Complaint Review: First Option Lending-Scottsdale AZ

My intent of the rebuttal was to really understand why someone would post that particular situation on the Ripoff Report.  I can't really see how anyone could honestly believe that the post would "help get useful advice on how to proceed or to make sure that it doesn't happen to anyone else".  I think the fact that I am the only person so far that has even made a comment about this post is evidence of how that post was intended to maybe cause problems for a person or company, as opposed to a constructive, intelligent way to obtain advice or give caution to others.







In response to your notion that I may be a loan officer, well, you could not be further from the truth.  I am an educated professional that is not in that field, but I am experienced in real estate investments and I actually have bought a few homes in AZ in the last several years.  As a matter of fact, I do understand the real estate market in AZ very well, and your numbers are severely skewed.....average home values are down 39% (not 50%), and that is since the end of 2007 and not 2006.  As far as me "obviously not understanding the responsibilites of starting and owning a company", well my friend, I have started and owned over 15 companies and I have never had one go out of business, I have sold 13 of those companies to much larger corporations that obviously saw the value in the acquisition of them.







You say that the mortgage company in question should absorb some sort of cost for you, my question would be what cost is that exactly?  Should they give you a loan for nearly a half million dollars even though you are not credit worthy?  I am sure with the denial that you are entitled to a deposit refund.







You claim that if it were your company that you would "take care of the mistake".  So here is the big question......since your company went out of business and you were the owner of that company, and as owner you were responsible for making decisions daily that ultimately led to your company going under and you also made decisions that caused you to file a personal bankruptcy, I will assume that those poor decisions were not intentional (probably were mistakes in judgement, foresight, etc.), then what are you doing for all those families that lost their employment because of your mistakes?  Have you taken care of every single one of them and their families?







Someone made an honest mistake and you were upset......I get that, but to post it in a public forum when it may cause more problems for other people when you know as well as I do that the original post will not get you financed and will not get you money..........that I don't get.







If you were truly looking for advice, than post without mentioning the company or person(s) involved, or call a real estate attorney (like I have many times), but don't let your sour grapes and emotion make you one of those people that justs wants to cause problems because they were the victim of a mistake.







Oh, and by the way, you inspired me to do a little investigating into First Option and it turns out that this company is very highly rated in several states and has one of the highest client satisfaction levels in their industry.  So I am going to have one of my investment people find out if I can somehow invest.  Turns out that their core upper management came together from other successful ventures and joined forces to create this one. Worst case, I will definitely give them a call the next time I buy a property in a state that they are licensed in and give them the opportunity to earn my business.







Thanks for the referral!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The intent of my posting of the First Option Lending article was two fold. First to seek advice and direction from anyone who has had this happen to them and secondly to inform others about my situation so that they may better protect themselves when going through the same process. Here's what I got from the first person who posted a rebuttal , who by the way sounds like a loan officer themselves, did nothing to address the issue but instead made several assumptions that allowed them to come to the conclusion they came to. To these erroneous assumptions I must respond.

The report filed was certainly written with a great deal of emotion as I was very upset, but there were nothing but facts presented.

The loan originator DID MAKE A MISTAKE and said so. I have no problem that he made a mistake, we all make mistakes but it is how he dealt with the mistake that I had an issue with. IF I make a mistake on behalf of my company, my company stands behind me to allow me to take care of that mistake. I would not expect my customer to pay for my mistake. First Option did expect me to pay for their mistake.

It is obvious the reader does not understand the housing market currently in Arizona where resales are running almost 50% by foreclosed properties. Additionally, homes have lost more than 50% of their value since 2006. The home right next to us sold in 2006 for $630,000 and was short sold this past fall for $287,000. So now not only do we need to look for the right home at the right price, you also have to research the entire block you are considering to find out when each of the properties were  sold and what they own them for so that you know the neighborhood you move to
is stable and that the purchase you are about to make is a good investment.

It is also obvious the reader doesn't understand the responsibilities of starting and owning a company. Yes, the last thing you want to do is pledge your home as an asset to secure a loan for your company. I did not do this without extreme pressure from the bank. They came in one day and said unless you sign this we are going to call your loan. I was responsible for 10 families getting a paycheck so I signed the agreement.

So from reading my artice you came to the conclusion "I was accustomed to entitlements"? WOW ! Well, everything I have received in my life I have worked very hard for.  I borrowed money and worked every job I could To make me the first person in my family to secure a college education and borrowed even more money to get an MBA from one of the top schools in the country.  It took me 10 years, but I paid every dime back to insure others would get the same opportunity I did keep a company going for 17 years and provided jobs and incomes for dozens of families.

Lastly, I have to address your comments about how I would expect you to think that while paying rent, that my wife and I could save the funds to buy the house noted in the article. You really think saving that money isn't possible and that is why you further condem the article? Well, as mentioned above I have a very strong educational background and was very successful in the corporate world before I started my company. Well , I simply went back to that world. In addition to the savings we accumulated, I also drew funds from the cash value from my life insurance as well as borrowed funds from my 401K.

You state "You were born at night, but it wasn't last night" Are you sure???

When I first starting reading this complaint, I thought "man I would've been angry too if that was me", but then I starting thinking about all of the facts that were presented by the complaining party (I am sure that that they were all stated with a good amount of bias). 

First off, I am sure that this loan originator never intended to mislead the homebuyer, and I am also sure that if this loan doesn't close that he (Nathan Brack) will not be compensated.....so isn't it possible and more than likely, surely just an honest mistake that someone made?

Secondly, other than spending "hundreds of hours looking for a home" (are we all that naive to believe that anyone would spend hundreds of hours looking for a home.......you would have to look for homes for 2 hours per day, 7 dys a week for a month straight just to get up to 60 hours), what "real loss" was actually suffered by the homebuyer because of this mistake?  I know from experience that if a loan is denied that my deposit would be returned to me.

Lastly, I thought pretty hard about the person making the complaint and realized that this is someone who ran his/her company out of business, was foolish enough to put up their residence as collateral for that business, and ultimately used bankruptcy protection to avoid paying debts that he/she originally agreed to pay!!!!  I am not an expert in psychology, but that sounds like the kind of person that is accustomed to entitlements.  And are we really to believe that after the company was out of business and the bankruptcy was filed, that he/she miraculously starting earning enough money that in 3 or so years they were able to pay the rent and all other typical expenses and still save $80 - $120k for a down payment?  I'll tell you this.....I might have been born at night but it definitely wasn't last night!!

I'm a little surprised at Ripoff Report for not taking a closer at this before allowing the post, as I am sure that there could be serious consequences.  I know I would hate to have a complaint publicized about me when it may be totally unfounded or even something as simple as an honest mistake.