Darin Ferraro, Broker Outpost, brokeroutpost.com Broker Outpost is a Scam! Las Vegas Nevada

The complaint is based on false information and envy of more successful members of the site. The facts have already been stated, so there is no need for me to repeat. Broker Outpost is the premium site for sophisticated mortgage professionals to debate all aspects of the mortgage business. The uninformed and deceptive are quickly ostracized by the highly educated veterans of the site. There simply is no better place to get accurate mortgage information combined with lively debate. This vendor was clearly inferior and could not compete. Only the best vendors can successfully travel the Broker Outpost gauntlet and sell to the members.

This sounds like someone who ignored a few basic rules of civility on The Outpost and paid the price of not being able to participate in the Forum. Too bad, man up and move on.

The individual who made this report is obviously a competitor to a member of Broker Outpost with the screen name "Darkstar". Darkstar does not own Broker Outpost. Broker Outpost was bought by a publicly traded company called Internet Brands from Darin Ferraro last July. Darkstar owns a mortgage lead generation business and it appears so does the person making the complaint. Darkstar is a frequent contributor to Broker Outpost and has been for nearly 3 years. During his tenure on Broker Outpost he has earned and rightfuly so, the respect of the 100 or so active members of that internet community, myself included.

This complaint is nothing more than sour grapes from an individual who could not compete with the quality of service and/or integrity that Darkstar provides.

This report is filled with many inaccuracies and I can only guess at the motivation behind them. First off, Darin Ferraro and 'Darkstar' are definitely not the same person. Darin is the creator of the forum and he is based in Las Vegas.

As a frequent user of the Broker Outpost Forum, I have had contact with other users. One of these is known as 'Darkstar', whom I designed an unrelated project for, and I am positive that my caller ID from his residence does not show his name to be Darin Ferraro or a Las Vegas area code. (Just as a note, his accent helps confirm his location also.)

While not a 'marketing tool', as suggested, BO does allow for it's own small advertising spaces and a separate area for vendors related to the mortgage business. I see nothing unusual about this and Darin goes to great lengths to separate the vendors from infiltrating the opinionated topics of discussion.

As an internet forum for mortgage professionals, there are very few competitors and any postings "bashing" other forums would be the result of the users, not the owner. Nor would this be considered unusual practice on an internet forum.

The assertion here is that the owner and 'Darkstar' are the same person attempting to sell services. This is untrue. While 'Darkstar' does have a vendor project on the side, which he does promote, he also is a morgage professional and contributes greatly to the discussions. It is true that Darin allows vendors to advertise services in their section, but that is one of the stated purposes of the forum in allowing the users to find additional resources for their business purposes.

Posts and positive comments abound for many competitors, and they are only removed if the poster violates the rules of the forum, which are stated upfront when you register to post. I have never seen a legitimate post removed on it's own merit, without some other dramatic posting violation being performed by that poster.

The cited list of "Do Not Use" of internet lead vendors was compiled by user comments and not by the owner's whim. However, as the manager of that FREE site he has every right to organize it's content of his own accord.

My assumption can only be that the poster of the original report is a vendor who was banned and seeking some sort of revenge against a free forum after knowingly violating it's clearly-stated rules. The original report is filled with inaccuracies and personal assumptions, none of which I have experienced on Broker Outpost, which has a reputation amongst it's users as the best forum for mortgage-related professionals to receive guidance, information, and resources. It's also a very good place to just hang out and exchange opinions.