Sat 17 May 08 · Filed under Fraud News Stories
In researching United First Financial and the Money Merge Account, there weren’t many sources of information on the compensation structure for agents. What I do know is this: The official corporate website does not mention “the opportunity” or “business opportunity,” as most other multi-level marketing companies do. I came to the conclusion that the company doesn’t want to be labeled as a MLM or potential pyramid scheme.
The logic is obvious: Consumers are becoming more educated about the pitfalls of MLM. They realize that because the company has to pay so many levels in the food chain of an MLM, the actual seller of a product receives relatively low compensation. If the company wasn’t worried about building and paying the pyramid, there would be far more money to reward and compensate the actual seller of the product.
I was told that agents of United First Financial are paid this way: “The commission structure is similar to the mortgage broker industry, the real estate industry and the insurance industry.”
That seems to make the company and the pay plan legitimate, doesn’t it? Because I don’t often hear consumers complain about how insurance agents or mortgage brokers are paid - on a commission based structure.
But that explanation wasn’t really true. In fact, the United First Financial Compensation Plan looks exactly like the typical pay plan in your average multi-level marketing (MLM) company. UFF pays up to $2,500 to up to six levels of agents on one $3,500 sale.
Sounds great, doesn’t it? They’re paying out a ton in commissions. How wonderfully generous of the company! But the compensation really doesn’t mean that at all. It just means that, like all other MLMs, the customer is paying an inflated price for the product so that all these levels of the pyramid can be paid.
Look at it this way: The associate who actually sells the Money Merge Account concept to a customer is paid $900. UFF itself keeps $1,000 from the sale. Why not just price the plan at $1,900 for customers? Because in order to rapidly grow the number of agents peddling this overpriced, nearly useless product, they need to offer a bunch of others a piece of the pyramid action.
So you have the $3,500 price for the customer, and the people in the upline can get up to $1,600, while the actual seller only gets $900.
If you’ve recruited enough people and your downline makes enough sales, this could increase up to as much as $1,575. You could also theoretically make all those sales yourself to qualify for $1,575. The problem is doing that with the overpriced system. And your upline still gets a piece of the action from the $2,500 total commission.
You can read the entire United First Financial Pay Plan yourself, but here are the highlights:
Branch Manager - 9 sales, 3 of which must be personal (Cumulative 35 sales, 13 personal) - $1,575
Director - 8 sales, 3 of which must be personal (Cumulative 26 sales, 10 personal) - $1,350
Division Manager - 7 sales, 3 of which must be personal (Cumulative 18 sales, 7 personal) - $1,237.50
District Manager - 6 sales, 2 of which must be personal (Cumulative 11 sales, 4 personal) - $1,125
Senior Associate - 5 sales, 2 of which must be personal (Cumulative 5 sales, 2 personal) - $1,012.50
Associate - $900
Just like your garden variety MLM, it is far more lucrative to recruit new members… up to $1,575 for someone who recruits, compared to $900 per sale for someone who doesn’t recruit.
Some will argue that the higher commission levels for people higher in the pyramid are justified because they spend time training and managing the people below them. I disagree. Once you have basic training in your MLM, there is very little other training that goes on. Most “training” events are really recruiting events. So let’s not pretend that there is this massive training effort that needs to be compensated!
A training bonus of $75 to $225 is paid to the person at the top of the pyramid (Branch Manager) for each sale.
There is also a Bonus Pool of up to $225 per sale split between the selling associate and the various Branch Managers in the upline of the associate. The selling associate gets $60 if 3 personal sales are made. The amounts paid to the Branch Managers depend on how many personal sales and “base shop” sales are made.
As with other MLMs, there is a fairly complicated commission structure with lots of buts/ands/ifs/ors that dictate how much you will get. I suspect most agents have no idea who is getting paid what on each sale.
I think it’s clear that this compensation structure is not like any insurance agent or mortgage broker’s compensation. There are many more levels and contingencies. Typical multi-level marketing pay structure.
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Bill wrote @ May 17th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Read the commission structure again. You can get paid 1575 without ever recruiting someone a single person. No gotchas no binary. No need to post the commission or opportunity all over the internet. Do you see insurance companies doing it. Do you know how they get paid.
Thanks for the clarification “Bill.” I’ve updated my comments to reflect that.
Winston wrote @ May 28th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
I am having a hard time understanding why you have such a problem with how United First Financial has structured there business plan. You have obviously expressed your thoughts on the internet with lack of research, as Bill pointed out. If you did any digging into the better business burreo, you were disappointed to find nothing. To date NOT one buyer of the MMA program has utilized the 100% Money Back Gauruntee. To date, the program has a 98% retention rate. That tells me that the your invalid opinions of the “overpriced software” should not and do not matter. My advice to you would be do a bit more education on a subject before you start splashing slander and negative opinions on something you know little about.
*running to check the Better Business BURREO and look at that GAURUNTEE*
P.S. What is there to retain? Once you’ve flushed your $3,500 down the toilet, you might as well keep using the software!
I think he meant “Better Business Burrito”. It’s probably a Mexican fast food chain. Their guarantee is tooted as the best around.
And there have been 4 complaints to the real BBB against UFF, and others against agents. The problem with getting your money back from UFF is the software will do exactly what it says it will do - it just won’t do it as fast or with as little money as simple prepayment.
As you can see, many UFF agents aren’t the brightest bulbs on the tree, and not exactly the sort of people you want advising you on your mortgage. There is no educational or experience requirement to be a UFF agent. The $175, a few webinars and a “test” are enough, though UFF and other (possibly related) parasitic companies will try to hit new agents up for more money for template websites and other UFF-related expenses.
Thanks for posting the UFF compensation plan, Tracy. I’ve posted it to a few places as well. It really highlights the reason so many agents will go well beyond the official UFF sales spiel to sell the MMA.
Travis wrote @ June 10th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
I tried to get a refund due to a freeze on my HELOC and I was denied. I was told there is no 100% money back guarantee and the program will still work after version 4 comes available using a credit card in place of the HELOC. I told them the credit card will not get me the same rate as my HELOC and that is not what I signed up for, but was still denied. The only reason noone has gotten their refund is the fact that they deny them. There is no guarantee.
Lee D wrote @ June 11th, 2008 at 8:57 am
I don’t know Travis’ situation, so can’t comment, but speaking generally, if a homeowner has had their HELOC locked up, the LAST thing they should be doing is start futzing around with their credit cards. Suggesting otherwise is irresponsible, and frankly, idiotic.
Travis,
There are now 6 complaints against UFF on file at the Better Business Bureau. All have been “resolved”. It sounds like registering a complaint against the parent company in Utah is your best recourse:
http://utah.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx?site=139&bbb=1166&firm=22021100
Other complaints about UFF agent firms have not gone as well. In one case, the firm closed shop:
http://necal.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx?site=67&bbb=1156&firm=33009198
http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportExtensionPage.aspx?CompanyID=100045848&sm=#ComplaintExperience
Good luck, and please report back with progress reports and any questions you may have. You can also see the forums at Fatwallet.com or Scam.com for more information about UFF.
Hayden wrote @ June 15th, 2008 at 2:54 am
You wrote an amazing article. I am so sick of MLM in general. United First is one of the worst as they have unlicensed uneducated agents who have no business advising their clients on financial matters. I have been a licensed mortgage broker for more then five years and I always told everyone to run not walk when you see UFirst.
I
rich wrote @ July 4th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
This is an excellent product doing a tremendous amount of good for people. I used to say similar comments like many of the people above & I have since had to go back and apologize. Some of the most brilliant minds I know have done complete 180 degree turns much like I did. Hayden/Craig/Tracy/others - You are hurting people & I ask you kindly to look a bit deeper into what you are doing & think on bigger scale.
Every person who is saying something negative about UFirst needs to come up with better, more viable solution because what is taking place right now isn’t working. Please do not provide the same old rhetoric - What we are doing now is NOT working. I checked out this Version 4 & it is an exemplary product it truly is. Travis, they were right in telling you to get on V4 it is going to work for you hang in there.
PS - Regarding MLM; like it or not it is here to stay. Most places in a global community actually like MLM & in today’s internet age you almost have to go MLM to deal with ignorant comments like those above. I do not say that in anger I used to be Hayden I say it in complete sincerity. It is not for everyone but a great many people need the Money Merge Account & if you do not realize this you are way, way out of touch w/the current state of Americans financial status. Hayden - feel free to email me I would be happy to explain I really used to be the same way I will show you exactly what changed me
Hurting people - LOL. Helping them save $3,500 is really hurting them! If they don’t have discipline to pay down their mortgage without the money merge account, they won’t have the discipline with it. Flushing $3,500 down the toilet does not create a long-term change in behavior.
Hayden wrote @ July 5th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Rich,
99.9% of people LOSE MONEY WITH MLM. United First Financial is no different. They are actually worse then most as they have uneducated and unlicensed agents try to take money from hard workers.
Rich, your comment about having to go MLM just shows how brainwashed you really are. You can get a comparable product similar to MMA for under $200. MMA is an extremely overpriced, and in my opinion and people like you are the reason why it should be illegal. MOst people in a global community despise MLM, since 99.9% of the people lose money. For more info go to http://www.mlm-thetruth.com. To say that the current state of Americas financial status show how misinformed you really are. Are you actually trying to say that you can generalize the condition of each individuals finances? Do you really think the majority of people have an extra $3500 lying around in the bank?
Lynn wrote @ July 10th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
This product is pathetic. I know two people who have some financial background that are selling this crap. I saw through it in five minutes.
1. Save your $3,500.00 and make the extra principal payments yourself.
2. It may not be a good idea to pay your mortgage off early. Maybe you would be better off investing the money. It could save you even more.
Do not sell this plan and do not buy it. You have been warned!
Some of these comments make no sense to me at all. Programs similar to the Money Merge Account exist in the UK and Australia and have helped many pay down their debts in much less time. The concept of being able to see the “target” or end of your indebtedness is a great idea. The $3500 cost is what it is but it is well worth it. I am in my mid 40’s and payed mortgage interest for 20 plus years. I currently have no debt but my assets might have been twice what they are today had a system such as the MMA been available to me way back when. To be able to see the actual cost of an item is invaluable. Imagine being able to see the difference of the consequences of either buying a big screen TV or putting that money towards your first mortgage. Perhaps my choices would have been vastly different. Maybe I could have retired (almost certainly) next year instead of in 10 years. This is the 5th MLM I’ve been in and this is the first one I’ve actually made money in almost no time at all. But forget about the financial remuneration. What about the fact that you are helping people manage their finances? Lynn, please help me understand your angst towards this product. Do you have a better financial program?….because if you do I’d love to hear about it.
Eric - There is no need for UFF for one to pay off their mortgage early. The fact that you don’t know this and are an agent for UFF scares me. Like I’ve said before, most of these “agents” for UFF have no idea what they’re talking about!
You should also understand this whole “they use it in Australia” thing doesn’t add any credibility because Australian officials have said this is crap!
http://www.butterhomes.com/blog/index.php/mortgage-accelerator-under-fire-australian-securities-and-investments-commission-taking-action-against-mortgage-brokers
Instead of spending your time on MLM after MLM, you might consider taking a class on personal financial management. Sounds like a little bit of knowledge about budgeting and money would go a long way for you.
The gentleman that signed me with UFF has a degree from the University of Illinois in Business and also finance. He was the CEO of the credit union there and after graduating started his own mortgage company that he still owns today after 10 years in operation. He heads up the finance committee for the church that his father pastors. They have no debt whatsoever. Is he someone who doesn’t know what he’s talking about? No way! I personally have no mortgage and have been blessed with a fairly large portfolio of stocks that put me in the upper 1% of the country as far as financial wealth. I have been able to manage my own finances quite well but most people simply don’t have that discipline down very well. I reiterate, if you have an alternate plan that I and others could promote in order to help others extinguish their debt please enlighten us. Keep in mind that a bi-weekly pay down or a mortgage accelerator program does not work the way the MMA works by showing you the target or end of debt date that is so important psychologically. I would like to know something from you personally. Tell me specifically why you think the MMA program is no good. Also, do you speak from the perspective of someone with no debt and lots of equity? In addition, have you passed the CFP certification examination? That would lend huge credence to your argument against this program.
Here’s a plan and it’s free: Go online and use a free mortgage calculator. Decide how much extra you’re going to pay toward your mortgage each month. Enter that information into the mortgage calculator. See the date your mortgage will be paid off, write that on a piece of paper, and hang it on the wall. ALL FREE!
No one needs to pay $3,500 for the nonsense you’re selling. The same thing can be accomplished for free and much easier. I don’t need to take the CFP exam to know that I can pay my mortgage off early, and for free. That’s what makes your program so bad - there is such a simple and free way to do the exact same thing the UFF hocus pocus claims to do.
Links to your MLM scam are not allowed here, so please don’t link again or your comments will be deleted.
Tracy,
You are failing to address the main components. Those being: 1. Giving the debtor a target with the MMA program that is far closer than any mortgage calculator can give you and 2. The advantages of paying your closed end first mortgage with an advanced line of credit calculating interest based on an average daily balance. If you were more specific in your analysis and you could lend some credence to your argument, which I can tell you are understandably having difficulty with, I would leave this program a heartbeat. The last thing I am interested in is selling something that is fraudulent. I realize that you don’t have to be a financial planner to pay off a mortgage early but you are attempting to denigrate a product that many people are promoting and believe in without addressing the issues listed above. There are several different ways to pay down a 1st mortgage….this may simply be the most expeditious. Any SPECIFIC information that you have that would lead me to believe the contrary is hereby requested.
Eric - I’ve discussed the flaws in this program in detail on this blog. Even though I feel sorry for you, I’m not going to retype what I’ve already written here. Read the other threads on UFF and you will learn why the program is not worth $3,500. It’s all laid out in black and white, and very easy to find here if you can be bothered to look. You should pay special attention to the fact that the money shuffle using a HELOC with a higher interest rate than the regular mortgage saves the homeowner a few dollars at best. Again, they’d have great savings just putting the $3,500 toward their mortgage instead of this worthless product. Please have a look around before you respond again.
Hayden wrote @ July 17th, 2008 at 11:35 am
The MMA Kool aid drinkers will never understand the truth. They have had their brain permanently altered by taking to much Herbalife.
Eric Ebert, your attempt to build credibility by slapping on layer after layer of authority is way overdone:
The gentleman that signed me with UFF has a degree from the University of Illinois in Business and also finance. He was the CEO of the credit union there and after graduating started his own mortgage company that he still owns today after 10 years in operation. He heads up the finance committee for the church that his father pastors.
Why don’t you just say that the Pope recruited you for UFF? He’s a good guy, right?
You’re clearly a liar and a conman. If UFF is so great, why can’t you just IGNORE what people say about it? Maybe you should start your own blog about its benefits?
Lee D wrote @ July 17th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Hayden, I think you meant “MLM Kool aid drinkers.” The “MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) Kool aid drinkers” all hang out on the Sherdog forums.
Hey Al,
Liar and Conman….uhhh, no. Investigator, wealthy benevolent benefactor, yes. Why I care what people say about the program matters because I would prefer that others base their analysis on objective criteria and information from folks that have a financial background……. like Ernst and Young, and not persons such as yourself without substance other than non-intellectual stammerings. Read on:
“Ernst & Young (ey.com) is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 130,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve potential.”
Now why would E&Y advise people in debt to use the services of UFF if it was a scam and you redundantly claim. UFF recently received an award by E&Y so I’m guessing they may have checked into the company prior to the award or maybe they simply drew their name out of a hat!
I highly recommend that you head straight to the convenient store and buy some more lottery tickets. And pick up some donuts and a big gulp to add to your panniculus (look it up) while you’re at it. Hey, internet bashing is fun!!!!
Lynn wrote @ July 17th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Eric,
I am a Certified Financial Planner. I have been in the financial business for 25 years. I have been a mortgage broker as well during part of that time. This idea is of some value to show people how to get out of debt. You are making matters worse for them by charging them $3,500.00 for something they could see in a free amortization schedule they could run on the internet. The money merge account is a smokescreen to confuse the issue and allow the people to finance this big up front commission hit. If their after tax rate of return on their mortgage is low, they may be better off investing the money in a balanced mutual fund in an IRA rather than paying off the mortgage early. With high rate credit cards it’s a no-brainer. Pay them off first. Most of the people with credit problems don’t have the extra to apply to the debt, that’s why they are in trouble.
The son of a local pastor was involved in a gold certificate program a number of years ago. I told him it was a scam and that people would eventually get hurt by the ponzy scheme they were running. He sounded much like you. He trusted the person who introduced him to the “program.” Needless to say, many people lost thousands of dollars including his own father-in-law who had mortgaged the house to invest in it. Don’t be fooled by the hope of big money. Listen to what we are telling you. Don’t do it!!!
Hi Eric - Congratulations on setting a record at Fraud Files. You got yourself kicked off in a matter of hours. I’m not interested in the nonsense posted by people like you, so you’re done. Too bad you couldn’t actually provide any facts about your program that make it worthwhile for consumers.
The E&Y Award is simply an acknowledgment that a business has found a way to make a ton of money. In this case, it is by duping consumers into paying thousands of dollars for access to a worthless piece of software. They don’t even get a copy of the software for their money!
The award is not an endorsement of any kind. Lots of bad companies have gotten lots of awards. Lots of dishonest executives have gotten awards. This may offer a nice bit of publicity for UFF, but any consumer with an ounce of common sense knows this doesn’t validate the UFF program in any way.
Thanks for stopping by, and have a nice life.
Hayden wrote @ July 17th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Lee, I train MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and I have an account on Sherdog. In this case I was talking about MMA (Money Merge Account).
Tracy, how is it that critics of MLM can complain and tell the truth and people will still be stupid enough to sign on. You are right about these crooks making their systems so complicated, they can basically make the rules up as they go along. Quixtar is one of the most ingenious pyramid schemes ever thought up. Makes people fall prey to vultures pretty much. They rope you into being customer and buyer of the very propaganda which in the end victimizes you.
Because they all rely on the cult mentality, and they cultivate it so well. (No pun intended.) These people are so desperate to believe that this can be the answer for them. The company creates evangelists who are masters at sucking in new victims.
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