Hi:
I visited the LoanWorkout.org website for the purpose of learning more about what they do and how we might possibly work together. I am a website owner with a genuine interest in leveraging my talents in finance to help distressed homeowners wherever possible.
Noticing that they have a forum message board that gets heavy monthly traffic, I decided to register onto the site in order to engage in dialogue with other people on their forum. Before registering onto the site, I read the forum rules, which can be found here...
Http://www.loansafe.org/
forum/loansafe-org-forum-registration
-rules-please-click-here-join-today/
1-loansafe-org-forum-rules-regulations.html
One would think, from looking at their forum rules, that the forum is completely open to anyone who chooses to register, provided that they obey the rules.
Since I have an online business that provides a service to distressed homeowners, I was sensitive to the issue of improperly promoting products and services on their website. Accordingly, I wrote directly to the site administrator and disclosed who I am and what I do. More importantly, I conveyed to them that I would remain in full compliance with forum rules, which forbid advertising on their site. My thinking was that making such a disclosure would enhance trust in the relationship.
To my surprise, I received an email from the administrator stating that my username was deactivated. Of course, I was puzzled about the deactivation and I inquired as to why, citing the forum rules link (see above). A person named "Cat" responded as follows...
...
The forum is set up for homeowners and we have attorneys and experts that off the advice directly from Loan Safe along with the homeonwer helping homeowner... And forum founder is the president of Loan Safe Solutions and has his own blogs at
www.loanworkout.org
He is one the leading experts on this subject.
...
Seeing the inconsistency with the forum rules, I pressed this person further on the subject, stating that the forum is advertised as being open when in fact it is not (per the email response to me). I got this response...
...
What I was saying is that you are not a homeonwer in distress that needs the advice from our company that runs this non profit website
...
All of the above is proper, and the administrators are perfectly free to restrict access to the forums as they see fit; however, it just didn't square with the published forum rules. I expressed my disappointment with their decision and let the matter stand without counter. My suspicion is that they have competing services and vendors on their site, and that they didn't welcome the chance of me actually competing with them. I don't have a problem with that, but the forum rules were clearly contrary to their actual actions.
Anyway, I decided to check out usacomplaints.com to see if their name came up for anything suspicious. It turns out that several people made negative reports on this site and their sister sites. I then emailed the site administrators and mentioned the negative reporting they received on usacomplaints.com. They then proceeded to ban my IP address from the forum.
Unfortunately for them, it doesn't prevent me from accessing the forum if I so choose, but it does convey a sense of amateurishness on their part that should be disclosed to all who consider their services.
While they didn't cause any financial harm to me, I thought it important to add my story to the body of evidence on usacomplaints.com that points to the site as engaging in suspicious activities. For a distressed homeowner who is desperately seeking solutions, I would advise treading VERY LIGHTLY with these people. As a matter of fact, there are tons of service providers who are upfront and forthright about what they are doing and how they can help you.
Here's a link from CNBC that provides info on how to scout out a loan mod professional...
Http://www.cnbc.com/id/28183604
I hope that this report contributes to the overall body of evidence available here on this matter and this site. Thank you...
Bill
Long Beach, California
U.S.A.
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