly transferred or reissued. Its disposition is not confirmed in the public record.

Court records

Sources

Primary documents in this archive

  • House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, "We Are Not the Fraud Police" (Dec. 1, 2022): we have a copy
  • Fountainhead April 2020 PPP page capture (PPP1 portal, FastTrack referral fields, "one of only 14 nonbank lenders"): fountainhead ppp 2020-04-11
  • Fountainhead January 2021 PPP2 page capture (PPP2 portal open, first/second draw terms, simplified forgiveness, FastTrack referral fees): fountainhead ppp2 2021-01-22
  • Womply/Fountainhead PPP Fast Lane launch release, Feb. 23, 2021: 2021-02-23 Womply Fountainhead FastLane Launch
  • Lender-fee table: lender_fees.csv (Fountainhead SBF LLC: 272,227 loans / $4.13 billion / $640.6 million modeled fees; ninth by modeled fee income)
  • PPPLF by lender: ppplf_by_lender.csv (Fountainhead SBF LLC; $5.49 billion gross advances; $4.69 billion peak outstanding 2021-06-10)
  • Supply-chain table (2020/2021 fee split): fintech_partner_bank_supplychain.csv
  • Quesenberry v. JMG Investments, C.D. Cal. 2:20-cv-08497 — CONSOLIDATED SUMMARY (corrects prior mislabeling as a case against Fountainhead; judgment against borrower defendants, not lender): Quesenberry v Fountainhead cacd 2-20-cv-08497 CONSOLIDATED SUMMARY
  • Byrnes v. Fountainhead Commercial Capital, C.D. Cal. 2:20-cv-04149 — SUMMARY (borrower class action; dismissed with prejudice Nov. 24, 2021)
  • Rumson Wellness LLC v. Fountainhead SBF LLC, D.N.J. 3:25-cv-11931 — SUMMARY (non-PPP SBA 7(a)/franchise suit; dismissed without prejudice Apr. 2026)
  • Fountainhead SBF, LLC v. OTO Analytics, Inc. d/b/a Womply, Seminole County (Fla.) 2021CA002143 — Fountainhead's loan-files turnover suit against Womply; complaint (Aug. 27, 2021), verified and amended OSC/TRO petitions (Sept. 8 / Sept. 10, 2021), Hurn affidavit (Sept. 7, 2021), full docket, voluntary dismissal with prejudice (Nov. 18, 2022): README
  • Chris Hurn profile (biography; Mercantile/Old Florida history; SBLC license acquisition; Phoenix Lender Services; Crossroads deal context)

External references

Back to top