I decided to "sign up" with Home Assure because I (like many Americans these days) have been on the road to foreclosure and I was desperate to find some help. After going to their website, reading the testimonials and doing some research on the internet, I felt reasonably secure that they were a legitimate company. I couldn't have been more wrong.
The first contact I had was from a man named "Shannon Johnson". He was awesome. Fantastic customer service and very friendly. I felt that he was going out of his way to help me. He even gave me his "personal" cell phone number to call if I needed anything. Of course, he never answered when I called, but he had great excuses for that, and it really didn't bother me anyway. So, Shannon sends me the Home Assure Working Agreement, says to get it completed pronto, and send it back. You'll see why he was so impatient about this later. I do this, and also send $500 via MoneyGram as my "down payment" for their services. Shannon tells me he's not supposed to let me split their normal fee of $1500 into three payments, but he's so nice about it that you truly think he's doing you a favor. At least that's what I thought.
After I completed the Workout Agreement and send my money in, I'm contacted by "Penny Greene" (AKA Martha Greene) who's apparently one of the Home Assure mitigators. I never had much contact with Penny because I "opted out" almost immediately after she contacted me. She did send me an e-mail with a document that explains the process, but there wasn't anything done past this point, so it doesn't really matter.
Like I said, I opted out at this point. I was able to receive help with my mortgage and get caught up on my own, and I didn't need Home Assure's services anymore. I sent Penny an e-mail stating this and thanked her for helping. I asked what I needed to do for a partial refund of the $500 I sent them and she referred me to "Michael Grieco" who's one of the managers. I sent Mr. Grieco an e-mail requesting a partial refund because I felt that since I had barely gotten started with the process it was fair to get at least some of my money back. It took a few days for Mr. Grieco to get back to me, but he finally replied to my e-mail on July 18. Here's what he said:
My apologies for not getting back to you sooner. However, I needed to investigate the situation. Unfortunately, I can not approve you for a refund. We do not refund people's money who hire another company, hire an attorney, decide to go on another direction, or simply change their minds. We do this to protect ourselves from clients using our paperwork and expertise so they can negotiate their own resolution. I might have considered a partial refund, but you have made a partial payment anyway. Had you asked us to prepare a personalized workout package for submission to your lender without doing the actual negotiation, we would have charged you $1,000.00. Therefore, we are requesting you pay an additional $ 500.00 for a total of $ 1,000.00. Please let us now when you expect to make the final payment.
Thanks,
Michael Grieco
Home Assure
Needless to say, I was shocked. Here's my reply to Mr. Grieco:
Mr. Grieco,
No problem with the delay. I was just starting to get concerned that I'd never hear from anyone again. I totally understand your need to investigate this and thank you for doing so and replying to my message.
I am a bit curious as to your decision though. Especially the part where you not only tell me I'm not getting a refund, but then you throw it back to me that I still owe you $500! That was pretty funny.
But seriously, all joking aside, your company didn't even do anything for me except collect a little information and assign my case to one of your mitigation staff. My lender has not been contacted by Home Assure so I fail to see how your company even earned this amount of money in the first place. I had three phone conversations with "Shannon Johnson" that lasted maybe 30 minutes total. I faxed some documents to Home Assure and received an e-mail from "Penny" on your mitigation team.
However, I do see in the Working Agreement where it says "If this working agreement is terminated prior to the conclusion of HA's services, the right of HA to retain any fees earned from efforts prior to termination of services shall not be divested by termination of this Work Agreement and any portion of the fee retained shall be calculated based on actual time invested multiplied by $150 per hour with a minimum charge of two (2) hours but not to exceed the flat amount set forth above". (NOTE: THAT'S WHY SHANNON JOHNSON WAS SO EAGER TO GET MY MONEY IN SO QUICK!)
Home Assure "earned" $500 of my money but only because that's all I sent in. I'm so grateful to Shannon Johnson for allowing me to do so, versus sending the entire amount in! Please thank him for me when you get a chance. Anyway, since I have not paid any more than $500, Home Assure has no other fees to retain. I will not be sending Home Assure any more money (I don't have it anyway so you're wasting your time in asking). Failure for Home Assure to refund even a partial amount is poor customer service in my opinion, and I can't believe you'd have the gall to even ask me. I was very impressed by your company before the e-mail I received from you today. Why would you take the chance of losing business by being so difficult to work with? I just don't get it...
Please rethink your stand on this issue and refund me $200. Since I'm positive your company has not done any more than two hours of work on my case, and that's the minimum charge according to the Working Agreement, I feel that's fair for both of us.
Please let me know when you expect to make the refund payment.
Thank you.
Mr. Grieco responds once again:
We handle hundreds of cases a month, so we also have a process for looking into refunds. At a minimum, we would keep the $ 500.00 processing fee. That is the fee associated with completing the financial analysis and enrollment forms. However, we called the lender and it seems as though you used our paperwork, which also implies our expertise, to submit for a resolution. That is the reason why you owe us another $ 500.00.
After doing this for a long time we are very leery of people who try to scam us. I think of the 1000 clients we have helped, there are less than 5 that we have gone after for the remainder of the payment. However, you can be sure you will be on that list. Good luck with your home and you better hope your lender does not make an error, because if they do, you could lose your home and you and have no recourse.
Michael Grieco
Home Assure
And finally my response to Mr. Grieco:
Mr. Grieco,
You said I used your paperwork. Sir, please explain how I can use something I do not have. Which paperwork are you referring to exactly?
The only "paperwork" I received from you is the working agreement. How could I use that in negotiations with my lender? My lender does not have a copy of anything I received from you. If you say otherwise, please show proof of that so I can understand what you're talking about. If you talked to my lender please provide date/time and the name of the person you talked to. I am not trying to scam you and I have no idea why you're freaking out so much. I understand if you need to keep the money I already sent you although I don't agree with it. I would like $200 refunded but if you're going to cry about it then I'll just shut up and color because this whole conversation is ridiculous.
I will not send you any more money.
Please reply with intent.
Thank you
I have not received a reply from Mr. Grieco or anyone else at Home Assure. I contacted my mortgage lender and inquired if anyone from Home Assure EVER contacted them. The answer was no. Mr. Grieco obviously lied to me. The first clue was when he didn't reply when I asked him who they talked to and to show me proof of it. The Home Assure company is fraudulent in my opinion. My mortgage lender told me when I inquired if Home Assure contacted them, that they can't do anything the borrower is unable to do themselves.
If you're considering hiring Home Assure to mitigate a foreclosure for you, I urge you to just contact your lender and work things out yourself. You will only lose money if you send it to Home Assure and it could have gone towards your mortgage. If anyone from Home Assure rebuts this report by saying I'm a competitor company, they are lying. I have proof of everything I've said and also have the MoneyGram receipt for the payment I made.
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