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Metropolitan Grapevine fires back at the Maryland attorney general's order to cease operating Date published: 8/26/2007
BY CATHY JETT
Fredericksburg-area residents concerned that troubled Metropolitan Grapevine won't pay off their mortgages as promised can ask for a refund. Chief Executive Officer Andrew H. Williams offered to return the investors' money during a meeting at the Washington Plaza Hotel on Aug. 18. It was held mainly so the officials could respond to reports raising the possibility that the company, which says it can pay off investors' mortgages in five years, could be operating a pyramid scheme. A video clip of a portion of the meeting is available at metrotvnetwork.com. In it, Williams introduces two other company officers and slams banks as greedy for spreading home loans over 30 years instead of five as they do for car loans. He also touts the wonders of his company's ATMs, which he says generate the money used to pay off the mortgages. A Fredericksburg resident who watched the video because she wasn't able to attend the meeting said it didn't answer questions she had about the company. The woman, who asked that her name not be used, said she requested a refund of $50,000 minus mortgage payments the company has made since this spring. So far, she said, she has received neither the refund nor this month's mortgage. Virginia's State Corporation Commission is investigating Metropolitan Grapevine, which has an office in Chancellor Executive Center on State Route 3, and its affiliate, POS Dream Homes. Earlier this month, Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler ordered the companies and their officials to stop soliciting new investors in that state until a hearing can be held. Metropolitan Grapevine and POS Dream Homes are both based in Laurel, Md. Officials of both companies issued a statement late Thursday saying Maryland's order is "unconstitutional," and that the attorney general "rendered an arbitrary and capricious decision as it relates to our companies." The officials have filed a petition with the court to have the order lifted, according to the statement. The Securities Division of Gansler's office alleges that POS Dream Homes operated an unregistered promissory-note investment program under the guise of a mortgage-payment plan. Maryland requires that mortgage-payment plans be registered with the division.
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