Realtytrac.com

Member registered for a 7-day free trial of
RealtyTrac on...

1/17/2014. The terms of the trial are clearly stated on the registration page
prior to submitting a form of payment for the monthly subscription fee. The
terms state that if the trial account is not cancelled during the trial period,
the account automatically converts to a monthly subscription and the monthly
fee of $49.95 will be charged to the account information supplied by the new
member. These terms must be agreed to by the registrant prior to continuing
with registration. The Member’s account was not cancelled within the 7 day
trial period, and the
account was charged the first monthly subscription fee on 1/24/2014.
The Member called in with their bank on the
line and requested cancellation 2/20/2014, well after the trial period had
expired. The representative advised the member of the charge and that they
would have access until 2/24/2014. The member inquired about a refund and the
representative advised the member of the Terms of Use agreed to upon
registering the account including that the membership fees are nonrefundable
unless the billing was in error. The representative offered to switch the
member to a discounted membership plan retroactively. The member agreed to a
prorated refund of $24.95 after the bank advised her that the charge was in
fact valid. RealtyTrac issued a prorated refund of $25.00 on 2/20/2014 as
agreed to by the member during the phone conversation and the account’s premium
access will expire on 2/24/2014.

RealtyTrac provides access to foreclosure information and leaves
the following disclaimer on all properties: The
information at this site is provided solely for informational purposes and does
not constitute an offer to sell, rent, or...

advertise real estate outside the
state in which the owner of the site is licensed. The owner is not making any
warranties or representations concerning any of these properties including
their availability. Information at this site and its property ratings are
deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be independently verified.
RealtyTrac does not always
know immediately when a property is no longer available because we are not
directly involved in the sale. However, we are checking this information on a
regular basis, and once we know that a property is no longer available, we will
list it as Sold on the Property Details page. To have the best results in
pursuing the properties on RealtyTrac, we recommend subscribers focus on the
most recently listed properties. Each property has the date it was recorded at
the county and the date it was entered into RealtyTrac’s database.
Subscribers can use the
'History' section of the property details page to check for all the data
records RealtyTrac has for a property.
Our records indicate that the address provided was displayed
as a Bank Owned property recorded on 3/28/2012. The details page also advised
the user that there had not been an update in quite some time and advised
contacting the lender to verify the current status. The property details page
stated that the property’s listing status was not currently listed for sale and
was displaying the historical foreclosure data. 
If a property is known to be listed as a resale home, a large banner
will display across the image which reads, “For Sale.” Most of the properties
on RealtyTrac are not currently listed for sale but are going through the
foreclosure process. Subscribers would use this data to reach out to the
current owner to try and negotiate a premarket offer.
Upon receipt of this complaint the property record was
deactivated pending further investigation.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.I don't expect them to admit that they make their money off of scamming people, or for them to admit that for the past year they have been preventing people from cancelling the subscriptions that they clearly never intended to get in the first place. They don't mention in their response that when I spoke with them they admitted that their system shows I never once logged onto their site, or used their product. Even though they admit that they can see that I never once logged on and used their product, they still won't do anything to compensate me for all the money that they took from me after I contacted them to cancel my trial membership. 
It is clear from their response that their whole product model is designed as a scam. They lure people in with the free trial offer, then prevent them from cancelling while silently billing them without ever sending an invoice, receipt, or statement; not even electronically. They are a total scam.
Regards,
[redacted]

Our records indicate the address [redacted] was recorded as Bank Owned 12/26/2012. The property is not marked as being for sale in any section of the website and there has been no updates to the property since 1/10/2013. RealtyTrac does not always know immediately when a property is no longer available because we are not directly involved in the sale. However, we are checking this information on a regular basis, and once we know that a property is no longer available, we will list it as Sold on the Property Details page. To have the best results in pursuing the properties on RealtyTrac, we recommend you focus on the most recently listed properties. Each property has the date it was recorded at the county and the date it was entered into RealtyTrac’s database. 
Subscribers can use the 'Property & Loan Info' section of the property details page to check for all the data records RealtyTrac has for a property. Subscribers also can sign up for daily notification service that allows them to receive notification by e-mail whenever new listings appear that match their criteria.
All customers agree that the promotional memberships are nonrefundable. RealtyTrac does not offer any proration when a customer takes advantage of the heavily discounted rates.

Revdex.com:I was never asked to provide a listing.  I have included conversations with my Realtor.  
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. 
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
RealtyTrac can explain away everything they claim on the website but that still does not "fix" or stop the misleading information. Read the reviews of this company. Horrible! These "customers" believed the information from the website and did not get anything from this company except a pushy realtor. The realtors on the site get you to call them to get more information. If I wanted a realtor I would have gone to one in the first place.This is fraud. They offer something they can't deliver! They take no responsibilty for the content of the website!I am not done.
[redacted]

On 6/16/2016, member contacted RealtyTrac by phone for assistance accessing their account. Our records indicate the customer chose to upgrade from the $49.95 monthly subscription to a 6 month prepaid subscription for the cost of one additional month. The customer acknowledged that she understood...

promotional rates are non-refundable per the Terms of Use.Our records indicate the customer contacted online support via email on 6/30/2016 demanding refunds and threatening to contact the Revdex.com should the outcome be unfavorable. The customer claimed properties were erroneously marked as available but unwilling to provide examples.
RealtyTrac is a foreclosure listing service, and as such, we do not take part in the sale or purchase of foreclosure property. The lists of distressed properties on the website are intended to be leads on homes that may be available for purchase, either from the current owner, or from the foreclosing lender who has repossessed the property. However, the posting of a property on RealtyTrac’s website is not a guarantee of availability
It is important to be aware that many of these foreclosure properties are not “on the market”, posted on the MLS or being advertised as for sale. However, many investors successfully purchase foreclosure property by contacting the current owners directly, and making an offer on the property. We include the following disclaimer on all property pages:The information at this site is provided solely for informational purposes and does not constitute an offer to sell, rent, or advertise real estate outside the state in which the owner of the site is licensed. The owner is not making any warranties or representations concerning any of these properties including their availability. Information at this site and its property ratings are deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be independently verified.
RealtyTrac always recommends that customers sort the data by the most recent date to ensure they are viewing the freshest data available as the market can fluctuate. 
The membership is cancelled, and no further charges will be assessed unless the member chooses to reactivate her subscription again.  The customer may access the service until 12/15/2016 at which time the prepaid membership plan will expire.

Our apologies that RealtyTrac is unable to
remove the information from the system as it is considered a business record
and may not be modified. RealtyTrac follows Payment Card Industry standards and
maintains PCI compliance. The membership is cancelled and the user will not be
charged unless they choose to reactivate a paid subscription.

The member registered for a 7-day free trial of RealtyTrac on 8/27/2014. The terms of the trial are clearly stated on the registration page prior to submitting a form of payment for the monthly subscription fee. The terms state that if the trial account is not cancelled during the trial period, the...

account automatically converts to a monthly subscription and the monthly fee of $49.95 will be charged to the account information supplied by the new member. All members receive an email welcoming them to the service and explain the date the trial will convert to a monthly subscription as well as cancellation directions should the member choose not to continue past the 7 day trial period. This account was not cancelled within the 7 day trial period, and the account was charged the monthly subscription fee beginning on 9/3/2014. 
 
The member spoke to a representative on 10/3/2014 to inquire about the charges. The representative explained the terms of use that were agreed to upon signup, which states that charges on accounts are non-refundable. The representative explained to the member that the account had been accessed and property information viewed as recently as 9/28/2014. The representative submitted a refund request for the last charge to the account dated 10/3/2014 on the member’s behalf as a courtesy. 
 
Although no refund was due, RealtyTrac issued a refund of $49.95 on 10/6/2014 as a one-time courtesy. We regret that we are unable to process any additional credits to the account. However, we can accommodate the member with complimentary exclusive website access for up to 2 months. This offer has been noted on the account; please contact our customer service department at 800-550-4802 or [email protected] to take advantage of this offer.

RealtyTrac does not always
know immediately when a property is no longer available because we are not
directly involved in the sale. RealtyTrac obtains its data from public records.  We have abstractors, or data aggregators
collecting this information for us from the counties, publications, postings,
and sheriffs sites.  The preforeclosure
information is generally either recorded or posted, and the properties go from
the earliest notification to the next notification, if applicable, and
eventually end up as REO’s on our site, if the aggregators find record of a
Trustees or Sheriffs Deed.  We then
append our information with sales files and information we gather directly from
Trustees, in an effort to remove aged data from our site. 
As properties move through
the various stages of foreclosure, the aggregators pick up the information from
the applicable instrument, whether it is a Lis Pendens, a Notice of Default,
Notice of Trustee’s Sale, Notice of Sheriff’s Sale or the like.  In some counties these instruments are filed
of record, but in many they are simply posted or published.  Because we rely on public record for our
data, it is impossible to know the outcome of, say, a sale that happened in
Brazos County, Texas.  The preforeclosure
notification is posted, not recorded, and there are no postponements or
cancellations to follow up on, as they are not put in writing.  We are at the mercy of public record, unless
those records can be appended later from a sales file or an REO.
For that reason, we do have
some data on the website that might not be very current.  Even in those cases when a property becomes
an REO, some banks do not record the Trustee’s Deed until they have sold the property
to a third party, long after the auction. 
We are unable to age this property from a Notice of Trustee Sale to an
REO.  This happens more frequently in
some areas than others.
RealtyTrac provides access to foreclosure information and
leaves the following disclaimer on all properties: The information at this site is provided solely for
informational purposes and does not constitute an offer to sell, rent, or
advertise real estate outside the state in which the owner of the site is
licensed. The owner is not making any warranties or representations concerning
any of these properties including their availability. Information at this site
and its property ratings are deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be
independently verified.
Although we are unable to process
a refund to the account, we do want you to get value from the service you paid
for. Please contact Customer Service at ###-###-#### Monday through Friday 8am
to 5pm Pacific Time and our team would be happy to provide you with a walk
through of the service, the aforementioned complimentary time and a
complimentary guide to buying foreclosures.

RealtyTrac is the largest online
marketplace for foreclosures in the nation, with more than 1 million
foreclosure and bank-owned homes across the country. One of the most
frequently-quoted sources of foreclosure statistics, RealtyTrac provides
foreclosure data to the FDIC, FBI, and the Federal Reserve Bank.
All memberships are user created and
it is the responsibility of the user to cancel the account should they choose
not to continue.  It is unfortunate that
the customer chose not to read the terms of use, welcome email or registration
page before activating a 7 day trial.  If
the customer does not agree with RealtyTrac’s cancellation policy then they
should not have proceeded with the registration.  All customers must agree to the Terms of Use
prior to creating an account with RealtyTrac. Customers receive a welcome email
upon successfully registering which includes the following information:
About Your 7-Day Free Trial
During
your trial period you will have complete access to our premium plan at no cost.
You may cancel your trial by calling us at 800-913-0902 during the business
hours of 7am to 6:30pm Pacific Time, Monday – Friday and 8am to 4pm Saturday
and Sunday. Cancel before 11/27/2015 and you will not be billed. If you choose
not to cancel your account before 11/27/2015, you will be billed $49.95 for
uninterrupted access to your membership. This subscription recurs every month
at $49.95 until you cancel.
At no time during the trial did
[redacted] attempt to cancel the membership or contact RealtyTrac for
assistance. It was not until 12/1/2015, four days after the trial converted to
a paid subscription, that RealtyTrac was notified of the customer’s
cancellation request.
As previously stated, the account
is cancelled and the customer has received a full refund as a one-time courtesy.

The member created an account with RealtyTrac and agreed to the
Terms of Use. The account was not cancelled until 8/11/2014 when the member
logged into RealtyTrac, viewed property information and then requested
cancellation online. These accounts are user created and as such it is the
responsibility of the member to cancel their memberships in a timely fashion
should they choose to discontinue the service. Usage does not affect the cost
of the service and is the same regardless of how much or how little the service
is accessed. The Terms of Use state: The
membership fee, when paid, is non-refundable and accrues on the first day of
each term or successive renewal term until canceled, regardless of whether or
not the Member actually uses the Site, the Services or the Content.
It is
unfortunate that several months’ time had
elapsed before the charges to the account were disputed, and we were notified of the member’s desire
to cancel. The time frame for credit card disputes is limited, and it is
the cardholder’s responsibility to investigate charges that are unfamiliar to
them in a timely fashion. The subscription charges appear on users’ credit card
statements as RealtyTrac Subscription followed by the phone number of
877-888-8722 to assist cardholders in contacting RealtyTrac.
Although no refund is due and the service was accessed after
the last monthly billing, RealtyTrac processed for a refund for charges dating
back 90 days as a one-time courtesy on 8/19/2014 to resolve this complaint. This is
the maximum credit provided for in the terms of use agreed upon. Our terms
state:
“…In no event may Member dispute any charge or
account billing here under later than ninety (90) days after such questionable
account billing or other discrepancy should have been or could have been
reasonably discovered by Member. Otherwise, except as required by applicable
law, any and all such Member complaints are waived by Member.”

RealtyTrac clearly displays the terms of use on the registration page before allowing members to create an account. The terms are summarized as: Your credit card will not be billed for the 7-day free trial. Cancel before your trial ends and you will not be billed. If you want to keep your account after the trial, do nothing and we will enroll you in a monthly subscription for just $49.95 per month until you cancel. Members are also sent an email welcoming them to the service along with the date the account must be cancelled if they do wish to continue past the trial period as a courtesy. 
Unfortunately we are unable to process additional refunds to the account because the member has already disputed the charges with his bank citing fraud.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID[redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it...

does, will consider this complaint resolved.
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
I did not curse or use abusive language toward any representatives & take offense that they have made this claim. I was frustrated with their lack of knowledge, inability to provide assistance & the abruptness with how they handled our concern. The manager, [redacted] 007 was very rude to my husband & hung up on him without any provocation other than an unsatisfied customer looking for a resolution. I understand that I chose to pay for a service after the 7 day trial. That is not the complaint. The complaint is that multiple pieces information provided by RealtyTrac was out of date as confirmed by a foreclosure real estate agent in Austin, TX. Out of date by a month or more. After the slander of my character by this company, I will gladly tell all to avoid using their website. If Revdex.com cannot help, then I will take this matter elsewhere. There are many people who have had negative experiences with this company & I am amazed you would still choose to be an advocate them.
Regards,
[redacted]

The member registered for a 7-day free trial of RealtyTrac on 4/10/2016. The terms of the trial are clearly stated on the registration page prior to submitting a form of payment for the monthly subscription fee. The terms state that if the trial account is not cancelled during the trial period, the...

account automatically converts to a monthly subscription and the monthly fee of $49.95 will be charged to the account information supplied by the new member. All members receive an email welcoming them to the service and explain the date the trial will convert to a monthly subscription as well as cancellation directions should the member choose not to continue past the 7 day trial period. This account was not cancelled within the 7 day trial period, and the account was charged the monthly subscription fee beginning on 4/17/2016. RealtyTrac provides cancellation directions in several locations. They are located within the dashboard under the Account Information section, within the body of the welcome email sent to all new members, and within the RealtyTrac Support portal located at https://support.realtytrac.com. The customer sent an email to Technical Support on 4/17/2016 at 12:03 AM Pacific Time. This was well outside RealtyTrac’s posted business hours. Because no phone call was received requesting cancellation during the trial, the account converted to a paid subscription per the Terms of Use agreed to at the time of registration. The member spoke to a representative on 4/17/2016 at 12:12 PM Pacific Time to request cancellation and inquire about the charge. The representative explained the Terms of Use that were agreed to upon registration, which states that charges on accounts are non-refundable but a refund request would be submitted for further review. Our records show that the customer continued to access property information until 11:18 AM Pacific Time on 4/17/2016 after converting to a paid membership.  Based on usage and the Terms of Use, the refund request was initially denied. The customer began calling the Membership Services team to make legal threats, threaten charge backs and to demand a refund “within two hours” or his team of 40 lawyers would file a class action suit. An appeal was submitted on behalf of the customer and although no refund was due, it was approved the following day as a one-time courtesy.

Member registered for a 7-day free trial of
RealtyTrac on...

9/7/2013. The terms of the trial are clearly stated on the registration
page prior to submitting a form of payment for the monthly subscription fee.
The terms state that if the trial account is not cancelled during the trial
period, the account automatically converts to a monthly subscription and the
monthly fee of $49.95 will be charged to the account information supplied by
the new member. These terms must be agreed to by the registrant prior to
continuing with registration. The member’s account was not cancelled within the
7 day trial period, and the
account was charged the first monthly subscription fee on 9/14/2013.
The member sent an email to [email protected] from the member
on 2/28/2014 requesting assistance with accessing the account. The member was sent a response with the username and
password that were created by the user at the time of registration as well as
suggested some additional troubleshooting steps should they encounter any
issues that could prevent them from successfully logging in. This email also
instructed the user to call Customer Service should they experience any further
difficulties.
The member sent another email to [email protected]
on 3/8/2014 advising us that she was receiving an error message during login indicating
she was using an invalid username. The representative answering the support
ticket noticed the email address entered by the user had been misspelled during
their registration as they had left off the second “T” in [redacted]. Our
representative corrected the email address and responded to the member with the
new login credentials for her account.
Because this was a created by the
user online, it was the responsibility of the member to ensure they are
entering correct information at the time of registration. Although the member
is not eligible for a refund, we can offer up to 6 months of complimentary
service as we do want the member to get value from the time they paid for. We
invite the member to contact Customer Service at [email protected] or ###-###-####
to take advantage of this offer which has been notated on the account.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.I appreciate RealtyTrac.com's reminders to me of the service I have received thus far, and their offer of 3 months complimentary website access. However, I never used my initial 3 months of membership, so I find it unlikely that I will use another 3 months. If one checks the login data on my account, they will find that I did not log in once during the 3-month period that I was billed for, until the day I discovered the error and called to cancel my account. A department store allows me to return an unworn shirt, so I do not find it unreasonable to request a refund for 3 months of unused services. My primary concern is the lack of communication and transparency provided by RealtyTrac.com to their "customers"--whether witting or unwitting--and I would appreciate some explanation from the company as to why they provide no communication when they begin charging customers. 
Regards,
[redacted]

Member registered for a 7-day free trial of RealtyTrac on 11/17/2014. The terms of the trial are clearly stated on the registration page prior to submitting a form of payment for the...

monthly subscription fee. The terms state that if the trial account is not cancelled during the trial period, the account automatically converts to a monthly subscription and the monthly fee of $49.95 will be charged to the account information supplied by the new member. These terms must be agreed to by the registrant prior to continuing with registration. The Member’s account was not cancelled within the 7 day trial period, and the account was charged the monthly subscription fee on 11/24/2014. 
The Member called in and requested cancellation 12/2/2014, after the trial period had expired. The representative advised the member of the charge and that they would have access until 12/24/2014. The representative explained the terms that were agreed to upon signup, which states that charges on accounts are non-refundable.
The account is not eligible for a refund due to the Terms of Use agreed to by the member. However, we can accommodate the member with complimentary exclusive website access for up to 2 months. This offer has been noted on the account; please contact your Account Manager [redacted] at ###-###-#### to take advantage of this offer.

Revdex.com:
I was never asked to provide a listing.  I have included conversations with my Realtor.  
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. 
Regards,
[redacted]