In this guide, I’ll tell you about all the events and conferences which are focused on private mortgage lending (aka hard money lending or bridge lending). I’ll also provide an overview of each event organizer and insights about their conferences.
2026 Private Lending Events
February 24-26, 2026
Elevate by Geraci
Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, NV
February 26-27, 2026
Activate by Geraci
Wynn, Las Vegas, NV
March 15-17, 2026
NPLA Conference
Lowes, Miami Beach, FL
March 30-31, 2026
Fortra Las Vegas
The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, NV
April 23, 2026
NPLA Conference
The Event Factory, Freeport, NY
June 22-23, 2026
NPLA Conference
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, NJ
August 25-26, 2026
Fortra Newport Beach
VEA, Newport Beach, CA
October 25-27, 2026
NPLA Conference
Fairmont Princess Resort, Scottsdale, AZ
2025 Private Lending Events
January 13, 2025
NLE LeverageCon 4
Broward County Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL
March 5-7, 2025
California Mortgage Association Spring Conference
Grand Hyatt, Indian Wells, CA
March 21-22, 2025
American Lending Conference
Green Valley Ranch Resort Spa & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
May 1-2, 2025
Captivate by Fortra Law
Encore at Wynn, Las Vegas, NV
May 14, 2025
NLE LeverageCon 5
Fairmont Dallas Hotel, Dallas, TX
May 8, 2025
Private Lender Expo
The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art, St. Petersburg, FL
June 23-24, 2025
NPLA Conference
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, NJ
August 21-22, 2025
Innovate by Fortra Law
VEA Newport Beach, Newport Beach, CA
September 3-4, 2025
American Lending Conference
Green Valley Ranch Resort Spa & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
September 28-30, 2025
NPLA Conference
Fairmont Princess Resort, Scottsdale, AZ
October 8-10, 2025
California Mortgage Association Fall Conference
The Plaza Hotel, Monterey, CA
November 10-11, 2025
American Association of Private Lenders 16th Annual Conference
Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV
December 7-8, 2025
NLE LeverageCon 7
Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines, San Diego, CA
Click the links to visit the website for each event. When you register or contact the event organizers, please tell them you learned about their event on PrivateLenderLink.com.
Private Lending Event Organizers
There are 8 companies that organize and host private lending conferences:
- American Association of Private Lenders
- National Private Lenders Association
- Fortra Conferences
- National Lending Experts
- Geraci Conferences
- American Lending Conference
- California Mortgage Association
- Private Lender Expo
American Association of Private Lenders
The American Association of Private Lenders (also known as “A.A.P.L.” or “apple”) is the biggest private lending conference by attendance. They host only one conference every year, and it has attracted around 600-700 attendees the past few years. I’ve heard some call it “The Superbowl of Private Lending.” It always takes place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas close to Veterans Day in November. This is one of my favorite conferences. It was the very first private lending conference I ever attended, back in 2013, and I have not missed any since then. The AAPL conference used to be a two-day event but is now one day plus a welcome reception the night before. This organization was established in 2010 by Anthony Geraci of Fortra Law, a Southern California law firm which is the general counsel for the association. The ticket cost is $699 if you register early but could be $999 for last minute registrations.
National Private Lenders Conference
This event has been running for over 20 years and has the largest audience in our industry. The National Private Lenders Conferences are extremely professional, and they attract most of the biggest players in our industry. They take place in exclusive luxury resorts 3 times a year, and the venues have been consistent since early 2023: Miami in March, Atlantic City in June, and Austin in October. They typically have a golf tournament before the Miami Conference and a charity poker tournament in Atlantic City. If you’re not participating in these, the conference is one day, which a welcome reception the night before. The ticket cost averages $1,295 which is the highest of all the private lending conferences. They have an option to pay $799, which excludes meals and networking parties. There is also an option to pay $1,795 which give you front row seating and a consultation with Jon Hornik.
The NPLA Conference was founded by Leonard Rosen and was formerly the Pitbull Conference. The company was acquired by Jonathan Hornik / Private Lender Law in November 2022 and renamed to the National Private Lenders Association Conference in March 2023. In 2019, Rosen founded the National Private Lenders Association (NPLA) which was also included in the acquisition. The association is now fully integrated with the conference, but not all conference attendees are members of the organization.
Fortra Conferences
This conference series was formerly Geracicon by Geraci Law Firm, which rebranded to Fortra Law in June 2025. The firm has the same staff and partners, minus Anthony Geraci, who decided to start a new law firm in 2025 along with a new conference series (see below). Being one of the largest law firms serving the private lending industry, Fortra Law has a huge rolodex of clients who frequent their events. They started hosting events in 2017. Their conferences draw some unique guests and speakers who don’t typically attend other industry events. They currently host 2 conferences per year. Historically, their venues have been Newport Beach and Las Vegas. In 2025, the Las Vegas conference was in May, while the Newport Beach conference was in August. One of the venues will likely change in 2026. Fortra uses the Brella app which helps attendees match with the right people and schedule 15-minute meetings at a designated area in the exhibit hall. The entire Fortra staff, including the attorneys, is a fun group of people with a very positive vibe. I have attended most of the Fortra Conferences since early 2018. The ticket costs is around $800 if you register early, but most attendees pay around $1,000.
LeverageCon by National Lending Experts
The next event organizer on the list, National Lending Experts (NLE), is fairly new. It is operated by Brett Al-Azzawi, who used to work for Pitbull Conference as business development manager. He started out in 2021 with 3 conferences. All of them are one full day with a sponsored cocktail party the night before. The first was in Scottsdale in February 2021. Miami, Dallas and San Diego have been frequent venues for this event over the past few years. I have attended 4 NLE Conferences between 2021 and 2024. All were excellent events. NLE always gets some big name speakers for their panels, and I’ve heard positive feedback from other attendees about the sessions and content. They also attract people that I don’t see at other industry conferences. NLE uses the Brella app which helps attendees match with the right people and schedule 15-minute meetings at a designated area in the exhibit hall. In 2024, Brett started naming has events “LeverageCon.” Attending NLE’s events are extremely affordable. The cost is typically $100 or less.
Geraci Conferences
Along with launching the new Geraci LLP / Geraci Law Firm in 2025, Anthoy Geraci is starting a new conferences series in February 2026. It’s technically two conferences back-to-back, at two separate resorts in Las Vegas. Elevate, a 2-day conference held at Caesars Palace, will cater to brokers/originators who are just getting started in private lending. The cost can be quite reasonable, starting at $99 if you register early. If you want to attend the welcome reception and have the catered lunches, the ticket cost is $799 with advance purchase. Caesers has tons of restaurants, so you can save a lot of money with the basic ticket. The day Elevate ends, Activate begins at the Wynn down the street. This event will cater to experienced lenders, originators, capital providers and industry service providers.
American Lending Conference
The next conference on the list is the newest private lending industry event, established in 2024. American Lending Conference is operated by Matt Rosen who previously did business development for Pitbull Conference and the National Private Lenders Association. The first American Lending Conference was in Fort Lauderdale, and the most recent venue was Las Vegas. I have not yet attended this conference but have heard positive feedback from a few people who were attendees. Matt Rosen’s father is Leonard Rosen, the founder of Pitbull Conference and the NPLA. Leonard informed me that he is not involved in American Lending Conference, did not participate in the formation of the business, and has not even attended any of the events as of early 2025. Matt left the NPLA in 2023 to start his own conference business, with over a decade of experience in the conference business. The average ticket cost is $895 . There is a $595 ticket option, but that excludes meals and access to networking parties.
California Mortgage Association
The next event organizer on the list is the only one out of the seven that has a regional focus; the others serve a national audience. The California Mortgage Association, commonly known as “CMA”, was established in 1999, and is focused on providing education and advocacy to private mortgage lenders. Since California has many mortgage and real estate regulations, their events are typically filled with educational sessions and therefore have been called “seminars” even though they offer a lot of networking as well. Pre-COVID, they hosted four conferences per year – two in Southern California, one in Northern California, and one in Las Vegas. In 2024, they cut down to just two conferences per year. The schedule for these events have been fairly consistent – full days on Thursday, half day on Friday, plus a welcome reception on Wednesday night. I have attended most of the CMA seminars since 2017, and I served as the chair of the association’s Marketing Committee from 2020 to 2024. The cost to attend is $495 for members and $695 for non-members. The price jumps up by $100 if you register within 30 days of the conference date. And if you have additional people from the same company attending, those ticket prices are typically half off. CMA typically offers an amazing deal for first-time attendees – only $100.
Private Lender Expo
The Private Lender Expo is another industry event which I have not attended as of early 2025. A few people in my network have shared some positive feedback about their New Jersey event. These conferences are typically held in New York, New Jersey, or Miami. When they started a few years ago, their events only lasted a few hours. The last few have been one full day. One other thing to note is Private Lender Expo is the only private lending conference that does not currently charge a registration fee to attendees. The ticket cost is $0.
None of the event organizers have paid to be mentioned here. I feel they offer an extremely valuable service which is vital to our business and everyone in the private lending industry, so I’m glad to support them by spreading the word about their events. And selfishly, more people attending these events means more potential networking opportunities for me.
There are lots of other conferences focused on additional sectors of the real estate industry which I have attended and keep on our radar every year, including ones for residential property investing, commercial real estate, alternative investments, note investing, and business finance. I set up a Google Spreadsheet to list all industry events and keep it updated frequently. Reach out if you’d like access to that or if you want additional insights on any particular conference.
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