I signed up with NLC because I thought it was a good idea. I like real estate, and even though it is an MLM, there is no need to invest thousands of dollars in merchandise in order to join. Now I feel ripped off.
After signing up I was a tad dismayed at the little training that was offered. Most of it is do-it-yourself via their Web site. If you want more training, you are likely to have to pay for it. It is NOT included in the $200 fee, as some promise.
Yet the training online is very general. Real estate regulations differ in each state, and I was never able to find information relevant to my own state. That raised a big red flag for me. But I tagged on...
Every time I spoke to my upline and people in the office, the emphasis was always on getting more people to join, rather than to sell loans. As a member, I get no cut from the membership of others, only from loans I sell, or loans my downline sells. Therefore, the only ones making any money in the recruiting scheme were the higher ups. Thus, NLC is great at selling $200 memberships, and not so great at selling loans. As a member, I was left with the bill.
Later I spoke with a friend of mine who owns his own brokerage firm. He explained to me the compensation model, and it was not as crappy as NLC made me believe. If I had invested just a little more (with NLC I spent about $300. To get a license is about $600 including education), and spent about the same amount of time I did with NLC, I would have obtained a real estate license.
With that license I would have been able to make an NLC branch manager-level cut *right away.* Under NLC I would have to recruit so many people before I got to that level. Only heavens knows how long that would have taken.in addition, NLC also lied to me when they said that no one would hire a loan officer part-time. That is not true. There are plenty of part-time jobs out there for licensed loan officers.
So right there, they lied to me twice. First they told me I would only be able to make a lot of money through them, then they told me that they were the only ones with a part-time opportunity.
Then the news started to pour in. NLC has received cease-and desist orders from both Massachussets and Arizona.in Mass. They closed ALL NLC offices, and referred unfinished business to other licensed brokers.
In addition, I personally saw people tinkering with potential loans to maximize the cut the broker/agent would get. This was being done through the software provided in the NLC Web site. Turns out that there are laws and regulations against predatory lending in many states, whihc include excessive fees and/or points. NCL says that it does not engage in predatory lending, but I was unable to find any information about what this really meant.
In other words, NLC is "hiring" anyone who signs up, regardless of who they are. They say they conduct a background check, but that is not true. My membership was automatic! How on Earth did they have time to conduct a background check in a matter of seconds?
Then, ill-informed people are being set free in the world of finance, and they are not receiving proper training other than how to make more money by recruiting more people. I say this because this is how I felt. I was not properly trainied, and I was let go out in the world. Eventuall I became afraid of making costly mistakes, and I left. No wonder the company is having problems in Mass. And Arz.! It's the lack of proper training, stupid!
But the other thing that did it to me was meeting this one guy. He had well over 100 people under him, and he was unable to move up to the next level because the people behind him were not moving up either. If I remember correctly, I think he was a branch manager.
Now, here is the catch! The commission of a branch manager is almost the same as that of a licensed loan officer at a brokerage firm. Granted, the loan officer will not make a commission on the people below him or her, whereas the NCL branch manager does. Yet, getting to the sweet spot of riches is EXTREMELY difficult. According to the plan, you need FAR less than 100 people below you to get there. This guy had over 100 and was unable to move up to VP level.
Some in this site have defended the company by saying things such as (1) there is always a bad apple, or to (2) check our your upline to make sure they are good people, and finally, that (3) this is not a get rich quick plan and that if you work hard at it you can make money.
All I have to say is:
(1) There is very little consolation on hearing that there are bad apples in a financial firm. We are dealing with people's money and people's trust.integrity cannot be questioned. One of the main reasons I left is because I questioned the overall integrity of the organization because it is too lax on how it screens people, and how it trains them. I think that more than having bad apples, NLC is creating them.
(2) I can trust my upline as much as I want. That does not mean that I can necessarily evaluate a good mortgage professional if I really know nothing about the mortgage industry. Think about it, if you don't know much about a topic what good questions can you really formulate to judge their expertise? I know more now, and this is why I am warning others. Don't let the fervent few blame YOU for NCL's pitfalls.
(3) No, this is not a get rich quick scam. That much I agree with. As a matter of fact, the way it is orchestrated most people will not get rich. Those who DID get rich did so during the real estate boom. Now things are harder, and for those with little experience and training, like me, NLC will never be up-to-par with serious and professional mortgage brokers. Not in this real estate market for sure. Selling face lotion or diet products is one thing, selling a financial instrument is a VERY different thing.
NCL is convenient for people who have some kind of complementary business, like insurance or financial planning. But by and large, it is not a place to make a carreer. If you really want to get serious about real estate, get a license. If you are good at what you do, you too will be able to take any time off and travel. After all, all real estate is commissions based, and you will be a contractor.
If you want to make a couple of bucks here and there, NLC might be right for you. But remember, who are you really associating with? Would you like your friends to make a loan with you only to find out that your office was closed due to irregularities? How do you think they will feel for having trusted you with their money?
So in the end, yes, I was very much ripped off. I was offered training, and I felt that I didn't really get the training I needed. I was offered a fast growing, reputable firm, and I was given an ill-prepared firm that is having its offices closed. I was offered an opportunity, and in the end I am $300 shorter and no better off than I was when I first ran into them.
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