Don Nikols leads the investor side of Nikols Mortgage Fund, LLC, which he founded in 2007. In his role as chairman of the board, he oversees aggregation of capital and investor relations. His real estate career, which spans more than four decades, includes institutional and private money lending, entrepreneurial real estate development and brokerage of all types of capital from loans to project equity. Since 2005, his sole focus has been private money lending including over $1 billion in fundings primarily in Southern California.

As a principal he has formed numerous profitable development partnerships for apartments, condominiums, planned unit developments, single-family residences and retail shopping. As a broker he has arranged equity capital, preferred equity capital, equity-participating mezzanine debt, equity-participating 2nd trust deeds, structured finance transactions, construction loans and adjustable and fixed rate loans for development, renovation, purchase and refinance of individual project capitalizations ranging from $500,000 to in excess of $50 million.

Carrie & Don Nikols are benefactors of St. Michaels Abbey in Silverado, CA and have served as Chairs of the Stewardship Committee at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Costa Mesa. Don is on the consultive board of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church Parish School and is a regular Sunday lector at St. John the Baptist. Don has also served as Chaplain for Boy Scout Troop 911 in Huntington Beach, CA.

Don is a licensed California Real Estate Broker and licensed California General Contractor (B-1). He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration-Accounting from California State University Northridge and holds a Certificate in Investment Real Estate from University of California Irvine.

Carrie Nikols leads loan origination, underwriting and servicing for the Fund. She has over four decades of commercial real estate experience and has lead Nikols Mortgage Fund since 2008, closing over $1.3 billion of loan commitments.

Carrie’s commercial real estate experience ranges from institutional permanent lending and large balance bridge loans to smaller bank and private money construction and tailored transactions. As the top producing Region Manager for DaimlerChrysler Capital Services, Carrie originated and was responsible for a portfolio of $10 to $75 million highly leveraged commercial property bridge loans, all handled as agreed with no defaults. She has also pioneered various loan structures and product types including mezzanine loans, tax-exempt bond letter of credit enhancements with taxable tails, assisted living facilities, self-storage facilities and single-tenant biotech properties. Carrie has also written approximately 50 income property and residential subdivision appraisals as a state certified appraiser and MAI candidate.

Carrie serves on the board of the UCI Center for Real Estate. Carrie & Don Nikols are also benefactors of St. Michaels Abbey in Silverado, CA and have served as Chairs of the Stewardship Committee at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Costa Mesa. Carrie is on the consultive board of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church Parish School and is a regular Sunday lector at St. John the Baptist.

She holds a California Real Estate Sales license and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration-Real Estate Finance.

Adam Deermount is responsible for overseeing the Nikols Mortgage Fund loan portfolio, managing loan closings, construction draws, servicing and modifications.  He tracks construction and development progress, project timelines and budgets, and works with borrowers to address potential problems before they arise.

Prior to joining Nikols, Adam served as Chief Investment Officer at Ramser Development Company where he led the acquisition and asset management teams focused on building a nationwide vehicle storage platform. Deermount was a cofounder of RanchHarbor where he focused on acquisitions and capital raising activities for value-add multifamily, industrial and self storage properties. Deermount also co-founded Landmark Real Estate, a real estate capital advisory firm disciplined in finance and private equity, where he successfully advised clients on over $1.3 billion of capital transactions across all asset classes.

Deermount was an advisor to State Street Bank on the restructuring of a $550 million land and development loan. He also served as a bankruptcy consultant to Hogan-Webb, LLC, the chief restructuring officer of LandSource Holding Company, a $2.6 billion land development company owned by Lennar Homes, LNR Partners, and CalPERS. Deermount’s experience also includes roles with California National Bank, TA Associates Realty and Merrill Lynch Capital in the Commercial Real Estate Finance Group. He has also been an adjunct professor in the MBA Real Estate Finance program at the UCI Paul Merage School of Business since 2021.

Deermount graduated from Tufts University in Boston where he was a 2001 collegiate All-American and national collegiate sailing champion. He is an active member of Newport Harbor Yacht Club and has held numerous leadership roles. He was Fleet Captain in 2018 and 2019 and is a member of the 2024 Board of Directors. Deermount resides in Newport Beach with his wife and two daughters

Chris Adams is responsible for investor distributions, investor relations, financial reporting and tax/regulatory compliance as it relates to the Fund. He has over a decade of experience working in CFO, Controller, and Senior Property Accountant roles for local commercial real estate family office companies including Shea Properties, Lyon Living, Doug Wetton Properties, Pres and DMP.

He holds a Master of Business Administration from UC Irvine.

Chris contributes to the oversight of the Nikols Mortgage Fund loan portfolio, helping manage loan closings, construction draws, servicing and loan modifications. He tracks construction progress, project timelines and budgets.

Prior to joining Nikols, Chris served as Vice President, Loan Originations in the Los Angeles office of Centennial Property Finance (owned by Centennial Bank based in Arkansas). Prior to that he was Senior Associate at Pilot Real Estate Group, a $100M family office based in Greenwich, CT seeking high risk-adjusted returns from lower middle-market credit, transitional assets and development opportunities on both the debt and equity side. While at Pilot Chris identified, structured, underwrote and asset managed bridge loans as well as equity investments.

Chris holds a Master of Science in Real Estate Finance & Investment from NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from USC.

Penny is responsible for processing, coordinating and closing new loans as well as modifying and monitoring existing ones. She liaisons with title and escrow, borrower and lender counsel, brokers, third-party vendors and F&M bank, the Fund’s credit line lender.

Before joining Nikols, Penny spent 15 years at KBS Realty Advisors, a publicly traded REIT based in Newport Beach, as a senior closing associate. She also worked as a real estate and corporate paralegal at The Steak n Shake Company and spent years working at title and escrow companies, including First American Title Company and Chicago Title Company.

Penny holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Arts History from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Ana Quiroz is responsible for handling all construction draws, including reviewing, processing and obtaining necessary backup, including mechanic lien releases. She also requests and reviews construction draw progress inspections and title reports. Additionally, she sets up property account wires and checks, reconciles property accounts, compiles and prepares reports for our annual audit and supports the company with administrative tasks.

Before joining Nikols, Ana spent 20 years as Accounts Payable Supervisor at Taylor Morrison, a public home builder based in Scottsdale, AZ. During her time there she executed payments, handled a high volume of invoices and expense reports, resolved issues with invoices and lien releases from subcontractors, and compiled monthly, quarterly and annual reports.

Sydney Nikols O’Toole directs a wide variety of communications for the company, including designing and executing marketing campaigns, editing and distributing investor reports, liasoning with vendors and consultants, and working with the CMBA and wider community on industry-relevant political concerns like affordable housing. Sydney also assists with scheduling, organizing and executing day-to-day company tasks.

Sydney holds a BFA in Writing, Literature & Publishing from Emerson College in Boston, which specializes in communications and the arts. She is also a graduate of the improv and sketch comedy programs at Upright Citizens Brigade and has a background in comedy and TV writing.

Mike Simondi has documented almost every loan that the Fund and all related Funds have closed since the Fund’s 2007 inception.

Prior to forming Michael P. Simondi & Associates in 1996, he was Partner-In-Charge for Real Estate for the Orange County Office of Morgan Lewis & Bockius; Partner for Real Estate for the Orange County Office of Memel, Jacobs & Ellsworth; and Associate for Real Estate and Tax for the Orange County Office of Meserve, Mumper & Hughes. He was also Tax Accountant for Price Waterhouse & Co. and Arthur Young & Co.

Mike holds a J. D. from University of California, Hastings College of Law; an M.B.A. from University of California Berkeley, Accounting Emphasis; and a B.S. from University of California Berkeley, Accounting Emphasis. He and his wife, Stacy Simondi, CPA, have been investors of the Fund since 2008.

Dennis and his team at Financial Construction Inspections, Inc. (FCI) began conducting all Fund construction progress inspections and project cost analyses in 2019 when Robert Lascelles who had done the Fund’s construction progress inspections since 2014 moved to Washington State.

Dennis founded FCI in 1992 after 9 years with Security Pacific National Bank as VP/Construction Inspector for the Southern California, Arizona, Colorado & New Mexico areas. His experience includes large shopping malls, master planned residential developments, a hangar / training facility for a major air carrier, a $115,000,000 apartment project in Marina del Rey and a $75,000,000 high rise apartment complex in downtown San Diego. Prior to his construction progress and cost analysis work Dennis put in 12 years of direct construction experience for residential, commercial and industrial projects.

Robert has provided environmental reviews and reports and construction inspections for The Fund and all related Funds since 2008 through his firm, Technical Advisory Group, Inc.

Robert was Vice President, Technical Services, of Citicorp Real Estate, Inc. from 1984 to 1997. There he was a construction disbursement inspector for projects throughout California and adjoining states, and participated in development of the lender’s response to environmental risks. Robert then headed the environmental review department from 1997 to 1999 as Vice President, Technical Advisory Services, of Franchise Mortgage Acceptance Company and from 1999 to 2002 was Senior Vice President, Technical Advisory Services, of Bay View FMAC.

Robert holds a B.S. in both Construction and Architecture from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Robert has been an investor of the Fund since 2013.