BBB Warns Mortgage Savings Package May Be Too Good To Be True

Austin, Texas, December 3, 2008 - The marketing masterminds behind an Amish-made electric fireplace and a rare coin and currency exchange are now targeting homeowners with a questionable mortgage savings package. Canton, Ohio-based Universal Syndications, Inc., which also does business as Universal Media Syndicate, Inc. (click here to see the company's BBB Reliability Report) has launched a new enterprise called Universal Mortgage Group. The company is taking out full page ads in newspapers, including the Austin American- Statesman, to promote a $198 Mortgage Savings Package that promises homeowners a minimum $20,000 in savings. Consumers are urged to call within 72 hours or they will miss the chance to take advantage of this offer, but BBB wants to urge everyone to be cautious. The company asks for personal financial information and requires a credit or debit card number to purchase the Mortgage Savings Package.

The company's ad claims the Mortgage Savings Package can show homeowners who are current on their mortgages how to eliminate years of interest payments, own their homes years earlier and build equity 2 to 3 times faster by using proven banking principles to reduce compounding mortgage interest, but no other details are given about what the customer will actually receive for their $198 payment. The company also offers to manage and monitor a customer's mortgage for them for "less than $10 every four weeks." Customers are offered an instant, free phone mortgage analysis, where they are asked to give personal financial information.

BBB has gotten complaints about this company's ads and products in the past. Universal Syndications, Inc. marketed the Heat Surge Roll 'n Glow portable electric fireplace by taking out two-page ads in newspapers all over the country. The ads featured a code consumers could use when visiting amishfireplaces.com, where they could presumably get two free heating units by purchasing an accompanying Amish-made mantle. The company's ads claimed the unit consumed less electricity than an electric coffee-maker and could save customers amazing amounts of money on their home heating bills. Consumers were told they only had 48 hours to respond to this offer.

The company also launched World Reserve Monetary Exchange, again taking out huge ads in newspapers all over the country and offering consumers the chance to purchase sheets of uncut currency and non-circulated coins by visiting presidentialmoneygallery.com. Again, consumers were told they had limited time to take advantage of the offer.

BBB has processed 292 complaints against Universal Syndications, Inc. as of December 3, 2008. The majority of the complaints are about the company's World Reserve Monetary Exchange program, which offered consumers the chance to buy uncut currency and uncirculating coins and the Heat Surge Roll 'n Glow Electric Fireplace. Complaints generally concern slow delivery or non-receipt of product, difficulty reaching customer service representatives, delays in obtaining refunds after returning merchandise and advertising claims. The company met with BBB serving Canton Regional and Greater West Virginia on multiple occasions to discuss the issues which resulted in these complaints. The company promised to increase customer service staffing and extend customer service hours, as well as improve product handling options to resolve the underlying causes of the complaints.

The company has also had some problems with the law. In May 2008, a state superior court ordered Universal Syndications, Inc. to pay $89,000 to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for violating that state's Consumer Protection Act by running misleading advertisements for the sheets of uncut currency and non-circulating coins sold by World Reserve Monetary Exchange.

BBB urges consumers to carefully evaluate a company's claims before buying any product, especially when you are asked to give personal financial information. To check out a company's reliability, go to www.bbb.org.