Potential Red Flag and protecting the site from wolves

[Ken Virzi]

So I got a colleague request with the following message:

"Hi Ken!

I am a Cleveland investor living in Los Angeles who is trying to gauge interest with people about organizing a Socal/Cleveland investor meet up.

I am reaching out to a couple dozen people on the Bigger Pockets site who are currently investing and/or interested in the Cleveland Market. If there is enough interest I will schedule a date in the next month or two.

This will just be a casual networking type of thing. I have nothing to sell other than my Knowledge of the area growing up in the Cleveland and the experience of investing there from a long distance.

I think it could be enlightening to hear from other people in the same long distance investing situation and find out what has worked and what didnât with their investments.

If youâre interested, let me know.

Cheers!"

The first slight (very slight) red flag was the line "I have nothing to sell" those kind of statements usually stand out to me. Nonetheless I thought it was a great idea and responded in kind with a question about where in Cleveland he grew up.

We sent a few messages back and forth and then in response to where I had bought he said, "let me guess, did you buy with Holton Wise?" I had researched his name and saw he was a cheerleader for them which is fine, but I thought I would test the water. I responded with "Yes for the first, but after that hell no." 

Next thing I know, he disappeared and possibly blocked me. 

I call these red flags because I cannot know for sure and I try to assume the best, but there is enough circumstantial evidence here to make me believe he is profiting through referrals and not be open it. Instead of inquiring why I said hell no, he simply cut and run. That just seems odd, unless you are trying to get a group together to specifically push them in a certain direction (even though you have nothing to sell). 

I know there are a lot of shady people in the business, and I hope we can protect Bigger Pockets and maintain a standard of ethical high ground, but I was wondering if there was a way to self police? I mean I do not want to see any lynching or false accusations, but what if we had a reporting feature where a team of volunteers or something could investigate? This site is a potential goldmine for those looking to take advantage and I would want to protect the members if possible. 

Then again we cannot protect everyone from everything and need to learn ourselves, but I am guessing there is some standard of behavior expected.