Here's a nifty one that should remind you read carefully and assume the worst. Imagine your war vet great-grandfather reading this. Are you ready? Here we go.
The company does not list their name, only "Interest Rate Reduction Department." The outside of the mail says "Official Notice" on a fake seal and "Veterans affairs Program Information," as you can see above. Nice, yes?
On the inside the letter is topped by a bolded line that says Audit Review and the company name is still not revealed. It helpfully lists a "VA Case #".
Google shows us that the address in the letter matches this local business:
SMI Lending, Inc.
4230 LBJ Freeway Suite 225
Dallas, TX 75244
This same address appears on vamortgageconnection.com. I am certain that the link to the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending for complaint lodging on their contact page was broken accidentally and not on purpose.
The email address associated with the company is mharcrow@smimortgage.com.
[update 2010/09/02: Mr. Harcrow wishes to clarify he was not the source of the mailer. I take him at his word. See below.]
5 comments:
OK, they are "scumbags." And you exposed them. Is that it? Or do you propose any other action to put an end to such "scumbag" operations?
The exposure was all I had in mind.
I did put in a link to the appropriate Tx regulatory division in case anyone had been materially decevied and wanted to make a formal complaint. I looked at the complaint form and it appeared to be tilted toward complaintants who have an existing relationship with the company. I have no such relationship and so did not pursue it further.
I tried to post my response here in a comment, but it was too big.
I reposted it here:
http://mbtrt.blogspot.com/2010/09/i-did-not-have-postal-relations-with.html
Post a Comment