btiAndy,
What I meant for that was forum software, although the moderators here are well know for censoring posts they don't like here and elsewhere.
It is interesting that the guy that was complaining about us not being hard enough on scammers was letting an obvious scammer post using my account and instead of trying to prevent it he went on to attack me personally.
Bitcointalk has a lending session. What do they do to prevent scammers there? Are the mod's scammers because they let people ask for loans using the forum? What about the ponzi schemes? This forum hosted many of them, are the forum operators responsible since they hosted many of the "obvious" ones? If you prefer the diligence they do go to their lending session and lend your money there.
We do a lot of work to try to remove the scammers from our platform, we hired one person that calls every single new borrower before the listing is posted. We check job references, we check bank accounts, among many other things. Some loans go bad, just like they go bad here and everywhere else.
Tulkas -
Scamming accusations against you are understandable for anyone invested in the many bad BTCjam loans, and then left to themselves to attempt collections
...
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AUG 29, 2016 | 10:21PM PDT
Original message
Kanati wrote:
Dear BTCjam Support
I am trying to collect my arbitration award on loan 52286, but the borrower refuses payment saying that he prefers to pay all investors at once using BTCjam, and he is afraid he will end up paying me twice if he sends my bitcoins directly to me.
To what extent does BTCjam remain involved in loans that have already completed the arbitration process, and what are BTCjams obligations to borrowers and investors in these situations? My arbitration award says “In the event that the Arbitrator issues an award in favor of the investor, an investor may enforce that judgment in a court of competent jurisdiction“, So I have been assuming that BTCjam is no longer involved, and it's up to individual investors to collect these debts. On the other hand I have also noticed that "BTCjam Debt Collection" sometimes buys notes, so it would be useful for us investors to know under which circumstances BTCjam will get involved and when we otherwise should expect to collect on defaults ourselves.
Some clarification on this subject would be appreciated.
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Kanati
Subject: What are BTCjams obligations after arbitration? (re: loan 52286)
AUG 30, 2016 | 06:53PM PDT
John replied:
Thank you for your question. We have no involvement with the loan itself and we don’t do collections, we are just a platform that connects lenders and borrowers making it easy for them to both ask and repay the loan. Our platform is available if the borrower chooses to pay through us, even after arbitration.
Best regards,
The BTCjam Customer Support Team
Best,
BTCjam Support Team
The last sentence ("Our platform is available if the borrower chooses to pay through us, even after arbitration") was rather vague, so I sent two more emails asking for further clarification (both remain unanswered...) -
From: Kanati
To: Support
Sent: 30-08-2016 09:03
Subject: Please elaborate - Re[2]: What are BTCjams obligations after arbitration? (re: loan 52286)
Thank you for your reply.
This borrower (loan 52286) is rejecting my direct request for payment by saying that if he pays me now and then repays everyone else later through BTCjam I would get paid twice - can't the borrower avoid this problem by providing BTCjam with documentation that I have already been paid?
Also, loan 52286 defaulted on 26 April 2016. Does a borrower pay additional interest and late fees accrued after the default date if they choose to repay through BTCjam?
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From: Kanati
To: Support
Cc: (loan 52286 borrower)
Sent: 01-09-2016 21:17
Subject: Conflict of interest? (Case #: 146711.)
Dear BTCjam Support
In your 30 August email (below) you said that BTCjam is not involved in loans, does not do collections, and is only providing a platform to connect lenders and borrowers. You also said that a borrower can "choose" to repay a defaulted loan through the platform after arbitration.
I sent the borrower of loan 52286 a copy of my arbitration award with a request for direct payment. The borrower wrote back refusing to pay me directly, saying instead that I should contact BTCjam Support since you instructed him to repay the entire loan amount through the platform, even though this loan is in default, and even though arbitration awards were issued in April 2016.
If borrower 52286 is telling the truth then it looks like BTCjam is denying me the right collect my debt, which would be in direct conflict with my arbitration award (quote from arbitration award with
emphasis added..):
"The total amount owed by the Debtor at the time the Debtor stopped making payments is 6.07352376 bitcoins and is immediately due and payable to the Creditor(s) and their successors and/or assigns as follows:"<...snip...>
"IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that:
A. Defendant, DEBTOR, is liable to Plaintiffs for the foregoing amounts.
B. Such award is to accrue interest at the maximum statutory rate permitted by the Debtor's jurisdiction.
C. Defendant, DEBTOR, is liable for all collection fees and expenses, including reasonable attorney fees and court costs.
This is a Final Arbitration Award. This 26th day of April, 2016, /s/ Sukhman Dhami, Arbitrator"Since you never answered my last mail I still have 3 questions for BTCjam support:
1. If BTCjam "does not do debt collections" then why did "BTCjam debt collections" buy out my share of loan 51426 without even asking me first (
https://btcjam.com/listings/51426-start-up-venture-investment-in-btc)?2. In your opinion does the option BTCjam provides borrowers to repay defaulted loans through the platform supersede the lenders right to collect the debt directly after arbitration, and if you think it does then how long will you allow the borrower to wait before they choose to use that option and repay the debt?
3. Will the lender receive interest at the maximum statutory rate permitted by the Debtors jurisdiction after the default date if the borrower chooses to repay through the platform, and does BTCjam charge the borrower any collection fees and expenses, including reasonable attorney fees and court costs for this privilege?
I would appreciate your prompt attention in this matter, and I ask that you also send your reply to this mail Cc to the borrower so I can hopefully spare myself any more insults about me "cheating" him. I also request that the borrower be allowed to download my arbitration award from your website, so that he can see for himself that I did not change the amount of the award (
https://btcjam.com/listing_investments/1035698/arbitration_award).
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As "the man in the middle" you have complete insight and control over the entire payment chain from borrower to lender, which SHOULD at least imply a certain amount of fiduciary responsibility toward the investors who are trusting you to manage their funds. Instead we are met with no transparency, unanswered emails, obstructed debt collections, unexplained note trading done by a "BTCjam debt collection" account that supposedly does not even exist, and Arbitration Awards of questionable authenticity issued by a supposedly existing but invisible arbitrator.
I will remove your negative trust rating here when you fix these problems, otherwise I am sure that several of us disgruntled investors will soon be filing complaints to the California Attorney General regarding BTCjams business practices, as well as complaints to the New York Bar about the questionable validity of the arbitration awards issued by "the invisible Mr. Dhami"