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This company and its owner Alexander C. Christy completely ripped off a married couple in Washington state.
With so many financial ponzi schemes and other ripoffs in the news this is one company that needs to be publicized. I really just could not sit by while they deceive more innocent borrowers. Nobody seems to be doing anything about it. I hope you will print this. I can't stand it and somebody has to out these guys because they now have a flashy website and are tying up with mortgage companies that do not seem to have a clue such as 7th Heaven Properties, Golden State Mortgage, Chicago Bancorp, VFinance, even using their money to sponsor an Indiana Chamber of Commerce dinner according to their website press room. I am sure there are others.
What happened was in 2008 Brenda and Randy Morris pledged their stock to Equities First for a loan and they were victimized. Please see a link below for the full court complaint. To sum it all up: Alexander Christy of Equities First sold all of the Morrises shares and gave the Morrises some of the cash as a loan and kept the rest. Even though his website talked of securing and hedging and always returning the shares, it was a lie because he had no security and no stocks. All he had was a contract that made it easy for him to declare the loan in default which is what he did to the Morrises. And he loves to do that because he can keep his big chunk of money and he will not have to return those shares. Nice con job if he can find an unsuspecting borrower.
His website still lies even today. It says they never had any times when they didn't return the shares. Completely untrue and the Morrises proved it.
'So he hopes they default because he will not have to return the stocks. And he would be very happy about that because he does not have the stocks to return anyway and no way to return them except to buy them. And if it costs a lot to buy them in the stock market and he doesn't have any money to do that then he has to come up with a plan to slip out of his responsibility.
So, he tries to pull a fast one whenever somebody's stocks go up. He knows that those people are probably going to try to pay off their loan and get their stocks back. Well wouldn't you if they are worth more.
His way to do that with Brenda and Randy was very underhanded and downright sick. I hope you will publish this as a public service as a lesson to everybody.
Their stock had become much more valuable because the price rose up very high. It rose so much that the stock split in half and became twice as much stock. So now Equities First was holding twice as much of the Morrises stock. The collateral for their loan was worth much more. When Brenda called to pay off the loan and get her shares back, Christy's gang panicked. It looks like that's when they cooked up their scheme to declare a default on the victims the Morrises by twisting the numbers.
Here is how they did it according to people close to this. Suppose you had a loat of stock that was going for 10 dollars a share. you put it up as collateral for one of Christy's stock loans. Then that stock went up to 18 dollars a share. Then it split in half and now there are twice as many stock shares but this price is 9 dollars per share ($18 split in two) but still rising. The collateral is worth a lot more than in the beginning. If Equities First had a real loan, they would be happy. Collateral is stronger, that's good. Your bank would be happier if your car was worth more so their loans is better secured right? Well that is not so with Equities First. They get scared. If the poor borrower can't come up with still more money then Equities First declares default. And Equities First is happy, no need to return the shares any more.
But the poor victims lose out on all that value in their shares. They thought it was theirs. All they could do is sue, which they did.
And when does Equity First do this? Any time the borrower says he's going to pay the loan back. That's because he is going to have to reach into his pocket and buy thos shares to return to the borrower. He will have to spend a lot of money to buy all those shares back. Since they can't, Mr. Christy and Equiteis First declare a margin call and then default. What a nice con job he has! He only comes up with the margin call idea after the Morrises asked to pay off the loan and get their shares back!
He needed to come up with a way so he would not have to return those shares so he just made on up.
The Morrises were devastated by this but they fought back. God bless them. They should have celebrated how well their stocks had done. Instead they found out this group of bad guys at Equities First had robbed them of their shares.
When they filed a lawsuit against Christy last year, Christy declared bankruptcy so the court couldn't attach any of his assets. The Morrises had no choice but to settle to get whatever they could. Really sad.
The worst thing is that this guy is still pulling scam this on people. He is still taking their stocks and selling all of them and keeping the difference. On top of it all he charges interest! Then he really hopes the price goes down so he can call the loan and put a big stress on the borrower. He hopes they will just say "I give up I cant pay it' so Equities First won't have to worry about giving the borrower his shares back. He does not secure. He does not hedge. He has no cash to fund his loans.
This company is just a ripoff and I hope you will list him here as a warning to other people so they do not end up like this poor couple. The Morrises didn't deserve this. There are good honest financial companies out there I am sure but I will tell you this Equities First definitely is not one of those.
I found this link to the legal complaint against Mr. Christy and Equities First. (((ROR redacted))) CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
Noquarter Beaverton, Oregon
U.S.A.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
dan streets
Aurora,Colorado,
United States of America
my experience
#4General Comment
Mon, December 28, 2009
I have done three loans with EFH since 2006. I have found Al Christy and the folks at EFH to have the highest integrity. I do not understand the foundation of your argument and your conclusion. I know from my documentation it clearly states that stock splits and stock dividends are part of the collateral.
I registered with Pacer and accessed the lawsuit and related documents. I am not an attorney and may not fully comprehend the final determination but it sure looks to me that EFH came out the winner ("dismissed with prejudice").
Some of your comments are pretty funny:
tying up with mortgage companies that do not seem to have a clue (must have held a gun to their heads to sign docs?)
using their money to sponsor an Indiana Chamber of Commerce dinner (how bad is that?)
sold all of the Morrises shares and gave the Morrises some of the cash as a loan and kept the rest (did they sign a loan document for more than the cash received? you may not realize it but if it is not a loan then the exchange of cash and shares would more likely than not be a taxable event?)
All he had was a contract that made it easy for him to declare the loan in default which is what he did to the Morrises (what, no default provisions?)
If the poor borrower can't come up with still more money then Equities First declares default (why would the borrower have to come up with more money if the value of the shares had increased?)
He only comes up with the margin call idea after the Morrises asked to pay off the loan and get their shares back! (you sure this isn't set forth in the loan agreement?)
PS I was recently called as a referral for EFH and came upon this posting from a web search. I can't fix all internet abuse but I had to rebutt.
Noquarter
To Prevent Retaliation By Crook Legally,Ohio,
U.S.A.
Nonsense - I filed this and I have no connection to any "competitor"
#4Author of original report
Sat, February 28, 2009
The rebuttal here is nothing but pure lies. It is an attempt to rewrite the facts about what they actually put the family through which was hell. Settled? Everything back? Why don't you give them the details. I know the plaintiffs very well and know what happened. How about letting people see the full complaint not just the summary Mr. Lawyer or whoever you are? You will not show that here will you. I am INSULTED that this guy thinks this is some conspiracy of a competitors! I dont have any idea who their competitors, had NO contact with any competitor or any other company PERIOD! All I know is one thing which is that they hurt two people I care deeplyand personally about and I just couldn't stand it when I saw their website two weeks ago and they were trying to look so honest. I am close to the original plaintiffs in the case and though they cannot do anything now I am really really angry as can be that these people at Equity First think they can just threaten people with lawyers so they can continue to ripoff the public. They couldn't care less what they put this couple through or their family but i saw it all. THATS WHY I WROTE THIS. I do not want to see them do this to anybody else.
Everything I wrote is true. This was no "misunderstanding" about a contract. They tried to ripoff this couple and dragged them through the mud for months.
The victims in this case settled because there was no other choice! But this lawyer will not tell you that. They made sure that nobody said anything about it, sealed it all up. They want everybody to think it did not even happen. They are still trying to tell everybody what a clean great company they are.
The only way to keep these people from threatening my family too is to write it here anonymous where I know they will protect us. There isn't any other place for a whisle blower to go that I could find. I would be glad to come out and speak in public but my wife and I cannot afford any high priced lawyers to bankrupt me so this is the best I can do to warn the public.
Richard Smikle
Indianapolis,Indiana,
U.S.A.
False Anonymous Complaint about Equities First Holdings (EFH) Filed by Competitor
#4Consumer Comment
Fri, February 27, 2009
As the outside legal counsel to Equities First Holding (EFH) I can say this story is entirely fabricated by an apparent competitor intending to do harm by malicious anonymous postings. Its an unfortunate reality of the web today that dishonest competitors create false postings that are typically untraceable and unsubstantiated. This is just such a posting. Unlike the anonymous abusers of the web, I can be reached via the web at www.icemiller.com or richard.smikle@icemiller.com or by phone at 317-236-2100.
EFH prides itself on full disclosure and SEC compliance. It is a business in good standing from the East to the West coast. EFH has many reputable business partners identified on its web site that have fully examined its specialized product and found it to be quite useful. In fact , after hundreds and hundreds of transactions, EFH has never once failed to return a customers stock when that customer has repaid the principal of the loan and interest.
EFH did have a dispute arise with a customer in Washington State after EFH issued a default notice. This arose at a time when there had developed considerable litigation concerning the underlying stock that arose in the years after the loan had been made.
See link to ZUMIEZ Securities Class Action Complaint,
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS207000+11-Dec-2007+BW20071211. If the link is removed, the information can be reached by searching "zumiez class action" and clicking on the Stanford University archives showing the brief synopsis of the case and the complaint.
Given the uncertainties surrounding this company and its principals, EFH decided to resolve the loan and any dispute by agreeing to terminate the loan early. EFH returned all the borrower's shares and the borrower repaid all the loan principle. That was the end of it, suit dismissed. There were other bigger problems that had developed with this stock of which EFH wanted no part.
EFH will take all necessary steps to determine who posted this story and take legal action if possible.