Early this morning I was watching television when the same commercial for National Relief Hotline began running over and over. It caught my attention.
It’s important for consumers who see the commercial for National Relief Hotline to understand what exactly it is.
The commercial promotes the company can assist consumers who are dealing with:
- Foreclosure
- Denied Loan Modification
- Missed Mortgage Payment
- Predatory Lending
- Upside Down on Mortgage
- Lost Your Job
- Could Loose Your Home
The “company” advertises a telephone number of 800-329-3225. A search for more information on that number did not locate any association with a company. It appears to be a new or disposable toll-free number.
National Relief Hotline says in the commercial they can:
- Stop the Foreclosure Process
- Lower Your Monthly Payment
- Save Your Home
It’s only when you get to the fine print that you learn this is not an advertisement for a real company at all. Instead it appears that National Relief Hotline is only a name use to fool consumers into thinking they are going to get some of the promised intervention services by calling.
But the fleeting fine print on the commercial actually says the company does not provide mortgage or foreclosure services. What it does say is:
“We are not attorneys but rather a third party referral source that connects homeowners with mortgage specialists. Calls may be answered by companies other than National Relief Hotline.”
While the commercial claims there is no obligation to call, it also does not make it clear the consumer will be potentially giving over their personal information to an unidentified party since it appears National Relief Hotline is neither a real company, or exists.
So I Called
So I called the number and was connected with a very nice John Abner, an “intake guy” (read that salesman) for the “Loizzi Law Group” which he says is a national law firm.
A search online for “Loizzi Law Group” could not locate an exact match for any firm with that name. John gave me his direct telephone number in area code 904, which is typically a Florida area code.
There is a firm called Steve Loizzi & Associates in Nevada that handles mortgage and foreclosure cases but I have no information that would identify them as the same firm. They identify themselves as “Nationwide Mortgage Defense Attorneys.” – Source
The site, steveloizzilaw.com was registered in March of 2012. It’s a relatively new site.
John says the average fee for the service is about $1,285 for the retainer.
If I’m looking for a piece of good news in this story I’d have to give John a thumbs up for not being rude a jerk, you’d be surprised how many I actually talk to. He was nice, professional and open. You don’t run into that much in the foreclosure rescue business. I’d have to give him a thumbs down though for the specific information he gave me. I was unable to verify the law firm or even find it.
Whoever John really works for I’m sure is just getting their turn in the lead generation queue. He answers the phone as the “Mortgage Hotline” but later it comes out he is representing a law firm.
It was interesting when I said to John that the commercial could help if I just owed more on the mortgage than the house was worth, his response was that statement was “a little bit misleading.”
If you feel like wasting seven minutes, feel free to listen to the secret shopper call I made below.
Overall I’d have to say the commercial, in my opinion, is misleading and deceptive. There does not appear to be any real company by the name National Relief Hotline.
Cornerstone Media Group
The Cornerstone Media Group does show a demo of a commercial for the National Relief Hotline on their site. – Source, Source
So are they the ones accepting responsibility for the commercial and company, National Relief Hotline?
Get Out of Debt Guy – Twitter, G+, Facebook
