I normally won't write a negative review on a product or service unless the business uses sales deception tactics, bait and switch operations, or exploitation of data collection.
I recently entered forced retirement after 32 years of military service due to service connected medical disabilities. Although I receive benefits and income, it was a substantial reduction of total household income, which eventually caught up to me, causing me to exhaust my savings to pay monthly debts, and ultimately fall behind on my financial obligations.
While watching the television, a commercial advertisement for "New Day USA" came on. What caught my attention was the fact that their spokesman was a Retired Admiral who advocated financial assistance to Veterans that were "in need of financial relief" through a secure loan based on homeowner's equity. Their advertisement targeted Veteran's that were retired, may have had blemishes on their credit report, or have been turned away by other lenders "because they cared for Military Members as if they were family".
I owned my home, maintained an excellent payment history, I only owed less than 20% of my home value, and had proof of fixed retirement income. I thought, "This is me, that they are talking about!", and I would be a perfect candidate to the services that they are offering!
Although I was exactly the type of client they described in their advertisement, after calling New Day USA, I quickly learned that I would not qualify for the services that they offered but was given a couple of other lenders as potential assistance. I was frustrated and a little bit confused, but soon after, I began receiving offers from various lenders to my email, my postal address, through unsolicited phone calls, and even text messages. I knew then that my personal information was made available to other entities without my permission. I had no proof but had a gut feeling that New Day USA sold my information to a lead generation platform.
Ultimately, owing very little on my property, I was able to refinance my home loan with a bank that was glad to have my business. I was able to receive enough cash-out to pay off debts that were in jeopardy of being delinquent or that maintained higher interest rates and still keep my monthly payment below what I was originally paying.
In my opinion, New Day USA is a predatorial business that targets vulnerable military Veterans in need of financial assistance by using deceptive sales tactics, false advertising, and through psychological methods by the endorsement of former Leaders that may be familiar and trusted by military Veterans.
In addition to feeling like I may have dodged a financial bullet that would ultimately "bleed-out" my monthly income with little to no benefit to my previous financial situation, I am extremely disappointed to see a retired Flag Officer endorse an operation to take advantage of US Service Members. One of their sales pitches is, "You have severed our country. Now, let us serve you with a New Day USA loan". The only thing I think they serve their clients is a load of BS!
I have yet to decide on initiating a Congressional inquiry, or report their operations to the US Inspector General's Office, but I indeed feel compelled to warn Veterans to execute their own due diligence, and research other alternatives prior to considering any financial activities with New Day USA.
MAJ (Ret), Z read more
