Complaint Review: Gary Shunt - Vision Mentoring LLC w/ Tom Butler's Materials - American Fork Utah

Looking for something to supplement my retirement, I responded to a flyer in the mail that spoke of Short Sales by Tom Butler.  By 7 Feb "Al" had called me and set up a tele con to talk with me about Short Sales.  With little knowledge and a past of far too much trust, I asked to come to their office.  On the afternoon of 10 February 2011 I found myself in that office in American Fork.  Gary took me into an office and began his sales talk. 

Ignorant of Real Estate and trusting in the words of Gary that I could do it in 5-7 hours a week and still be able to tend my grandson, Lincoln, I decided I would try short sales.   He gave me a list of several books to read.  I wondered why he didn't start me on the materials he handed me?  I now believe the motivational books were to get me past the 3 day period.  Keep me on track until it was too late to see all that was required.

Besides the gross misrepresentation of time (amount and period of day) required are the following:

-I was given 3 days to change my mind on the contract, but it was over a week until I had even one counseling session.  It would have been impossible to know if I could do the business and maintain my present commitments.

-The 5-7 hours a week was not even close.  Plus the time was required at times I was already committed to tending Lincoln.  By the end of the third session (a repeat of the second lesson), I could see it would consume my entire life.  It for me was a complete life change.  I was ill from stress and worry.

-I was led to believe it was good that I had no real estate knowledge.  They would not have to rid me of old habits.  Also a deception to fit their selling technique (best if you do, best if you don't).  It would have been of great benefit to me to have had a real estate background, and was certainly a great hindrance not having knowledge of the real estate business. 

After two weeks I could see that I would have to learn the entire business and act as a real estate professional to do short sales.

-I was led to believe Short Sales was something "new and exclusive," and that regular real estate licesnsed personnel could not do them.  This is not so and I didn't find this out until after signing the contract. Tom Butler mentions in one of his CDs, provided with the course, that Real Estate Agents do short sales.

-I was led to believe that this was a simple process, that the most difficult part would be to connect emotionally to the person losing their home and make them feel I was there to help them.  This also totally misleading.  After 2 counseling sessions I could see that I needed to know research skills, marketing, real estate, the workings of city commerce, team-building/networking, financing, remodeling needs, estimating, and contracting to name a few.

I was LED TO BELIEVE THAT I WAS BECOMING PART OF A TEAM who would help me.  This was probably the biggest of the misrepresentations.  I believed I was one of only five people he had offered to become part of their team.  The real truth is I was told in the second counseling session that I must build my team. "Don't you know anyone in real estate??? Any bankers?  Any investors?"

I was led to believe there was a source called LAP along with my fee that would provide leads for me.  I was put to work the very first counseling session looking for these leads, when Tom Butler says in one of his CDs that anyone who is dumb enough to search out their own leads doesn't belong in the business.  I was able to get into the Utah housing records after a couple of weeks of effort, face to face visits to the records office, phone calls, and emails, but I never did learn to pin down what I was looking for.

I was led to believe my counseling would be in person.  All was by phone and it was obviously going to continue that way.  I actually thought I would have someone modeling the process for me.  For $10,000 one would think so????

I was led to believe that a short sale was better than foreclosure.  This is also not true.  My daughter-in-law who works for a title complany said she would much rather see her home go into foreclosure, as the banks were less likely to come back later. Also, a real estate friend who lives in Logan said she tried to stay away from short sales because of the possibilities of litigation.

Mr Shunt enticed me by sharing the fact that he bought a $20,000 swing set for his children, so show the money making power of the business.  My $10,000 is nothing to him-- just half of a swing set.  Why would it bother him to take 1/2 of a swing set from someone? 

I was told, after signing the contract, to not tell anyone for a while (Now I'm certain that was to allow the three days to pass).  Also given the list of books to read.  "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind"/Eker; "The Magic of Thinking Big"/Schwawrtz; "Goals"/Tracy  Don't get me wrong.  They were all great books, but they kept me busy through the three days that I should have been learning about the program and realizing it was much more than 5-7 hours per week.

 I was then also made privy to the fact that Mr. Shunt's wife is the niece of the late President Gordon B. Hinckley, and was also related to the late Elder Worthlin.  He, himself, is the enphew of Elder Boyd K. Packer.  I trusted so blindly that when the lawyer who had done my trust for me found out about this and told me to get out, I didn't listen.  I believe now I was told these things to build trust in him to get me past the three day waiting period, for it did.

I was led to believe that he wanted to "help people"  that he wanted to help me and that together we were going to help lots of people.  Look where I am . . . without blinking an eye he took $10,000 of my retirement savings and evidently feels the tight contract he was able to write and the sales pitch he was able to deliver earned it for him?????

It is so inconceivable to me that this can be done to a person.  It is sad enough that someone is willing to do this, but to have the law support him is beyond my ability to grasp.