Empower Group USA review: Beware 12

If anyone from the Empower Group out of Orem UT ever calls me again, I won't spend 2 seconds on the phone with the. I did some digging and found out that Empower Group is owned/founded by Sean Whalen in Orem UT. He is an amateur fighter who will do anything to make a buck... including but not limited to hiring college dropouts and high school graduates, offering them excessive commissions to sell property to potentially naive buyers out of state.

Think about it, Sean Whalen and his cronies at Empower Group are selling property that they likely never saw... to investors who will likely not look at the property before they purchase it (because of the phone sales agents high high high pressure)... they encourage "investors" to often times purchase properties on high rate credit cards and then basically walk away telling the client that they are on their own.

Oh and I forgot to tell you the best part... if you are having trouble with your property, they are going to tell you that it isn't because the property wasn't in good condition or that they might have misrepresented the property... they are going to tell you to sign up for their "coaching program" and they will show you how to maximize your investment.

If you feel that you were scammed by Sean Whalen or the Empower Group USA out of Orem, UT OR if you purchased property and commissions were paid to reps that weren't disclosed to you - BE SURE TO CALL YOUR ATTORNEY GENERAL AND FILE AN OFFICIAL COMPLAIN!

Below is a link where you can find the listing for your state's attorney general. If you have been hurt like I have, then you will not want to let another person go through the financial pain of dealing with Empower Group. Take action!

http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php

Greetings all. My name is SEAN WHALEN and I am the owner of Empower Group, and I'd like to respond to the posts above and make some very clear and TRUE statements on behalf of myself and EMPOWER GROUP. The postings above are from a disgruntled former employee, but while I am responding, I thought it would be good to encourage all of you to contact me PERSONALLY to see EXACTLY what Empower Group is all about.

First off, whoever "empowerscam" and "EMPOWERGROUP" are, I encourage you to contact me directly to resolve your concerns. I offer my personal email address for you to contact me directly. Writing slanderous, UNTRUE things on the internet, and posing MY WIFE'S personal blog is a very simple way to show that your intentions are NOT to educate or "warn"people, but to try and harm the very good reputation of my company.

THE LINK POSTED BY "empowerscam" IS TO MY WIFE'S PERSONAL BLOG, HONESTLY FOLKS IF ANY OF THESE PEOPLE POSTING THINGS ABOUT ME OR MY COMPANY WERE TRUE, WOULD THERE BE A NEED FOR SOMEONE TO POST MY PERSONAL FAMILY INFO UNLESS IT WAS COMPLETELY FALSE AND THEY WERE TRYING TO UPSET ME? I'mvery open to communicating with ANYONE about issues, concerns or problems, and will always respond to such concerns.

In response to your original statement I must say that I AGREE with most of the comments! Thanks for sharing some good insight. A few things that were mentioned that I would like to comment on are:

1. DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE! I completely agree with you! Empower Group has sold more than 4, 000 properties to investors from all over the world, and you will see WE ENCOURAGE people to do their research! We have built a company that delivers things as promised, and I will stand by that fact and will continue to provide my clients with the highest level of opportunity, trust, and respect.

2. REAL ESTATE IS NOT THE STOCK MARKET! I agree! If you think that buying a home is the same as buying a stock, PLEASE do not buy from us, or any other person until you are VERY CLEAR that buying a home IN NOT the same as buying a stock!

3. DO NOT INVEST IF YOU CAN NOT AFFORD IT! Our financial troubles as a country are from people being over leveraged, and borring what they could not afford! I agree with you that if you are using next months rent payment, food money, or the last $10 bucks you have, DO NOT DO IT with my company OR ANY OTHER COMPANY! Be wise in what you buy, but only invest if you have the ability to do so!

4. BUY FROM REPUTABLE SOURCES! Empower Group does not, nor will it EVER contact people that have not requested contact. My company does not need to pretend to be something it is not. I personally have traveled all over the country with high profile real estate "guru's", and with people you have never heard of. I consider my relationships my biggest asset and I value those, and candidly do not need to "pretend" to be someone, or with someone we are not.

I would encourage ANYONE to contact me directly with questions. I have many, many clients that would happily discuss their great relationship with me, and Empower Group if you would like to confirm who we are and what we do. Me and my "cronies" are willing to share everything we do to help our clients be successful, such as TAKING PICTURES OF EVERY ROOM IN EVERY HOME WE BUY BEFORE WE BUY IT, CLOSE WITH REAL ESTATE CONTRACTS WRITTEN BY ATTORNEYS IN EACH STATE WE BUY, ABIDE BY THE LAWS OF EACH STATE WE INVEST & SELL IN, ETC. Again, I'd be more than willing to give those who seriously wish to know, and seriously wish to invest contact information for OUR ATTORNEYS who will confirm all of this.

Posting slanderous things on the internet is very childish and telling about the person posting. If you have real concerns or questions you go to the source. If you wish to do harm to someone and you are too afraid to share LEGIT issues, you do what these people have done.

Again, feel free to contact me. I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone may have, or help any of you reading this understand how we have helped HUNDREDS of clients buy homes and land all over the country fo less than what they paid for their cars.

Cheers.

Sean Whalen
President & CEO
Empower Group
sean@empowergroupusa.com
www.empowergroupusa.com

That's exactly right that Empower Group is a big scam company. They are taking advantage of new investors and cheating people without feeling guilty. They basically robbing innocent people's money which is really evil, especially during the poor ecomony.

PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM EMPOWER GROUP IN UTAH!

Sorry to Hate Empower Group, but I had an issue after reading all the negative comments, so I sent an email directly to Sean. He responded to me via phone within 15 min! Now that's great customer service! I didnt want to listen to all the negatives until I gave Empower Group the opportunity to explain why all the negativity? So as they say, there are always 2 sides to a situation, and this is one that requires an open mind! My goal is to invest & if you dont have the funds and knowledge, please dont gamble! Investing requires a lot of due dilligence! I am planning to work with Empower Group! We have been trying to invest in properties for the past 7 months & believe me, it's not that easy! We dont believe in reinventing the wheel(what a waste of energy & time) so if Empower Group have done all the bidding & going to the auctions, I say THANK YOU! So for those of you out there reading all these comments, take the time to call or email Sean Whalen, he will be glad to talk to you!
Cali Girl

EMPOWER GROUP MAY BE BREAKING THE LAW EVERY TIME IT SELLS A PROPERTY!

JUST SO EVERYONE KNOWS, I DO NOT WORK FOR EMPOWER GROUP. I HAVE NEVER WORKED FOR EMPOWER GROUP - DESPITE THE ALLEGATIONS FROM MR. WHALEN ABOVE.

IN ORDER TO SELL REAL ESTATE AND PAY OUT A COMMISSION, IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT YOU HAVE TO BE OR WORK WITH A LICENSED BROKER. NOT JUST FOR THE STATE WHERE PROPERTY IS BEING SOLD, BUT FOR EVERY STATE WHERE A PARTY EXISTS. THIS WOULD NOT BE TRUE IF YOU OWNED THE PROPERTY DIRECTLY AND WERE COMPLETING A PARTY TO PARTY SALE.

WHALEN'S EMPOWER GROUP PAYS EXORBITANT COMMISSIONS TO COLLEGE DROP OUTS WHO CAN ONLY MAKE A LIVING ON THE PHONE. IN DOING SO, EVERY AGENT WHO SELLS PROPERTY AND IS COMMISSIONED MUST BE AN AGENT OR HAVE AN APPROPRIATE LICENSE.

AGAIN, THIS IS JUST MY UNDERSTANDING AND I AM NOT INTENDING TO GIVE LEGAL ADVICE, BUT FOR ALL OF YOU WHO CALL EMPOWER GROUP, ASK THE PERSON ON THE PHONE IF THEY ARE LICENSED TO SELL REAL ESTATE. ALSO, ASK THEM WHAT TYPE OF DEED YOU ARE GETTING.

IF YOU ARE GETTING ANYTHING OTHER THAN A WARRANTY / GRANT DEED TO A PROPERTY, THEN YOU ARE TAKING ON THE POTENTIAL FOR EXTREME RISK. I WOULD NEVER INVEST IN A PROPERTY IF I RECEIVED A QUIT CLAIM DEED.

PLEASE GOOGLE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUIT CLAIM DEEDS AND WARRANTY DEEDS. SEAN IS MERELY SHUFFLING PROPERTY THAT PEOPLE BUY SIGHT UNSEEN. YOU CAN CUT HIM OUT AND BUY DIRECT... BUT IN ALL LIKELIHOOD, IF YOU SAW WHAT YOU WERE BUYING YOU PROBABLY WOULDN'T BUY.

PLEASE MAKE YOU OWN DECISIONS ABOUT EMPOWER BUT FOR ME AND MY MONEY, I WOULD BE VERY WARY.

THE TEXT BELOW IS QUOTED FROM ANOTHER BLOG ---

LINK >> http://www.justanswer.com/questions/2ac0z-i-bought-a-home-in-topeka-ks-from-empower-group-eg-in

"Question
I bought a home, in Topeka, KS, from Empower Group (EG) in Utah who claims their service is to go out, walk through, & pick out REO homes that need little or no rehab. They stated the homes may need carpet, paint, & some yard cleanup, maybe $2-3k in fixup at most. I have emails & recorded their webinar that back this up. I signed the contract & paid $14500 for the home with a credit card. The contract states that I'm buying the property "as is" & had every opportunity to view & research the property. I then sent in a contractor to assess what needs to be fixed, & he doesn't think the home is worth the money that needs to be put into it, $180k in repairs, where the homes in that neighborhood sell for $60k-$120k. EG completely misrepresented the condition of the home to me, & they won't address my request to release me from the contract. So, I requested a chargeback on my credit card, but EG is moving forward with the deed transfer, which I clearly don't want. What can I do?
Submitted: 427 days and 23 hours ago.
Category: Real Estate Law Value: $38 Status: CLOSED"

I contacted Sean Whalen by email to confront/ask him what is going on with all of the negative reports on this site. He emailed me back within 15 minutes and we had dialog throughout most of that day. He even called me to discuss some of the issues on this site. He addressed all of my concerns completely. I do believe he is on the up and up. (They have an A- rating with the BBB.) My husband and I are in the process of buying our first property with Empower Group. So far there have been no problems. We have been taken by other companies in the past, so we have experience to know what to look for and what not to fall for again. I do feel that perhaps fear and remorse is part of the problem when people first start investing in real estate. I know we went through that when we first started. Will post again after the first transaction is complete.

I'm a real estate agent and I'm neutral to all this. What many people don't understand is the "as is" contract. It is not like with a car where you have to take it what it says. In Real estate "as is" means seller is not required to make any repairs and therefor buyer can cancel the contract and walk away without losing any deposits or other money after inspection reveals any damage.
Unless you signed an addendum stating you waved inspection rights.

The owner is a [censored]. And his wife obviously wrote the response to him. Domt be an idiot. Domt invest. Every single person who is thinking about investing must watch "boiler room". Netflix it rent it whatever. After you see it you will understand the scam.

On his blog, Sean Whalen rants about how the BBB is a scam, claiming "I am a business owner that has been paying the BBB for my so called A rating for some time now." (http://www.seanwhalen.com/blog/2010/11/bbb-guilty-extortion-fraud/) As part of his defense about "slanderous claims" he has his wife cite his A- rating with the BBB. Based on the company's P23 website, all the listed properties look like they're located on the wrong side of the tracks and have been condemned as crack houses. The company is located in the scam capital of America -- Orem, Utah. P23 recruits former LDS missionaries who have gone through the rigors of recruiting member's to their church.

Sean Whalen's big mouth just might be his downfall.

Dear Mr. Snob,
I'm not quite sure what your infatuation with my wife is but I'm flattered. She is a sweat heart and anyone who chooses to be married to me is surely an angel!
With regards to the rest of your rambling babble, you really should educate yourself before you open your mouth. I most certainly have a BIG mouth and i open it often especially to speak to the likes of you, but I at least use it for a purpose vs. sitting behind a computer talking trash about Mormons and other topics you apparently know nothing about.
You see, you talking bad about Mormons shows everyone who will read this what your TRUE INTENTIONS are here. You are NOT an investor, you are NOT someone looking to succeed in life. You are the classic kid who knocks over the log house little Johnny was building back in school, laughs about it, then walks down the hall with your chronies thinking you are cooler than hell. In reality though you end up dropping out of school, working odd jobs and getting drunk every night blaming the rest of the world for your problems. I guess if yo uare working on being the captain of the jack ### club I should congratulate you. If not, I feel bad for you.
Yes I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints. Yes I have "Mormons" working for me. Yes I have NON Mormons working here as well. Not quite sure what that has anything to do with the BBB or my business, but I'm sure you and Jack Daniels were hanging out when you were writing this, so I'll go ahead and give you a free pass.
I think I'll go ahead and agree with ENTREPRENEUR magazine on the article that Utah is one of the BEST places in America. http://www.entrepreneur.com/entrepreneurextra/features/article66238.html
Although I bet they don't know what they are talking about either and Stonerville, JackMormon City, I'm a ### Plaza, or where ever you reside is much better.
Any who, it's been wonderful hearing from you, and I do hope you keep in touch. And by the way, if you want to see how to make money with REALLY FANTASTIC HOUSES, click on this link. http://www.seanwhalen.com/blog/?p=20

Thanks again Mr. Snobb and best wishes,

Sean Whalen
www.seanwhalen.com
http://www.facebook.com/likeseanwhalen

Can't argue with the black and white:

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/central/orem/article_cf50fd91-732c-5ec0-bb36-bb2959eb81c3.html?mode=story