Complaint Review: The Guardian Group Fund - Scottsdale Arizona

Arizona does not license hedge funds to lend money. 
See www.azdfi.gov/alerts/intro.htm
If you see hedge fund listed let me know.

Fellow Consumers....Also look at the link for active licensees...if you can't find the company proposing to lend money to you....call them - 602-771-2800..its the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions.  Ask them if the company you're doing business with is licensed.

There's also a link for Mortgage Fraud listed on this site.

Personally, I do not care about the licensing requirements of any other state and don't care what subsidiary Wells Fargo is using today to be licensed to operate in CA....

I have been involved with private and commercial lending...worked for banks and brokers...done hard money lending....even sold and bought loan portfolios......I know of all the ways of selling money in AZ...enough of my experience. 

What about regular folks who get robbed of their hard earned money....we are on ripoff report for a reason talking about the likes of Guardian Group Fund...no less.  People deserve to know exactly what they are getting into in any financial deal.  They should not be taken for high fees before they know what happened to them.

Reply once any of you have the license number for any one of the Guardian Group Funds in AZ.
Don't accuse me of ignorance...that fruitless....instead help out.

To the Mortgage guy who is trained license in that state . You are an idiot, that why it is called a Private Hedge fund, they don have to comply by banking compliance, they are not charging any closing cost such as , loan discount otr 5 % brokers commission like you do. Read the article on Toxic assets and shut your mouth!!!! This is as real as it gets, and when  it starts getting bigger you will be asking for a job!!!!  NOPE 

You don't need to be a bank to lend.  There are hard money lenders but not all of them need to be registered.  You can even borrow from peer-to-peer networks but you do not need a license for that.  Don't tell me that you've been lending for 18 years this and that because that just shows your ignorance.  Keep an open mind.  Have you ever dealt with a hedge fund?  I don't think so.  People who have been doing certain things for so long are sometimes over-confident and think they know everything.  I've been in the financial services industry for 10 years and yet I feel like I don't even know 1/100th of what's really going on out there. (That's me being very humble.  I probably know 1/50th at least, but my point is, I don't assume I know everything.)

Did you know that Wells Fargo got stripped of their mortgage license by the State of CA some time (I believe) around 2004-2005?  And yet they are still making loans in CA.

There are a lot of different rules for different entities that you or I may not know about.  If people want to be completely diligent and do tons of research, I would advise them to try to contact the FDIC if such a program is allowable and if it does exist.  As far as I know based on reading the FDIC website, they do sell pools of loans to investors and losses on these are loans are shared between the banks and the FDIC. 

I'm not saying that this company is a 100% do-gooder.  It is a hedge fund.  And hedge funds usually try to make tons of money doing many deals like this.  Shady?  I'd say secretive.  But crises like this one is where opportunity arises and they know it.  It's almost like being in the stock market.  Why would you buy a stock so high when your possible return can be minimal?  Of course you try to buy low.  Same goes for this company.  This is an investment for them.  Either way you look at it.  You (the distressed homeowner) is just a number for them.  It does appear that it's a blessing especially if you are the homeowner whose principal balance was reduced.  (And there is a credible news source about a homeowner who was helped by a company such as this.)

This is a fairly new program.  Even short sales take from 2-3 months to over a year.  Since some people already did it but still waiting, let's wait and see how it turns out for them.  Like I mentioned previously, have patience, but don't let your guard down.  Do follow up on your transaction, etc but don't be yelling at people when you don't get a fast response. Be firm, but polite.  It is the way to go get things done.

Did you think I didn't know they are a hedge fund?  Did you call the Department of Financial Institutions and ask them if a hedge fund can lend money in AZ without a license?  Being licensed is the law whether your a sole proprietor or a large corporation. ???  Please take your own advice and complete your research. Only the DFI licenses lending institutions in AZ.  Read # 5 and #6 in my comments above...I know these things because I have been lending for 18 years here in AZ.  For everyone who gets scammed by this company...contact the DFI and complain.  They will work with the Attorney General to stop this predatory lending....but above all....DO NOT PAY UPFRONT FEES TO ANY MORTGAGE LENDING COMPANY UNLESS ITS A PERSONAL CHECK TO AN APPRAISER!

Redo your research on this company under the Arizona Department of Corporations, not the Department of Financial Institutions.  Hedge funds are not banks.  This is their file number L-1542784-7 under the name The Guardian Group LLC.  This limited liability corporation is in good standing.  They have info on the agent's name and members of the LLC, a physical address and a domestic address (im guessing, the office address). 

I am looking into this company as well.  But I am doing proper research and due diligence in filtering out which ones are good reviews and which ones are bad.  So far, this is a bad review with lots of misinformation.

Read up also on the FDIC.gov website.  They do sell distressed loans to investors at fire sale prices through loan sale advisors and auction houses like DebtX.com.  These loans are from banks that they seized.  The FDIC shares with the banks on these losses.

This company is a hedge fund.  I'm not exactly sure what the rules are for hedge funds, but as far as I know, they are not governed by certain laws because of the nature of their business.  They are in the business of making money and they will not divulge all the details of their money-making activities or else they will be copied by other hedge funds.

I would like to see how things turn out for the people who did submit their applications to the Guardian Group.  Please post your experiences here and keep us posted.  Have patience, but at the same time, don't let your guard down. 

I applied for the "principal reduction program" as a desperate home owner who is upside down in my home.

Not So Good News:

I paid the 1595.00 fee and have been left in the dark (for the most part) I never received the 48 hour "pre approval" that they have on the contract. Nor have I heard from an Appraiser or anything of that sort. My particular file has been with this company for just over the 90 day period that they request to handle the file. I contacted their update@guardian group.com email and have not received a straight answer. The fellow who originally referred me to them is now saying that he did not get his principal reduction completed and his bank told him that they have not been approached by anyone. At this point he is no longer referring clients to them

Decent News:

About a week before my 90 days waiting period was up I received an email stating that things were running a bit slower because the holidays. That, I completely understand. The email said that I should start getting more information after the 7th of January. So far I have not heard anything.

Secondly, today I called my bank and they said that they had recently (Jan 2010)  been contacted by the guardian group. Not much inforamtion was given on the contact. That particular thing put my mind slightly at ease for the tiem being.

Conclusion:

I know this company operates in at least AZ and CA. I have seen one example of a completed deal (go to Maricopa COunty Recorders office and type in the business name). I would not sway anyone in either direction at this point. I understand that this stuff takes time so I am not going to jump all over the company negatively at this point. I just wish they would have a better system on updating clients. Only time will tell if my deal gets completed. Once I get a confirmed yea or nea I will place a rebuttal to this posting.