Complaint Review: Certified Financial Protection Group - Safehouse911 - FHA365 - Temecula California

In November 2008, we initially hired Safehouse911 to reduce our mortgage payments by "negotiating" with our lenders for a loan modification. They assured us that they had done hundreds of loan mods for people like us who weren't in default, but due to circumstances beyond our control, were not able to refinance at lower rates. This was the "perfect solution".

We paid them $2500 to complete said loan mod, and a forensic audit, which they were "throwing in for free" with our loan mod--but we had to pay them first before they could start the process. We were very uncertain about giving them money upfront, but they justified it by likening it to paying an attorney's retainer fees before performing a service (after all, they claimed they were an attorney-backed company). Because they sensed our hesitation, they agreed to let us pay half up front, and make payments for the other half. For people truly concerned about my financial situation, it didn't bother them at all when I told them I'd have to deplete my tiny 401K in order to pay them part of the remaining half.

After a couple of months of dealing with different "negotiators" (as turnover was quite high), and a name change to Certified Financial Protection Group, nothing was happening. Periodic reports from them via phone and email assured us that they were "still in negotiations". When pressed for specifics, our negotiator-at-the-moment would give us a play by play of their conversations with our lenders, basically throwing the blame back on the lenders themselves. I suppose this was a stalling tactic. At this point, they had $1250 and were asking for the rest. We said, "no more payments to you until we see progress" and finally "we want our money back". It was then that the Director of Operations, Don Brokaw, spoke to us on the phone to assure us that they could help us--but, he promised, if they could not secure us a loan mod, they would refund us our money, minus $500. This seemed reasonable to us at the time, so we proceeded.

Fast forward to April 2009. We were still being fed the same story, and again when pressed for details, our negotiator-at-the-moment would throw blame back on the lender. And, we still did not ever receive a copy of the forensic audit that was supposedly done. At this point we demanded a refund again, but were told "let us do what you paid us to do". We gave them another month, until we were so completely fed up, we requested our money back. We were told we needed to speak to a supervisor, and after chasing her down for several weeks, were then told we needed to speak to her district manager. Ridiculous!

We've been calling, sending emails, and even a certified letter, with the copies of our correspondence in writing, demanding our money back. This company may as well have dropped off the face of the planet. Perhaps they have finally been closed down for good. For the sake of others, I truly hope so. But for us, we can only continue to relentlessly pursue the money that was given to them under false pretenses. In the meantime, we've filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, our state's department of justice, and the CA State Bar Assoc. A class-action lawsuit with a CA attorney's office is our next step. Who will join us?

Rubystella

New Hampshire, New Hampshire

U.S.A.