findByEmail not working

While i can get loadCon to work with a contact ID when using findByEmail I cam getting nothing returned, I need to be able to get a contacts ID and/or the custom loan status field from their email

<?php
    $conId = $val->cont_id; 
    $email = $val->email; (pulling from Wordpress database) 

    $path = $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'];
    $path .= "/scripts/isdk.php";
    require_once ($path);
    $app = new iSDK();
    if ($app->cfgCon("rz297")) {
          $returnFields = array('Id', 'FirstName', 'LastName','_LoanStatus');
          $data = $app->findByEmail($email, $returnFields);
 }?>

Hey Bobby,

Why have you removed your question on StackOverflow?

You’ve been updating it over and over again, not providing any code or clear details from the start. And after I’ve spent my time helping you on StackOverflow, you’ve just removed your question and now I see you on this forum!

@Bobby_Long you have the same question in this thread Getting multiple contact by email to then retrieve value of custom field. If possible please don’t create new threads for the same question.

So to your question, if you are 100% sure _LoanStaus works when fetching by id, but not by email. I would double check that email is not associated to an actual user in the system. We filter users out for findByEmail. An empty response makes me think that the email address on the contact is not what you think it is or it is associated with a user not a regular contact.