FYI Just found out that this shyster Michale Cooper is back now as Smith Associates which is not a registered company let alone a legal firm and Michael Cooper is still the perpetrator.
http://www.bbb.org/richmond/business-reviews/arbitration-services/smith-associates-p-a-in-richmond-va-63403984/
http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/HomeLand-Arbitration-Michael-Cooper/Wilmington-Delaware-19807/HomeLand-Arbitration-Michael-Cooper-and-Ryan-Clark-SCAM-SCAM-SCAM-UNTRUTHFUL-COMPANY-1098137
NEW UPDATE 10/21/14!
Newest name and website!
Here is the address they use on the email they sent:
Cohen Associates, LLP
One Grand Central Place
60 E 42nd St, Suite 580
New York, NY 10165
631.865.4806 – Ext. 5552 | 631.865.1870 Fax
J.Anderson@cohen.associates
www.cohen.associates
THESE SCAMMERS HAVE CHANGED THEIR NAME AND WEBSITE AND ARE CURRENTLY BEING INVESTIGATED BY THE U.S. POSTAL INSPECTOR!
Their new website is http://www.ssmithassociatespa.com
There is a company out there called Homeland Arbitration, homelandarbitration.com. They are also previously known as FIAD Services and other companies all owned by Michael Cooper.
This company contacts small businesses and tells them that they will help them get all their money back for free-they just need to pay a percentage fee on the amount they recover. To recover this money, the small business sends Homeland all their CC statements and any contracts they have with any company they had spent money with. Homeland (not the small business) starts initiating frivolous chargebacks.
And it gets worse – Homeland actually changes the contract verbiage before they send it in to give them a better chance of winning the chargeback. The individual in this chargeback was called and he stated that they had changed his contracts before sending through the information for the chargeback as well. This individual also stated that he told Homeland not to initiate chargebacks and they did it anyway.
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Here is a copy of the unsolicited email Homeland sends to people.
Dear Charlie,
I received your contact information off of a website that more than likely was built by one of the companies we are investigating. These companies are known as “Online Business Opportunity Scam” companies charging anywhere between 10 and 100 thousand dollars for marketing, coaching, mentoring, tax services, and then never providing the services that were paid for by the customer. Numerous clients have confirmed this exact scenario and I wanted to go over some qualifying questions with you regarding your website. The qualifying questions to begin an arbitration case for you are as follows:
What companies have you dealt with regarding your home based business?
When did this all begin for you?
How much do you think you have spent with all the companies you dealt with concerning your home based business?
How did you remit those payments?
Is xxxxx.com the only website you have?
What have you done so far to recover the money spent with these companies?
A little about us, there are no upfront fees for our service. We build and work the entire arbitration case from start to finish, strictly on a contingent basis. Our fee is only applicable at the point in time that the case has been won and the money has been refunded to you. Worst case scenario if we happen to lose your case, there will be NO FEE. After we receive your documents and assess your particular scenario, then we will be able to accurately quote you a fee percentage. We would send you our contingent service agreement which allows us to represent you in the arbitration case, and it would also have the quoted fee percentage. Again, you are not paying any of it upfront, it is just acknowledging that you understand what you would be responsible for at the point of time that the money has been recovered. Should you choose to accept, you would simply print it off, sign it and send it back and we would confirm and finalize your case and start filing.
Thank you.
Erik Swensen
Homeland Arbitration
4023 Kennett Pike, Suite 519
Wilmington, DE 19807
Direct Line: (302) 544-9014
Tel: (800) 659-5094 Ext. 218
Fax: (302) 300-4216
Email: eriks@homelandarbitration.com
Website: www.homelandarbitration.com
Below are links regarding this continuing scam.
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/specific_search/BCA%20RECOVERY/%20Michael%20Cooper
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/specific_search/%20MICHAEL%20COOPER
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If this company initiates chargebacks for your purchasers you should do the following
-When answering chargebacks include your “statement of harassment” (use those words)
-You should also get a cease & desist order against this Michael Cooper
-call police first and see if they’ll do anything
-have your attorney go to court as soon as possible. As this Michael Cooper has a track record of violations it should be relatively easy to do quickly as the court records will show his violations.
I am atually grateful to the holder of this web page who has shared this enormous piece of
writing at here.
My web page webpage; Sabine,
Wow can’t believe nothing has been done against this “company” I had dealing with FIAD services Michael Cooper stole my money and lied to me and then disappeared. Thanks for posting this valuable info. Stay away from whoever Michael Cooper presents himself as