Complaint Review: Platinum Capital Group

I was prospected by Platinum Capital Group of Irvine, CA in December 2000 as a
Branch Manager, I was told that they were approved with hundreds of Conventional and non-Conventional Lenders and that they had a full staff of quailified underwritersf.

I was at the time with a smaller Mortgage Banker that was no longer able to handle the volume of FHA loans that I was producing, I had been with this Lender for a little over 2 years and had built up a good reputation Statewide.

I spent thousands of dollars out of my own pocket setting up the new branch for Platinum who insisted on having me transfer my entire Pipeline of loans placed with the other lender into there name, I was told that I would be reimbursed for all of these startup expenses once my loans started funding.

I started Platinum Capital with about 26 Loans, many of which were Purchase Loans with Realitors and were a result of relationships I had developed over years. Right away I started noticing problems with Platinum paying the bills such as the Lease first and last month with deposit, the phone and appraisals, not to mention all of the operating expenses that I was paying, as of this date I have only been reimbursed for a small portion of the out of pocket expenses I've had to pay.

My experiance with Platinum Capital only got worst, They were not able to close and fund any of the loans on time, there underwriters would not check off the Loan Conditions when you would send them no matter how many times you sent them and many times they would loose them, usually when it came time to order loan doc's or fund the loan, This situation only continued to get worst as time went on.

I formally both in written form and verbaly expressed my concerns and twice gave my 30 day notice to terminate my contract, each time I was told that they were correcting the many problems they were having and urged to hang in there, once they flew me to Platinum's corporate office in Irvine, ( I ended up having the cost subtracted out of my income later) and I even just prior to my giving my final notice recieved a visit from Jack Daly in my Oregon Office, he urged me and my processor to hang in there that things were getting better, in fact he stated that they had just signed up 30 branchs in Oregon (a very scary thought and one the State Finance Depatment, I hope will Stop)

Not long after Jacks visit I started having problems getting loans funded, Platinum's underwriters would intentionaly not sign off on funding conditions and fund the loans, These were purchase loans and in one case I had a couple living in a motel with 3 children after they had signed there loan doc's in escrow for two weeks while Platinum played this game, Finaly it took a consorted effort with the client, the escrow officer and myself, Fax blasting these conditions they had been claiming not to have recieved, All of us at the same time before they finally funded the loan.

Noticing these problems were getting much worst with my branch and with other branchs I had be contacted by I decided to contact HUD to see if there were a number of complaints simular to mine, I was then told that Platinum was being investigated for a number of serious violations.

I then contacted Platinum to give my 30 day Written Notice and inquire about these complaints, I was immediatly threatened by Peter McDonald the Platinum on staff attorney (now I know why they need an onsite attorney), I was then told that my branch would be closed imediately and that all my loans were the property of Platinum, My processor was instantly fired without notice and was told he would recieve no final paycheck.

I of course having 11 more loans due to close that month and finding myself instantly out of license told Peter that I was going to do everything in my power to (*%#@*) him and Platinum for distroying me and the business that I had spent years buildin up, I then started my own investigation ( My previous occupation was a Licenced Investigator in the State of Oregon for Oregon State Investigations) What I discovered during this investigation complelled me to file this complaint.

I have been contacted by many other branchs all of which have had the same problems as I have had, Not only does HUD have a large number of investigations on going against Platinum in a number of States, but I have found out that the number may be as high as 77 seperate counts, I have also been told there are many State Department of Finance investigations on going in a number of States, FTC Complaints, and even the Inspector General is doing an investigation, I have been told that there is a large number of Appraisers, and third party vendors who have not been paid for months after the loans have funded, (of mine have not).

Platinum has from the date of my Notice and compaint to HUD started generating Slanderous lies about me having a drinking problem and sexually harassing my employees claims that are not true and have no basis, These being efforts to discredit me and my very provable claims, (after all they are public records).

I have been told that many of the lenders Platinum was approved with have canceled there right to do business with them and that the companies Credit or Werehouse lines are in jeporady of being closed (this would explain there stall tactics and lack of being able to fund loans on time).

Myself and a number of branchs are currently looking into a Class Action Law suit against Platinum for a number of causes, We are also looking into the possibilty of a Class Action for our clients, My goal is to Find "ALL" of the Current and Past Branchs of Platinum Capital throughout the USA and the many clients who have suffered as of a result of these very bad business practices.

In closing if you are considering doing business with Platinum as either a client or employee "BEWARE", To show just how deceptive this company is, they are currently on a massive promotion to signup branchs yet they can not even come close to handling the loans they have, also with all of these Investigations shouldn't they be holding off on the massive promotions to expand?