Data last updated: Oct 23, 2026, 5:45 PM ETLatest filing: Oct 22, 2026Now: Oct 24, 2026, 5:26 AM ET

Merit

One sponsor team, 4 deal companies · West Des Moines, IA

Grouped because: 6 shared people, same business address (2 issuers), similar issuer names (4) (automatic match from the filings) · not the same sponsor?

4deal companies

$250Kreported sold

1investors

4Form D filings

2024–2026active

1new, last 12 mo

Follow this sponsor group Look further ↓

Data last updated Oct 23, 2026, 5:45 PM ET · Latest filing in this group May 15, 2026 · Courts (RECAP) last checked: Oct 24, 2026, 2:16 AM ET · SEC enforcement last checked: covered by the index scan as of Oct 24, 2026, 2:50 AM ET

The short version

Merit is a sponsor group of 4 issuers that PartnerFacts links to one sponsor (shared people, similar issuer names, same business address; automatic match from the filings), filing 4 Form D filings between Aug 2024 and May 2026.

What this means One team, 4 deal companies, about 2 years of track record in SEC filings. We link the companies because the same people or address appear on their forms — tap "Request a correction" if that is wrong.

Combined reported sold: $250K to 1 investor (latest filing per issuer). Industries as reported: Pooled Investment Fund (4). Issuers are based in IA (4).

What this means $250K raised across the group, about $250K per investor. Amounts come from each company's latest Form D; they are what the sponsor reported, not audited figures.

Principal people: Michael Heilman (4 issuers, executive officer and promoter), Ryan Pudenz (4 issuers, executive officer and promoter), Adam Humlicek (3 issuers, executive officer and promoter), Nick Grossman (3 issuers, executive officer and promoter), Josh Myers (2 issuers, executive officer) and 3 more.

What this means The person on the most companies is usually the one running the show; their page lists every deal.

Activity: 1 new offering in the last 12 months; latest filing May 15, 2026.

What this means still raising money this year.

Public records searched: federal courts (CourtListener / RECAP), SEC enforcement releases, state securities regulators (AZ, CA, DE, TX, WA), property records (NYC, FL, IL and TX counties) — 2 court cases matching the name, 3 bankruptcy cases matching the name listed in Key records below.

What this means 5 records came back. Each one is listed below with a link to the original document and a line saying why it matched. A name match is not proof it is the same person or company — read the why line and the document. Being sued or named in a release is an accusation, not a finding.

We compared 4 public filings for Merit and found 4 differences, 1 worth asking the sponsor about: Paid seller listed without a CRD number: Merit Capital Group, LLC; and more below.

What this means These are differences between the sponsor's own SEC filings — both values, dates and sources are listed in Key records, section 4. Most have ordinary explanations; ask the sponsor.

What the community is saying

Community search for Merit has not run yet — it is joining a line of 15,967 names; searches run around the clock at the hosts' allowed rate. Searched so far: 28 names.

Community comments are quoted as written by their authors. Sources searched: BiggerPockets forums (via DuckDuckGo, Brave, Bing and BiggerPockets search) and Reddit (search feed + public archive).

Key records

Five things investors ask first. Items still in human review are counted, not shown.

1. Lawsuits

2 cases: 2 dismissed

Underwood v. Merit Co., Inc. dismissed matched at sponsor-group level (Merit)

District Court, D. Colorado · No. 1:00-cv-00187 · Filed Jan 28, 2000 · Closed Jan 17, 2001 · Nature of suit: 470 Civil (RICO) · Cause: 18:1962 Racketeering (RICO) Act

Role of Merit Co., Inc.: Defendant · Outcome: Terminated 2001-01-17 — FJC Integrated Database disposition: Voluntarily dismissed Docket on CourtListener ↗

exact company name; name has one distinctive word; court in CO (not the issuer's state); filed 2000, issuer incorporated 2024

GE Credit Corp v. Merit Corporation dismissed matched at sponsor-group level (Merit)

District Court, N.D. Georgia · No. 4:86-cv-00252 · Filed Sep 26, 1986 · Closed Jan 4, 1988 · Nature of suit: 190 Other contract actions

Role of Merit Corporation: Defendant · Outcome: Terminated 1988-01-04 — FJC Integrated Database disposition: Voluntarily dismissed Docket on CourtListener ↗

exact company name; name has one distinctive word; court in GA (not the issuer's state); filed 1986, issuer incorporated 2024

What was searched

Sources searched: CourtListener bulk data (RECAP dockets as of 2026-09-30; recall-first rule 10-24) — federal district + bankruptcy courts State courts: not covered (one-tap state court links under Look further). PACER: not searched. · Last checked Oct 24, 2026, 2:16 AM ET.

Court records show docket facts only; we never restate allegations as facts. Outcome wording comes from the docket feed; where it does not state a disposition we say so.

State courts: not covered (one-tap state court links under Look further). No state offers a lawful automated statewide source PartnerFacts can use today. Texas (re:SearchTX) terms prohibit storing results in a database open to third parties; New York (WebCivil) and Massachusetts (MassCourts) require a browser check that blocks scripted queries; California has no statewide index (58 county portals; Rule of Court 2.503 grants name-based access case by case); Florida, Utah and Illinois offer paid or partial access whose terms for automated use are unverified. Washington (dw.courts.wa.gov; bulk index reports under a JISC data-dissemination agreement), Delaware (CourtConnect; Court of Chancery not included) and Arizona (apps.azcourts.gov/publicaccess, which has an official channel to request high-volume access) are the candidates; PartnerFacts will request written permission before any automated search. Federal courts are searched through CourtListener / RECAP.

2. Regulatory actions

None found in sources searched — SEC enforcement releases (index scan as of Oct 24, 2026, 2:50 AM ET) · state securities regulators: AZ, CA, DE, TX, WA (crawled Oct 23, 2026)

What was searched

SEC enforcement searched: SEC litigation releases and administrative proceedings — respondent names in the sec.gov index titles (30,205 releases, 1995-09-19 to 2026-10-23); release text is read only to confirm a candidate. Names that appear only in the body of a release are not found. — Searched SEC litigation releases and administrative proceedings (1995→ / 2007→) (30,205 records as of Oct 24, 2026, 2:50 AM ET) — nothing matched Merit..

State securities regulators searched: AZ (Corporation Commission Securities Division), CA (DFPI — 16 of 12,159 DFPI respondent pages read so far; sponsor-name matches are read first), DE (DOJ Investor Protection Unit), TX (State Securities Board), WA (DFI) — last crawled Oct 23, 2026, 9:57 PM ET. Other states are not covered.

3. Bankruptcies

3 cases: 1 open, 2 closed (disposition not in docket feed)

The Merit Corporation open matched at sponsor-group level (Merit)

United States Bankruptcy Court, D. New Jersey · No. 22-10460 · Filed Jan 20, 2022

Role of The Merit Corporation: Debtor · Outcome: Open — no termination date on the docket (bulk snapshot 2026-09-30) Docket on CourtListener ↗

exact company name; name has one distinctive word; court in NJ (not the issuer's state)

Merit, LLC closed matched at sponsor-group level (Merit)

United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. New York · No. 09-17331 · Filed Dec 14, 2009 · Closed Dec 15, 2016

Role of Merit, LLC: Debtor · Outcome: Case closed 2016-12-15 (disposition not included in the bulk docket feed — see docket) Docket on CourtListener ↗

exact company name; name has one distinctive word; court in NY (not the issuer's state); filed 2009, issuer incorporated 2024

Merit, Inc. closed matched at sponsor-group level (Merit)

United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Indiana · No. 02-60942 · Filed Mar 7, 2002 · Closed Jun 6, 2005

Role of Merit, Inc.: Debtor · Outcome: Case closed 2005-06-06 (disposition not included in the bulk docket feed — see docket) Docket on CourtListener ↗

exact company name; name has one distinctive word; court in IN (not the issuer's state); filed 2002, issuer incorporated 2024

What was searched

Sources searched: Federal bankruptcy courts via CourtListener / RECAP archive (federal district courts, federal bankruptcy courts). State courts: not covered (one-tap state court links under Look further). PACER: not searched (RECAP only). · Last checked Oct 24, 2026, 2:16 AM ET.

Court records show docket facts only; we never restate allegations as facts. Outcome wording comes from the docket feed; where it does not state a disposition we say so.

4. Differences between public sources

No comparisons published

What is compared

No public statement by this sponsor group has been collected yet, so there is nothing to compare. Sources compared: the sponsor's own website (known from the issuer's own filings — Form C issuer website, EDGAR company profile — an approved profile claim or Form ADV Item 1.I of its matched adviser) · SEC Form D · SEC Form ADV (IAPD) · Internet Archive · No website is on file for this sponsor group yet.

4 differences found between the filings for Merit — 1 worth asking about (compared 4 filings on Oct 24, 2026)

Worth asking · May 15, 2026

Paid seller listed without a CRD number: Merit Capital Group, LLC — Merit Capital Preferred Equity Fund I, LLC

Merit Capital Group, LLC is listed as receiving sales compensation on 1 filing (May 15, 2026) with no FINRA CRD number given.

What this means People paid to sell securities normally hold a FINRA registration with a CRD number. Without one we cannot look them up on BrokerCheck. Ask who they are and whether they are registered.

Form D · May 15, 2026 ↗BrokerCheck search: Merit Capital Group, LLC ↗Merit Capital Preferred Equity Fund I, LLC — PartnerFacts page ↗

Sources

Form D · May 15, 2026 ↗ (May 15, 2026)
BrokerCheck search: Merit Capital Group, LLC ↗
Merit Capital Preferred Equity Fund I, LLC — PartnerFacts page ↗ (May 15, 2026)

Note · Aug 8, 2024 – May 15, 2026

RYAN PUDENZ is written 2 different ways on the filings

listed as "Ryan Pudenz" on 3 filings (from Aug 8, 2024), and "Ryan James Pudenz" on the May 15, 2026 filing.

What this means Same person, written differently — a middle name or suffix left off, or spelled another way. It is normal, but check that the full legal name matches your subscription documents.

Form D · Aug 8, 2024 ↗Form D · May 15, 2026 ↗RYAN PUDENZ — PartnerFacts page ↗

Sources

Note · Aug 8, 2024 – May 15, 2026

MICHAEL HEILMAN is written 2 different ways on the filings

listed as "Michael Heilman" on 3 filings (from Aug 8, 2024), and "Michael William Heilman" on the May 15, 2026 filing.

What this means Same person, written differently — a middle name or suffix left off, or spelled another way. It is normal, but check that the full legal name matches your subscription documents.

Form D · Aug 8, 2024 ↗Form D · May 15, 2026 ↗MICHAEL HEILMAN — PartnerFacts page ↗

Sources

Note · May 15, 2026

Issuer used a different name before — Merit Capital Preferred Equity Fund I, LLC

SEC records list prior names for this filer: Merit Preferred Equity Capital Fund I LLC. The current name on file is "Merit Capital Preferred Equity Fund I, LLC".

What this means A name change is normal, but your documents may show the old name. Match the CIK, not just the name.

EDGAR filer page ↗Merit Capital Preferred Equity Fund I, LLC — PartnerFacts page ↗

Sources

EDGAR filer page ↗ (May 15, 2026)
Merit Capital Preferred Equity Fund I, LLC — PartnerFacts page ↗ (May 15, 2026)

What is compared

What is compared: every Form D and D/A we hold for this subject, side by side — filing dates vs. first-sale dates (the 15-day rule), amendment timing on open offerings (the yearly-amendment expectation), amounts sold, investor counts, offering amounts and minimums across amendments, industry and size bands, addresses, how each person's name and role is written, paid sellers' CRD numbers, and (for groups) where the member companies were formed and sit. Everything is as filed by the issuer; the SEC does not check it. Differences are common and usually have ordinary explanations — we show both values, the dates, and the source so you can ask. As of Oct 24, 2026.

5. Money to insiders

0 of 4 offerings report sales commissions; 0 report finder's fees; 2 report proceeds to related persons totalling $1,000,000. (includes amounts the issuer reported as estimates)

Offering (latest filing)	Sales commissions	Finder's fees	To insiders	Paid to sell it	Source
May 15, 2026 D Merit Capital Preferred Equity Fund I, LLC File 021-584183	$0	$0	$0	Merit Capital Group, LLC no CRD number reported	EDGAR ↗
Oct 14, 2025 D MERIT SPE 7 LLC File 021-560674	$0	$0	$250,000	None listed on this filing	EDGAR ↗
Jul 14, 2025 D MERIT SPE 6 LLC File 021-551663	$0	$0	$0	None listed on this filing	EDGAR ↗
Aug 8, 2024 D MERIT FUND III LLC File 021-520916	$0	$0	$750,000 (est.) Merit Management Group, LLC, an entity with whom the mentioned promoters are associated, is paid a transaction fee by Issuer for services in relation to each business acquisition by the Issuer. The min transaction fee is $250,000/business acquisition.	None listed on this filing	EDGAR ↗

How this is counted

Counts come from Form D Items 12–15 on the filings in our index (latest filing per offering; one offering = one SEC file number; an amendment updates its offering rather than adding one). "To insiders" = gross proceeds used for payments to executive officers, directors or promoters. "—" = not reported on that filing. Amounts marked (est.) were reported as estimates. "Paid to sell it" = sales compensation recipients named on that filing (Item 12), each linked to FINRA BrokerCheck when a CRD number is reported.

Counted across all 4 issuers in this group — every filing in our index, latest filing per offering (SEC file number).

Property records 0 documents · 0 ownership records · last checked Oct 23, 2026, 8:59 PM ET · NYC and Cook County lookup still to run

0 recorded documents and 0 ownership records matched to Merit in the sources searched.

Not found in sources searched as of Oct 23, 2026, 8:59 PM ET: Hillsborough County FL Clerk of Court Official Records daily index (publicrec.hillsclerk.com D/P/M files), 2 daily files (Oct 14, 2026 to Oct 15, 2026) — loaded Oct 23, 2026, 8:59 PM ET; Florida DOR NAL roll (Hillsborough 39) roll year 2026 — loaded Oct 23, 2026, 8:54 PM ET; Florida DOR NAL roll (Dade 23) roll year 2026 — loaded Oct 23, 2026, 8:58 PM ET; Harris County Appraisal District real_acct.txt roll year 2026 — loaded Oct 23, 2026, 8:58 PM ET; Dallas Central Appraisal District ACCOUNT_INFO.CSV roll year 2026 — loaded Oct 23, 2026, 8:58 PM ET. Still to be looked up for this group: NYC ACRIS via NYC Open Data (Real Property Parties 636b-3b5g, Master bnx9-e6tj, Legals 8h5j-fqxa, Document Control Codes 7isb-wh4c) · NYC PLUTO ownership via NYC Open Data (64uk-42ks) · Cook County IL Assessor via Cook County Open Data (Parcel Sales wvhk-k5uv; Parcel Addresses 3723-97qp). Records in other counties, and recorder indexes we do not yet cover, were not searched.

Property records coverage: New York City (ACRIS recorded documents and PLUTO ownership, looked up per issuer when its page is viewed; re-checked when the page is viewed again more than 30 days after the last check); Hillsborough County FL (recorded documents from Oct 14, 2026 forward; ownership from FL DOR roll 2026); Cook County IL (assessor ownership and deed/sale records, looked up per issuer when its page is viewed); Harris County TX and Dallas County TX (assessor ownership rolls only, 2026 roll; no deed, mortgage or sale records); Miami-Dade County FL (ownership from FL DOR roll only; Clerk recorded documents not covered). Recorder indexes for TX, AZ, IL and WA counties, mortgages and liens outside NYC and FL, lis pendens and foreclosure notices everywhere, Miami-Dade County FL recorded documents, Maricopa County AZ, King County WA, Salt Lake County UT, and all other counties are not covered — not searched. Last refresh by source: Hillsborough County FL Clerk daily index Oct 23, 2026, 8:59 PM ET; Dallas Central Appraisal District ACCOUNT_INFO.CSV Oct 23, 2026, 8:58 PM ET; Harris County Appraisal District real_acct.txt Oct 23, 2026, 8:58 PM ET; Florida DOR NAL roll (Dade 23) Oct 23, 2026, 8:58 PM ET; Florida DOR NAL roll (Hillsborough 39) Oct 23, 2026, 8:54 PM ET. NYC and Cook County are looked up per issuer when its page is viewed; the most recent such lookup on this site finished Oct 24, 2026, 3:30 AM ET. Parties are named as the recorder's index names them (role suffixes as recorded); no address, account number or trust date is shown for an individual, and individual owners of record (home ownership) are not matched or shown. Items still in human review are not shown.

Issuers in this group

Why each issuer is here is stated in the "Linked by" column. Low-confidence links are never shown — they wait for human review.

Source	Issuer	Linked by	Location	Industry	Filings	Sold (max)	Investors	Min. investment (latest filing)	Active
EDGAR ↗	MF MERIT FUND III LLC	shared people, similar issuer names	WEST DES MOINES, IA	Pooled Investment Fund	1	$0 offering $3,445,300 · similar: $500,000–$16,420,250	0 similar: 2–28	$75,000 similar: $5,000–$100,000	2024–2024
EDGAR ↗	MS MERIT SPE 6 LLC	shared people, similar issuer names	WEST DES MOINE, IA	Pooled Investment Fund	1	$0 offering $800,000 · similar: $500,000–$16,420,250	0 similar: 2–28	$75,000 similar: $5,000–$100,000	2025–2025
EDGAR ↗	MS MERIT SPE 7 LLC	shared people, same business address, similar issuer names	JOHNSTON, IA	Pooled Investment Fund	1	$0 offering $2,000,000 · similar: $500,000–$16,420,250	0 similar: 2–28	$75,000 similar: $5,000–$100,000	2025–2025
EDGAR ↗	MC Merit Capital Preferred Equity Fund I, LLC	shared people, same business address, similar issuer names	JOHNSTON, IA	Pooled Investment Fund	1	$250,000	1	$50,000	2026–2026

"Similar" = offerings in the same industry claiming the same exemption, filed in the last 5 years: Pooled Investment Fund / 506(c) (8,096 filings); ranges are the middle half (25th–75th percentile). Computed by PartnerFacts from SEC EDGAR Form D data as of Oct 23, 2026, 5:45 PM ET. Rows without a range: fewer than 30 comparable filings, or not a Rule 506 offering. No ranking or score.

Timeline of offerings

Source	Filed	Issuer	Form	Industry	Offered	Sold
EDGAR ↗	May 15, 2026	Merit Capital Preferred Equity Fund I, LLC	D	Pooled Investment Fund	$50,000,000	$250,000
EDGAR ↗	Oct 14, 2025	MERIT SPE 7 LLC	D	Pooled Investment Fund	$2,000,000	$0
EDGAR ↗	Jul 14, 2025	MERIT SPE 6 LLC	D	Pooled Investment Fund	$800,000	$0
EDGAR ↗	Aug 8, 2024	MERIT FUND III LLC	D	Pooled Investment Fund	$3,445,300	$0

Activity: 1 new offering in the last 12 months across all issuers in this group (new offering = a Form D that is not an amendment, D/A) · most recent filing May 15, 2026. Industry history, as reported on each offering's latest filing: All 4 offerings reported: Pooled Investment Fund (2024–2026).

People across the group

Name	Roles	Issuers here	First → last listed
RP RYAN PUDENZ	Executive Officer, Promoter	4	Aug 8, 2024 → May 15, 2026
MH MICHAEL HEILMAN	Executive Officer, Promoter	4	Aug 8, 2024 → May 15, 2026
AH ADAM HUMLICEK	Executive Officer, Promoter	3	Aug 8, 2024 → Oct 14, 2025
NG NICK GROSSMAN	Executive Officer, Promoter	3	Aug 8, 2024 → Oct 14, 2025
KL KEVIN LEASE	Executive Officer	2	Jul 14, 2025 → Oct 14, 2025
JM JOSH MYERS	Executive Officer	2	Jul 14, 2025 → Oct 14, 2025
NG Nicholas Joseph Grossman	Executive Officer	1	May 15, 2026 → May 15, 2026
JP JOSH PUDENZ	Promoter	1	Aug 8, 2024 → Aug 8, 2024

Adviser registration (Form ADV)

Searched SEC Form ADV bulk data (registered + exempt reporting advisers) (24,962 records as of Oct 2, 2026, 8:00 AM ET) — nothing matched Merit.

Meta advertising

No Meta Pixel ids or Facebook / Instagram page links on file for Merit as of Oct 24, 2026 — the sponsor website is read for them once it is on file (runs automatically). Meta Ad Library: not searched by PartnerFacts (no API access); a one-tap Ad Library search is under Look further.

Other offering types (Regulation A and Regulation Crowdfunding)

Searched SEC Regulation A Data Sets (Forms 1-A, 1-K, 1-Z; 2015 Q2 → 2026 Q3); SEC Crowdfunding Offerings Data Sets (Form C family; 2016 Q2 → 2026 Q3); EDGAR form index for 2026 Q3 → 2026 Q4 (51,358 records as of Oct 23, 2026, 8:41 PM ET) — nothing matched this name.

Public profiles and social

No website or social profile named in Merit's SEC filings (Form C, Reg A, Form ADV; checked Oct 24, 2026). Web search for this name: #27,591 of 374,652 in line (14 issuers searched so far). One-tap searches: Look further ↓

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Change history

No corrections have been requested for this page.

Request a correction

Free. Covers the grouping itself or any record shown here. Logged with status: received → under review → fixed / confirmed with source.

Sponsor response

Add a sourced explanation next to any fact. Reviewed before publishing.

Grouping is PartnerFacts' inference from public filings (shared related persons, management entities, business address). Everything else on this page is drawn from the filings themselves. Not the same sponsor? Request a correction.

Look further

One-tap searches on sites we do not index ourselves, with the name pre-filled (outside the US (as filed: WEST DES MOINES), IA). Each opens in a new tab; what you find there is not verified by PartnerFacts.

Merit

The short version

What the community is saying

Key records

1. Lawsuits

2. Regulatory actions

3. Bankruptcies

4. Differences between public sources

Paid seller listed without a CRD number: Merit Capital Group, LLC — Merit Capital Preferred Equity Fund I, LLC

RYAN PUDENZ is written 2 different ways on the filings

MICHAEL HEILMAN is written 2 different ways on the filings

Issuer used a different name before — Merit Capital Preferred Equity Fund I, LLC

5. Money to insiders

Issuers in this group

Timeline of offerings

People across the group

Adviser registration (Form ADV)

Meta advertising

Other offering types (Regulation A and Regulation Crowdfunding)

Public profiles and social

Change history

Request a correction

Sponsor response

Look further

Social and web

Courts

Securities regulators

Business registries