A San Francisco firm has jumped at the chance to fill a recently opened niche in the Sacramento-area commercial real estate financing market.

And it has taken on personnel from the lender pushed out of the niche.

TMC Financing, which bills itself as a leading provider of Small Business Administration 504 financing in California and Nevada, has named Jim Azevedo to head its new Sacramento region operations.

Azevedo is a former senior vice president of Folsom-based EDF REsource Capital, which closed last month after the SBA revoked its authority to issue SBA-guaranteed loans. The agency also said it would seize the Folsom company's loan portfolio.

TMC also said Wednesday that it has hired four other former REsource Capital employees and said it will open a new branch office at 3300 Douglas Blvd., in Roseville.

" … TMC is making a big commitment by also hiring operations staff from REsource, which means that there will be a lot of consistencies in our service delivery," said Azevedo. "TMC is very innovative in their approach to processing 504 loans."

Barbara Morrison, TMC's president and CEO, said the former REsource Capital employees "provide a wealth of SBA knowledge and experience … We look forward to expanding our presence in the region."

Mark Quinn, director of SBA's San Francisco district office, called TMC's expansion into the Sacramento area "great news for small businesses in the area who want to purchase and enhance their own facilities with fixed-rate financing through the SBA 504 program."

SBA's 504 loan program is a key component of financing small- and medium-size businesses, by providing them with long-term capital to purchase or improve fixed assets or real estate. It has long been regarded as a significant component of economic development in U.S. communities.

REsource Capital, established in 1978, specialized in below-market, fixed-rate financing for commercial and industrial projects via the 504 program.

Targeting California and parts of Nevada and Oregon, it was regarded as one of the nation's top 504 lenders.

The SBA claimed last month, however, that REsource Capital had become insolvent due to millions of dollars in bad loans.

REsource quickly sued the SBA in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., saying it was a "responsible small business lender" that was the victim of a smear campaign by the SBA.

The lawsuit said the SBA had a vendetta against company Chief Executive Frank Dinsmore, who was critical of agency policies.

However, Judge John D. Bates refused the plea for a temporary restraining order that would have prevented REsource Capital's shutdown.

Over 30 years, TMC says it has provided about $7.2 billion in SBA 504 financing for more than 4,200 businesses in California and Nevada.

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