Mortgage ad liars on KJR-AM
I have to rant a bit about "Hayes Barnard of Paramount Equity" on KJR. These guys advertise constantly for refi's so I can only assume they must be getting some business. If this is the case, then Seattle sports fans must be the dumbest people in the world when it comes to their finances.
"Lock in the rate of a lifetime", "The fed has just cut rates to give you a screaming deal" and "Mortgage rates have just hit all time lows" are some of the claims in the ads. The guy's voice is one notch short of Tom Shayne annoying - and his claims are outright lies.
This place seems to be the last refuge of the scumbag mortgage broker. Check out this listing on Craigslist Sacramento (where they are "headquartered")
http://sacramento.craigslist.org/rej/563074016.html
"Lock in the rate of a lifetime", "The fed has just cut rates to give you a screaming deal" and "Mortgage rates have just hit all time lows" are some of the claims in the ads. The guy's voice is one notch short of Tom Shayne annoying - and his claims are outright lies.
This place seems to be the last refuge of the scumbag mortgage broker. Check out this listing on Craigslist Sacramento (where they are "headquartered")
http://sacramento.craigslist.org/rej/563074016.html
Comments
I cannot agree more. These ads are played on a number of other stations, and make me want to throw up in my mouth a little whenever I hear them.
I wish we could turn this into a thread complaining about radio commercials. Anyone out there who still listens to the radio has probably noticed an uptick in false or sort-of-hostile ads to get people to continue taking on mortgage debt.
Anyone heard the latte ad one from quadrant homes? It goes something like this.
Lady: Hi, I'd like a double tall latte with extra foam.
Speakerbox: [RASP] I've got you down for a new quadrant home.
Lady: No, I said I wanted a latte.
Speakerbox: Quadrant homes are now selling for little more than the price of a latte. Please pull forward to the window.
Lady: But I don't want to buy a new home.
Speakerbox: Please pull up to the window, madam.
lol!
Yes, that was a real ad (more or less). I paraphrased, because I couldn't remember exactly what it was. However, I do think the "I don't want to buy a home/please pull forward to the window" line is pretty much the exact quote. I haven't heard it in a little bit though, I don't think it got anything like Hayes Barnard airtime.
Looking at Deeyajoh's post, it's likely that it was all part of the same ad campaign.
I truly believe that if you cannot offer the rate when it is advertised or printed, it's bait and switch and should be (I think it is) illegal.
For the record, the sound of Hayes Barners voice makes my flesh crawl. Even if he wasn't in the mortgage biz.
I think I've done my share of loud blog-complaining about deceptive radio ads.
Roger sent me a whole bunch of ads for new construction plats where the builder and Realtor co-advertising are violating the federal Truth in Lending Acts advertising provisions.
There are so many of them, I'm not sure what to do.
I called one of the Realtors and asked about the mortgage loan being advertised. She had no idea what to do with me as a consumer, left a message for someone, and no one returned my call.
He is the reason I now listen to CDs and not the radio.....seriously.....I get nauseous when it speaks.
They really care about both. Take the extremes, everyone would love a station that plays no advertisements. And nobody would listen to a station with only ads. And of course, you can only charge for ads if someone is listening to your station.
So if these ads repulse a few people, they would prefer the income. If they repulse a large number however, they would prefer to keep the listeners.
If you read the Job Description on craigslist, you'll see these guys model is ALL commission - with these radio ads generating the leads.
Anyone ever seen the movie "Boiler Room"? yup, I'm betting that's about right.
That's why I listen to my XM in the car. Stick to the music channels and you won't have to deal with ads. Hop on over to XM 127 (CNBC) for the humor.
There are OUTRIGHT LIES in the mortgage ads which I cannot even believe that they can get away with (such as "we are the only one in the industry that can offer rates this low"). I get extremely angry when I hear these ads, and it makes me want to call the radio stations and give them a piece of my mind.
And yes, the Quadrant ads were and are the real deal--I have heard at least two different versions of those. Unbelievable--this is what got us into this whole mess--giving people the idea that they should make the biggest purchase of their entire life with the same amount of thought that they give to what kind of latte they want.
Arrrggghhh!
Hayes has reworded his as to now say (as best as I can recall) "we are ONE of the only companies in the nation that can bring you these low rates . . ." Last week's ad said specifically as I recall that they were the ONLY company that could do this.
But he is still telling a bold-faced scare-tactic lie when he states "the Fed specifically lowered interest rates for a short window to help out homeowners and we don't know how long rates will be this low" (or words to that effect). I don't recall the Fed ever saying anything of the sort.
Grrrr, these ads make me mad! :evil:
"Do you have a problem with too much money? If not, this ad is for you."
"History has shown that every housing bubble is followed by a foreclosure bubble" - sic.
"Buying foreclosed homes is a win/win. You are making a wise investment and helping a foreclosed home owner at the same time."
just my 2 cents. I do agree that Hays Barnyard is annoying, but if you can get over that, they have great rates!
Good you mentioned TILA, since their ads are despicable in their own way. Specifically, TILA stands for the "Truth In Lending Act" or that's what their ads say. So if you name your company after an act which is supposed to prevent corruption, does that mean I should trust you? Their ads actually seem more dishonest than Paramounts, but at least the voice actor sounds trustworthy instead of sounding sleazy.
Speaking of which, I haven't heard a Paramount Equity ad in a while (a few weeks). I used to hear them multiple times a day. Do you suppose they read this blog and realized their ads were actually a major turn off?
It was reported last night that the State of WA has revoked the license of Paramount Equity Mortgage and fined them $500K for slimeball behavior, including NOT lowering the interest rate after the customer paid to do exactly that. From the comments in the linked article below, somebody just heard one of their ads on KJR this morning (maybe somebody should call the station and tell them to pull those ads)!
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/consumersmarts/archives/144089.asp
This recent news only elicits "Of course" as a response. Some things a half-awake person senses intuitively and only raises the question: "Why has it taken so long?", - AND - "Why only in one state?"
Their M.O. seems to have been: Set a tone, style, and delivery to which lower intellects will respond ,....they being our target market.
Not quite. So far only a "statement of charges" has been filed against Paramount.
I hear that they will be fighting the charges.
When a final consent order is posted, I'll put something up at RCG.
Meanwhile, the naughty list can be found here:
http://www.dfi.wa.gov/cs/adminactions_2008.htm
Oh my! What do we have tonight? Linden Home Loans, who was nailed by DFI for a deceptive TV and Radio ad decided to sign their consent order and admit no wrongdoing.
LIcense suspended for 30 days and a $75,000. fine, due and payable immediately.
I have continued to hear those highly annoying ads on the radio and was about to contact Fisher Communications but (must be the wisdom of my years) did some more checking first and found out that they basically stand accused at this point, so I guess they can still run advertisements.
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