Trinity Consulting Services, LLC

This company provides education course work, videos, and teleconferencing relating to foreclosure, short sale purchases, tax deeds, and other real estate related subjects. The company sells a business opportunity they call “partner agreements” which generally cost between $5000 and $15,000 depending on the services.

As part of their agreement with participants they claim that they will provide educational materials and coaching to assist you in researching foreclosures, pre-foreclosures, short sales, and other investor level residences and commercial properties. Clients are responsible for negotiating a purchase contract with property owners. As part of its service, the company offers a submissions department and an investor network to assist you in locating investors willing to purchase your purchase contract. According to the company, you are trained to include an assignment fee to be paid to you by an investor either directly or through escrow.

On September 11, 2007 the company wrote to us describing their services as follows: “…Trinity Consulting Services trains its clients on how to find and research out foreclosures. From there, it is up to the client to use what they were taught to locate potential property, work with investors in their local area, work with hard money lenders or conventional lenders, or create contracts of other members through our foreclosure network. Accordingly, our clients are informed that: “Relationships and business dealings developed through the interaction of clients/members and the foreclosure network is at the clients discretion, and is by no means neither overseen nor directed by T.C.S. Foreclosures.”

Based on our review of the offer, we believe that this company's offer may require registration with the California Attorney Generals office, and require a bond filing in the amount of $100,000 pursuant to California's Seller Assisted Marketing Plan Act (SAMP Act). The law requires all SAMP offerings to provide certain disclosures early in the process of the sale, including exactly what the seller will do for you, any training required and promised by the seller, payment information, etc. If the seller made any statements to you about earnings potential, he/she is required to provide you data substantiating such claims when they are made or soon after, if they were made by mail or telephone. If such representations were made, the disclosure statement must include a statement that no guarantee of earnings or ranges of earnings can be made.

Other information, such as whether the seller or others connected with the company have ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor or filed bankruptcy, must be provided at least 48 hours before you execute the contract or pay anything, but this information may be combined in the disclosure sheet. If the seller represents, either orally or in writing, that a “buy-back” arrangement exists or that your initial payment is protected from loss or “secured,” those arrangements must be fully disclosed and explained. If the seller makes such representations, he/she must obtain a bond or deposit money into a trust account, and include information about it in the information or disclosures you are to receive. If you are required to pay more than 20% of the cost as an initial payment prior to delivery, the contract should reflect an established escrow account.

You have the right to cancel a SAMP contract for any reason within three business days of the date you and the seller sign the contract, and your contract must give you full information about how to cancel. You may also void your contract within one-year from the contract date if, for example, the seller uses any misleading statements, does not provide the required disclosures, or if the company’s contract does not comply with legal requirements. The law does not allow you to waive any of the rights this law allows you, even if you should actually sign a waiver of them. We recommend that you evaluate any SAMP offer carefully. Read your contract very carefully before signing, since verbal and even written representations may be made in person or in other documents that are not included in the contract. Use particular caution in accepting earnings claims or potential at face value.