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Re: Upfront fee companies...

[Q=dennisn36] Is there any information on companies like this that have actually performed on their promises or are they all just a scam?...... Seems that the U.S. Attorney General would get involved in these scam operations since it transcends State bounderies and, I'm guessing, extends nation wide..... [/Q] Any and every "upfront fee" company is in the business of collecting upfront fees --- they successfully "accomplish" nothing else. To the best of my knowledge, there are NO exceptions. None. Don't shoot the messenger, but there is no federal prosecutorial interest whatsoever in these matters because, plainly stated, there is generally no actual violation of any underlying law(s), interstate conduct of the sleazy (but not illegal) "business" activity notwithstanding. If a person voluntarily CHOOSES to pay money to an "advertising and marketing" company, which carefully and quite deliberately obligates itself to do NOTHING more than provide a "listing", and the company then posts an ad or listing (...usually on an obscure and useless web site), then the "upfront fee" entity has actually fulfilled the "performance" component of a lawful contract (...and there need NOT be any actual signed document in order for there to be an entirely lawful contract, contrary to common but incorrect belief). The law in Florida concerning upfront fee entities is very new and is frankly very limited in its' overall scope when read and understood in its' statutory entirety. No other states even have anything comparable --- yet. Nonetheless, this new legislation in FL constitutes at least a START toward corrective legislation with more teeth, hopefully to be adopted in other states and ultimately at the national level. In the meantime, NEVER PAY A PENNY TO *ANY* UPFRONT FEE COMPANY. Period, amen.