I was contacted by Karla Brundage regarding an unsecured loan I was interested in securing for a startup business. Karla sent me a document that contained different programs they were offering and associated agreements with names blacked out. There document was confusing, so Karla helped me chose a program over the phone. Karla informed me that the success fees associated with securing the loan could be deducted from the loan.
Next, I signed their agreement and paid a $1000 non-refundable administrative fee. I then received an agreement to sign for a third party and was instructed to send the agreement back with a voided business check and the first page of our latest business bank statement. At no point before the agreement was signed was it disclosed that they would be working through a third party. The check and bank statement were needed to deduct success fees from our business bank account, which is the opposite of what Karla told me. The option to deduct the success fees is at the discretion of PPMP Group, the third party involved. Regardless, they still want the voided check and a copy of your latest bank statement.
At this point, I confronted Karla that they she withheld this information and she told me that I knew 100% up front that they were dealing with a third party because the paperwork they sent me with programs had their name blacked out. They did not explicitly disclose this information to me and despite asking them numerous times they have failed to show me where it was explicitly stated that they would be working with a third party. Karla also changed her story from the success fees will be deducted from the loan to that can be arranged with PPMP Group.
Because of this, I asked for a refund of my $1000 since her apparent intentional misrepresentation of facts borderlines on fraud, which would void their agreement. They refused and her and her partner Mark Brundage became very unprofessional with me in tone and issued legal threats as a tactic to get me to proceed with the loan application. They even told me I was in breach of contract and would have to pay them 5% of the total loan ($ 25,000), even though the total amount I was seeking was not in any agreement. They based that 5% off of a $500,000 loan, which is not the amount I was seeking.
I told them that I would only proceed if PPMP Group would give me an amended agreement stating that success fees would be deducted from the loan. As such, I would not be giving them our voided check or first page of our latest bank statement. I also said that I would not be giving them my personal information such as SSN, drivers license number, and information on my nearest living relative unless they could tell me why it was needed, provide privacy policies on storage and usage of such information, and provide the specific provisions of law, specifically regarding my SSN, as to why I need to give them this information. They have not provided this and continue to issue unfounded legal threats and reply to my emails very unprofessionally.
Lastly, I cannot find any online presence for PPMP Group and their website is not existent (http://ppmpgroup.com). Why would I want to deal with a company like that? Why would I provide this company with my personal information when I know nothing about them?
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