Amerigroup Mortgage - They are well trained in how to use the Dark Side

This is a very different sort of article. But Keeping it Real is not just about things that are considered to be "Religious". After all, we Christians live in this world too. Jesus said that we must be as wise as serpent, but as gentle as doves.

Just because I am a Christian, this does not mean that I have to let anyone, Christians or non, walk all over me. Non-Christians know that us Christians tend to be easy marks, So Christians are often taken advantage of.

At the same time, Christians are not to demand their rights. What is required is wisdom to know when we should fold em, when to hold em, when to walk away, and when to run.

This was an occasion when I needed to run away from this mortgage company, but also stand up for myself and my family.

This is a real story about my dealings with a mortgage company that I had contacted about possibly refinancing my home.

I got a solicitation in the mail from this company. The mailing said:

• No income verification
• Money back,
• Lower your monthly payment
• Skip a payment. 

They hit all the places that they needed to in order to get people to respond. Who would not want these things? The old saying is that if it seems to good to be true, it usually is. 

But I decided to go ahead and give it the benefit of the doubt and call em. I called and they set an appt for a loan officer to come to my house in a couple days.

I thought this was a bit pushy, that my home was going to be invaded by a stranger in a couple days, but I still tried to keep an open mind. 

The day of the appt arrived. It was a very busy day. So when the loan officer called to verify the appt, I was going to tell him that this was not a good day and we would need to reschedule. After all, calling to verify an appt is the courteous and professional thing to do. 

The loan officer never called.

He showed up at my door step a half hour late. I went ahead and let him in. I told him right off that If he had called to verify the appt, I would have told him that this was not a good day. He seemed to not understand the value of calling to verify appts. So I explained to him what the value was in calling to verify an appt. He did not seem to get it at all. Or maybe he was playing dumb. I am not sure what his problem was.

The courteous and professional thing to do is to call to verify appts. Especially when one is running late. Not doing this was an instant red flag in my mind. He continued to argue with me about this. He said; " Didn't you call and make the appt with us?"

(After thinking about this, I came to the conclusion that its probably their company policy to not call to verify appts. If their loan officers called to verify appts, this would give the customer the opportunity to say no. This is rule #1 in high pressure sales. Never give the customer the opportunity to say No.)

Being late and not calling to verify the appt.
Strike One!

I told him that I was not prepared for there appt because I was going to tell him, if he had called, that today was not a good day for me. He kept insisting that I should find the paperwork for the home loan. 

I was also alone at the table with him. He asked if my wife would be joining me? I told him that she was busy, but she would try. He gave me a bull story that it was federal law that both parties had to be present for this.

(Even if this is a law, he could well do it with just me.) I dont think the mortgage police would break in and see that my wife was not here and arrest us. I think the more likely reason of why they insist that the wife be present is that they hope that since women tend to be more emotional, they will see all the money they could save. The woman will then put even more pressure on the man to make a rash decision and sign on their bottom line.)

Arguing with me.
Strike Two!

I told him that I would try to find my mortgage paperwork, but I could not guarantee him that I would be able to find this on short notice. Plus I also told him that because he was late, we didn't have much time. I had company and we had to go pick up my daughter from a play date at 4pm. It was now 3:30 and I was being forced to go find paperwork on my loan.

By the time I found my paperwork, it was 3:45. We had 15 minutes before we needed to be out the door. He started going through his flip chart. He had gone through a couple when I had to cut him off. I told him that I did not want to be rude, but we didn't have time for this. All I wanted to see was the numbers.

He seemed very put out at this. 

He went through the numbers and was about to get to the bottom line. He pressured me to make a decision right then and there. I told him 3 or 4 times that I would have to work out the numbers myself, think on this and pray about it.

He did not like this at all.

Whenever a place tries to pressure you into making a quick decision, its because they are trying to hide something. They know that if they let you think on it, or work out the numbers yourself, you are going to find a problem and change your mind.

He said that he had to call his corporate office. (This was probably to intimidate me) He called and after a short time, handed the phone to me. This person identified himself as someone from corporate and started asking me questions like "What did I like about the loan." These sorts of questions are meant to get me thinking that this is a good thing and I needed to do it now. Another form of pressure.

It was now 4:00 and I needed to leave. I tried to tell the person on the phone this, but he would not divert from his script. So I had to tell him bluntly.

"I don't mean to be rude, but I don't have time for 20 questions". At this he stopped and told me to give the phone back to the loan officer. 

The loan officer promptly gathered up all his stuff, along with the sheet he had wrote his numbers on and began to leave.

(It was like watching a 5 year old that was pouting because he did not get his way and so he took all his stuff and ran home to his mom.)

I guided him toward the door.

His last comment was: "If at some time you have an hour to  1 1/2 hours to spend on this, give us a call". Im sure that I must have made them mad that I didn't not let them go through their entire Routine. 

Im convinced that this company is hiding something. For one thing, they are using a variable interest rate loan.

This is very dangerous.

Thousands of people had to file bankruptcy due to variable rate loans. Im convinced that this company is preying of Vets to peddle their bad loans. 

These people are very slick and well trained to use the dark side. Meaning that they are know how to deal with objections, and get you to do what they want you to do.

My advice. Just look away and say no to this company.

Why cant my life be like a Bed of Roses?

I have to start this out with some explanation. There are people that read my blog that are not in the US. So they have no clue what these references to "Bed a Roses" mean. So for their benefit, I will explain. Roses are sweet smelling. A flower bed full of roses is one of the nicest things you will ever find in life. So here in America, we equate a bed of roses with a sweet and easy experience. For example, if I had a very easy and wonderful experience with someone, I might say that dealing with them was like a bed of roses. In America, we often wish that our lives would be easy and sweet, just like being in a rose garden full of roses.

Let me start by telling you a little story from my own life. A few years ago, I got married to the woman of my dreams. But it has not been the easy marriage that I had hoped it would be. It has been the hardest thing that I have ever done.

The old saying is that anything that is really worth it is going to be hard. The exception to this is asking Jesus into your heart. Thankfully, God made salvation very easy.

In fact, my wife and I have been on the doorstep of getting a divorce so many times, that its just plain crazy. Now we are doing a lot better. But it took years to get here.

• We have been in debt up to our eyeballs.
• We have had a business that failed and had to file bankruptcy.
• We lost our home and 2 cars in the bankruptcy.
• We had to rent for 3 years while we waited for credit to clear up so we could buy again

In some of our discussions, we end up saying things like;

If we only had enough money to get out of debt, we would not fight anymore and be happy.
And
If only we had better jobs, we would not fight anymore and be happy.

They always seem to start with the same thing. “If Only.”

• If Only we had better jobs
• If Only we made more money
• If Only we had a better marriage
• If Only we had more friends
• If Only we had more children
• If Only we had a bigger house
• If Only we had a boat, or better cars
• If only.......

The list never ends.

I even found myself praying these things. I prayed a similar thing about our jobs, which neither of us are really happy in. I prayed that God would deliver us from our debt, so that then we would be happy and no longer fight.

After I prayed these things though, I began to feel a little uneasy.

Was I really praying about the right thing?

Have you ever wanted something so badly that you just could not stand it? Maybe it was a boat, that new car, a DVD player, a computer, etc... Then you finally got it. You were so very excited and thrilled that you finally got what you always wanted. Now life would be wonderful.

Life would now be "All that and a bag of chips".

But then after the new wore off, that thing that you wanted so much just wound up sitting in the back of the garage collecting dust. Or at best, you continued to use it, but it just didnt live up to your expectations.

So you moved on to the next biggest and better thing that would finally be IT!

I recently changed jobs. I am happy with the one that I have now. But now there are new things to fight about and be unhappy with. Things just never go smooth in our lives. At least my version of smooth.

After going through this same pattern over and over and over throughout the course of my life, I began to think. Surely this is not right?

Definition of Insanity according to Albert Einstein
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

After much thought and prayer, I finally decided that my whole view point on this issue was wrong.

So, what is the proper way of looking at these problems?

Well, before we get to that, let’s examine the problem a little more and see if we can identify the real issue. Now satan, as dumb as he is, is really pretty good at some things. Let’s face it. He’s had a long long time to develop his strategies to deceive us.

• What if he could always get us looking for something better?
• What if he could cause us to always be unhappy with our current situation?

It’s like Luke when he first came to Yoda with aspirations of becoming a Jedi Knight. Yoda objected to him becoming a Jedi because Luke never had his mind on where he was at and what he was doing. He was always looking to the future and to what he thought would be a better life and a better situation.

Yoda was saying that Luke would be of no value as a Jedi because he was never happy with where he was at and who he was.

Even Yoda knew if Luke was not happy and content with where he was now, he would not be happy and content with where he wanted to go, which was being a Jedi. He would always be thinking things like;

• If Only I had more power
• if Only the council would send me on more assignments
• If Only I knew how to use the Dark Side
• And on and on

He would always be looking to the future and wondering what life could be like on the other side of the fence. It’s like a carrot that is dangled in front of our face. We strive and strive to grasp the Carrot. What we can’t see though is that this carrot is attached to a stick and a string that is dangled just out of reach in front of us.

It doesn’t mater how hard we try to get the carrot. We will never be able to grasp it!

Let’s look at some more examples that might be closer to home.
Shortly after we got married, my wife mentioned how difficult marriage was. Never in her wildest imagination did she think it would be so difficult.

She said that she always had this idea in her head that marriage would be all fun and games and that we would never fight. She said that she was amazed at how much work it actually was. I asked her about this. She said that she, at least in part, got this idea of marriage from the movies. Fairy tales like Cinderella, Snow White and many others.

We grow up on these fairy tales and their fantasy of what marriage is. At the end of every one of those movies, the couples run off into the sunset and live happily ever after.

What they don’t tell you is what happened after Cinderella and her Prince Charming ran off in the sunset to get married. What they don’t tell you is how Cinderella and Prince Charming argued and fought over how much money they could spend on drinks down at their local pub.

And the knock down drag out fight that resulted.
Id like to see that included in those fairy tales!

We are spoon fed from birth that marriage should be a big bed of roses. The reality of course is that marriage is all about commitment. We have to make a commitment that we will stay with our mate, for better or worse, till death do we part.

Marriage requires a lot of work!

You are taking two individuals with unique and complex personalities and melding them together. For instance, in my marriage, I am an introvert. My wife though is an Extrovert. I love science Fiction. My wife hates it and prefers romantic comedies.

At times it seems like trying to mix oil and water, which we know does not mix at all. But all things are possible with God. God can take that oil and water, which normally does not mix, and blend them together so that in the end, you can’t tell one from the other.

A side not to this is that scientifically, Oil and Water can be mixed. It requires a lot of effort, but it can be done.

So, the reality of this process is that fights are going to happen! Arguments are going to happen!

Marriage is not a bed of Roses and definitely not a fairy tale.

In order to have a good healthy marriage, you will have to work at it. You must be happy and content with where you are at in life. If you are single, be happy in that. If you seek marriage thinking that it will make you all better and that finally you will be happy, you are being deceived.

Many of us can attest to the fact that that special person did not come along until we stopped looking. It was not until we stopped looking for that mate and made the decision that we could be happy and content with our current condition, that God decided that it was time to grant us our request.

The next lie that we are told is that if we only get more money, we will not fight anymore and be happy. Satan is always trying to get us to look for something better.

If only we had more money.
How many times have we all said that one?
How many times have we all heard that one?

Let’s take a look at this more closely. I will use my life as an example again. When I was making $5 an hour, and I was barely making ends meet. I thought to myself; if only I made more, I could get out of debt and I would be happy.

Then I got another job where I was making $8 an hour and I thought; wow! This is great, now I’ve finally arrived. But before too long, that was not enough. And then I got a job at $10 an hour, but that was still not enough. Now I’m making several dollars more than this, but that is still not enough.

See a pattern?

Satan wants to keep us always caught up in looking for that elusive Bed of Roses. If only we could get more money, we would be ok. But the kicker is that we never can reach that point when it’s enough. If you ask folks that are making $150,000 a year, if it’s enough, they will tell you; No. There is always more to get.

• A bigger house
• A better car
• A better cell phone
• Being able to give more to charity
• Etc…

Satan will always find something to tempt us with so that we will not be satisfied with what we currently have or who we currently are.

That’s why God has so much to say about the evils of money. God is not saying that money is evil, he is saying that we need to be very careful. The evil lies in the pursuit of money. The trick then is to learn to be happy and content with what you have and where you are in life.

Now how about the lie of becoming a Christian?

No, im not advocating that folks should not become Christians. The lie, or perhaps I should call it a miscommunication, is how we are being told that after you become a Christian, you will no longer have any problems. A lot of Preachers are teaching this. Most don’t do it intentionally. But that does not make it any less wrong. It’s called a sin of omission.

They are teaching and preaching that if we just come to God and get saved, that all our problems and cares will melt away.

Like being in a soaking tub filled with Calgon the rest of your life!

It’s a cute thought, but it’s just not realistic. So why are so many churches preaching this easy Christianity? There is no case in the bible where someone became a Christian and then magically all their troubles and trials went away. There is no “And they lived happily ever after” in the Scriptures.

The fact is that the bible is full of stories that are just the opposite. Folks became Christians and then the real battle started. They had to face trials, tribulations, and even death.

So why are we trying to sugar coat Christianity?

Why are we giving people false expectations? Perhaps it’s because we want them to accept Jesus so badly. But are we doing more harm than good? Sure, Folks are coming to God and getting saved. But how many are walking away at some point because they become disillusioned. Sure people that are having a hard time in life will flock to God if we tell them that life will suddenly become a Bed of Roses.

But that’s just not the truth!

It’s the same; the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Of course, we Christians know that it is better on this side of the fence. But that doesn’t mean that there are no troubles over here.

Conclusion:

If you are in debt up to your eyeballs, living from pay check to pay check and cant even see the financial light of day.

• Go to church
• Wave you hands up in the air
• Jump up and down
• And proclaim to yourself and everyone else that “You have a wonderful life, You have a wonderful God, and you have been blessed beyond measure.”

If you have lost your home and your car to repossession, and your cat ran away.

• Go to church
• Wave you hands up in the air
• Jump up and down
• And proclaim to yourself and everyone else that “You have a wonderful life, You have a wonderful God, and you have been blessed beyond measure.”

If you are single and life seems dull and depressing. You are bored to tears and want to be married with everything in you.

• Go to church
• Wave you hands up in the air
• Jump up and down
• And proclaim to yourself and everyone else that “You have a wonderful life, You have a wonderful God, and you have been blessed beyond measure.”

When you become a Christian

• Go to church
• Wave you hands up in the air
• Jump up and down
• And proclaim to yourself and everyone else that “You have a wonderful life, You have a wonderful God, and you have been blessed beyond measure.”

Get the point?

No matter your circumstance

• Go to church
• Wave you hands up in the air
• Jump up and down
• And proclaim to yourself and everyone else that “You have a wonderful life, You have a wonderful God, and you have been blessed beyond measure.”

Be content with who you are and where you are at in life. Don’t go seeking that Bed of Roses. You will never find it !

When you give up looking for it and finally become happy and content with where you are,

That’s when it will find you!