Money Tree Mortgage Ripoff money taken for services not performed Olathe Kansas
We began working with Money Tree Mortgage in April 2003 to obtain mortgage financing on the purchase of our first home.
We spoke with Darren, Shalena, Trisha, Devorah, and Inna in their Olathe, KS office. According to their scheme, an initial application fee of $300 was required from us to begin the loan process, but that it would be refunded to us at closing. We did not feel comfortable doing this, explained this to Darren, he agreed, and nothing more was said on the issue. He said that we were prequalified and we would hear from their processors soon.
We then received a phone call in mid-June from a representative of Money Tree who threatened that if we did not pay for this service immediately, our credit worthiness would be damaged and we would be unable to obtain financing because they had already started the 'leg work' of our application. We were then charged an additional $10.50 on top of the $300 fee, which was due to us not agreeing to pay back in April.
We paid. Again, we were assured that this application fee would be refunded to us at closing.
Darren, Trisha, and Devorah each assured us that we had been granted an approval from their lender, and we began to receive approval letters and 'packages' stating this. However, the contracted closing date came and went without any further communication from Money Tree.
We repeatedly called their office to discover when a good closing date would be, and were forced into leaving voicemails for these individuals. It was extremely difficult and seemingly impossible to speak with anyone personally. And although we gave them permission to speak to our realtor about the closing, etc., he was hung up on anytime he called their office. This prevented him from providing us with adequate representation. We finally heard back from Inna, who stated that our file was in underwriting and that the reviewer was on vacation and nothing could be done until he returned. We asked her to take this up with the lender's account manager in order to expedite things, to no avail. No further callbacks, nothing. We began submitting emails to these individuals, and still received nothing from them.
It is now mid-March, 2004 and as far as we know, our file is still in 'underwriting'.
Another problem we noticed with Money Tree lies with the Good Faith Estimate of HUD charges that was provided to us. This company attempted to charge us a mandatory 2% loan discount fee to buy down our interest rate, yet they weren't actually buying it down. When we brought this to their attention, we were told that 'the computer tells us to put those numbers in there, so we do..' Money Tree attempted to charge us padded closing costs that could not be explained.
Thankfully, we finally gave up on this company and closed on our home with another mortgage company. That process took less than 2 weeks.
Much to our amazement, we never heard anything again from Money Tree. They took our application fee and ran with it.
We brought this to the attention of the Better Business Bureau, the Office of the State Banking Commissioner in Kansas, as well as to an investigator who is working on a case against this company. We have been informed of the revocation of their license to practice mortgage brokering, and would like our money back immediately. Unfortunately, our bank will not charge back the amount because it is past a 60 day policy they have in place.
We have been told that our complaint against Money Tree mirrors that of over 180 people.
Do not work send this company any money. They should be imprisoned for fraud.
I hope there is a class action suit and penalty worthy of the crimes they have committed against many people.
Michael
San Marcos, Texas
U.S.A.
STOP! ..before you think about using the Better Business Bureau (BBB)... CLICK HERE to see how other consumers were victimized by the BBB's false or misleading information. Don't be fooled! It has been reported, when there are thousands of complaints and other investigations underway by authorities, the BBB has no choice but to finally give an UNsatisfactory rating to a BBB member business that is paying the BBB big membership fees every year. When a business is reported that is NOT a BBB member, BBB files WILL more likely show an UNsatisfactory rating, then reportedly shake down that company to become a member of the BBB. One positive thing about the BBB is, either way, if a business has an unsatisfactory rating with the BBB, you can be sure, the business is bad. But what about all those BBB member businesses that had complaints filed against them? Consumers never get to hear about them. What about the BBB advertising to the public? Is this a false and misleading perception they are giving about consumer confidence when dealing with a business? Click here to understand more of what consumers and business alike are saying about the BBB. You decide. ..Remember. The BBB membership is not earned, it's paid for!
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Kenneth & Marie
Pflugerville,Texas,
U.S.A.
a story with Channel 8 news on this company
#4REBUTTAL Individual responds
Sun, March 21, 2004
Here is the phone number to Dect. King at the GA Police Dept. 770-592-6010. We did a story with Channel 8 news on this company, your bank did not tell you the truth, we got our money back after 5 months from July 03 to December 03. There is no statue of limitation on when a bank can reimburse you. Contact the dispute dept of your bank, we did and we got our $300.00 back within days.
Here is a copy of the story we did please read it and contact your paper and TV station as we did.
Our Story to Channel 8 News
Buyer beware of dishonest mortgage companies
3/13/2004 6:28 PM
By: James Keith
Interest rates are at an all time low and lots of homeowners are taking advantage of the opportunity by refinancing their loans. But as one News 8 Austin viewer found out, not every mortgage company has the consumers' best interest in mind.
Kenneth and Marie Thompson pay about $1,000 a month for their home in Pflugerville. They wanted lower mortgage payments, but bad credit left them with few options. So, they decided to refinance.
The Thompsons knew that refinancing might be tough. An e-mail from Money Tree Mortgage in Georgia seemed to offer a solution.
"They just out of the clear blue found out our e-mail address. Sent us an e-mail [that said] 'Congratulations, you have been approved for a loan,'" Marie said.
She said the company promised to refinance the family's mortgage, despite poor credit. Thompson gave Money Tree permission to withdraw $300 from her checking account. The money was supposed to pay an application fee.
"We stopped hearing from them, so we started calling Money Tree Mortgage trying to get through to someone to find out what's going on," Thompson said.
Thompson also called and wrote and finally reached someone with Money Tree. They told her she would need to send $15,000 to $20,000 in order to close the mortgage deal and get her $300 back.
Frustrated, she went online to Web sites for consumer watchdogs.
Marie and Kenneth Thompson
"I saw Money Tree and started going through it and said, 'Lord we are in trouble,'" Thompson said.
She found thousands of others dealing with the same situation. The Better Business Bureau of Georgia recorded more than 160 complaints over the last three years -- 150 of those since March 2003.
"This is definitely a very, very confusing issue because if you're not well versed in how mortgages work and how points and interest rates work, you really are at a loss," Carrie Hurt, with the BBB, said.
Consumer advocates say do your homework before making a commitment.
"Never do business on the first call you get from a company. Go ahead and take their information, but as any industry we would suggest consumers look at three different businesses at least," Hurt said.
WATCH THE VIDEO
Dishonest mortgage companies
One company solicited clients to refinance loans and then took their money without providing any services.
The Thompson's bank eventually reimbursed their $300. They weren't able to refinance, but they were able to walk away with a valuable lesson.
"It was an offer that was too good, too good. Anything that is that good leave it alone, leave it alone," Thompson said.
News 8 Austin tried contacting Money Tree several times, but did not get a response. The BBB says the company has an unsatisfactory record with the bureau due to unanswered complaints.
Dawn
Seaford,Delaware,
U.S.A.
MTM RUINS PEOPLE"S CREDIT SCORES!
#4Consumer Comment
Wed, March 17, 2004
My husband and I started our horrible ordeal back in April 2003. Take information from all the others who have suffered from the hands of MTM and put the information together and BAM you have our situation. Not only do they ruin people's wishes and dreams, they also ruin people's credit scores!! How I found out was recently went to buy a new car and saw my credit report. I was embrassed and obviously pissed off in front of the salesman. My credit report score dropped 80 to 100 points because of MTM's inquires and selling the information to other mortgage companies. I hope they all end up in prison and can't sleep good for the rest of their miserable lives!!! What goes around, comes around MTM!
Angie
Brainerd,Minnesota,
U.S.A.
More and More Victims
#4Consumer Comment
Tue, March 16, 2004
We too were ripped off by Money Tree. At that time (Jan '03) they were only stealing $200.00 from people. They tried to take $300.00 but I kade them pay $100.00 back. I was given the excuse they had just raised the fees. The Kansas office is shut down. The District Attorney did that. The Owner of that Kansas office moved to Woodstock GA to continue the scheme with his brother. I contacted the Woodstock Police and spoke with Det. King. Call him. The last time I spoke to him, they were contacting the FBI. He told me he wasn't sure who would end up doing the investigation, them or the FBI. You can get the phone# from directory assistance. Also file an online complaint with the FTC, your AG. You can get Money Trees license # (if your state requires one) and when you file your complaint with your Attorney General, let them know they are under investigation. Let them know the FBI has been summoned. From what the Det. told me, they are keeping close watch on them and they won't be going anywhere. It will take time for the investigation, but they will go down. We just have to be patient. Please file your complaints. The more complaints that are filed the better. Good Luck