STATEMENT OF FACT (7)
The date is July 1 and I have just walked out of a Real Estate seminar by the company Wealth Intelligence Academy in shock.
In May I saw an ad on that was large, bold, and a definite attention getter. The ad stated in huge letters Teach me Foreclosures. I immediately clicked on the website www.TeachmeForeclosure.com to get more information about the class. Even though the class was free, everyone, including me, knew one was not going to get information about foreclosures for free for it would be a sales pitch seminar to take advantage of the hot foreclosure topic in order to sell seminars!
The Lure - The saleswoman selling the course was well spoken and did an admirable job of convincing just about everyone in the room to purchase this three day seminar that will teach you everything there is to know about foreclosure. I was excited because although I have invested in many properties in North Phoenix and Scottsdale, AZ, and have been very successful, I have not purchased a home through the foreclosure process and I am eager to learn how.
In 1997, I obtained an Arizona State Real Estate License through the Arizona School of Real Estate in Scottsdale, Arizona.in addition, I have extensive training in Property Management, earning the designations (CMCA) Certified Manager Community Associations as well as the higher designation (AMS), Association Manager Specialist. I also have training in Risk Management. I am a jeweler by trade, however, I obtained the education in Real Estate for knowledge purposes only.
It should be noted that I have never worked for a Real Estate Broker nor do I wish to, I just didn't want to be at a disadvantage when investing in Real Estate. I want to get involved with something I have never been involved in previously - foreclosures. Therefore, when I saw the ad I was excited and signed up for the two hour presentation.
The Sales Pitch - During the sales presentation, the company representative continued to stress the language wouldn't you invest three days of your life to learn about foreclosures? The represenative gave example upon example of foreclosure situations/opportunities. She used prestigous publications like the WSJ, NY Times, USA TODAY and other well respected papers with headlines about foreclosures but no other type of newspaper headline was shown, just headlines about foreclosure.
She asked the audience a question, How much do you think the average cost of a three day seminar would be? One person responded: $1,500. Another individual stated $1,800 while still another responded $2,800. Before she would reveal the price, she spent five minutes telling the audience that this course has never been offered in Arizona before and, in the past, people would have to fly to Florida to take this class for thousands of dollars; in addition to cost of airfare, hotel etc. However, since the company has never taught in Phoenix, the company is considering this a test market and you can purchase the three day Teach me Foreclosure seminar for only $199.00.
Lie - What a response from the audience! Just about everyone in the room bought into the deceit and misrepresentation. I could not believe how inexpensive this was when I was expecting and most willing to pay $1,000-2,000. One of the questions I had was is there anything else to buy? Her response was, "Other materials are offered to purchase but it's not mandatory that you purchase them." I was trying to figure out what she meant by that so I pressed her when I asked materials like books and DVD's? She responded in the affirmative and left it at that. I thought, just like most people would, that the additional materials could probably be purchased for $50 or $60.
The ads on the internet, the materials the company hands out, the Teach Me Foreclosure website, the discussion at the sales presentaion are all intended to make you believe you are purchsing a seminar that will teach you about investing in foreclosures. The materials handed out at the free seminar which I have enclosed with this Statement of Fact clearly show the training topics that will be discussed at the three day seminar and it very clearly states that Auction Buying as well as many other aspects of foreclosure investing are training topics when in fact this seminar had very little to do with learning about foreclosure investing.
At the end of the sales presentation, the representative stated that other information regarding real estate will also be discussed but not in detail. If you would like to learn more about those areas of specialty, you will have to take those courses seperately. This made me want to purchase the seminar even more because I felt after that statement, the course I was signing up for was exactly that - specializing in learning about foreclosures, sure there might be other aspects of Real Estate discussed but the focus was foreclosure investing.
We were led to believe that by discussion as well as materials handed and advertising that this was a seminar where the main objective was the focus on foreclosure.
Day One - I arrived on my first day of the seminar the morning of June 29. The teacher stated that we have many topics to cover so we won't have the time to go over everything and you all know you can't possibly think you can learn all aspects of Real Esate in three days. I did not have an immediate problem with this. I assumed that after the main topic was discussed which is investing in foreclosures, if time ran out and other topics are not discussed or we don't hear about success stories who cares, I am here to learn about foreclosure investing.
Although my profession is a jeweler, my passion is Real Estate and to say I was excited about learning the foreclosure business is an understatement. I wanted to learn how to go down to the court house and bid on properties at auction.
Pre-foreclosure - I read an article in the Arizona Republic some time ago on the topic of pre-foreclosure. The article stated that when a home goes into pre-foreclosure, it is public record and the homeowner is bombarded with letters, phone calls, ringing doorbells, etc. Any means an investor can contact them to buy their property. The homeowner gets an average of thirty people attempting to contact them regarding their home within the first two weeks.
For that reason, I have no interest in pre-foreclosure. I am interested in learning about buying Foreclosures with cash at Auction. Furthermore, I have neither the time nor desire to knock on doors or negotiate with homeowners who, in all likelihood, probably do not want to deal with me anyway.
Cheated - I felt cheated when the instructor stated that, with all the topics we have to discuss, we will not be discussing buying Foreclosure at Auction. What we will be discussing is pre-foreclosure. I was very angry that three days of my valuable time was robbed only to find out that this is not about investing in foreclosures as I was led to believe for zero information was provided about buying foreclosures at auction and less than one hour was devoted to the topic of foreclosure over the three day seminar.
Rather than leaving in disgust, I made a decision to stay and see if I could get something from the three day seminar. What I heard from the instructors over the next few days I fear will cause people financial hardship, not to mention the lowering of their FICO score.
The Taping - The examples I am going to set forth can be backed up as fact because this publicly traded company records the seminars. No one attending the seminar is allowed to tape and they made that very clear. The nice thing about tapes is that they don't lie and will back up this Statement of Fact. The Wealth Intelligence Academy may wish to sue me for slander; However, I have nothing to worry about because I am exercising my right of free speech and I will be relentless in making sure the truth comes out about the deceitful ways this learning academy gets their money.
Deceitful Practices Here is the real reason why this company needs to be exposed. The examples I am about to set forth have many witnesses, 180 people attended the class the first day however that number got lower by the hour once people started to realize what was happening here and they are not going to be learning all about foreclosure investing as advertised.
The following may seem difficult to believe; however, tapes don't lie and what I am about to state has been recorded by the company and witnessed by many people. I sat in the back row and a woman named Tracy would replace the tape when it ran out and would put a new one in. Companies may lie and be deceitful, however, tapes don't lie and will ultimately reveal who is telling the truth.
Get Into Debt Lunch Hour - Just before lunch on the first day of training, the instructor stressed the importance of going into debt to get out of debt. He said and I quote, "Going into debt to get out of debt is a good thing." The instructor stressed the importance of how to increase your spending availability. The instructor asked for a show of hands as to how many people in the room had credit cards. Almost everyone in the room raised their hands.
The instructor then inquired how many would like to have their credit line raised just for the asking. Well, the instructor stated, I have a homework assignment for everyone that wants to increase the amount of money available to them. However, this homework assignment is to be done during your lunch hour, therefore, lunch will be extended by 25 minutes to give people enough time to finish the assignment.
The instructor states on the first day we don't have time to talk about buying Foreclosure at Acution; however, the instructor does have 25 minutes to extend the lunch hour so people can increase their credit lines and obtain new credit cards. The instructor even passed out scripts to have the potential Real Estate investors read it to their credit card companies in order to have their lines of available credit increased.
The 800 # for Amex Blue was also distributed for people to apply over the phone during the lunch break and the instructor explained that Amex is going after the credit consumer and most likely will give an approval via phone unlike other credit cards. He further stated that now, if an opportunity comes up, you can jump on it.
The instructor was eluding to the fact that if a Real Estate deal comes up, use your credit card so as not to let an opportunity pass you by. He further stated that it is good for your credit FICO score if you have available credit. He was trying to sell the idea that by increasing lines and opeing credit cards is actually good for your FICO score. At this point, I did not feel comfortable with what was taking place but felt helpless to do anything about it.
Amex Blue - When we arrived back from an extended lunch to allow more time for those that wanted to attempt to increase their credit on their credit cards, the first thing the instructor asked was how many people had increased their credit line or got an Amex Blue card? I was very surprised to find many had been successful in doing so. I would estimate approximately 40 people raised their credit lines and nine (9) people in the class got Amex Blue credit cards including the young woman in front of me.
The teacher wanted to use examples so the young woman sitting in front of me was the first person to raise her hand and stated, I had my credit increased by $5,500 and I called Amex Blue and they are sending me a card with a $6,800 credit limit with zero percent interest for the first three months.
Several others gave examples and the instructor was proud of what he had accomplished and stated I just opened 9 Amex Blue accounts. He recommended to some individuals that they call from home that night and ask for another credit increase. As the tapes will reveal, the instructor stated and I quote, "call the credit card company back when you get home tonight and ask for more credit." That statement was the statement that convinced be beyond a reasonable doubt that this operation is borderline criminal. He kept on saying numerous times you need to go into to debt to get out of debt.
After another few example of others telling the class what their credit limit was increased to the instructor would say tonight when you get home call back the credit card company and ask for more. This is a fine example of how immoral this company is. It made me sick everytime the instructor would say you need to ask for more and you need to go into debt to get out of debt.
During a fifteen minute break a couple of hours later, I approached the young woman named Lynn that was sitting directly in front of me and said, "I couldn't help but notice how excited you are to have increased your credit line with your credit card and getting the Amex Blue. What I told her next shocked her but she did thank me. I asked, Did you know that by increasing your credit and taking out more credit you may be in fact increasing your FICO score temporarily and having available spending money when you need it, but did you know that if you max out that credit card and well as your Amex Blue card your FICO score goes down and your ability to get additonal credit will be much more difficult.? She looked at me like a deer in headlights. I told her the company wants you to do that so when they present the prices of the courses, you have more credit to buy the course.
At this point, most people would think the objective of the request to call during lunch was to increase their spending availability for Real Estate purposes. However, the real reason is that the instructor knows that if they don't do it now, there is a much greater chance of them not doing it when they get home, thus not having the available credit card funds when they try and sell you the program.
I convinced Lynn to take a closer look at what was taking place here and told her before she makes the decision to max out her credit cards and have her FICO score lowered to give it some serious thought. I told her she might not be able to get more credit cards because it will send a red flag to the credit agencies if she spends near her credit limit. This point the instructor did not disclose and that only confirmed what I already suspected: this is a deceitful company and not to be trusted.
I spoke to one of the team members in the back of the room during break (after speaking to Lynn) and told him I was bothered by the fact it was not mentioned that if you use all or most of your credit for anything, your FICO score will go down and your ability to get additional credit cards will be more difficult.
Lynn knew I did not have an ulterior motive for telling her this information and she appreciated it. It wasn't until several hours later in a different context (talking about mortgages) did the subject come up and I can safely say it wouldn't have come up were it not for my persistence.
In fact, it was never referenced to increasing your spending. All that was said was some mortgage companies and credit card companies want you to close down other lines of credit before they will extend you more credit. However, it was said quickly and quietly just to appease me. My feeling is that nothing would have been said without my prodding. If that was the case, why not tell them before spending time on the phone getting their credit line increased and not several hours later in a different context? At this point the damage is done.
In Real Estate, it is all about disclosure and not misrepresenting the consumer. This company is the exact opposite of those standards.
Creating False Hope: If someone asked me to describe Wealth Intelligence Academy in three words or less; it would have to be "Creating False Hope." I know I was hoping to learn about buying forclosure in this seminar as that is how it was presented to me during the first free seminar asking me to spend $199 to learn all about foreclosure.
I was extremely disappointed in finding out this seminar is nothing more than a sales pitch, I felt this way when the instructor stated and I quote, "If you think you could learn everything about foreclosures for $200, you are living in another world. He further stated and I quote, "You get what you pay for and you're not going to get much for $200.00. He always used $200 as opposed to $199 as the tape recording of the intructor will indicate. Moreover, they claimed this to be an educational seminar when it is nothing more than a high pressure sales environment to lure people into buying their courses.
Stealing - I could care less about the money, however, it's my time I feel this company stole from me. This company tricked me into thinking I was atttending a three day educational seminar that focuses on foreclosure which required me to take time off from work. My time is very valuable and I feel this company stole my time through deceit, misrepresentation, lies, and not disclosing all the facts.
Numerous times throughout the presentation the instructor stated that time is money. I agree with this concept and I feel 25 hours of my time were stolen. Multiply those 25 hours by the thousands of others that this company cons and deceives on a monthly basis and this equates to hundreds of thousands of man hours that this company is stealing each month from honest people.
Pre-foreclosure & Identity Theft - What I did learn about pre-foreclosure was most bothersome to me. The instructor wanted the people in the audience to knock on the doors to contact homeowners. The instructor asked the audience to write down a checklist that one needs to get from the homeowner in order to proceed with contacting the bank.
When I saw W2's and additional highly private and personal information the instructor instructed us to get from the homeowner, I raised my hand to ask the following question: "What makes you think someone I don't know is going to hand over his social security number as well as other information when this person doesn't even know me?" I further stated I would be concerned about identity theft and I am sure they are as well as it is the fasted growing crime. The instructor's response was that's another subject
Although I walked away knowing absolutely nothing about how to buy Foreclosures at auction (which is why I purchased the seminar to being with), I was shocked as were 99% of the audience when the prices were announced. Here are the prices of the packages Wealth and Intelligence charges and the discount you will get if you buy today. The teacher stressed continually when he was selling the courses price by price that you need to go into debt to get out of debt.
Let's start with the most expensive package and work down.
The Real Estate Entrepreneur Academy Wealth Builder
Regular price $96,165 Regular price $64,430
On site price $63,999 On site price $42,990
Academy Deluxe
Regular price $55,440 Regular price $46,450
On site price $37,990 On site price $31,990
Platinum Fast Track
Regular Price $32,965 Regular price $23.975
On site price $22,990 On site price $17,990
Gold Classic
Regular price $19,975 Regular price $10,985
On Site price $13,990 On site price $8,990
It should be noted that the most inexpensive package offered was $8,990.
False Advertising - During the free seminar which was also taped, the salesrep stated that people pay thousands of dollars and fly from all over the country to come to Florida to learn all about buying foreclosure property. However, because Phoenix is a test market for the company you guys only have to pay $199! Keep in mind almost all the free presentation was about was buying foreclosures and how important it is to jump into the foreclosure market.
The free seminar was merely a script to lure and deceive people into thinking they were getting a bargain to learn about learning about foreclosure investing, and yet less than one hour out of the three day seminar was about foreclosure.
Actually only a few mintes was actually spoken about foreclosure, the majority of the almost one hour was spent on Pre-forclosure. No time at all was spent on buying buyinf foreclosure at auction even though it clealry states on page three of the handout I recieved at the free seminar that one of the training topics will be auction buying. A copy of the materials are enclosed with this Statement of Fact as evidence of false advertising.
The instructor does not have time to discuss buying foreclosures at acution but does have time for hours upon hours of examples of success stories from students that went through the program. All the examples the instructor was giving was during the Real Estate boom times and none of the examples of students success stories came from buying foreclosures.
Besides, I did not purchase this seminar to hear hours upon hours of Wealth Intelligence Academy success stories; I purchased the seminar to learn about foreclosures like the advertising and distributing materials given at the free seminar indicate.
Preying on Seniors - I am most concerned for the elderly being preyed upon by this company due to the fact that, in my estimation, 1/3 of the class was retired or very close to retirement. Many of these elderly individuals are on fixed incomes and I am certain they do not realize that by leveraging themselves with low interest teaser rates to buy Real Estate, they could be financially ruining their lives.
When you leverage yourself as this school is recommending, it puts more pressure on the investor that everything must go right. One wrong deal and a leveraged retired person on a fixed income, pressured into raising his credit line, opening more credit cards, buying the course and making his first deal and being stretched out on credit cards, could face financial disaster.
If the house doesn't sell, or the tenant doesn't pay the rent, there goes that individual's golden years. The instructor always uses in a perfect world scenerio and never takes into account things like roof replacement, AC that goes or anyother large expense that could force a retired person or any person into financial ruin. I feel this company preys on the vulnerable and the elderly with hard selling tactics.
Keep in mind this is supposed to be an educational seminar that specializes in foreclosure when in fact it was nothing remotely close to that. The goal is to sell you on all the other classes that they say you must have in order to be successful in Real Estate. This sounds like a time share pitch where they give you prizes and trips to hear about what they are selling.
This company took it a step further and decided rather than paying for everyone's airfare and hotel for the over 1/2 dozen employees the company flew out, if we can deceive and fool everyone into thinking they are getting an educational seminar on Real Estate that specializes in foreclosure, at least the $199 from everyone will cover all the expenses.
Summary - In conclusion, I am accusing this company of deceitful business practices, of misrepresentation and not disclosing all facts to the consumer. Wealth Intelligence Academy creates false hope and deceives innocent individuals. I recommend that this company, which has displayed misleading practices from the beginning, be immediately investigated and called upon to explain their unethical actions.
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