newly discovered (by me) pyramid scheme

[Skeptic Ginger]

You should report that ad to the police.

 

[Careyp74]

You should report that ad to the police.

There isn't any law being broken by advertising an MLM company. They are well within their rights as long as it is proven that there is an opportunity to profit from the business itself.

 

[jer_j]

There isn't any law being broken by advertising an MLM company. They are well within their rights as long as it is proven that there is an opportunity to profit from the business itself.

I agree that it is very hard to prosecute MLM companies. My understanding is that Amway's lawyers have pretty well seen to that.

This case, though, seems to have other legal implications. If this company is going to release poorly trained inspectors into the field to take a half-hearted peek around houses, it seems there is all kinds of potential for fraud agains the insurance companies or poor representation of homeowners.

Doesn't an entity representing itself as a home inspector have a legal obligation for thoroughness, if not certification? This whole thing just reeks of fraud, and not just from the pyramid scheme angle.

 

[Careyp74]

I agree that it is very hard to prosecute MLM companies. My understanding is that Amway's lawyers have pretty well seen to that.

This case, though, seems to have other legal implications. If this company is going to release poorly trained inspectors into the field to take a half-hearted peek around houses, it seems there is all kinds of potential for fraud agains the insurance companies or poor representation of homeowners.

Doesn't an entity representing itself as a home inspector have a legal obligation for thoroughness, if not certification? This whole thing just reeks of fraud, and not just from the pyramid scheme angle.

ah, two responses to that.

One, this particular case is not about home inspections. It is about people who go around looking for things to claim against insurance companies.

Two, there are actually a lot of problems in the home inspection area, where certification is not stringent enough, and there is no self policing in the industry. That is a different topic though.

 

[jer_j]

ah, two responses to that.

One, this particular case is not about home inspections. It is about people who go around looking for things to claim against insurance companies.

Two, there are actually a lot of problems in the home inspection area, where certification is not stringent enough, and there is no self policing in the industry. That is a different topic though.

Good point - it still just seems like an superficial approach to an important process, and one that could lead to all kinds of trouble. I would never want these people to represent me (and that language is used in the ad) to an insurance company. Either the insurer would eat them alive (most likely), or there's a good likelihood a wrongful claim would be made - unless the company's "service" is something so basic and preliminary that the homeowner could do it. Which leads to another question: Who's paying these people?

To generate the income they advertise, it seems either they'd have to be committing fraud or conducting a straightforward pyramid scheme. Or I guess that's my assumption... Either way, it seems like something the law would be interested in looking into.

Then of course, as you say, there are all kinds of problems out there. A little goofball operation like this one is probably a relatively small fish, and there have to be thousands of them out there.