Like many other desperate individuals - I had lost my job recently and was desperate to make an income - I was taken in by a full page advertisement in my local paper in August announcing a free seminar by the Robert Allen Institute on how to become a millionaire by investing in real estate. I went to this seminar and listened to this presenter tell us about a 3 day training program costing $ 2995, which he said would enable students to make back the $ 2995 within 40 days of taking the course, and could generate big incomes thereafter. He said that the Robert Allen Institute would provide very extensive lists of properties which were in preforeclose/foreclosure, and all the investor had to do was to make an offer to the distressed owner, sign a contract, and then resell the property to other investors for a nice profit of $ 20,000 or more.
I was taken in and shelled out $ 2995, carefully noting that the money would be refunded without question if I sought cancellation before the end of the first day of the training. However, when I went back home, I reflected a bit and realized that something was very wrong with this scheme; if it was so easy to make $ 20,000, in a matter of days, wouldnt everyone be doing it? I then did a websearch on the Robert Allen Institute and found there were many complaints about the training.
So I decided to cancel, and to do so I had to go to the training site and meet with the customer service representative. She tried to dissuade me and even took me to to meet the trainers of the course, Robb Lett and Eddie Hasan. Though both Robb and Eddie said the training has worked for thousands of individuals, and I should give it a try, I decided against it, and asked for a refund. I was surprised to learn that the refund "process" was not a simple matter of reversing charges, but required administrative approval and would take 14 days. I had no option, so I aquised to this act of deception and left. Fortunately, I got my money back after 3 weeks and many anxious calls.
But thats where the fun begins. Three weeks after the Robert Allen course was offered, along comes another big advertisement, this time from Careleton Sheets Real Profits, making the same claims. This time around, I succumbed become I was still very desperate and because Careleton Sheets was an Orlando, Florida based company. I live some 200 miles from Orlando and thought I could always interface with these people face to face if the course did not generate the kind of results it claimed. So I signed up, paid the $ 2995 and entered the course. Surprise surprise, there were Eddie Hasan and Robb Lett again, this time appearing as Carleton Sheets trainers. No, we dont work for either company, said Hasan and Lett, we are professional trainers and we take up assignments from both companies. Ok, thats no crime, I thought.
But what amazed me was that most part of the 3 day training course was spent on selling another training package costing $ 4000, and very little time on the training for which we had paid $ 2995. The $ 4000 course was essential said Hasan and Lett, because 90 % of students failed within the first 6 months and gave up on real estate investing, because they did not have a coach and mentor. What then of the easy $ 20,000 we were supposed to make on our first deal after spending $ 2995? Oh, that was not explicity promised, and if that impression was given in the initial presentation, it was an inaccurate representation of the facts. Without the mentoring, said Hasan and Lett, students had very little chance of success. With it, their chances would increase dramatically. Not surprisingly, we discovered at this stage that the initial presenter was also not an employee of Careleton Sheets Real Profits, he was simply a contractor, so he could not be held liable. Wow, deception after deception, but carefully sheltered from legal liability by the simple ruse of using outside contractors to do the sales and make the false claims.
Having poured $ 2995 down the drain, we were faced with the choice: spend another $ 4000 on coaching, which would dramatically increase the chances of making a return on the investment, or walk away and loose $ 2995. Oh, well, I chose to invest another $ 4000. And thats when I began to discove the extent of the deception and fraud that Careleton Sheets resorts to. The web based lists of properties in preforeclose/foreclosure were 15 days out of date, and by the time they were made available to us, were worthless. Hundreds of competing investors had got wind of the same properties on the day they were listed at the courthouse, and there was nothing worthwhile left by the time Careleton Sheets put them up on their website. And no surprise too that Careleton Sheets website based software and lists were identical to those of Robert Allen's including the same kinds of passwords and user names!
The so called no-money down deals were so few and far between that the begining investor had almost no chance of finding them, given that he was competing against thousands of other investors, many of whom had been in the market for years, if not for decades. The coaches of course were not willing to do anything to help you find deals, they would only help you analyse a deal if you found one. Other than that, all the coaches did was walk you through some basic concepts of investing, which any book on real estate available in public libraries could do as well. So there went another $ 4000.
I write all this because the likes of Carleton Sheets and Robert Allens have sold traing courses to millions, and fewer than hundreds of their students have succeeded in real estate investing with the tools and resources they give them. They are essentially frauding and scamming millions, and their scams must be exposed and stopped.
Michael
Coral Springs, Florida
U.S.A.
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