GFL Capital Mortgage, Inc

Review: Received a misleading letter from this group. The envelope indicates "time sensitive material", Does not indicate the sender, reads "Importand Notice", comes at tax time (February) and is one of those that requires ripping the perforated sides off in order to open.This mailing is a deliberate attempt to mislead the consumer into thinking this is some sort of official document that must be opened, read, and addressed promptly, when in fact this is just another solicitation for mortgage services.Desired Settlement: I'd like this company, GFL Capital Group, Inc., to be compelled to change the way they send out these mailers so that there is a clear return address indicator, a message that indicates this is NOT a government document or otherwise requires "immediate attention", and an indication that this is a solicitation for business.

Business

Response:

This letter represents the response for a complaint made against The GFL Capital Group, Inc. The GFL Capital Group, Inc. sends out direct mail marketing to prospective consumers to generate business. The data is researched and the mailings are targeted to certain homeowners with a recorded mortgage within our search criteria. Our marketing and Data Company closely monitor and manage our mailing campaigns. Consumers who contact us and wish to be taken off of our list have their requests granted and no future mailings are sent out to the consumer.

Our advertisements do not quote rate or any other numbers involving loan terms. In addition the advertisements do not provide any guarantees or promises. When prospective clients phone into our office our employees make it clear that they are not employed by their current lender. In addition our disclaimer states:

“The GFL Capital Group, Inc. (State name and license info). NMLS #64367. We are not sponsored by or affiliated with the lender and the solicitation is not authorized by the lender. We may not be licensed in your state and you may have received this letter in error. We do not conduct business in states where we are not licensed. Preapproval is subject to current conventional product guidelines.”

Early this year there were a couple of mail campaigns that were sent out with incorrect data to consumers in Oregon and Washington. Our disclaimer clearly states “you may have received this letter in error.” Unfortunately the error resulted with consumers receiving mail that may’ve been annoying. Since the data was incorrect for those mail campaigns our company never had a chance of capitalizing on potential business from the advertisements therefore those advertising campaigns costs our company a lot of money.

The GFL Capital Group, Inc. is a small independent brokerage. We don’t have the resources that larger banks and lenders have therefore we want to provide a positive experience that the consumer may not get from a larger institution. Our goal is to educate our clients and provide them with excellent customer service during and after their mortgage process.

Business

Response:

Hello [redacted],

We are not violating any laws. There is a full disclosure statement on the letter. The front of the mailer doesn't contain any government symbols and the letter doesn't state "MUST BE OPENED IMMEDIATELY". The front of the letter contains a law.

Here is the definition of 18 U.S. Code § 1702 - Obstruction of correspondence:

"Whoever takes any letter, postal card, or package out of any post office or any authorized depository for mail matter, or from any letter or mail carrier, or which has been in any post office or authorized depository, or in the custody of any letter or mail carrier, before it has been delivered to the person to whom it was directed, with design to obstruct the correspondence, or to pry into the business or secrets of another, or opens, secretes, embezzles, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. "

This disclaimer is for people who tampers with mail. (if someone opens the letter that wasn't addressed to he/she.)

We've been marketing this piece for years. We send this mailer to people through public records. Once again, we are NOT violating any laws. If you didn't appreciate the mailer just give us a call and we can remove you from the list. You won't get anymore mail from us and it will help us save money.

We have plenty of customer testimonials from people in Oregon that received that same mail piece. The letter maybe an issue for you but that letter has led to hundreds of homeowners finding help through our company. A lot of people that receive the letter went to their large local bank and got denied.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any additional issues with our company. You can reply through the Revdex.com or contact me directly at 888-557-8836 ext [redacted]. Thank you. - [redacted]

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:

I never claimed laws were being violated. It is an unfair and misleading advertising practice. Had laws been broken, I would have complained to the FTC, not the Revdex.com.