Requesting help from our knowledgeable community

Loans, Debt Consolidation and Collection Practices are out of my area of knowledge, but a colleague (FDM) of mine has experienced what seems to me to be a scam. I saw several red flags and told her not to sign anything until we research it thoroughly. I am asking advice from those of you here who know how these types of businesses should behave, so here is the story:

FDM had previously taken out a small personal loan with a company called Peerform and approved without a problem. Recently she decided to try again, since needed to 'dig herself out' of an emergency that came up and applied for another one. She was not approved this time and was sent an email from Peerform, saying someone would contact her to discuss her options in the next few days from them.
FDM received a call from someone, saying they were from Peerform , but only talked about debt consolidations. She said it sounded ok and  agreed to meet with someone who would come to her house and sit down with her. She  asked me to be there with her, but when the person came, he said he was just a Notary and was only there to witness her signing papers he brought. I questioned him about why no consultations where held first. He said he was from an independent company and only does Notary work for various Law Firms. He had no knowledge about debt consolidation. So I glanced at the paperwork, from Anchor Law Firm and it said once she signed, she had only 5 days to cancel the agreement.
At this point I said no, she will not be signing anything today and that will give her more than 5 days to decide if its in her best interest, since she is able to pay on her current bills and don't really need to consolidate anything.

FDM was under the impression it was about the previous loan and would allow her to consolidate that with a new one she might still get, but that was not the case. The agreement would have included ALL her other debts, that she had listed during the initial application for this new loan. The guy admitted the Law Firm is not part of Peerform and was independent from them and that he did Notary work for them under other  names that seemed strangely 'themed', like Seashell, Anchor, etc. and laughed about it.

Its been about a week since that meeting, but she just told me today they have been calling her repeatedly , but she ignored the calls due to the inconvenient times and she could not talk until today.  She said the guy asked her what was her hangup about and one of her concerns was the amount proposed as their "fees" was about $3,000 more than she was initially told. He told her it was only a "temporary" agreement and she immediately said she is no longer interested. She blocked the number and we shall see if they persist or let it die.

Now my question: Is this normal or is this some under the table type scam to trick someone into signing before they know what hit them and if it is, what should she do to report it?
I told her to keep the paperwork the Notary brought, save the emails and log all the calls.
Thanks in advance to everyone.

In line with their ocean "theme" this makes me think of a week-old fish on the beach - it smells rotten.

The sending of a "Notary" seems like shifty way to try and compel people into signing.  I also doubt that there was anything in that paper work that stated it was a “temporary” agreement.  I think her decision to decline them and block their calls was a smart move.

I would suggest reporting their practices to your State Attorney General and whatever department of your State Government covers lending institutions as well as the Federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  If they can show that they are aboveboard, fine; but it could help protect others in the future if they are as shady as it sounds.

(This is just my personal thoughts and should in no way be construed as legal advice.)

I have heard of this here.  I don't have anything on those two names, but would like to know more.  Addresses, names, etc.  Since I don't know what type of loan this is, I can't tell if the 5 days is correct or not.  As Nimrod mentioned, this certainly smells like month old fish.
Gather up all the information you have and post it here and I will see what I can find out.  I found one Anchor Law Firm in Arkansas but I don't know if that is the one.  This Peerform advertises itself as "peer-to-peer" lending which sounds a bit shaky.  Something like this with 3 grand in fees and only "temporary"?  Doesn't sound right.  Sounds like a payday loan.
CWG40 might have more info on this as well.

Thanks for looking into this. Here are the 2 websites I found on both the loan company and the Law firm, the address on her paperwork matches the law firm website. The loan company I only knew its name as the one she used, but don't know any more about it. She works in Philadelphia and resides in NJ. I do remember the Notary guy mentioning to her there were some documents about NJ rules she needed to sign too, but didn't get far enough to ask at the time what they were.

https://www.peerform.com
http://www.anchorlawfirm.com

I will see her tomorrow, so I will ask her a bit more about the previous loan she had. I'll try to get her to make a summary of what she was told over the phone and if she'll let me have those papers to look over, but I don't know how much she will allow, since her personal information is contained in them. She might be a little hesitant about giving up some info and I don't want her to think I am prying into her personal information. I will do my best to convince her that making a report might save someone else from falling for a possible scam.

I have to go over what you gave me in those links, but on initial viewing, it seems there are a few discrepancies.  Peerform is a New York Company, using an Arkansas attorney?  Also they give loans through a bank.  The Anchor law firm doesn't seem to do business under that name in New Jersey.  If the transaction was conducted at her home in New Jersey, then anything done would have to be under NJ law.

Ah, ok that would be the 'rules' he mentioned she would have to sign. I do remember her saying something about that loan company is some sort of investor thing, where investors approve the amount or something to that effect. Sorry, I never took out any loans other than a mortgage, so I'm totally in the dark about loans.
If I can get the papers off her, I will black out her personal info and post them as PDFs here for you to look at.

This is a lender who wanted make changes from what was discussed to a contract that favored the lender.  Sending a notary and assuming the "sale" was cheeky and manipulative.  Peerform turned Miss FDM down, and said someone would call to discuss options.  That sounds like a short story to me.  Who is the second lender?

Quote:

FDM received a call from someone, saying they were from Peerform , but only talked about debt consolidations.

Could it be more correct to say "they" were referred by Peerform? A lender who takes on higher risk loans?  This is not a big deal, but why the need to hide the facts?  Makes me wonder how the lawyers are fitting in.

Mike, you gave good advice. The way Peerform and Friends are acting is sleezy.  More important, even if Miss FDM needs to shop her loan to places who take on higher risk clients, she probably can find find a better contract. Peerform knows their deal they are pressing so hard for is not that hot, and they hope to harass, pressure and scare her into signing.  Does not bode well for the future.

In a perfect world, Miss FDM would have time shop her business around.  Knowing she might be high risk, maybe she can offer additional collateral to lower her risk profile; Make her look better to a lender? If time is a problem, she might have to take a short term (high interest) loan to span the time period while she looks for her best deal.  I am not sure I would recommend that since I don't have the facts of her finances and situation at hand. In some cases, a loan to cover only a time gap can work, but is risky for personal loans, it is more of a tool for businesses.  If I needed a loan to cover me while I shopped around, I would go to family or close friends.

Quote:

Could it be more correct to say "they" were referred by Peerform?

That is a part I do not understand, based on what she said. She got an email right after being declined for a new loan. The email said  someone from Peerform would call her with more options, but the caller didn't reveal who he represented (or I could have missed the name) and it was later revealed it was not anyone from Peerform, but turned out to be someone from Anchor Law Firm, as I understood her to say. She was as surprised as I was when a Notary showed up, who claimed he is independent from the Law Firm, so I will try to get a more complete summary from her and post better details.
I know she only wanted to get a loan to compensate for a financial issue, but didn't say what that was. She didn't have need for debt consolidation, since her income is above her debt ratio. I think she just wanted to pay something off, but I didn't want to pry too much into her personal life. I don't know if she tried getting help from family/friends or not.
All I know is she wanted another loan and it somehow turned into a debt consolidation thing, within the course of a few days after being declined. I warned her that anyone who pushes for a signature first and wants to discuss later is not anyone you want to do business with.
Hopefully I will have more info soon.

For the moment this yields more questions than answers. Back in school I was too busy flunking a sculpture course to take any business classes. Initial thoughts follow.

} was sent an email from Peerform
You two are of course entirely certain of its origin, that the hidden "marketing partners" weren't lining up sooner than that phone call. I would be combing the Peerform agreement for a "prior consent" clause, giving a free pass to any schmuck who buys your friend's credit profile. I suspect the offer to "discuss her options" was in the same vein. Peerform is asking applicants for both income data and credit report pulls. Now, I expect that stress test from my trusted local bank. I would be less willing to hand over my profile to strangers on the Internet, who would then be aware of someone in distress who for whatever reason is too high a credit risk for careful (read as: honest) lenders.

The implied business model of putting your financial profile out to bid looks good on a laptop screen, but invites abuse. How do you really know that a borrower has a single angel investor or sponsor or whatever they want to call it? I could see collected data from similar persons being dumped into a bucket like a security, and that being the thing attracting investment based on its projected performance. Then the pile is prodded to perform by rope-a-doping borrowers into schemes which have the effect of prolonging or worsening debt. Hence the seeming hustling sales tactics you've described.

The FTC and CFPB and state AGs have been busting up "debt relievers" and "consolidators" for a long time, to the point where I am unconvinced that running such a business honestly is even possible. When you look at what the FTC demands of the industry for Telemarketing Sales Rule compliance, they insist upon a great deal of disclosure before any deal is inked, no liars and posers, no jerking around with conflicting terms, and nothing which hints of an advance fee. I imagine the same principles apply without a phone involved. Borrowers have a right to make a fully informed decision, and the debt "fixers" must retain skin in the game.

Debt Relief Services & the Telemarketing Sales Rule: A Guide for Business

Your pal may have lacked reasonable expectation of some high-priced paperboy showing up with a contract to sign if her previous discussion did not make clear to her what she was walking into. Keep that phrase "reasonable expectation" in your pockets. It shows up a lot to help measure the worth of a deal, whether fraud is a factor, who has a right to make sales calls and when, and so forth. Quite honestly I don't know if pre-emptive consolidation is even possible. How do you "consolidate" a single loan? Your friend did not get in bed with the loan broker for some third party to play the cattle rancher with her prior credit history.

I'd think hard about revoking any consent for those sales calls, setting up later TCPA claims. My guess is the "law firm" sees a pigeon to pluck, and is counting on her to be too harried or desperate to shine a lantern through the holes in its plot like you're kindly doing.

You explained that well in the OP,  I just wanted to make sure I got it right.  So Peerform steered the business to another lender via the law firm.  Or the law firm has a relationship with the second lender - and probably Peerform as well.  Can't get a good deal with all those fingers in the pie!  If she sneezes she will have 3 sets of jerks calling her.  That was a lousy deal and she is lucky you were looking out for her.  The lenders do not care what the client needs, they want a deal that makes them money, ALL of them.  Sound like you know how to help her navigate these waters.

This is what I have so far on Peerform.  I am getting bleary eyed and a headache from all these names they seem to go under.  The one interesting fact that I did find was that they were acquired by Versara Lending which deals in debt consolidation loans, the subject of this thread.

PEERFORM AKA CROSS RIVER BANK AKA VERSARA LENDING AKA MARLETTE
Peerform’s website says that they are located in New York in a virtual office:  https://www.peerform.com/about-us/contact-us/
Whois information lists a different New York address which again appears to be some sort of virtual office:
peerform.com
Updated 53 days ago
Domain Information
Domain:
peerform.com
Registrar:
GODADDY.COM, LLC
Registration Date:
2011-01-13
Expiration Date:
2018-01-13
Updated Date:
2017-01-16
Status:
clientDeleteProhibited
clientRenewProhibited
clientTransferProhibited
clientUpdateProhibited
Name Servers:
ns67.domaincontrol.com
ns68.domaincontrol.com
Registrant Contact
Name:
Mikael Rapaport
Organization:
Peerform, Inc.
Street:
33 W 17th Street, 2nd FLoor
2nd Floor
City:
New York
State:
New York
Postal Code:
10011
Country:
US
Phone:
+1.2129205827
Email:
@peerform.com

Their rates are from 5% to 30%, minimum loan is $4,000 and goes up to $25,000, and they charge an origination fee of !% to 5%.  The loans are funded by investors who are willing to take a chance with their money by lending it.  The loans are advertised and if not funded, they are not issued.
BBB gives them an A rating with 3 complaints and 3 negative reviews:  https://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/business-re ... -york-ny-146780
Bloomberg info:  https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/pri ... capId=127188931
Peerform was acquired by Versara Lending which appears to specialize in debt consolidation loans:  http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/2016111 ... quires-Peerform
http://www.altfi.com/article/2415_debt_consol ... lender_peerform
Versara Lending claims to be a 1-person operation and opened in 2016:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/versara-lending
Versara Lending web page about debt consolidation loans:  https://versaralending.com/category/uncategorized/
And list their address as the same as Peerform:  https://versaralending.com/contact-us/
Cross River Bank lists their address in New Jersey:  https://www.crossriverbank.com/contact_us
BBB gives them an accredited A+ with 9 complaints:  https://www.bbb.org/new-jersey/business-revie ... eck-nj-90139466
This report indicates the bank is in distress:  http://banktracker.investigativereportingwork ... oss-river-bank/
Bloomberg information:  http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/priv ... vcapid=49551172
Looks like Cross River was sued a few times, once on a Civil Rights Action:
https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/7832 ... ross_River_Bank
They were sued by Colorado under another name that use:  http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/cross-river-bank-fights-back-in-true-22528/

Wow, thats a lot to try soaking in! I found a Wiki on Peerform, but its all "Greek" to me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peerform

I had a very busy day today and was only able to talk to FDM briefly, but she said she has all the correspondence from Peerform  in emails and there is a lot.  She said all the documents were electronically signed and there were many of them.
She will go through them tomorrow and send them along with the agreement papers from Anchor Law Firm. Since there is going to be a whole lot, I will create a webpage and outline the events as best I can, then just post a link to it. I think that would be easier than posting all of it here. That way you can see everything from start to end and get a better idea of how these people operated.
I really appreciate the time everyone is taking to look this stuff over. I almost want this to be a scam exposure, so it was worth the trouble, but I will be just as thankful if it turns out to be the way of the world now.

I read the loan agreement Peerform has on their website.  I will have to probably read it a couple more times.  I know for a fact that I have heard about this notary showing up at a house with loan papers before, but I can't remember exactly where.  Since this new place has bought out Peerform, and they specialize in debt consolidation, I am wondering it that is what they are doing here.  Their website says "for invitees only" which confuses me.  How would they know who to invite unless they had prior information?  I will try to dig into this other outfit that I didn't get to today and look and see what I can find on this law group.  According to the law group web site they shouldn't be doing business under the Anchor name.

Quote:

Their website says "for invitees only" which confuses me

FDM said when she initially applied, she was sent an email with instructions on how to apply and all her correspondence was via email after that. So I am assuming that when you first go to their site and apply for a loan, they select who they are interested in  from that online application.

I should have all the stuff by this time tomorrow (hopefully it not a busy day) and something you can sink your teeth into.

Keep in mind that while all scams are Bad Deals, not all Bad Deals are scams.  Looks like Peeform is a lender who has some experience in skating on the edge of regs.  If they are better or worse than similar lenders is the info that might help her decide. This class of lenders are not owned, operated or staffed by Girl Scouts, so you make the best deal you can.