Duane LeGate needs some help. Please list any "haterz™" sites in the comments ASAP. Thanks.
Showing posts with label Duane. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Duane. Show all posts
Monday, June 25, 2007
Flash Flash
Duane LeGate needs some help. Please list any "haterz™" sites in the comments ASAP. Thanks.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Duane LeGate Part 4.2 Sucked Dry
He fled the country.. he is in AUSTRALIA mooching off 2 “fans” a soon to be husband and wife that agreed to give him room and food. So the coward leaves... And he leaves Galina with a whopping 300 dollars in the checking account, her credit shot, possible criminal and civil violations, over 30K in debt.. and the COWARD LEAVES…These are the “juicy – things are crazy “ type things the Publisher wants to string out to buy the book. Throw the wife under the bus… but sell a book…
Okay, so Galina has 300 in cash to her name, prudently, she uses the money to write checks to start paying off all the enormous debt Snowflake has piled up. Except, Casey took out all the remaining money through his ATM card. She bounced checks… You get that… HE LEAVES and SUCKS OUT THE REMAINING MONEY…
[insert previous communication excerpt]
He got his airfare paid for by “an adoring fan” Mocha?
He gave Galina no notice, he spent the night at his parents for a couple of days, then called her to say he was leaving and she could come pick up the car.
When I met with Casey and Galina, they were going to sell the blog. I told them I would help them sell it or buy it. If I bought it, I would strip every single piece of content and rebuild. I offered Casey 15K, he wanted 24K.. I told him I want dying to have it, that if he was selling, I had an interest. But its not like I have to have it, or even want it… Its kinda like finding a good deal on a TV… you don’t need one.. but since its there…. I told him I would want a non-compete that basically said that he couldn’t start a foreclosure assistance site. He was worried it would interfere with the book. I told him my goal was not to stop him from earning money, in fact I encouraged it, as long as it went for bill payments. Galina wanted to sell.. Casey didn’t. Casey thinks the book will solve all his problems. He left Galina with 300 dollars in the checking account to pay bills. He is not planning on supporting her. In fact, he took out all remaining money after he got to Australia and now Galina is going to bounce a check to one of the credit card company’s she is trying to pay.
Here is what she told me..
On Saturday after SF we had a family dinner, with his parents and mine. The next three days we were beginning to compromise with our deep disagreements and he was kind and loving. On Monday, Marty the book marketer began threatening to sue us both for breaking his contract by closing IAFF (only Casey signed but at the time I was still supporting him, I think it was signed in April). I still wanted to get rid of the domain by selling it to you but Casey did not like the "non-compete" part. So we kept debating.
On Tuesday night Casey went to his parents' house for dinner and ended up staying the night there. On Wednesday morning I got a call from him. He said he has decided to take some time off. He had to be at the airport within an hour. I was confused. He gave me two options. He was either going to the airport from his parents' house and I would have to pick up the car later..or..he can stop by home and say goodbye and explain where, how long, with whom, etc., but I had to promise to not stop him or put up a fight. I wanted to hear the whole explanation so I agreed to not protest and have a chance to say good bye. I was really confused, I thought things were looking up between us. I'm heartbroken.
Basically, he said he's taking time off to focus and to work on his book. He said he'd be bringing back IAFF to keep his contract with Marty. He did not give a time frame, it was a one-way ticket to Australia. He told the VISA issuer that he's planning to be there for about two months.
Someone from the blog offered to let Casey come and stay at his (a 27yr old guy with his fiancé) house with free rent and food. Some other fan bought him the plane ticket.
I was in a bit of a shock but still asked him not to go and told him that this is wrong. He said he knows that I'm against it and that it hurts me but said that he loved me and hopes it will be worth it. He didn't want to miss this opportunity and adventure.
[end excerpt]
Casey, the guy that stated that he loves his wife, burys her in debt, then goes to Australia to mooch off 2 people, total strangers, so he can “live his life”.
I know I’m repeating myself, but what kind of person flees the country and sticks his wife with his problems..
I have more to say… this is only the beginning…
Marty… you think your trolls will have an effect??? You don’t want exposure.. or people calling your office?? But you induce a break up of a marriage?? OHHHHHHHH……… heaven help you
----
Ditto from the dawg.
Duane LeGate Part 4.1 He's What?
Duane continued:From meeting with Galina, I am CONVINCED of this: She has been manipulated. She has played the part of the respectful wife, allowing her domineering husband free reign. She IS NOT involved. She wasn’t on the mortgage notes except for the first one, and when she realized things weren’t as they seemed, she had Casey take her names off all the properties. She doesn’t deserve the beating she has taken. To date, she has been a shadowy figure in the background with Casey planting continuous seeds of doubt over her. The fraud, the lies the manipulation from Casey is all about Casey, not about Galina.
Okay, after meeting with the 2 of them I came back and was relatively silent. Mostly out of respect for Galina.
I got this email from Casey shortly after the meeting…
“Good meeting. Thanks for the dinner and drinks. I hope your friday ends up being productive.
Galina and I want to seriously consider selling the domain. How much are you willing to offer?
The will help us knock off our personal loans, and create a little padding untill we get out finances going and will make Galina feel a lot better about our situation.”
My response?
“I enjoyed putting a name with a face. Sorry I left when I did, I just
> literally ran out of steam. I tried to "sleep" in this morning, I
> only made it to 3:30 San Fran time, that means I will burn out early again today.
>
> As for as the domain, I really haven't put much thought into it. My
> initial reaction is if I do a lump payment it would be less than if I
> pay a monthly payment.
>
> Nothing firm... just thinking off the cuff... 15K, if you wanted it
> all up front, or we could do something like 2K for 12 months... again, just off the
> cuff. Or I could make a bigger payment in less months, something like 3500
> for 5 months. My thinking for you guys standpoint - it would be better for
> yall to spread the payments, have monthly stability coupled with 2
> jobs and you would have really nice cash flow...
>
> I would strip the url bare and rebuild into one of my sites. It
> wouldn't be a blog per se so comments about you and Galina would drift away...
>
> Thoughts??
To which he replied…
“Ok, will run by Galina and get back to you. Thanks for the generous offer.”
I got silence for 3 days and then I emailed him this:
” Casey,
>
>
>
> If you are planning to sell the website to me, I would need
> confirmation by 5pm EST today. I have a shareholders meeting tomorrow
> and would need the approval of the board to make this happen. If I
> don't hear from you by 5pm, I will not proceed.
>
>
>
> I wish you well.”
He came back with:
“Duane,
XXXXXXXXXXXX is offering $2,000/month over 18 months = $36,000.
Like you they just want the domain without the content.
Galina is open to both but prefers a lump sum. She wants me to pay off her credit cards ASAP because it's weighing heavily on her.
Can you accommodate a lump sum of $24K? That is is 80% of her 30K
debt. I'm fairly sure we can get everybody to settle for at least 80% (maybe lower but not sure since the debt is not that old).
Of course we'll also have to pay taxes on the money, but I'll worry about that later.
Please consider. Clearing her debt will be HUGE step toward her trusting me as a provider. I have usage of my cell phone back for certain activities. So you can call me.”
I replied:
“> Casey,
>
> I will have to pass. What I threw out is kind of the max I would be
> willing to do.”
He replied:
“Ok, are you still willing to do $15K lump?
If that's the most you can do, let me run by Galina and I can get back to you before the 5 PM EST deadline.
--
Casey Serin”
Now, I put conditions on the 15K. A non-compete, he called me to discuss. I told him I wasn’t trying to hold him back from making money, and if he had the book deal I would make it to where the non-compete wouldn’t interfere. The non-compete was strictly to keep Casey from doing a foreclosure assistance site. Roughly 20% of our business is helping people in foreclosure, and I didn’t want Casey to sell, then start Casey 2.0.
(And for those that think I was making a play for his domain, we buy an average of 20 per week. If I bought Caseys url, great, if not great. I could care less.)
Silence… so I emailed him this…
Casey,
I never heard back. I am assuming you decided not to move forward. That is okay. I would have appreciated a courtesy email from you though. You will learn one day that little things make a big difference.
Word is your starting another blog. True?
Anyway. just wanted to write one last time to wish you well. “
This is his final email that came to me on the 5th of June…
“You're right... I should have at least sent an email. Don't have a good excuse. Honestly, my wife and I have been talking about our issues late into the night and I completely forgot. I have a lot to improve on in the area of reliability.
As for selling, yes, I decided NOT to move forward.
Thanks for everything!”
So like everyone else… I saw him re-launch. I scratched my head.. but what do you do…
Then I had someone reach out to me… and everything I had thought about Casey just multiplied 10-fold.
Casey, the coward, the manipulator, the child pretending to be a businessman, up and left his wife.
He spent some time with his family… he needed to get away I guess… and he calls Galina to say he is leaving, that she could come pick up the car, but she was not to try and discourage him from leaving… he had to be at the airport in 1hour. ONE HOUR notice to leave your wife.. COWARD.
He fled the country.. he is in AUSTRALIA....
My comments on Australia later after you adsorb all this. At least the family is safe.
Duane LeGate Part 4.0 The Meeting
Duane reports:
I have always tried to steer Casey to do what is best, not convenient, but best. Some people (especially Casey) do not agree with the approach I have taken. So be it, I can live with it. Casey has always controlled the information flow, only telling his side in the best light possible. At the same time, he has thrown everyone around him that doesn’t fully endorse his idiosyncrasy’s under the bus. That includes his wife.
I had business meetings in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. I had some spare time in the evening that I was arriving, so I emailed Casey to see if he wanted to meet. I knew he would say no because that was in the middle of 2.2. To my surprise he emailed me back saying that he and Galina would meet with me. I told them I would buy them dinner, told them where I was staying and what time we should hook up. I got to San Fran and called Casey to confirm, to my surprise, they were already at the hotel (this was 2+ hours before we were scheduled to meet) . I had a meeting in an hour with a client, so I told Casey I would meet with them before and after the client meeting.
Casey looks in real life thinner and more pale than I have seen in the pictures. The decision to shut down the blog had just been made. I guess he was stressing over losing his baby. I sat down and we ordered a beer, Galina wasnt there yet and I asked him how pissed he was at me. He told me he thought I had his best interest at heart but didn’t agree with what I had done. Again, so be it. Galina arrived and I ordered her a drink as well. It was awkward at first, but we settled into a conversation. I was watching both for non-verbal behavior. Like LossMit said, Galina was very postured, and quiet at the same time. You could sense a certain hollowness in her. Its almost as if the life had been sucked out of her. It was tough for her to speak without her voice cracking, or flat out crying. The stress of Casey was tearing her up.
We engaged in small talk, and discussed the happenings as well. Galina kept making the comments that Casey agrees with everyone, then does his own thing. (I had just heard the same thing from Steve, that’s why Steve called me… to see how to get through to Casey) Their pastor had made Casey a generous offer to help with employment etc… only to have Casey blow him off. Galina had asked Casey (as we all know) to keep her out of the public light, and Casey kept pushing the envelop further and further. Again, from her voice inflection, to the lip quivering, to the tears the gushed down her cheek… she was tired of his actions and the repercussions it had on them as a family. It was getting close to time to meet with my client. I hated to ask them to leave and come back, but I had to. I asked them if they had any money on them, they said no. I gave Casey 200 dollars, and told him to use some of that money to buy Galina flowers, it was the least he could do.
My meeting ran a little late, and by this time I am getting tired. It was about 7ish PST, and with the flight and all, I was getting worn down. We decided just to eat at the hotel. It was a sushi type restaurant, right up Caseys alley. I’m not a sushi kind of guy, but whatever. I told Casey I was proud of him for shutting down the blog. I also told him that I would be willing to give him a 1000 dollar “loan”. The terms? 5 years payback, no interest. All he had to do was to keep the blog down, do the right thing by his wife, and get a job. Those are the things he agreed to when he shut the blog down right? He waffled, and I knew right then he wouldn’t keep his commitment to his wife. We talked about my outing him, I told him one of the reasons (out of many) was so his wife could see he blew a chance at 72K. She didn’t know anything about it. Surprise. Casey kept trying to convince me of all the good things coming, as if he needed approval from or was looking for affirmation from me. He did discuss the casino. He really thinks he is going to broker a deal to sell Circus-Circus and make millions. When I told him it wasn’t going to happen, that business transactions weren’t handled by buddies referring a buddy through email, but by investment bankers, attorneys, auditors, etc… he started shaking…. I MEAN shaking… his hands would tremble .. not in a way that a person would tremble from alcohol, or drugs… but a trembling like I have ever seen. It was angry.. it was a “hurt” tremble.. it was weird.. He did buy goldspring.. he spent over 30 minutes trying to convince me it was going to a dollar soon -it is not a pump and dump - it really isn’t a penny stock per se - it just happened to be priced in the pennies. He kept saying “well if it gets back to a dollar or so.. implying he would make it big. Well Casey, GSPG has over 1 BILLION shares in the float. That would mean a multi billion dollar valuation for a company that has had only a few hundred thousand in revs this past year. You were the fish on this one.. you ate the bait, and your family – not you – is suffering the loss. Surprise.
He has a million things going like Circus Circus and goldspring… he believes that he will be worth millions and millions… SOON… hence the reason (supposedly) for the need NOT to seek a job… When I came back from San Fran, I emailed a select few and said four things: 1) I could see this kid going postal one day, 2) I am wrong about bi-polar, there is something much deeper there.. MUCH deeper. 3) He would fire the blog back up and soon, and 4) Divorce was around the corner. So far, I have hit on 3 and 4, could be right on the 2nd.
During the meeting, I told Galina that the blog had value if nothing else just for the media backlinks. I told her as bad as they needed money they should consider selling it without the content, and there names (especially hers) would slowly disappear. It would give them a cash injection, and with both of them working (imagine Casey working… no IMAGINE REAL HARD) that they could start knocking out bills rather quickly due to their low over head.
From meeting with Galina, I am CONVINCED of this: She has been manipulated. She has played the part of the respectful wife, allowing her domineering husband free reign. She IS NOT involved. She wasn’t on the mortgage notes except for the first one, and when she realized things weren’t as they seemed, she had Casey take her names off all the properties. She doesn’t deserve the beating she has taken. To date, she has been a shadowy figure in the background with Casey planting continuous seeds of doubt over her. The fraud, the lies the manipulation from Casey is all about Casey, not about Galina.
----
Hopefully this tiny appetizer will keep you dawgs satisfied while we work out the big stories.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Duane LeGate Part 2.5 The Worm Turns
The phrase "the worm turns" is oft misunderstood. The mechanical screw mechanism has come to represent more subtle events. Thus we rejion Duane and Casey at the point where Duane is near his limits of tolerance. -----
January 29th, 2007
From Casey
To Nigel, Chris, Duane
Hey, could you gentlemen join me on a conference call sometime today to discuss my blog strategy going forward. The 3 of you have been the most helpful to me so far with your advice and I would love for all of as to talk.
Please respond back to me with some times that will work for you today or tomorrow morning. I will setup a conference call and give everybody a code.
Thanks guys... Here are the topics:
1) Should I continue to blog?
Chris has a good point about the HATERS starting to post highly offensive stuff on other boards about all of us including our families! If I continue it might only get worse
2) If I should continue, what should be my strategy?
Nigel has a good idea about turning this thing into a general foreclosure help forum and allow others to post their story and receive help from the community. I would still continue my story but I would start shifting the focus on helping others
3) How to deal with the HATERS?
Perhaps I can start filtering out any comments that is negative or has nothing constructive. That will change the feel of the blog very quickly.
But how will that affect traffic? Should I worry about it?
4) How to handle the time commitment in running the blog?
Moderation takes me A LOT OF time. Posting quality posts takes a lot of time too. To have a high traffic blog I should post no less than once in
1-2 days. Perhaps I can outsource the moderation to a few trusted people.
Chris has some ideas about decreasing the time of making good posts.
5) How to monetize the blog?
If am going to continue devoting much time to the blog I need to get paid for it somehow. Duane has offered to become an exclusive sponsor. We're still experimenting but so far things are looking good. I want to discuss future possibilities.
6) Come back story?
I'm looking to have a come back story through this blog by doing the right thing, settling my debts and learning to become a successful real estate investor even though all the haters think I can't. I want feedback on how to formulate this strategy.
7) Joy / Erin threat? Possibility of being investigated by the Feds?
What should I do if anything about any of these potential threats?
----
From: Casey Serin [mailto:casey@serin.us]
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 4:37 PM
To: 'Duane LeGate'
Subject: Check out my activity log
http://iamfacingforeclosure.com/145/facing-foreclosure-activity-log/
Gimme some toughts... Thank you for that "kick in the butt" I really did need to place a higher priority on taking care of my debt. Now that I'm all caught up on everything and have a good grasp over my finances I can start talking with the lenders more specifically... However the question is what exactly do I tell them? See the post for more of what I'm asking.
You've been through this, let me know what I should do STEP-BY-STEP and I will follow exactly. I would love to work with you Duane but on some of these things I will need a little bit more direction. If you lead I promise to follow closely.
Thanks!
--
Casey Serin
Casey,
What in the hell are you doing? Explain this...
From my email to you.. the VERY FIRST THING I SAY IS...
"As long as you don’t mention pay rate... I keep ALL of that confidential because some of my co-workers get paid differently from others... and.. that I am in no way offering long term employment.. for now it is week to week depending on how you do.."
Sooo... what do you do??? From your BLOG....
"Say if I had a job paying me 4500/mo, I can subtract my living expenses of"
You don’t think my employees know that I am considering hiring you?? Do you think they don’t read your website???
DAMN CASEY! EXPLAIN
Duane LeGate
From: Casey Serin [mailto:casey@serin.us]
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 1:44 PM
To: Duane LeGate
Subject: Re: Check out my activity log
Duane, I didn't mention anything about getting a JOB from YOU though.... that was just a number from the top of my head. I was using it to illustrate my point that with the current burn rate even with A GREAT job I will not be able to float payment. However if I find a way to negotiate with the lender, then I may be able to find a way still.
I'm traveling with Chris right now but I will call you later today.
Sorry for any inconvenicnes. What time is a good time to call?.
Aside form the 4500 issue, what do you think of my activity?
The comments are starting to get very positive, did you notice.
Several people are attributing my new "directions" to me working with you and you are starting to be seen as a positive figure on the blog.
Casey,
I don’t think you understand, I don’t deal in shades of gray...
Your comment:
" Duane, I didn't mention anything about getting a JOB from YOU though...."
This is a crock. Recently OJ Simpson came out with a book entitled "If I Did It."
As you are probably aware, the premise of the book was to describe the murders if he had done it. Everyone knew it was a confession, but he didn’t outright admit it.
That’s exactly what you did. No you didn’t specifically say.. Duane has offered me a job for X. You DID imply it in every way shape form and fashion. This does not sit well with me Casey. Not well at all.
You keep asking me how I did it.. I did it by OWNING up to everyone that I owed money too (I didn’t screw anyone). I was 100% HONEST. And before you rebut that with "I have been too".. YOU HAVENT
Honesty is more than telling 80% of the story. You tell some, but not all of the picture, while you technically are not lying, you are not being FULLY honest either. You and I had a very simple framework for working together. After full evaluation, I think I need to make the 15th of Feb the last day of sponsorship of your site. That will be exactly one month. I will pay you the final 750 as promised. But as it stands now, that is where the relationship begins and ends.
I wish you the best in the coming days, weeks and months, I feel you will need all the prayers you can muster to handle it.
Duane LeGate
From: Casey Serin [mailto:casey@serin.us]
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 2:08 PM
To: 'Duane LeGate'
Subject: RE: Check out my activity log
Ok Duane. Thanks for giving me a shot. I'm sorry I disappointed you.
--
Casey Serin
What do you want to do about hosting?
Duane LeGate
From: Casey Serin [mailto:casey@serin.us]
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 2:15 PM
To: 'Duane LeGate'
Subject: RE: hosting
Hosting - probably open my own account on Mosso and transfer it so that there is now DNS change... Let me check into it and get back to you by tomorrow morning.
--
Casey Serin
No hurry.. How about the 15th as a drop dead date?
Duane LeGate
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Monday, February 05, 2007 7:27 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: Finalizing...
Casey,
I am assuming you plan on leaving the sponsorship posts on your site, since one of the main reasons for sponsoring was to help with SEO. I don't need the side bar sponsorship.. but I am assuming you will leave any and all references to the sponsorship post and links to my site indefinitely?? Am I assuming correct?
Duane LeGate
Yes I'm going to leave the posts indefinitely to help you out with SEO.
I'm still working out my hosting situation...
--
Casey Serin
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Monday, February 05, 2007 8:51 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: RE: Finalizing...
A lot of people are asking why I ended the relationship... I have had many emails and you have seen the posts wondering on your blog and others...
What are your thoughts there?
Duane LeGate
I don't know Duane... I am wondering myself as to the EXACT reasons.
Based on your email, I'm guessing:
1) I wasn't performing fast enough on negotiating with the lenders (I DO have short sales going on all the secured lenders and I started calling the unsecured but I was running into road blocks... Yes, perhaps I could have acted faster)
2) miscommunication about the "4500/mo job" mention (I wasn't even talking about OUR job but happen to use that figure to illustrate a point... If you check the comments NOBODY thought I was talking about YOU giving me a job...
But I understand why you were upset because it looks like I was going back my word about keeping the job compensation private)
3) anything else?
Don't get me wrong, I don't have any hard feelings over this. Perhaps we can work again in the future. I hate to burn bridges.
--
Casey Serin
From: Casey Serin [mailto:casey@serin.us]
Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 6:33 PM
To: 'Duane LeGate'
Subject: Advertising performance, other stuff
Duane, I'm curious, has the advertising on my blog brought you any sales?
I'm trying to decide right now if I should pull the blog down. The "haters"
are going too far. They are spying on me and my wife and taking pictures of where we live, our cards, parent's houses, etc.
Also, I got a call from Joy's attorney. They want me to fly out to Phoenix and have a face-to-face with them and see if we can resolve the issue peacefully without courts. I told them I got no money right now to fly out there and if they want to meet they will have to fly me out or come to me.
I haven't heard back from them on that.
How are things?
--
Casey Serin
----
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Duane LeGate Part 2.4 Keep Me Accountable
Everyone who is bored, don't read. This isn't fiction and it sure aint a summer movie with nice endings and pat sequel possibilities. 
1/26/07
Duane, take a look a the abuse email I got below... Looks like Joy and the crew are fighting back. They put in a complaint with my hosting provider and that's why I got shut down. Problem is that the abuse department hours don't open up for another 2 hours and I couldn't do anything to resolve the issues right at this moment.
But if its THAT easy for somebody to shut the website down then I need to think of a PLAN B for my hosting RIGHT NOW.
--
Casey Serin
From: Hostgator Abuse [mailto:abuse@hostgator.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 11:38 PM
To: casey@serin.us
Subject: [Abuse #POF-657999]: DMCA COMPLAINT :: iamfacingforeclosure.com
Dear Customer,
Your account on the gator25 has been suspended due to a DMCA complaint. Due to the nature of the complaint we have are required to take action. From our Terms of Service:
Use of our services to infringe upon any copyright or trademark is prohibited. This includes but is not limited to unauthorized copying of music, books, photographs, or any other copyrighted work. The offer of sale of any counterfeit merchandise of a trademark holder will result in the immediate termination of your account. If you believe that your copyright or trademark is being infringed upon, please email abuse@hostgator.com with the information required. A list of required information may be found here. If the request is of a licensing issue, we may require further documentation.
If you feel this claim is unfounded or untrue, please fill out a counter dmca complaint form from http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca/counter512.pdf
and submit it to us.
[COMPLAINT]
o whom it may concern,
I am writing this to demand the removal of the content displayed at the domain http://www.iamfacingforeclosure.com/. Casey Serin or domain author
has:
- posted confidential information regarding Erin Morgan, Joy O'Day and TAO Realty, L.L.C. despite having signed an NDA. The signed NDA is posted on the site with repeated admissions to the signature of the NDA.
- posted, and allowed his bloggers to post, untruthful and slanderous information in effort to defame the character of the parties aforementioned
- posted a link to a video created and owned by Robert Kiyosaki and / or Cashflow Technlogies / Rich Dad as well as posted, and allowed his bloggers to post, untruthful and slanderous information in effort to defame the character of Robert Kiyosaki
Casey Serin, iamfaingforeclosure.com and applicable persons or entities will soon be party to litigation for his actions. If your company continues to host Casey Serin's blog, your company, by its inaction, could potentially be a party to this litigation as you have been formally notified.
===================
Formal Declaration
===================
I hereby state that Erin Morgan, Joy O'Day and / or TAO Realty L.L.C.
is the owner of the exclusive rights referenced above and that I am authorized to act on its behalf. On behalf of Erin Morgan, Joy O'Day and / or TAO Realty L.L.C., I hereby state that I have a good faith belief that use of the content in the manner complained of is not authorized by Erin Morgan, Joy O'Day and / or TAO Realty L.L.C., its agents, or the law.
I, Jeremy O'Day, hereby digitally sign this e-mail message under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America with the additional statement under penalty of perjury that the information in the notice is accurate.
XXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX
Regards,
Rich G.
HostGator Technical Support / Abuse Team Lead
1/26/07
Any word from Gator?
Call and email... in a respectful fashion... but have them make you a priority... the squeaky wheel gets the grease
Duane LeGate
From: Casey Serin [mailto:casey@serin.us]
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 1:33 PM
To: 'Duane LeGate'
Cc: 'Shane Pike'
Subject: RE: any word from gator..
I was granted FTP and control panel access. So I can get all the stuff down. I want to just go ahead and take this opportunity and get everything onto Mosso. Its 100/month. Can we make that happen?
Duane, you're blog is getting very popular! Did you see the comments coming in. Supportive ones too!
1/26/07
Shane.. can we check with rackspace/mosso and see if we can get casey up?? Tell them we will stand behind the site and make sure that no copyright stuff is getting up there...
Casey if we do this keep your nose CLEAN from that standpoint...
We can quietly get the contract back our on other peoples sites...
Duane LeGate
1/26/07
Casey,
Randy spoke to rackspace and they laughed about the whole thing.. they said they deal with WAY worse issues than that and any complaint would have a MINIMUM of 8 hours to be addressed.
I think you probably need to see if you can get back up on gator today, then work on transferring to masso
Duane LeGate
1/26/07
To Casey
NLL IS DOWN
From: Shane
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 5:18 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: Getting Back Up and Running
Casey,
If you need help getting IAFF back up and running on a new host, just let me know. I have moved WordPress sites to new hosts many, many times (just recently this last Tuesday), so I know the process inside and out. I know you know what you're doing, but I wanted to offer just in case I could out help in any way.
-- Shane
1/26/07
Any room on your server for my site? At least temporarily
Casey Serin
Hey Duane, take a look at the agent response below (whom I contact via HBN)
She is not experienced in short sales... A good idea would probably be to start partnering with agents that are short sale experts because that would be the true meaning of "FAST SALE" agents.
Just a thought for later...
But right now we have more urgent stuff to worry about.
Casey Serin
916-595-9632
www.IamFacingForeclosure.com <- my story www.Serin.us <- join my mailing list
==========================
-----Original Message-----
From: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 9:33 PM
To: Casey Serin
Subject: Re: HELLO
Hi Casey
Sorry to say that I am not experienced in short sales, I just attended a seminar on short sales and have a list of quite a bit in this area. If you like I am willing to help you but I have to say they are not easy sales...
Let me know how I can help!
----- Original Message -----
From: Casey Serin
To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 1:36:59 PM GMT-0800 US/Pacific
Subject: RE: HELLO
Are you experienced with short sales?
--
Casey Serin
916-595-9632
www.IamFacingForeclosure.com <- Handling Mistakes, Foreclosure and Debt
www.Serin.us <- It's been UNBELIEVABLE but there is More to Come! Join my Mailing List for Important Announcements and Occasional Updates
P.S. I have recently been invited to work with a group that does big commercial loans, hard money and private equity. Do you know anybody who needs 10 million dollars or more to fund a BIG real estate deal, development or business project? Will look at all. We're also looking for SERIOUS investors with 1 million liquid or more for a couple of "invite-only"
projects. Referral fees offered.
AS I am doing a copy and paste.. I missed this tidbit about the 10 million in loans…. WOW… anything for a cut huh??
As soon as the abuse department opens up (in 30-60 min) I will be asking them about turning me back on. I'm gonna remove some of the "questionable"
stuff and see if they let me put the site back online.
Thanks for checking into things for the hosting Shane. Host gator has a dedicated server offering at 175/mo but I'm not sure if I wanna go with them if its that easy to scare them. However, their support is very fast, which I like.
Casey Serin
916-595-9632
www.IamFacingForeclosure.com <- my story www.Serin.us <- join my mailing list
-----Original Message-----
From: Shane
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 6:53 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: RE: [Abuse #POF-657999]: DMCA COMPLAINT :: iamfacingforeclosure.com
Alright, we're making calls now to see what we can work out. We don't have
*great* connections, but we're working what we have. (We'd actually just put you on one of the HBN servers, but we don't run Linux and Windows doesn't support the .htaccess settings that you need to make your permalinks
work.)
In the meantime, though, would HostGator turn you back on if you told them you were taking down all the content in question? They're probably not in any hurry to look at the case since they don't make much from you, but we're trying to get you up as fast as possible, and that would save the several hours it would take for DNS to propagate.
Let me know!
-----Original Message-----
From: Casey Serin [mailto:casey@serin.us]
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 9:07 AM
To: shane
Subject: FW: [Abuse #POF-657999]: DMCA COMPLAINT :: iamfacingforeclosure.com
This is why, see below. Joy O'Day and the crew are trying to fight me.
--
Casey Serin
1/26
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 7:12 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: RE: [Abuse #POF-657999]: DMCA COMPLAINT :: iamfacingforeclosure.com
Casey., do you have 3-way calling?? If so I want to be on the call with gator
1/26/07
Yes I have 3 way... Should I do your cell phone?
--
Casey Serin
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 7:23 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: READ
Casey,
We posted the reason for you being down here. please look at and approve..
if its okay. please blast to your friends
Duane LeGate
1/26/07
I didn't see anything attached
Casey Serin
1/28/07
Casey,
I have been thinking about what we had talked about. I have no problem expanding our relationship but a few things need to happen.
At our office, we treat everyone like family, because 1) it is the right thing to do, and 2) you will spend as much time with us as you do your immediate family.
That being said, I look for stability as well as skills when making a hire. I think you would admit the stability part is shaky at best (yours that is).
You need to take on all of your debts head-on, in a proactive manner instead of a reactive one. These are nothing more than massive storm clouds waiting to bust. Casey, you have serious legal issues out there. You need to take steps to make amends, work out a plan, then hope like hell they don’t come after you for fraud. You may have not meant to screw anyone, or you may have not meant to commit X violation, but you did. With your high notoriety, some prosecutor may try and make a name after himself and hang you from a tree.
Staring at bills or not contacting your lenders will only provoke them further and aggravate the situation. Like the 50K promissory note on Larchmont, you CAN work out ALL situations. TO do that, you need to have cash flow, to have that you need to be employable, and to be that, you need to have a plan of action.
So, here goes. I want a written report by 5pm EST this Friday, February 2nd. The report needs to include an update on all lenders, where you stand with them , and what plan you and the lenders have worked out.
I had suggested this last week, I think you will admit it did not happen. I know you are working on projects for Chris and you need money. Guess what, you are going to have to learn how to manage your time better, and you’re going to have to put in the extra hours necessary to get yourself out of this mess.
Waking up at 5 am is no victory if you wake up for waking ups sake. You can wake up, moderate for 1 hour, handle Chris” projects for the next 3. That will be 9 am, moderate for an hour til 10.am.. contact ALL lenders for the next 3 hours. (you wont be able to get them first try) moderate for 1 hour, return phone calls from lenders, work on Chris’ projects for 3 hours.. repeat…
I have told you many times, this will not be easy, in fact it will be painful. I know you don’t “want” a full time job, but right now – to get your self out of this mess.. it is the ONLY way. If you BK on them… mark my words they will come after you with everything they have…
OK.. off my high horse. If I have the report, that tells me you are serious in making amend and turning your life around. I will employ you (in contract for ONLY for now) at a first months rate of 4,500 per month. I will explain what I will need you to do for that later. (the 4500 coupled with the 1500 will give you 6K… still not enough to handle your debt service but getting closer) … We can work on getting that number higher AFTER you start helping your self.
Let me know your thoughts..
Duane LeGate
From: Casey Serin [mailto:casey@serin.us]
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2007 12:15 PM
To: 'Duane LeGate'
Subject: Can I put our deal on the blog?
Duane, can I put our deal on the blog? The "haters" will definitely keep me accountable and this will add to the story of me making a turn-around.
--
Casey Serin
1/26/07Duane, take a look a the abuse email I got below... Looks like Joy and the crew are fighting back. They put in a complaint with my hosting provider and that's why I got shut down. Problem is that the abuse department hours don't open up for another 2 hours and I couldn't do anything to resolve the issues right at this moment.
But if its THAT easy for somebody to shut the website down then I need to think of a PLAN B for my hosting RIGHT NOW.
--
Casey Serin
From: Hostgator Abuse [mailto:abuse@hostgator.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 11:38 PM
To: casey@serin.us
Subject: [Abuse #POF-657999]: DMCA COMPLAINT :: iamfacingforeclosure.com
Dear Customer,
Your account on the gator25 has been suspended due to a DMCA complaint. Due to the nature of the complaint we have are required to take action. From our Terms of Service:
Use of our services to infringe upon any copyright or trademark is prohibited. This includes but is not limited to unauthorized copying of music, books, photographs, or any other copyrighted work. The offer of sale of any counterfeit merchandise of a trademark holder will result in the immediate termination of your account. If you believe that your copyright or trademark is being infringed upon, please email abuse@hostgator.com with the information required. A list of required information may be found here. If the request is of a licensing issue, we may require further documentation.
If you feel this claim is unfounded or untrue, please fill out a counter dmca complaint form from http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca/counter512.pdf
and submit it to us.
[COMPLAINT]
o whom it may concern,
I am writing this to demand the removal of the content displayed at the domain http://www.iamfacingforeclosure.com/. Casey Serin or domain author
has:
- posted confidential information regarding Erin Morgan, Joy O'Day and TAO Realty, L.L.C. despite having signed an NDA. The signed NDA is posted on the site with repeated admissions to the signature of the NDA.
- posted, and allowed his bloggers to post, untruthful and slanderous information in effort to defame the character of the parties aforementioned
- posted a link to a video created and owned by Robert Kiyosaki and / or Cashflow Technlogies / Rich Dad as well as posted, and allowed his bloggers to post, untruthful and slanderous information in effort to defame the character of Robert Kiyosaki
Casey Serin, iamfaingforeclosure.com and applicable persons or entities will soon be party to litigation for his actions. If your company continues to host Casey Serin's blog, your company, by its inaction, could potentially be a party to this litigation as you have been formally notified.
===================
Formal Declaration
===================
I hereby state that Erin Morgan, Joy O'Day and / or TAO Realty L.L.C.
is the owner of the exclusive rights referenced above and that I am authorized to act on its behalf. On behalf of Erin Morgan, Joy O'Day and / or TAO Realty L.L.C., I hereby state that I have a good faith belief that use of the content in the manner complained of is not authorized by Erin Morgan, Joy O'Day and / or TAO Realty L.L.C., its agents, or the law.
I, Jeremy O'Day, hereby digitally sign this e-mail message under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America with the additional statement under penalty of perjury that the information in the notice is accurate.
XXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX
Regards,
Rich G.
HostGator Technical Support / Abuse Team Lead
1/26/07
Any word from Gator?
Call and email... in a respectful fashion... but have them make you a priority... the squeaky wheel gets the grease
Duane LeGate
From: Casey Serin [mailto:casey@serin.us]
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 1:33 PM
To: 'Duane LeGate'
Cc: 'Shane Pike'
Subject: RE: any word from gator..
I was granted FTP and control panel access. So I can get all the stuff down. I want to just go ahead and take this opportunity and get everything onto Mosso. Its 100/month. Can we make that happen?
Duane, you're blog is getting very popular! Did you see the comments coming in. Supportive ones too!
1/26/07
Shane.. can we check with rackspace/mosso and see if we can get casey up?? Tell them we will stand behind the site and make sure that no copyright stuff is getting up there...
Casey if we do this keep your nose CLEAN from that standpoint...
We can quietly get the contract back our on other peoples sites...
Duane LeGate
1/26/07
Casey,
Randy spoke to rackspace and they laughed about the whole thing.. they said they deal with WAY worse issues than that and any complaint would have a MINIMUM of 8 hours to be addressed.
I think you probably need to see if you can get back up on gator today, then work on transferring to masso
Duane LeGate
1/26/07
To Casey
NLL IS DOWN
From: Shane
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 5:18 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: Getting Back Up and Running
Casey,
If you need help getting IAFF back up and running on a new host, just let me know. I have moved WordPress sites to new hosts many, many times (just recently this last Tuesday), so I know the process inside and out. I know you know what you're doing, but I wanted to offer just in case I could out help in any way.
-- Shane
1/26/07
Any room on your server for my site? At least temporarily
Casey Serin
Hey Duane, take a look at the agent response below (whom I contact via HBN)
She is not experienced in short sales... A good idea would probably be to start partnering with agents that are short sale experts because that would be the true meaning of "FAST SALE" agents.
Just a thought for later...
But right now we have more urgent stuff to worry about.
Casey Serin
916-595-9632
www.IamFacingForeclosure.com <- my story www.Serin.us <- join my mailing list
==========================
-----Original Message-----
From: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 9:33 PM
To: Casey Serin
Subject: Re: HELLO
Hi Casey
Sorry to say that I am not experienced in short sales, I just attended a seminar on short sales and have a list of quite a bit in this area. If you like I am willing to help you but I have to say they are not easy sales...
Let me know how I can help!
----- Original Message -----
From: Casey Serin
To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 1:36:59 PM GMT-0800 US/Pacific
Subject: RE: HELLO
Are you experienced with short sales?
--
Casey Serin
916-595-9632
www.IamFacingForeclosure.com <- Handling Mistakes, Foreclosure and Debt
www.Serin.us <- It's been UNBELIEVABLE but there is More to Come! Join my Mailing List for Important Announcements and Occasional Updates
P.S. I have recently been invited to work with a group that does big commercial loans, hard money and private equity. Do you know anybody who needs 10 million dollars or more to fund a BIG real estate deal, development or business project? Will look at all. We're also looking for SERIOUS investors with 1 million liquid or more for a couple of "invite-only"
projects. Referral fees offered.
AS I am doing a copy and paste.. I missed this tidbit about the 10 million in loans…. WOW… anything for a cut huh??
As soon as the abuse department opens up (in 30-60 min) I will be asking them about turning me back on. I'm gonna remove some of the "questionable"
stuff and see if they let me put the site back online.
Thanks for checking into things for the hosting Shane. Host gator has a dedicated server offering at 175/mo but I'm not sure if I wanna go with them if its that easy to scare them. However, their support is very fast, which I like.
Casey Serin
916-595-9632
www.IamFacingForeclosure.com <- my story www.Serin.us <- join my mailing list
-----Original Message-----
From: Shane
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 6:53 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: RE: [Abuse #POF-657999]: DMCA COMPLAINT :: iamfacingforeclosure.com
Alright, we're making calls now to see what we can work out. We don't have
*great* connections, but we're working what we have. (We'd actually just put you on one of the HBN servers, but we don't run Linux and Windows doesn't support the .htaccess settings that you need to make your permalinks
work.)
In the meantime, though, would HostGator turn you back on if you told them you were taking down all the content in question? They're probably not in any hurry to look at the case since they don't make much from you, but we're trying to get you up as fast as possible, and that would save the several hours it would take for DNS to propagate.
Let me know!
-----Original Message-----
From: Casey Serin [mailto:casey@serin.us]
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 9:07 AM
To: shane
Subject: FW: [Abuse #POF-657999]: DMCA COMPLAINT :: iamfacingforeclosure.com
This is why, see below. Joy O'Day and the crew are trying to fight me.
--
Casey Serin
1/26
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 7:12 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: RE: [Abuse #POF-657999]: DMCA COMPLAINT :: iamfacingforeclosure.com
Casey., do you have 3-way calling?? If so I want to be on the call with gator
1/26/07
Yes I have 3 way... Should I do your cell phone?
--
Casey Serin
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 7:23 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: READ
Casey,
We posted the reason for you being down here. please look at and approve..
if its okay. please blast to your friends
Duane LeGate
1/26/07
I didn't see anything attached
Casey Serin
1/28/07
Casey,
I have been thinking about what we had talked about. I have no problem expanding our relationship but a few things need to happen.
At our office, we treat everyone like family, because 1) it is the right thing to do, and 2) you will spend as much time with us as you do your immediate family.
That being said, I look for stability as well as skills when making a hire. I think you would admit the stability part is shaky at best (yours that is).
You need to take on all of your debts head-on, in a proactive manner instead of a reactive one. These are nothing more than massive storm clouds waiting to bust. Casey, you have serious legal issues out there. You need to take steps to make amends, work out a plan, then hope like hell they don’t come after you for fraud. You may have not meant to screw anyone, or you may have not meant to commit X violation, but you did. With your high notoriety, some prosecutor may try and make a name after himself and hang you from a tree.
Staring at bills or not contacting your lenders will only provoke them further and aggravate the situation. Like the 50K promissory note on Larchmont, you CAN work out ALL situations. TO do that, you need to have cash flow, to have that you need to be employable, and to be that, you need to have a plan of action.
So, here goes. I want a written report by 5pm EST this Friday, February 2nd. The report needs to include an update on all lenders, where you stand with them , and what plan you and the lenders have worked out.
I had suggested this last week, I think you will admit it did not happen. I know you are working on projects for Chris and you need money. Guess what, you are going to have to learn how to manage your time better, and you’re going to have to put in the extra hours necessary to get yourself out of this mess.
Waking up at 5 am is no victory if you wake up for waking ups sake. You can wake up, moderate for 1 hour, handle Chris” projects for the next 3. That will be 9 am, moderate for an hour til 10.am.. contact ALL lenders for the next 3 hours. (you wont be able to get them first try) moderate for 1 hour, return phone calls from lenders, work on Chris’ projects for 3 hours.. repeat…
I have told you many times, this will not be easy, in fact it will be painful. I know you don’t “want” a full time job, but right now – to get your self out of this mess.. it is the ONLY way. If you BK on them… mark my words they will come after you with everything they have…
OK.. off my high horse. If I have the report, that tells me you are serious in making amend and turning your life around. I will employ you (in contract for ONLY for now) at a first months rate of 4,500 per month. I will explain what I will need you to do for that later. (the 4500 coupled with the 1500 will give you 6K… still not enough to handle your debt service but getting closer) … We can work on getting that number higher AFTER you start helping your self.
Let me know your thoughts..
Duane LeGate
From: Casey Serin [mailto:casey@serin.us]
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2007 12:15 PM
To: 'Duane LeGate'
Subject: Can I put our deal on the blog?
Duane, can I put our deal on the blog? The "haters" will definitely keep me accountable and this will add to the story of me making a turn-around.
--
Casey Serin
Duane LeGate Part 2.3 Laying Down the FULL Story
1/19/07Done: www.IamFacingForeclosure.com
I made it was as high on the side bar as I can put it... And its actually above-the-fold on standard resolutions of 1024x768 and up. I made the text bigger and bold to make it stand out and encourage clicks. It still looks very clean. I think it's a pretty good spot.
Any feedback?
Shane I'm assuming you have already setup some software to log click-throughs from my site so we can track performance?
I'm excited to see how this works. I'm going to write up something about HBN in the next couple of days and send over for your approval.
--
Casey Serin
OMITTED about 5 emails between Shane and Casey that talk about placement of links, color, etc… its all formatting stuff and not relative to this timeline..
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Friday, January 19, 2007 11:49 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: RE: Revised terms for advertising
Casey,
I cant find the email with your address... how you coming with the review or post of hbn...
Duane LeGate
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
(His address was inserted here.)
What I'm going to do is to try HBN out as a typical user and report on my experience... How is that?
Also what about putting the HBN logo higher in the side bar to generate more traffic?
When can I call you to discuss some stuff?
--
Casey Serin
1/23/07
Hey Duane,
I gave it some though and I realized it would be a little out of place if I do a REI.TV post without also introducing HBN. So I did a nice combined post. Its written in my normal voice so it doesn't sound fabricated but I belive covers both of your services in good light.
Check it out: http://iamfacingforeclosure.com/approve1
That's a hidden URL. Let me know and I'll post it to the blog
--
Casey Serin
1/23/07
Check it out, I added a couple of paragraphs for REI.TV with the heading "Get Rich Slow"
Check it out: http://iamfacingforeclosure.com/
--
Casey Serin
1/23/07
Thanks for pitching in... Things good so far?
--
Casey Serin
1/23/07
Great.. I must say you have THICK skin.. hang in there..
Duane LeGate
1/23/07
Hey Duane, aside form the blog I'm also getting people that contact me by email asking for advice on real estate education and where to start. I want to start marketing REI.TV directly and I want to get a referral code or some way to track my sales. I already referred 3 people directly today.
Thanks.
--
Casey Serin
1/24/07
Hey Casey,
Are you looking to track the traffic (uniques, page views, etc) that comes in from your site, or only the persons who have signed up for service as a result of your referral?
Depending on what you are looking for, we can probably set something up that will get you what you need.
Thanks,
Randy
1/24/07
I'm looking for a way to track my DIRECT referrals. So lets say I tell somebody to go visit REI.TV. Is there a referral code I can use to tell them to put in. Or if I'm sending a URL is there a way I can attach a referral code to the URL so that I get credit for referring them?
Something like XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX???
Duane mentioned you will have affiliate program soon.. That's what I'm referring to. An affiliate code of some sort.
If I have to wait for it that's OK, just wondering if its already up.
--
Casey Serin
OMITTED ABOUT 5 emails discussing tracking codes etc, not pertinent to the timeline..
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 10:07 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: IAFF down?
I am showing your website being down
1/25/07
Temporarily Down... My hosting account was disabled because it was bringing the server down with all the traffic. Will have to upgrade to a dedicated server shortly (much more $$/mo though).
Casey Serin
1/25/07
Casey pay it for now, I will reimburse.. then shop
Duane LeGate
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 10:12 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: RE: IAFF down?
When will it be back up and what time are you posting the contracts?
Duane LeGate
1/25/07
It should be back up in the next 15 minutes and I should have the contract up within 30-45 minutes.
Casey Serin
1/25/07
My current virtual hosting account at HostGator has been running slower and slower and today they shut me down for taking up too much CPU time on the server. The extra queries lately have been caused by a WordPress plug I installed where users can vote on comments (people loved it as soon as I released that feature).
Well now the HostGator people are basically telling me that my site is starting to take too many resources because of the traffice and DB queries.
So I need to upgrade to a dedicated server. They have a fully managed linux box for 180/mo. But I'm not sure if I want to stay with HostGator, though they're support has been very good. I want to shop around real quick. I don't have much time though, because it will happen again.
Who do YOU guys use for hosing/servers? Or is it in-house?
Casey Serin
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 12:59 PM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: post
Casey I have to leave in 30 minutes. whats your time frame for moderating and posting the contracts?
Duane LeGate
1/25/07
Almost there... I'm laying down the FULL story... Its gonna be GOOD.
Casey Serin
1/25/07
Its out! This might get messy!
Casey Serin
Duane LeGate Part 2.2 Get Er Done
1/2/07
Duane, just want to follow up with you on advertising and ideas on how I can pay off my 160K of unsecured debt.
I would love to learn from your example. I don't want to declare bankruptcy and need to find a way to refinance the debt or start making enough monthly to float the big bill.
Also, google adsense kicked me off their advertising system because some "haters" on my site were clicking the links too often on purpose and Google has a rule against that.
So I want to talk to you about advertising HouseBuyerNetwork and move forward ASAP.
Here is my traffic chart for December:
http://www.sitemeter.com/?a=stats&s=s27iamfacingforeclosurecom&r=35
Duane, I am ready to help myself. I would love to be able to say this year that "I made it right" by paying back all my debts.
Hope your holidays went well...
--
Casey Serin
1/13/07
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 12:35 PM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Cc: 'Shane Pike'
Subject: LONG Time getting back to you
Casey,
I am sorry for just now getting back to you. I was sick, then Christmas, NewYears, then I took a vacation after New Years, then been in New York.
I am copying Shane.
Shane meet Casey, Casey meet Shane.
Shane handles all of our advertising and SEO.
I still want to do something with your site. Sooner versus later.
2 conditions: we can pull out any time if you do anything we feel is harmful to anyones rep.
2nd, we are the exclusive advertiser. We are also going to ask you for certain things from and SE standpoint.
That said. you guys chat.
Duane LeGate
1/13/07
Duane, here is my current financial statement, I know you asked for this a while back:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pPacQAmy3C4AuHrqHYLazIQ
My revised goals for 2007:
1) sell all remaining houses
2) generate $250,000 to settle all my debt (no BK), keep my wife in school and get financially healthy
3) do everything with 100% integrity
Feel free to give me any advice...
--
Casey Serin
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 9:01 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: call me
Call me when you get this
My phone is not working... Here is my wife's number: XXX-XXX-XXXX I will be on it all day.
--
Casey Serin
1/16/07
Hey Duane, I apologize about not picking up if you tried to call me back...
That's my wife's cell phone and she had to go to school for the day and take it with her.
I lost my cell phone so I'm going to setup a Vonage or Skype account this morning so I can call you back.
What time are you going to be available?
--
Casey Serin
1/16/07
Now thru 2:15 EST... 3:30-5:00 EST... I am coaching 2 basketball teams tonight so I am not available after that..
Worse case scenario call me tomorrow..
Duane LeGate
1/17/06
Casey,
Here are the specific terms of our agreement for this month.
We will pay you $1,500 through February 15, half now and half at the end.
In return, you will:
1. Make HBN the exclusive advertiser on your blog.
2. Add an HBN ad to your sidebar (which we will provide). That ad will
expand to include REI.TV once we launch REI.TV.
3. Post at least two posts about HBN that include links to the HBN
homepage on either we buy houses (preferably) or home buyers.
4. Post at least two positive posts about REI.TV after it launches.
Obviously the REI.TV part is still in limbo pending your conversation with your friend tomorrow. We'll make any necessary changes to this agreement should he object.
I'll get you an HBN ad very soon!
Thanks!
Shane
From: Shane
Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 5:04 PM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Cc: 'Duane LeGate'
Subject: RE: Terms
Here are the files you need for the ad. One is the image and the other is the HTML. We'd like for it to go right above the Recent Comments section.
Let me know if you have any questions!
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 10:33 AM
To: 'Shane Pike'; 'Casey Serin'
Subject: RE: Terms
Casey,
Please print a copy of the agreement. This is a temporary one until we see how things go. We will replace it with a more formal one soon. Sign the agreement and fax to 888-326-1219. As soon as I receive and you have our ad on your site I will overnight a check to you.
What is your address?
Duane LeGate
1/16/07
Side note:
Wow... I am #3 in Google for "Hardship Letter". That's a pretty good search term. That's people who are trying to work short sales or something similar. Although, they are probably already working with someone at that point... But still a good search term.
Back to the TERMS:
1) I've been thinking about advertiser pricing a bit. Any chance we can do $2,000/month since it's an exclusive spot in the sidebar. In return I can do several good quality posts about HBN as I begin to investigate and continue to mention your company in the posts with every available opportunity.
2) And how much of our agreement can I share on the blog.
I think it will be very positive if I say that I have a sponsor and I'm sending the entire 2K/mo towards my debt. That will justify my investment of time into the blog.
3) How long of a trial should we define? How about 1 month. This way after a month we can both evaluate and see if this relationship is "win-win"
4) I still need to talk to Chris (I will see him tonight) about REI.TV. I suspect that it's going to interfere with what I'm doing with him. I'll get back to you tomorrow about it. What you be willing to proceed with our deal without the REI.TV for now?
--
Casey Serin
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 12:42 PM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Cc: 'Shane
Subject: RE: Terms
Casey,
You are viewing life to short term... 1500 a month is plenty for a one month trial. If your site can do what I think, you will be paid handsomely.
Lets leave off rei.tv for now. If we come to an agreement on employment and or a buyout of your site, we will include rei.tv
I have no problem with you discussing our one month trial on the site. I don't want you to discuss anything about me or use my name without approval.
I want to approve all blog posts with respect to HBN or any of our web properties.
Call me tomorrow morning to discuss further. If you agree to the changes you and I have made, print and fax and I will cut you a check.
Duane LeGate
1/16/07
Ok 1500 sounds good for a one month trial... I'll take whatever I can (begger's can't be choosers right?)
Approving posts... How about approving just the ones that deal with HBN.
Are you really willing to approve EVERY one of my posts? I like to post something every 1-2 days. That might be a lot of work and I don't want to have too much of a delay when new stuff happens.
--
Casey Serin
1/16/07
Sounds good... Do you have a formalized agreement or just print out the following that Shane sent:
=========
Here are the specific terms of our agreement for this month.
We will pay you $1,500 through February 15, half now and half at the end.
In return, you will:
1. Make HBN the exclusive advertiser on your blog.
2. Add an HBN ad to your sidebar (which we will provide). [That ad
will expand to include REI.TV once we launch REI.TV.]
3. Post at least two posts about HBN that include links to the HBN
homepage on either we buy houses (preferably) or home buyers.
[4. Post at least two positive posts about REI.TV after it launches.]
===========
I would take out stuff about REI.TV for now and add the following:
* The term of this agreement is one month from signing, after which time both parties have the right to re-negoatiate
* Before posting Casey must get prior approval of any blog entry that contains information about House Buyer Network
1/16/07
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 1:50 PM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: RE: Terms
I have to leave now.. when do you think you will sign and send and put the ad up?
Duane LeGate
1/16/07
Duane, lets confirm everything tomorrow morning... By then I will also clear it by Chri.
How early can I call you?
--
Casey Serin
Duane, how about this for the final terms:
=================
House Buyer Network (HBN) will pay Casey Serin $1,500 for advertising From Jan 19th, 2007 to Feb 19, 2007. Half upfront and half at the end.
In return, Casey Serin will:
1. Make HBN the exclusive advertiser on your blog.
2. Add an HBN ad to the sidebar using provided HTML code.
3. Post at least two posts about HBN that include links to the HBN homepage about "We Buy Houses" service to help people who are facing foreclosure.
4. The term of this agreement is one month from signing, after which time both parties have the right to re-negoatiate.
5. Before posting Casey must get prior approval of any blog entry that contains information about HBN.
==================
If that looks good I will print it, sign it and fax it to you and setup the ad by tomorrow morning. What's your fax number?
1/18/07
Here you go Duane, I will get the ad up later today or tomorrow morning by the latest
You can wait until you see the ad before sending the check if you want:
1420 E Roseville Pkwy, Suite 140-331
Roseville, CA 95661
--
Casey Serin
Bonus image from a loyal reader. Enjoy.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Duane LeGate Part 2.1 All Hat and No Cattle
It was pretty clear he was a train wreck waiting to happen. After talking with him about the properties, I didn’t see any “THERE” there. The only asset I saw was his blog, and he had the ability to get work. So, we had to focus on 2 things at once. One, get steady income from blog/work or preferably both. Two, unwind the houses as fast as possible.The hurdle was the NLL—example... Casey sells blog, NLL whips out contract and says pay me… Casey sells his story.. ditto. He had told me about the NLL contract in passing. When I started asking questions about it, I became REAL concerned. I asked him to send it to me so I could read it. He did. The whole freaking tone of the NLL contract sounded like it was written by a first grader that had just watched Perry Mason. I let someone in my office that is a contract master (but not an attorney) look at it. We both agreed it was a MASSIVE joke. But to be on the safe side I sent it to my attorney. He literally LAUGHED. He was telling me how this was a legal form of indentured servitude. Ok. I thought these ladies can be reasonable people right?? So I picked up the phone and called Erin. I told her who I was, and why I was calling which was to ask them to release Casey from the contract. I also told her it wouldn’t stand up anyway, he has no assets, so they have no benefit… kinda… lets just all move on…
Well, you would’ve thought I had called her mom a bad name. She dug in and let me know the contract WAS legal, it WAS written by a professional attorney, THEY did give Casey valuable services, Casey screwed the whole thing up being wishy washy. And finally.. hell no! CLICK…
I called back. She didn’t answer. So I called Joy. Brother… I would NEVER want to meet up with her in a dark alley… “I aint scared of NUTTIN” except Joy. The way she sounded on the phone reminded me of “Mister T”.. .. UUGGHHH HHEEEYY BBBOOOYYY YOOUUU LIISSTTEENNN HHEERRREEE….
She hung up too.. however I was to scared to call her back… JSo.. back to my attorney. We have an unenforceable contract. It is a joke and everyone knows it HOWEVRE… that would NOT preclude The NLL from flaunting it and ruining any deal Casey may land in the future. TO be clear, for those of you that hadn’t read it. The contract basically stated that not only did the own Casey, but now and forever.. I MEAN ALL of Casey. Even his thoughts.. his future earnings.. his HAIR… EVERYTHING… Why snowflake signed it I will never know.
The more I thought about the contract the madder I became.. I mean who in their RIGHT mind.. WHO… would screw someone over like that.. I mean.. HEY THERE HE IS>> KICK HIM WHILE HES DOWN… AGAIN…AGAIN..
What they did was just flat out EVIL!!
So I wanted to have the contract busted for a lot of reasons.. but now for me the main one was principle. Options? Court. That simple. Venue was a problem.. Im in GA> CASEY in Cali, The NLL in AZ and Cali.
So I asked Jerry… what happens if I have Casey expose Laverne and Shirley? He advised against it… they could cause trouble for the sake of causing trouble. OK, not to back down from a good fight. I made a business decision. If they come after me… I will not only defend but attack, if they go after Casey… I got his back . I told Casey I would foot the first 10,000 in legal bills. I said lets expose them for what they are… the LEACHES they are.. and shame them to death with THEIR own actions.So as most of you know… we did… and BOY did it get FUN….
More to come…..
----
Rob Dawg says; Part 2.2 the emails that go with this part of the story.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Duane LeGate Part 2.0 Let's Make A Deal
Ok, I first contacted Casey after learning of him through a guy by the name of John Of ForesakenCraft.com. That site doesn’t exist anymore for whatever reason, but it was a housing bubble type of site. He had interviewed Casey and called our company because we had just released some stats calling for steep housing declines in certain markets. So I go to IAFF, and had an interesting read. Initially, I thought he was a kid that went to a get rich quick seminar, and used their methods, got majorly stuck, and didn’t know what to do. ((( Ok, more background on me – I HATE RE GURUS. That’s why we built the REI site (btw it will be a free site soon) so that people could learn, at there own pace how to build wealth thru real estate slowly. ))) So after looking at his site, I emailed him. He(Casey) called me back fairly quickly. I told him about our main business HBN which is all about helping people in his situation. We had a couple of problems there though, we didn’t have representation in some of the places he had homes, and in some cases the people that were there didn’t have short sale experience. We had a nice chat. He was a really likable guy on the phone. I told him I would help in any way I could but we needed to work together. I wanted to find out what kind of hole the kid was in. If I were to help, or get people to help, I had to know the good, bad and ugly. A lot of times when dealing with distressed individuals, they leave off a couple a pieces of information that just happen to be MAJOR things. He gave me a brief background of his story – you know readers digest type version. After the first phone call, I sat down with Matt, and Randy (really good guys in the office) to discuss Casey. The possibilities were endless. With REI coming out in January, we talked about how we could show CASEY as a how NOT TO do things. We thought about digging into our network further to try and help him. We thought about a million different possibilities. We discussed everything. But we put the ball back in Casey court. He has to show us his hand… and I mean EVERYTHING. In the meantime, he told us he used to program and we have a bunch of sites in development so I wanted to delve in further. I mean the kid needed a job, we needed people. He needed money to pay his debts… it could’ve worked out nicely. It was pretty clear he was a train wreck waiting to happen.
Follows emails for this period:
----
11/10/2006
I found out about Casey through a guy named John. John used to run Foresakencraft.com a blog about housing. It (the blog) has since disappeared, but he contacted our company to get a follow-up to a story that was run in the central valley business times about us. John and I had a good discussion, and we talked about how the investors (read:speculators) were ruining the market. He had just interviewd Casey and suggested I look at Caseys site…
I looked at his site and with a cursory glance… I saw the same situation I was in 6 years prior…
So 2 hours later I sent this email…
“Casey,
I got your name and contact information from John at Forsakencraft. Call me and I will see if my network can help you. We help people in distress from all over the nation.”
11/14/2006
I sent this email to Casey..
“Please email me all of the gurus you have seen with number of times you have been there and amount of money spent…
11/14/2006
Here are the documents
(he sent over all the documents and legalease from Laverne and Shirley.
--
Casey Serin
916-595-9632
http://IamFacingForeclosure.com <- My story... Unbelievable!
http://casey.serin.us <- Join my Mailing List for Major Announcements
11/14/06
-----Original Message-----
From: Casey Serin [mailto:casey@serin.us]
Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 4:12 PM
To: 'Duane LeGate'
Subject: RE: The legal document, more info
Duane, keep in mind that I actually ended up signing the entire "STATEMENT OF AUTHENTICITY.doc" when I met with them in person. The one I'm sent has the COPYRIGHT part crossed out. But I have another one (don't have it on
me) that I signed WITH that part in tact. I also signed the "CASEY SERIN AGREEMENT.doc" just like it appears.
I have both of those signed versions of the documents at home and right now I'm at the office. When I get back home I will send those agreements too.
But there is nothing different, just my signature.
11/14/06
Casey,
I have already spoken to my attorney and forwarded the docs... will chat with you tomorrow. Sleep well.
Duane LeGate
President
House Buyer Network, Inc.
The main person to talk to. She is the one who put the whole deal together.
Erin Morgan
[...]
Let me know how that goes
-----Original Message-----
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2006 9:32 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: around??
Casey, Give me a call to discuss options
From: Casey Serin [mailto:casey@serin.us]
Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 4:15 PM
To: 'Duane LeGate'
Subject: RE: REI.TV and HouseBuyerNetwork.com
Seminar Gurus I went to:
Russ Whitney
Kris Kirchner
David Lindahl
Bruce Norris
I did retake some of the Russ Whitney seminars but those were free as part of the package. I also have bought a bunch of study-at-home courses.
I don't have the exact amounts, that's what my wife and I are trying to figure out right now as we go through our receipts.
My guess is somewhere around $30,000 or so.
--
Casey Serin
916-595-9632
11/15/06
Casey, I am not sure what time you wake up on the west coast. I have feedback form the attorney. Call me at the number below when you can.
Duane LeGate
11/15/06
Casey,
Joy thought I was a telemarketer and hung up on me. I called back and left a message. My attorney had his secretary call me to tell me that he will be out until after lunch tomorrow, I want to get you on the horn with him. I am leaving work and will touch base tomorrow. I want to advertise on the site as we discussed, and want to make sure you receive the funds, not the vultures from Phoenix.
Duane LeGate
11/17/06
Casey,
>
>
>
> Congrats on the job.. its one step in the right direction. I am sorry
> I didn't get with you yesterday, I was slammed. Please call me the
> number below when you get up and around so we can continue our discussions.
11/17/06
I am at an all-day event today. Will try to get with you on break but can't promise.
Are you still interested in ads?
any other ideas?
-casey
-----Original Message-----
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Friday, November 17, 2006 1:55 PM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: RE: Job
Yes still interested in advertising.. but I have a few caveats.... have lots
of ideas... but I am warning you.. you cant let that contract with Joy just
sit... that has the potential to bite you in the ass worse than any
foreclosure..
-----Original Message-----
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Monday, November 20, 2006 10:16 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: sent this on friday.. havent heard from you
11/21/06
Duane, here are my properties and how much the lender is likely to lose.
See attached spreadsheet. On top of that I have about 140k in unsecured debt across about 15 credit accounts (credit cards, credit lines, installment loans)
I'm going to call you right now.
--
Casey Serin
916-595-9632
His spreadsheet
CASEY'S PROPERTIES
[...] This is an early form of the spreadsheet -Rob Dawg
11/21/06
Duane,
Here is the contact for corp lines of credit. This guy says I should be able to get you unsecured 50K+ in 2-4 weeks.
Bill Shuttic
bill@corpbrokersinc.com
(310) 413-0514
Tell me what you think...
11/22/06
Duane.. I have been in contact with the investor I work for. There might be a conflict of interest for me to do a mentorship-type thing with you. He doesn't want me to do that if I continue working with him. But like I said, my probation time is going to be over Jan 1st. So I can do whatever I need to do after that time. However, I *did* give him a commitment until then.
I DO want to take a look your offer for mentoring and start to consider it right away without waiting.
I'm just making sure you're aware of the whole picture. It sounds like you're a guy who doesn't like suprises and and a guy who wants to know all the facts.
Casey Serin
916-595-9632
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 6:54 AM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: RE: Something to keep in mind...
Casey,
Commitments made are to be commitments kept. You need to keep your commitment to him. I am not looking to "mentor" you as much as I want to help you decide what is best. XXXX XXXX will be the mentor. You can check him out at XXXXXXXXXXXXX.com
You're right, I don't like surprises. Thanks for making me aware. Matt will get back to you soon. I have seen nothing from you so far that would preclude us from working together.
If we don't speak again, have a happy Thanksgiving!
11/22/06
Duane, what do you think of Nouveau Riche again?
The guy I work for actually is a part of that company and is trying to get me to spend another $20K to join that thing.
--
Casey Serin
916-595-9632
From: Duane LeGate [mailto:duane@housebuyernetwork.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 12:21 PM
To: 'Casey Serin'
Subject: RE: Nouveau Riche
NONONONO... DO NOT SPEND another DIME! You will not NEED to. Turn down any offer that has you spending one red cent. EVERYOFFER!
Have a good Thanksgiving.
11/28/07
Casey,
I went home sick yesterday morning. I just came in the office to check messages.. etc.. I am getting ready to leave and sleep. Hopefully, I will feel better tomorrow. I will touch base with you when I get back in.
Duane LeGate
12/4/06
Duane, you said I shouldn't do bankruptcy... I would love to know how you were able to pay off 700,000 in unsecured credit.
The weight of my dead is really pressing down on me right now. BK is starting to sound really nice, however, you encourage me to hold on and find a way to pay it back. I agree that it's the right thing to do.
but...
To service my 150K of unsecured debt I will have catchup the late payments (15-20K) and have monthly payments around $5-7,000 per month.
If we can work something out on advertising that would be great, if not I would love to hear your ideas on how I can carry it.
Thanks for your time...
By the way are you feeling better from your sickness? I hope so.
Casey Serin
916-595-9632
----
Next: The "Limits"to a Deal
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Duane LeGate Part 1.2 Doing Well By Doing Good
My company was built on my new found goal – that was to put other people first, and finances second. Amazingly, as I have gone thru life with this as my moral backing, I have never had to worry about finances (since the change in my life). Something about working hard and doing the right things by others has that affect.So, our company has a very philanthropic type hue to it. We give and give often. We don’t tout to who, why, where, and what reason. But because we give and do try and make a difference, I sleep well at night. Looking back, I realized that although I didn’t have all my priorities in line, I wasn’t a bad person, and I also realized that sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sometimes, people just need a helping hand, some love, and for absolutely nothing in return.
We currently have 3K per month as a set aside for community good will. We will spend more based on a particular need or event, there have been a few times where we haven’t spent that much. Caseys situation is the only one that has ever been publicized…
So now I will take a breather.. and introduce how I met Casey and begin the timeline. I wanted to share this so you will know my thinking in dealing with him.
And now… after seeing from whence I came, you will see many parallels with Ser Casey. That’s why I reached out to him… starting to make sense??
Part 1.0 Circumstances beyond control. Part 1.1 Crisis and character
Duane LeGate Part 1.1 Crisis and character
[Continues...Part 1.0]Then a series of events happened to me that I would not wish on my worse enemy. In a VERY short time frame, our family dealt with death, I had to help my sister (the one I was telling you that had bipolar) deal with some very unpleasant things she had gotten herself into, and 5 other things that I would consider MAJOR, but will not share here. Long story short, all this stress lead to me having a massive heart attack on 8/24/02 at the age of 38. I died that day and I will always have Dr. Chang to thank for bringing me back and letting me enjoy some more precious time on this great earth. Ok, things are getting sticky. I owe the banks, lines of credit, and business partners. Dr. Chang told me that rehabbing WAS OUT. My net worth, or should I say my negative net worth ballooned to a few hundred K shy of 1 million. I had MILLIONS of dollars in notes and such out. I couldn’t finish my properties, and then the hammer hit.
Just as all the stress I was under lead to my heart attack, the stress got to my wife also… in the fashion of a nervous breakdown. I literally got out of CCU and 2 days later she said she wanted to divorce me. There was nothing in my life at that point that was remotely stable. I over leveraged, and got my butt hung out to dry, I had more personal things to go on in my life in a very short window of time than most people will ever have to confront in an entire lifetime. In fact in a counseling session with a Christian based family practitioner, he said that any one of the “stressers” as he called the events could lead to marital strife, but with all we have on our plates, he thought maybe we had passed the point of no return.
So I moved into one of my houses. A TV, a couch, a bed and a computer was all I had.. Looking back, this time I had is what saved everything. I had to go back and make an accounting of my life. I asked myself tough questions. Are you raising your children properly? I would go to their games and recitals and such, but was I TRULY engaged in their lives? Was I giving them the proper moral up bringing? Was I a good husband? Did I live for myself or was I truly a good partner for my wife? How did I view wealth, I was lying to myself… I was seeking wealth for wealths sake and not for family stability and using it to help others. I kept asking questions until I finally asked myself the ultimate one. “If I would have died, what would they have said about me at my funeral?” When I finally answered myself truthfully.. I didn’t like it… I didn’t like it AT ALL. I searched and realized that I wasn’t the person I wanted to be, I wasn’t the person I could be.
So I had to do first things first. I had to admit my weaknesses and work to get my wife and therefore my family back. I had to provide financial stability. I had to figure out a plan that gave me steady income and pay back all of my creditors. I couldn’t get a job because of my condition. So I called a former co-worker and on the back of a napkin came up with a business plan that I could run out of my home, provide recurring revenue and get everyone paid. BK? Not an option for me. It would have been financially prudent, however, as I saw it these entities, whether it be banks, mortgage companies, and even friends had invested in ME. I owed it to THEM to pay them back properly. As of this writing, I have one carry over note left with a buddy of mine. I have 3 properties besides my residence. I have a successful business that I moved out of my house and now employ over 10 people not including all of our outsourced partners. I coach all 3 of my sons sporting activities – over 26 teams in the past 4 years. I sit on the board of many non-profits for the sake of helping others, my wife and I have a very healthy marriage and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with her. I feel proud of my surroundings.
Part 1.0 Circumstances beyond control. Part 3; Doing well by doing good.
Duane LeGate Part 1.0 Circumstances beyond control
[Dawg's note: Duane is a much better writer than he admits to. The preamble today is 3 parts]:Ok, in order for me to give you the timeline of events, I am also going to tell you why I do what I do. And, in order for me to do that, I need to give you a little bit of history so you can see inside my warped brain.
As some of you know, I was buying and selling real estate around the year 2000. My first condo I bought at an auction, I rehabbed, sold and closed in under 30 days and made over 20K. I’m thinking… hey… easy… I’m mister real estate… If I can flip one that easy, surely I could do 2 in a month. So off I went. The 2nd property was an utter failure and I got my shorts handed to me. That made me question everything I was doing. However, the 3rd went nicely so I continued. Buying – then Selling. Now it is time to buy rental property to build a portfolio, and even dabble in small commercial. This all continued until I had time 11 properties. Some of those properties were in various stages of rehab, some were complete and on the market, and some were newly acquired. Then 9/11 hit. Real estate in my market STOPPED as I knew it. It just STOPPED. So, since things were not moving (closing) , the carrying costs of these properties coupled with the continued rehab drained any remaining finances I had. My burn rate just for the mortgages and carrying costs were north of 20K per month. I also had rehab expenses, and then of course, I had to fund the family expenses. I started to refinance every property I had and suck as much equity out as I could to fund the operation. Nothing changed, In 9 months, I only had one closing, and that closing was on a property that I had already taken what little equity was left. My burn rate was UNBELIEVABLY high and at this time it grew to north of 35K per month…
Part 2; Crisis and character. Part 3; Doing well by doing good.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Duane LeGate Part 0
Mr. LeGate will be providing me with the raw stream. I will format and get his approval. The posts will appear at the top of blog. Duane's own words:I think it may be easier for the gang to follow if we start from day 1... however... I may not have the timeline down pat as I have not kept everything in the inbox... so... I have to look into the inbox.. deleted items... and phone calls from memory... something will bound to get lost in translation.....
You blog guys scare me... if I dare make a mistake and say X... someone will google and say ....BUUTTTT wait a minute... 7 months ago you said X plus Y.... I will blog every detail I know on the following conditions...
[...]
I can nail his butt....... I don't mind opening myself up to a can of worms... so be it... I just want what little story I can add to the saga to be as accurate as possible...
I say fair enough.
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