Do not fall prey to national freedom group... The are the biggest scam artists i have ever seen!!!
I was laid off March and was wondering how I was going to pay my original mortgage amount while making less than half of what I did while I was working. I struggled for many months trying to pay my mortgage, I even went on a payment plan with my mortgage company, but by April I was just so far behind that I couldn't see the "light at the end of the tunnel" (so to speak). Then I received a notice, via mail, from National Freedom Group stating they could help me reduce my mortgage payment. I was desperate, I didn't want to lose the very first home I had ever purchased, so I contacted them.
I spoke with a guy named Jason Baatz who told me all of these wonderful things NFG could do to help me. He stated they could help me not only reduce my mortgage payment & my interest rate but they would deal with my mortgage company (Bank of America) personally. This sounded like what I was looking for. Not only could I keep my home but my payment would be lowered, so I sent all the information they requested and waited for a response. Jason also stated that it would not benefit me to pay my mortgage payment while I was waiting for NFG to get my loan modification set up.
After a few more phone calls/emails to & from Jason, I finally received a call from a guy named Lee Diamond. He explained that I had been approved for the loan modification with NFG and that I would need to sent them $2995.00 to cover legal fees. I had explained that I was not able to do that at that time. However, I thought it over for a few days, not being in the mortgage business (& not knowing it is illegal to request upfront payments for a loan mod didn't find that out until 04/13 f/BOA) & wanting to trust what I thought was a legit company, I called Lee Diamond back and made payment arrangements. I was to send them three (3) checks. The first was to be a cashier's check for $1,000.00 the other two (2) were to be personal checks that were post-dated (one for a $1,000.00 the other for $995.00). I was (& still am) desperate to keep my home, so I sent the information requested & the checks (they even emailed me a Fed-Ex label to do so), then I waited and waited.
About a month went by, I know I should have contacted them sooner, but we all know how busy our lives can get. That being said, when I went to contact NFG the original phone & fax numbers had been disconnected. Thinking that I may have written down the wrong number or dialed it incorrectly, I went to their web site. I dialed the number that was listed & left a message. I also sent an email, while I was on their site. The next day I get a call from Rachel stating that all is going well with my modification but she would need a few more documents & would be calling me to let me know which ones. Two days go by I get another call from Rachel letting me know what docs I would need to send. I had a few more questions so I tried to call back & once again, had to leave a message for her. After not receiving a call back I attempted to call her several times the next day. I spoke with a lady named, Daneille, who actually works for an answering service for NFG. I asked why I was unable to get a direct line or extension to Rachel. She advised me that until NFG "rolled" their phone lines over for the day that I would have to leave a message, which I did once again! I asked her how she got the messages to Rachel, she stated she emailed them. So asked what email address she was using, she of course couldn't tell me, so I read the one off that I had used & she stated it was the same one. What I didn't understand is how Daneille could get her emails through when I could not. Every time (after the original email I sent earlier in the week) I sent an email, I got a MAILER-DEMON UNKNOWN.
When I was unable to contact NFG, I contacted BOA & asked them if NFG had ever contacted them regarding my modification. The rep I spoke with at BOA stated NO and the only way NFG could start any type of modification was for me to have signed a form stating that BOA could release information to NFG, which they (NFG) had NEVER done!!! In speaking with BOA is when I found out that it is ILLEGAL to ask for upfront fees in order to do a loan modification.
I am not the "sharpest tack in the box" but I'm not stupid either, I just don't do mortgages so I "trusted" NFG to help me with the "unknown", boy was I taken for a ride!!! I have been able to re-coup some of my money, I put a stop payment on the last check. So, while NFG has gotten the bulk of my money, they didn't get it all. I will continue to fight to get the rest of my money back. I have sent a fax to NFG stating I wish to terminate my agreement with them & I wish to exercise my right for a full refund, which according to their "legal" papers, I am entitled to a full refund with in 30 days. Not sure if will ever see any of that money, but I will continue to call & fax them (unless of course they disconnect those lines) & I will contact whoever I need to in order to fight to have this company closed. Also, I am no longer able to email NFG or even go on their original web site. It's amazing but two days after I looked at their site it's been shut down or changed.
So please do what I didn't do, do your research and check out ANY company before you do business with! The old saying rings so true..."If it sounds too good to be true... It probably isn't"
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