2/1/2011 Update!

Well I have an interesting and unexpected update from my end.

Today I received a voicemail and email from Allan where he indicated:

"It is our intention to provide you with an immediate full refund that after careful
examination of your file, you certainly deserve. Please contact me as soon as you can to
help us in knowing how you would like to receive it."

I responded to send me a refund via paypal and indeed I received a full refund of $3,500 via
paypal with the message:

"Noah, Please accept our most sincere apology for failing to deliver on the services we
agreed to originally. Attached please find a refund in full, including our coverage of the fee
of 101.80 for Paypal. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have."

For me personally this resolves the matter.

Federal Trustee Services Review

Is Federal Trustee Services running a foreclosure
scam, purposely ripping off consumers, or just
operating with extremely poor business practices?
Here is my story, you can decide for yourself.

This is a postmortem review of how I feel I was mislead and ripped off by this
Tacoma, Washington company, claiming to stop foreclosure or help underwater
home owners.

Please Note: If you feel that you have been ripped off by Federal Trustee Services
please file a complaint here http://www.ripoffreport.com/loan-modification/
federal-trustee-serv/federal-trustee-services-warn-af9cd.htm and with the
Washington State Office of the Attorney General. You can easily do it online here:
http://www.atg.wa.gov/fileacomplaint.aspx. Although we may not get our money
back, I donʼt feel that this company should be allowed to continue to operate and
hopefully we can prevent others from suffering the same fate as us.
Warning Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4KKwLk22I4

I formally filed a complaint against Federal Trustees Services with the Attorney General.
At best, the company has extremely poor and deceptive business practices. At worst,
they are running a scam operation to take advantage of the current foreclosure crisis; by
praying on desperate home owners who are in foreclosure or under water on their
mortgages.

*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. I am sharing my first hand account
in a manner that I personally deem truthful though it does not necessarily reflect fact as determined in the court of law.
My Story
High Level Overview of Complaint

Complaint
I paid Federal Trustees for their 3 Stage program costing $3500.00 as a package price
for all three stages.
They state that Stage 1 of their process takes 10 days. After two months they had
not completed any part of Stage 1. At this point I requested a refund and continued to
do so in the following weeks at multiple points via email and phone.
They did not provide a refund and proceeded to complete Stage 1 over the course of
the following month. When Stage 1 was finally completed it was clear that the following
two stages were not appropriate for my case, yet they refuse to provide a refund for the
remaining stages; even requesting I pay additional money for further work to be
done on my case!
My Request For Resolution
In an early email from Kim B. I was told they would refund all of my money if after Stage
1 if the 3 Stage program wasn’t right for my situation. However, I am simply asking for a
refund of the work which was not performed and is not needed for my case. I have
requested a refund of $2000.00 of the $3500.00 which was paid. The math is simple
and breaks down as follows:
Cost of Stage 1: $1500.00 (This is the only work that was completed)
Amount I Paid: $3500.00
Refund = $2000.00
Note that although I requested a full refund and my case be closed (email to Kim on Jan
5th), when no work had been completed after two months. Against my request to close
the case FTS proceeded to complete Stage 1 which turned out to be of no value to me,
however I am not asking for a refund of that money.

*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. I am sharing my first hand account
in a manner that I personally deem truthful though it does not necessarily reflect fact as determined in the court of law.
Timeline Of Events
Stage 1: Courting My Cash

October 5, 2010
I contacted Allan H. and explained my situation. I emphasized that I'm not in foreclosure
or late on payments. He provided a run down of FTS services and I responded via email
to ask the question: "I'm curious, since I don't plan to foreclose, if there would be any
significant benefits to this approach for me?" To which he replied saying that this
program would be perfect for me and that I have a reason to keep my property by
revealing the facts regarding the situation and brining them to light.

October 29, 2010

After speaking with Allan on the phone I was handed off to Kim B. and assured I was in
good hands. I have a quick call with Kim on which I clarify that I am not in foreclosure
and ask what the end goal is by me signing on for their program; in other words what do
we seek to gain when all said and done? She says that their goal is to uncover fraud
and prove that the bank has already been paid for my home by insurance and other
layers of protection that was built into my mortgage. FTS will get my home free and
clear by proving this.

Kim followed up with an email including the Homeowner Information Packet for me to fill
in and send back with my mortgage docs.

I followed up to Kim's email asking "If I opt for the discounted $3500 rate and in the first
or second stage of the process you discover there won't be anything you can do in
completing the remaining parts, is money then refunded for the parts that weren't
completed?" To which she replied "We will refund the entire cost. Including
the money for the investigation."

November 3, 2010
Satisfied with both Allan and Kim's assurances and the fact that I was sent to them by a
referral, I spent the weekend going through my files and making photo copies of stacks
of mortgage documents from my original loan. I mailed off the packet and by
Wednesday, November 3rd, payment had been made. Kim handed me off to another
processor named Delia D. via email.

Stage 2: Money For Nothin'

November 9, 2010
I provide Delia with some final documents she needs to start Stage 1 of my case.
According to their packet it will be 10 days later that Stage 1 is complete.

November 17, 2010

*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. I am sharing my first hand account
in a manner that I personally deem truthful though it does not necessarily reflect fact as determined in the court of law.
An email from Delia comes in with a securitization document for my records. She says
that my investigation report and original land patent will also be sent to you via US mail
next week.

November 29, 2010

Having not received any documents in the mail I try to get a hold of Delia via phone.
Finally reaching her, she again says the report will be sent the following week. This is
the last time I hear from Delia.

December 16, 2010

Having received nothing and hearing nothing for weeks, I email Delia. The email
bounces back and is returned to me with the mail server indicating that the address is
no longer valid. I follow up with a concerned email to Kim to which she replied saying
that Delia came down quite ill and unfortunately has left the company. She says that
they are still continuing work on my file, but reveals that at the moment she’s not sure
who has taken over working on the file adding that, as soon as she does know she will
send me an email.

Stage 3: Fed Up

December 17, 2010

I find this last response to be very aloof given the time it took to get to this point and the
fact that Kim was CC'd on Delia's emails. I follow up with a frustrated email stating:
________________________

I certainly hope she will be ok, however I've been quite disappointed at the lack of
communications since I made payment to Federal Trustee Services. Three weeks
ago I had to call Delia to find out what was going on with my case. I was told that
by the following week she would be calling me with further status on all the
progress made. It is now almost two weeks since I was supposed to get that call
and once again I had to email to find out what was going on; only to hear she is
gone and my case seems to be in limbo.

Could you please personally see that this gets back on track and either take over
the case yourself or make sure and experienced member of your team makes it a
priority in their case list?

Thank You,

Noah
________________________

She sends an email in reply and assures me that my file is not in limbo. She thinks the
Land Patent was ordered, but cannot tell if it got mailed to me or not. And because
Delia was ill they are now trying to trace activity with my case that might not have been
noted in their database. She asks if I had been mailed the “Land Patent” already. She

*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. I am sharing my first hand account
in a manner that I personally deem truthful though it does not necessarily reflect fact as determined in the court of law.
also requests that I give her an overview of what Delia previously spoke to me about.
She then apologizes and says that I’m not “lost” in their system.

Kim was CC'd on all my communications with Delia, nevertheless I bring her up to
speed on where Delia left off, forwarding her the last email I got from Delia. Kim replies
to this thanking me for letting them know know that I didn’t receive a land patent. She
requests that I give them some time to track it down and get back to me. Adding that
this process will take 7 to 10 days.

December 22, 2010

Still hoping to get more clarification on exactly where we are in this process I email Kim
the following message:
________________________
Hi Kim,

Any update on who has taken over my case? Once I get the Land Patent what do
I do with it? Where does my case go from here and roughly how long will it take?

I guess part of my confusion lies in the fact that I've never been through this and
still feel in the dark on where we are in the process right now with the work that
Delia did, and what still remains to be done. Also does the work that Delia did help
give any indication on wether or not my case should be successful?

If you could take a minute to call or email me to give a better idea of "What Now?"
I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

Noah
________________________

I receive no response to this email and wait patiently till after the holidays to take up the
matter again. I expect to receive a response shortly after Christmas, but receive none.

January 3, 2011
Frustrated, I call Kim to try to get to the bottom of what is going on. I get her voicemail
and leave a message asking simply to call me back.

January 5, 2011
I do not receive a call back from Kim and am quite fed up at this point. I send the
following email:
________________________
Hi Kim,

I'm requesting to end my engagement with Federal Trustee Services and am

requesting a refund of the up-front fees I've paid. I'm asking that $3,000 be

*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. I am sharing my first hand account
in a manner that I personally deem truthful though it does not necessarily reflect fact as determined in the court of law.
 refunded from the original $3500 paid with the remaining $500 covering time
spent by FTS on my case.

There has been a significant lack of communication since engaging FTS, this
has led me to explore other options that more in line with my best interests. I
left a message for you on January 3rd, but my call was not returned, thus I'm
submitting my request via email.

Awaiting your reply,

Noah
________________________

She replies saying that she got my message the other day. Se proceeds with excuses
about more sick employees and says she is now working late to catch up. She states
that my “Forensic Loan Investigation” report will be sent to me next week.
___________________________
To which I reply:
___________________________
Kim,

I was told that Stage 1 would take roughly 10 days and this is also stated in your
Homeowner Information Packet. The longer this drags out the more it costs me
every month in making my mortgage payments, this is what is so frustrating. I need
to come to some resolution so I am not bleeding money every month.

Please complete the Investigation Report (Phase 1) and provide me with the
findings by the middle of next week. At that point hold off on the remaining
stages and I would like to meet with my attorney. Depending on his advice I may
not proceed with the remaining stages and if thats the case would request a refund
of the remaining $2,000.00.

If you don't feel that Stage 1 will be completed by the middle of next week, please
cease all work and provide a refund of $3,000.00.

Does this sound reasonable?

Noah
___________________________

January 7, 2011
I do not hear back from Kim, but am contacted by a new person named Ara M.. Ara
says that In order for us to move on with the UCC filing, we need a copy of the
Recorded Deed of Trust. Asking that I fax her a copy as soon as possible.

This email is alarming to me because it is apparent Ara knows nothing about my case. I
respond with the following email:
___________________________
*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. I am sharing my first hand account
in a manner that I personally deem truthful though it does not necessarily reflect fact as determined in the court of law.
 Hi Ara,

1. Have you been briefed on the specifics of my case? If not we should have a call
to discuss it.

2. Also I don't understand why the UCC filing is being done. I have not received
anything even from the 1st Stage Forensic Loan Investigation. The UCC filing does
not get done until the 3rd stage according to your packet. Are the first two stages
being skipped?

3. Additionally I emailed Kim yesterday instructing her that after Stage 1 is

completed I wan't to meet with my attorney before proceeding any further to make
sure that what happens in stage 2 and 3 is in my best interest; based on the loan
investigation and the specifics of my case.

Awaiting your response or call,

Noah
___________________________

Stage 4: No Money Back

January 12, 2011

Still making no progress I prepare and send an email to Allan H., CC Kim B.. I request
our relationship be terminated and a full refund given. I also provide the above timeline
in the email as a reference for them. The email opens:
_______________________________
Hi Allan,

I've spent a lot of time communicating with you and the members of your team
since making payment to you in the beginning of November. There has been a
severe lack of communication and my case has made no progress since opened.
I'll remind you that according to the packet I received, Stage 1 of your program
takes 10 days to complete.

I do not want to proceed any further with FTS and am asking for a refund of the
$3500.00 payment I made, as FTS have not fulfilled any part of our original
agreement. This is the only resolution I see as acceptable at this point and I do not
want to continue any further with FTS and my case.

I can't think of any reasonable explanation for why my case has been so
mishandled; possibly your team is overwhelmed by their case load. If so that is
more reason to part ways and we both move on. Every month this drags out is
another mortgage payment I have to make as I continue to bleed money while my
case is in limbo.
(this email continues to document all my communications with FTS employees)...
________________________________
*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. I am sharing my first hand account
in a manner that I personally deem truthful though it does not necessarily reflect fact as determined in the court of law.
January 13, 2011
In response to my email to Allan and Kim, I receive a call from Kim and another man
named Walter W. The transcript of the call is as follows:

• Kim says that FTS has been understaffed due to everyone being out sick.
• Kim states that my forensic loan investigation and preliminary securitization audit has
been done, but nothing can be given to me because the attorney is also out sick.
• I ask to speak to Allan H. who is the company founder and I was originally referred to.
Kim tells me that he is on a sabbatical and will not be returning for a while. (see
update about him allegedly being in prison)
• I explain that I am fed up with excuses and just want to part ways with FTS and move
on. Rather than a full refund I state that I will accept the completed Stage 1
investigation paperwork along with $2000 remaining for the uncompleted stages.
• Kim says that even though Stage 1 is $1500, FTS may have spent more than that on
MY Stage 1. (if that were true they would be operating at a loss and out of business
quickly).
• Kim explains that the bookkeeper will need to look at my case and determine how
much it has cost FTS. The decision M.s would then need to decide what to do.
• Walter ask what state of foreclosure my property is in. Once again I have to explain
that my property is not in foreclosure.
• Walter states various reasons why my case is a perfect candidate for resolution with
the bank and FTS should be able to make good progress from here.
• I explain that I'm tired of this process and just want to receive a partial refund and
move on. I'm accepting of a partial refund at this point assuming I will receive a
completed Stage 1.
• Walter says he understands my frustrations, but cannot guarantee I will be refunded.
• Kim explains that there is no single decision M. at FTS so 12 people will have to meet
to discuss my case. I find this quite peculiar from an operations standpoint and clarify
several times that there is no CEO, President, or COO that can resolve this?
• Based on the push back I'm getting I begin to feel that it is unlikely FTS will be willing
to resolve this by fairly issuing a refund for work not completed. I mention my last
resort is to file a credit card dispute documenting being charged for work not
completed and refusal of refund, something I would prefer to avoid as it has an
unknown outcome for both parties and rather agree upon a fair resolution for both
parties
• Additionally I mention that my day job is a Web Developer/Online Marketer my last
right as a consumer is to share my experience with FTS and allow other doing their
due diligence on the company to find my documented experience. This is reasonable
for any consumer who has a good or bad experience to do. Yelp is a billion dollar
business dedicated to just this.
• Kim takes this as a threat, she proceeds to threaten me saying "We will put a lean on
your property." Ironic that the company that is being paid to help me get out of my real
estate hell is now threatening to put me deeper into it. Logically how can you provide
service this bad and not expect a poor review?
• It's clear no further progress will be made on the call. The call ends with me agreeing
that I'll wait till next week to take the matter up further after the group of 12 decision
M.s decide my fate.
*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. I am sharing my first hand account
in a manner that I personally deem truthful though it does not necessarily reflect fact as determined in the court of law.
January 14, 2011
I receive an email from Lakisha M. with my “Forensic Loan Investigation” document (the
first part of Stage 1). She states that an investigator will be contacting me to review the
results.

January 18, 2011

Ara M. calls to answer any questions I have about my Forensic Loan Investigation. I tell
her that a great deal of the content in it feels as if its copy/pasted in from a generic
template, I ask her to go over specific parts that are significant for my case. She
doesn’t indicate any parts that are significant for me, but states that overall there was no
real fraud found. I pose the question: since they did not find any issues with my
mortgage origination and the fact that I am not in foreclosure, then none of the
procedures in Stages 2 and 3 of FTS three stage program (for which I paid) would be
applicable to my case? She agrees, saying that nothing would be gained from it.

January 18, 2011

I still have not heard from Kim and email her as a follow-up to our January 13th call and
my call with Ara in which she reviewed my loan investigation report.
______________________________
Hi Kim,

Can you give me an update on the status of the refund situation and when the 12 will
be meeting?

I went over my Loan Investigation report with Ara today. The findings didn't turn up
anything significant and further re-inforced my decision to not go forward with stages
2 & 3.

Thank You,

Noah
_______________________________

I receive no response to this email.

January 20, 2011

I receive an email from Lakisha M. attaching my Loan Securitization Audit (another
missing piece of Stage 1). She says that an investigator will be in contact with me next
week to review my results.

I never hear from anyone the next week or at any point to discuss this document.

January 25, 2011

Kim and another man who claims to be an independent contractor for FTS now call me.
• He pitches me the case for filing a “quite title” and going through legal procedure to
prove that GMAC had no claim to my property and would therefore have to write off
my debt.
*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. I am sharing my first hand account
in a manner that I personally deem truthful though it does not necessarily reflect fact as determined in the court of law.
• I asked where this fit into the services I had paid for and was told it didn't, it would be
a separate service at additional costs!
• I asked if I would then be refunded for Phases 2 and 3 of the items I paid for and
was told I would not.
• I expressed my discontent saying that the services are in black and white in the
package they sent and outlined in my credit card payment form. Only Phase 1 of 3
was completed and partially if that.
• They claimed that I had paid not for those services specifically, but rather for them to
come to a final recommendation as what to do with my case. (This recommendation
they were now calling to give me and it involved paying them more money, the nerve!)
• I restated how ridiculous this was as they could not dispute that I had been paid for
work that wasn't done, shouldn't be done for my case, and I don't want done at this
point.
• They asked that I point out what I thought were the services not paid for by sending
them an email.
• Even though I had gone over it already multiple times in emails and on the phone, I
followed up with an email sending them back the original documents they sent me
which clearly outlined what I paid for up front. I highlight the Stage 1 work as being the
only thing they have now completed.

January 25, 2011

I follow up to the call with an email stating:
______________________________
Kim,

Todays call really took the wind out of my sails. To not only be told that I would not
be getting a refund for the uncompleted phases, but that for any further progress to
be made on my case I would need to pursue another direction (Quiet Title)
requiring I pay additional money; I'm truly speechless and sad about the whole
situation.

On the call you requested I send you the documents that clearly show what
services I was provided and what I'm asking a refund for. I have attached two
documents:

1. The FTS Information Packet

Prior to payment you provided me with this document which outlines the services I
would be provided. Pages 2,3, and 4 clearly outline the the different stages I paid
for. Page 4 has a table with the listing and cost of each phase. I've attached an
image of this table, highlighting in yellow the items which have been completed
and provided to me.

It is based on this that I'm requesting a refund of $2,000.00 for phases 2 and 3. As
of this writing I've asked multiple times through email and on the phone that all
work on my case be halted and a refund be provided. Additionally when I spoke
with your processor, Ara M., to review my Forensic Loan Investigation she
concluded there was no significant fraud, and given that I was not in default or

*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. I am sharing my first hand account
in a manner that I personally deem truthful though it does not necessarily reflect fact as determined in the court of law.
 planning to go into default, there would be little reason for the 2nd and 3rd stage to
be completed in my case.

2. The Credit Card Authorization Form

This is the form I submitted which has the items checked off making note that I was
paying for the $3500 package. I was billed in full for all of those services after
sending this form.

In Summary
I'm asking again that all work on my case be stopped and a refund of $2,000.00 be
provided by the end of the week.

Recourse as a Consumer
I've stated multiple times that I want to resolve this amicably and have been trying
to do so for several weeks. I have made it clear that I am ok with paying Stage 1
(only partially completed) of the process and am only asking for a refund of the
remaining amounts. I've been very calm, reasonable, and fair even as this has
continued to drag out.

You've made it clear now that you do not feel I should be refunded any amount for
the services that were not completed (or needed in my case). This is very
disheartening and in the near term only leaves me with the following means of
recourse as a customer of FTS:

I'll wait till the end of the day tomorrow to hear if you will be providing a refund of
$2,000.00. If you decline to do so I will begin the following process on Thursday:
• Document and file a complaint with the Washington State Office of the Attorney
General
• Register several domain names where I build web pages that offer a complete
and honest review of my experience and that, in my opinion, I was clearly ripped
off by FTS. The email I previously provided you, documenting a timeline of my
struggles in dealing with FTS, will serve as the foundation for the content on
these pages. I'll do this in consultation with an Internet Attorney to follow proper
guidelines and laws.
• Use my experience in online advertising and SEO to do search engine
optimization for those newly created websites. Thus enabling consumers, looking
for foreclosure/mortgage help, to easily find my review and determine for
themselves if they are at risk of a similar experience if they engage with FTS.
• Create a youtube video summarizing the experience and providing warning.
Youtube videos with proper keywords quickly go to the top of search results since
youtube is owned by Google and given extra weight by their search engine.
• Share my experience and review on other business review sites such as Yelp,
LinkedIn, and Industry message boards where consumers have been, or will be,
looking for reviews of FTS. For example http://linkd.in/dKOoAE is one of the top
results for a google search of "Federal Trustees Services." I will answer the
question posed by the thread creator and share an honest recap of my
experience.

*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. I am sharing my first hand account
in a manner that I personally deem truthful though it does not necessarily reflect fact as determined in the court of law.
 Consumers leave negative reviews for businesses all the time and it is our right to
do so. Normally the above list would not be an issue for an honest business,
however I think that when you look at the experience I have documented and the
refusal to amicably resolve this case it reflects extremely poorly on your business
practices; showing a company that hurts rather than helps the people who come to
them. Those seeking relief from their real estate burden end up with a greater
burden. It is quite unfortunate really.

Again I've clearly asked to resolve this in a matter that is fair to both parties. I've
provided ample documentation stating my case at this point and would like to move
on from this without any more time invested. Please consider this in your response.

- Noah
______________________________

January 28, 2011

I receive a voicemail from another person named Cherry W. On her voice mail she
states that she will be leaving on vacation until the 20th of Feb and would like to talk to
me before she goes. She also says that Allan H. will be returning on Feb 10 (see
my note about that allegedly being the day he gets out of prison). I call back before
the end of the day, however I’m told she has left for the day, but should be in on Monday
at 10:30 before she leaves on vacation. I ask what her role is at the company and am
told she is Chief Financial Officer.

I call on Monday at 10:30, but am told she did not come in and is now gone on vacation.
I ask that they relay the message to her and have her call me.

I never hear back from her.

END

At the point of this writing I have had no further communication with Federal Trustees
Services. I have made no progress on obtaining a refund and have not had any calls or
emails returned.

*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. I am sharing my first hand account
in a manner that I personally deem truthful though it does not necessarily reflect fact as determined in the court of law.