Your Church Partner

Review: [redacted]below is a copy of the letter that was issued to him, we still haven't received a response from him[redacted] April 12, 2013 Re: Kenneth Belton – Your Church Partner Contract Greetings!! I am writing this letter in regards to our current contract with you for church developmental services. After meeting with Apostle English, we have decided to terminate our contract and disregard any future requests. We had some concerns that made us come to this decision: (1) Loan Down Payment – which I personally questioned if we could get around this with the banks & it was assured that most of the time you could along with proving the point with the pledge cards. (2) Process Timing – it was our understanding that the 3 banks ([redacted] Bank, & [redacted] Bank) would be contacted & seen on Monday, April 8th because of the timing with the auction date which I personally made sure you got all of your info early (on Thursday, April 4th except for the future budget which was emailed on Friday, April 5th) so you could have time to prepare. (3) Banking Procedures – this goes along with the down payment issue as well but knowledge of each bank’s commercial loan process before we agreed to this contract would have been helpful in making a decision because we’ve been thru the process of looking for loans last year & every single one wanted a down payment of either 15% or 20% or they no longer issued loans to churches. Since this decision has been made, we will explain to (and update) our congregation what has taken place and the amount of money that we had spent so far on this contract and we will work towards replacing those funds back in our account. If you have any additional questions or comments, please feel free to contact us. Thank you! In His Service, Elder [redacted], Administrator [redacted], Founder Cell# ###-###-#### Cell# ###-###-#### OFFICIAL LETTERDesired Settlement: $2,500.00 is what was paid to Mr. Belton for services rendered (which is 1/2 of his requested amount)

Business

Response:

The purpose of this letter is to respond to the alleged allegations and complaint filed by [redacted]. My first meeting with [redacted] was on Friday, March 15,2013 at their Church facility. I explained to them my services and how I could support them. I am a church building consultant and my role is to lead their church through the complicated details of an expansion project. I will work on their behalf with the architects, banks and contractors in order to save the church both time and money. The pastor indicated they wanted to buy some property and build a church for their individual congregation. I advised him I usually operate on a percentage of the project and my retainer fee is $5,000. On March 20,2013,[redacted] contacted me about a church, [redacted] that was going to be auctioned on April 19, 2013. On March 25,2013, I hired a realtor to take some members of the congregation to view the property. After reviewing the property, I advised that we needed to begin the process of getting loan approval as soon as possible. On March 28,2013, I met with [redacted] and [redacted] again to explain the process and submit my invoice for $5,000.00. I advised them I would accept $2,500.00 for the initial down payment and send them an invoice for the$2,500.00 balance at a later date. They agreed and gave me a check for $2,500. I gave them a list of information I needed. Concerns1) Loan Down Payment - Based on their statement, it appears to be some confusion and misunderstanding. I explained the 80 /20 rule or percentage banks required. Often times Churches have some assets money, land or property to cover the 20%. l have no way of knowing what a church can do until they give me their financial documentation. Each bank is different. I have worked with other churches to assist them with strategies to come up with the 20%. Those strategies have included a pledge campaign to get members to contribute additional money to the expansion project. 2) Process Timing - As indicated in their letter, they gave me their documentation on April 4th and 5th. It took several days to put their information together and schedule an appointment with the banks. I forward an email I received from one of the banks on April 12, 2013, to [redacted] and [redacted] stating "To qualify for a traditional mortgage, any borrower needs to put at least 15% down (20% is the norm). "The banker gave 3 suggestions or strategies for the church to implement. He further stated if they could solve the down payment issue, he would recommend a loan in the $400,000 to $500,000 range for the church at that time. Therefore, I do not understand the concern. They got a response from the bank in 1 week, which is 1 week prior to the auction.3) Banking Procedures - They are requesting me to provide them with all of the banking procedures? That is impossible and unrealistic. I had been meeting with [redacted] and working on behalf of the church for approximately 1 month. I had even gotten them preliminary approval for a loan if they could resolve the down payment issue. I would have continued to work with the church as long as it took for them to get a church for the $5,000.00 retainer. The retainer fee is non refundable and the Church still has an outstanding balance of$2,500.00. If you have any questions or need any additional information, please let me know.Sincerely, Kenneth J. Belton Your Church Partner, LLC

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. I will meet with my church board to discuss what our further options/decision will be regarding this whole situation. His contract does not state "non-refundable" on it and we will not pay the remaining balance due to him. Regards,[redacted]