ComplaintsforLiveStories

• Initial Complaint

  12/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Ive retyped this 3 times thanks to BBB system time outs. To make a long story short I applied and received a confirmation email 09/06/2023. I was told I needed to provide a case net number in order for my application to be processed. I proved a case net number and followed up with this company to ask if they needed me to provide any additional information. They told me no additional info is needed every time I reached out to check status of my application. All while going to court for this eviction begging the judge and attorney to give me more time. I received an email from Live stories a few days ago telling me my application was denied due to funding even though I applied 09/06/2023. If this company ran out of funds given to them from the government just 2 days after opening their applications they should have communicated that to their applicants! Instead they told me my application was being reviewed. Theres no type of urgency whatsoever knowing how evictions move pretty quickly court dates come back to back! This company needs to be audited and needs to retrain as far as professionalism, communication and advertising. Now my son and I have to move and have no where to go!!!

• Initial Complaint

  03/31/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I first applied to livestories in August of last year. They denied me in November do to me not having a bank account with direct deposit which I am on DSHS sent them the paperwork that said I was on DSHS. Actually I never did get a formal denial and I was not able to file a grievance so I reapplied January 19th gave him all the paperwork that I had signed my attest stating that everything was true my landlord has done the same he's actually had to send the paperwork that they asked from him on three different occasions and still it says pending for review how long does it take to get this rental assistance my landlord needs a desperately I am on the verge of being kicked out and who can blame him after waiting since August of last year for this rental assistance. They already got millions of dollars taken from them they should have went to the people because they didn't hand out the funds quickly I am at my wit's end does the company just get to keep all the interest on the millions of dollars that they have in their account that they're not dispersing. The caseworker just asked my landlord last week for the same paperwork that he is already sent them before again this has been going on since August of last year how long is the landlord supposed to wait? This is causing me great mental distress to say the very least. I read an article where the same company has dispersed funding in ****** within 2 weeks so why is it taking so long here in *******? My first case worker apparently got fired or quit or something and so I really feel like that one just totally slipped through the cracks and I feel like I'm slipping through the cracks again and I feel like that if this takes any longer the funding will be gone and I'm just going to be out even though I have done everything that they have asked for this time around however I have only had one telephone conversation with my caseworker and after that he has been in contact with my landlord.

  Business response

  04/19/2023

  On January 21, 2023, we received an application for ****************** and it was assigned to an Intake Specialist for review on 1/26/2023. The intake Specialist spoke with ****************** to verify the rental assistance request and worked with the landlord to update documentation. We completed our review and contacted ****************** the week of April 10th and explained to her application has been approved but we are waiting on funding from the ***************.  Thank you. 

   

• Initial Complaint

  02/16/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  While seeking emergency rental funding through Live Stories after the Covid shutdown, this agency used wreckless disregard throughout the application screening process that led to inaccurate allegations of fraud and rejecting all applications submitted by my LLC. Live Stories handled any question as to the validity of each application very unprofessionally. They did not contact the home owners of the properties where the money was owed and the ******* office listed on their website does not even exist. Even the housing authority intake specialist agreed that it was very difficult to communicate with Live Stories because it's always a recorded message when calling and rarely was a return call ever attempted. I filed a grievance against this company by following the grievance procedure instructions that came with my denial letters only to find that the mediator holding the grievance meeting was Live Stories. The mishandling of these applications damaged my companies reputation and caused economic loss. The denial of each application was not justified because under the cares act , each tenant owing the past due rent, was eligible to receive the emergency funding. This company acted negligently and have no policy or disciplinary procedure to follow to ensure the money being offered by the ****************** goes to those who need it. Now the funding has been depleted and the homeowners are still struggling to pay their past due taxes because of the rent payments they never received from the tenants who owed arrears.

  Business response

  02/28/2023

  King Preservation LLC was initially sent payment in the amount of $30,700 for rental assistance for two of their reported tenants. After the issuance of payment, FORWARD was notified that King Preservation LLC was not an authorized agent to collect rent on behalf of the property owner associated with these applications. One payment in the amount of $17,100 was immediately stopped and recaptured. ************ retained payment in the amount of $13,600 for the additional application. Based on inaccuracy and untrue statements in applications associated with *********************, a full investigation of all related applications was launched following FORWARD's Rental Assistance Fraud Policy. Skagit County Public Health, the Rental Assistance Program administrator, were notified of the application discrepancies and investigation.

  
  Multiple attempts were made to resolve application discrepancies through outreach to tenants, property owners, ************, and Ms. ***** listed landlord. Outreach attempts to property owners were not returned or revealed that ************ was not an authorized agent of the legal property owners. Requests from FORWARD for complete and accurate documentation were not fulfilled. Ultimately discrepancies were not resolved, additional discrepancies were revealed, and adequate documentation was not provided on applications to allow for approval.

  The applications associated with ************ and **** Preservation LLC were denied assistance, and ************ was notified of the denials. ************ requested to file a grievance and appeal the denial of her applications; a grievance review meeting was held on May 18, 2022, which ************ participated *************** per our policy guidelines that were approved by Skagit County Health. A FORWARD staff member not previously involved in Ms. ***** application interviewed ************ during the grievance review and completed an investigation of the information presented by ************ during the grievance review and documentation on file, and they upheld the decision to deny her application as ineligible for assistance based on our review guidelines and fraud policy. ************ was notified of the Grievance findings by email on June 1, 2022.

  
  Based on the findings of untrue or misleading information on a paid application, full case files for ********************* and **** Preservation applications were provided to Skagit County Public Health upon their request for additional review and investigation. FORWARD has fully cooperated with an investigation of Ms. ***** applications in partnership with Skagit County Public Health. FORWARD has not had communication with ************ since August 2022.

   

  We believe this matter has been addressed and is closed.

   

  Thank you,

   

  *******************;

  SVP Operations

  FORWARD
  
  Tell us why here...

  Customer response

  02/28/2023

   
  Complaint: 19390155
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  The grievance hearing I requested was conducted by the Agency that I filed the grievance against. It was supposed to be conducted by the administrator of the ******************************* " per policy guidelines". There was never any attempt to contact three of the home owners even after contact information was provided and FORWARD obviously had the address of each home owner if any attempts made by phone were not possible. The response provided by this agency is inaccurate and misleading. Each tenant was eligible for the emergency funding and each application was submitted in good faith. This agency has been discriminatory and grossly negligent during their investigation. The unprofessional conduct has  caused economic loss  to my LLC. 
  
  *********************

• Initial Complaint

  02/09/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I applied in Sept 2022 for rental assistance. My mom ended up paying my rent so they told me to call back Dec 1st. I called December 7th..and I was informed funds were being sent immediately. I WAS LIED TO. I have been waiting since Sept for rental assistance. This business is an effing job and needs to pay everyone waiting and be shut down immediately after. It's all pyramid scheme like. I have also been fighting an additional few weeks with my landlord who by the way, just served me with a notice of court paperwork starting the eviction process. If these a holes are the reason I'm evicted, you already know I'm going to be suing this company for loss of property with proof they said funds are coming months ago, in emails, phone calls and other means, and emotional damages for myself and my 2 kids who also ask every day if we're going to have to move/live in my car. I am told there's no response between the middle person (aka Forward) from Livestories and to just call or email them (see the pyramid scheme happening there?). But my phone calls just ring and ring. Leave a voicemail mail I'm NEVER called back. I hope that enough people report them to BBB that they get sued out the a$$ and have to shut down. Point is, if they don't pay, they have a lawsuit.

  Business response

  02/10/2023

  Hello - We would like to respond to the complaint by ***************

   

  ************** submitted an original original application for rental assistance and it was processed, with payment made on July 11th, 2022. ************** then submitted a duplicate application through a partner agency in September; this was ultimately moved to an additional request handled by our team. At review, she was not currently past due in rent and was advised to reach back out in December, which she did. The intake and documentation were completed on 01/05/2023, with *************** approval on 1/18/2023. 

  ************** did have conversations with our team during this timeframe and each each call she made was either answered or returned within 48 hours.  The applicant spoke with our team on 1/5/2023, 12/7/2022, 11/14/2022, 11/9/2022, and 11/8/2022.

  
  She had not called back until February 9th when she spoke to our Customer Support team and she was transferred to the Intake Specialist or the specialists voicemail.

  
  We reviewed/listened to today's recorded phone call, and we can see that in January, she was told that it would take 2-4 weeks for approval and payment to be issued. She was calling today as we have reached the 4-week ***** As of February 9th, her application was pending payment and was scheduled in the next payment batch. After receiving this complaint, we expedited the payment to be released on February 10th. We contacted her landlord to confirm payment is being sent and left a message for the applicant asking for a contact back.

  We do realize that we could have communicated better with ************** but at this time we feel this issue has been resolved.

   

  Thank you,

   

  *********************

  SVP Operations

  FORWARD

   

  Customer response

  02/13/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****************

• Initial Complaint

  12/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I received rental assistance from a program called live stories/forward 6 months ago I went through all of the steps to see if I met the criteria to be approved I was told that I did. I didn't have any way to pay my rent so they ended up helping me. 6 months later my landlord received an email this morning stating that he needed to pay $8700 back by December 20th because I was not eligible my heart is breaking today as my landlord States I need to pay that back I don't have $8700 lying Around and neither does my landlord I don't understand how I met criteria and approved for this kind of assistance to be reached out to 6 months later to state that there was an error and I was not eligible and I need to pay these funds back I am feeling defeated in life today I don't know what to do and I don't think that I should be responsible for paying this back I don't want to sound ungrateful because I am so so very blessed to be able to have gotten the assistance but how many families is this being done too you get rental assistance and then 6 months down the road get told that you have to pay it back more so you don't receive the email but your landlord receives an email that they have to pay almost $10000 back because their tenant was not eligible my landlord is not happy . I don't know what to do I'm at ends meet and I'm reaching out because I'm desperate. Update i have reached out to ******* several times with no response as well as the gal who did my intake and approved me. ****** has responded a few times but no resolution. This is not right I was indeed eligible and it has to be approved by a supervisor before anything. I dknt understand

  Business response

  12/08/2022

  Hello - we wanted to respond to the complaint from *******************, 980 ******************  **********, **  98233, Daytime Phone: **************, E-mail: **************************

   

  ************** is correct that she applied and received rental assistance for approximately $8,700, these funds we paid to ****************** landlord. LiveStories administers the rental assistance program for Skagit County. Skagit County received the assistance funds from the **************** ********** of **************************************** application was randomly selected by The ********** of ******** for a review/audit and they determined that ************** was in fact not eligible for rental assistance and requested LiveStories to recapture the funds from the landlord. LiveStories sent a certified letter to the landlord requesting repayment of the funds. Since the funds were paid directly to the landlord :LiveStories did not request repayment from **************. The landlord then went to ************** for repayment.

  Since then, LiveStories has been working with the ********** of ******** to resolve this issue. As of today (12/8/2023) the ********** of ******** asked to pause the recapture process while they review the appeal. We have communicated the pause to the landlord and the **************. We are currently waiting to hear back from the ********** of ******** regarding next steps.

   

  Thank you,

   

  *********************

  SVP Operations

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Customer response

  12/08/2022

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

• Initial Complaint

  11/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My tenant *********************** filed for rental assistance June 2022. Finally got an intake specialist September 2022 (after months of calling) to help her with completing all documents needed to help her with getting rental and utilities assistance. I the landlord (*************************) heard from the intake first week of September that she needed my information to complete the package. Sent them my ID, W-9, direct deposit and lease and ledger agreement. Intake need all my information before she went off vacation week of Labor Day. Got everything over to her and she said, please allow 4-6 for processing and before she could look up in the system for a date. Emailed to ****** 8 weeks after initial email telling us to wait 6 weeks for processing to get its still processing, to check back every Friday. (Really) Both tenant and I emailed after again and now shes not responding to no email. I informed my tenant that if this cant get resolved before Dec 31st, she would have to move out of the property. Theyre holding federal funds and not committing to what the are to do with the funds its like there the reason so many people are getting evicted. I need to know what happen to the payment?

  Business response

  01/05/2023

  Hello - We wanted to respond to the complaint - The rental assistance application for this landlord has been paid. The application was paid on 11/23/2022 to the landlord ****** ****** via direct deposit. We did verify the routing and account number that was provided on the direct deposit form. The payment amount was $9810. The payment was delayed as St Louis County and City were both waiting on funds from the US ********** of ********* Once they received the funds, the funds we then sent to FORWARD/LiveStories to then issue the payment to the landlord and all other applicants. As far as the Intake Specialist not responding, this has been been addressed as an issue and we have provided coaching and training to resolve the issues.

   

  We believe this issue been resolved.

   

  Thank you,

   

  *********************

  SVP Operations

  Customer response

  01/05/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  11/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They have given me the run round and I have been very patient I've been deyalt with this for almost five months aboyt to he homeless waiting on these people live stories told me payment would be made in 3 to 4 weeks it's been almost a 2 months when are they goi to help me like they say

  Business response

  11/07/2022

  We are responding to the complaint that was issued by *************************;4018 ****************  ***********, **  63115 Daytime Phone: ************** E-mail: *********************

   

  This rental application was paid 10/28/2022 for the amount of $3,925.00. The tenant will be paid the assistance and it is the tenants responsibility to pay the landlord. The tenant did not request utility assistance. 

   

  At this point, we believe the issue has been resolved.

   

  Thank you,

  
  *********************

  SVP Operations
  
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  10/31/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I applied for rental assistance in March or April of 2022. In June i was called by two associates from Live Stories a male intake specialist and then a female case worker , and told I was approved and just needed to provide a lease agreement per the discussion we had about my living situation changing since applying. Fast forward to August 2022, my case worker quit unexpectedly and when I called trying to get more info / help with the funds I was told I was approved for, live stories customer service reps were extremely rude telling me all of a sudden my application was not fully processed and they still needed X amount of information etc. i believe that Live Stories collected government funds on my behalf and instead of allowing me to use them in my time of need, they are pocketing those funds. The customer service agents have hung up on me and more all for wanting them to honor what the first two agents told me which is that Im approved. Im currently homeless with a child and them taking away those funds that they told me I was approved for was very hurtful especially when another associate called me today unwarranted end of October with no contact since the last agent hung ** in my face, very rudely telling me that if I want help then I need to finish applying mind you I completed a full application with no further actions needed in April 2022. I also have text messages to prove I was told by the agent who quit that i was approved

  Business response

  11/03/2022

  We are responding the the complaint from ************ 2225 *********************************************************. We will provide a chronological list of contacts with ************

  07/25/2022 - Our intake specialist reached out to the landlord and requested information such as the lease, rent ledger, W9 and Other Housing Costs. We also called ************ and requested a copy of the lease, a utility bill. ************ said she needed help with future rent for July, August, September & October.

  9/8/22 - ************ called our customer support center and we advised her the Intake Specialist was not available. She called to give LiveStories the address to the home she is currently trying to purchase not rent. She stated that she was at the bank and needed to know where to pick up her approved funds so she can complete the money needed to pay the mortgage on the house she is buying. We advised her that this is rental assistance and we can not assist with mortgage or purchase of a home she started yelling at our employee stating that the Intake Specialist advised her that we were going to assist with the funds to purchase, we again advised that the ** rep was not currently available however I could transfer to the Intake Specialists voice mail for clarification on rental process she began to yell louder, threaten litigation then began using very colorful language. We advised call would not continue she continued call was disconnected.

  9/15/22 - ************ called our customer support center again, was upset the Intake Specialist was not available and was yelling our our employee

  10/14/2022 - Our Intake Specialist reached our to ************ via email to verify if she has a lease to provide and also reiterated that we do not provide assistance for homeowners or assistance buying a home

  10/31/2022 Our Intake Specialist called and spoke to ************ and she was yelling at our employee and proceeded to tell us that her application was already approved and that she was waiting to receive the funds. We that the application is in fact pending and if she had a new lease to provide in order to continue reviewing her application. We also stated we do not assist with mortgages. We explained the ************ the notes in the account state that her application is still pending (NOT APPROVED) on documentation needed. She proceeded to our employee that they were not doing their job. We asked her if she had a new lease to provide and I would be happy to attach it to her application for review, provided her with 7 days to submit. ************ continued to scream at our employee and disconnected the call.

   

  ************ claims that she was told she was approved for rental assistance. It is our policy to never inform an applicant that they are approved until all documentation is received and reviewed for eligibility. Since we have never received any information from ************ we could not know if she is eligible or not.

   

  Please let us know if you have any questions.

   

  Thank you,

   

  *********************

  SVP Operations

   
  

• Initial Complaint

  10/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was contacted by livestories and told I qualified for rental assistance way back in May of 2022. I rent a room from my elderly mom. I deal with mental health issues that have gone untreated in the past but am now in counseling for it and doing better, but still have issues with anxiety and panic attacks,. I'm on disability, had to file bankruptcy because of my issues this last year. I get my check on a debit card monthly, no bank account and pay rent with cash. I have memory issues as well. These ppl wanted me to turn over all my bank statements, and remember what I paid for the last 12 months! Give them a ledger, outlining as such! I can't remember that stuff! I lost my debit card 6 times last year! I can't remember what I ate for dinner last week! I feel like their staff needs better education in how to deal with people who have mental health , addiction or any other issues! We aren't all cookie cutter adults. I'm not perfect ( in fact my counselor is helping me write this), but I'm not bad either. Not enough is done in this country to recognize mental health and the stigma surrounding it. Corporate America needs to train their employees to have empathy for this reason and to take all issues, not just monetary into consideration before passing judgement. Maybe partner with **** ( national alliance for the mentally ill) they would be more than willing to come and give awareness training. The way you treat a person with issues such as these may actually exasperate the problem and make the issue worse. Sensitivity training and patience goes a very long way.

  Business response

  10/31/2022

  Hello - We wanted to respond to the complaint ******************************* in ******* **********.

   

  As ******************** stated in here complaint, LiveStories received her application on 05/30/22. Our Intake Specialist has been consistently reaching out to the ******************** 08/31.
  

  
  We also confirm that ********************, is renting a room from their mother. Our notes indicate that the Intake Specialist has worked with the tenant and landlord via phone and email extensively to help them provide appropriate documentation to process the file. However, as of 10/25 the requested documents are still outstanding: 1) verification of ownership/Authorization to lease, 2) tenant's address verification, 3) proof of previous rent payment (documentation provided at first request was not sufficient to establish previous payment).

   

  We will continue to reach out to ******************** and the landlord but until we receive the required documentation we cannot proceed in providing the rental assistance. We do understand that some individuals might have other issues they are coping with and this is why as a policy, we will keep the application open in case the parties respond with the information. Please let me clarify, we will keep the application open as long as the program is open.

   

  Let us know if you have any other questions.

   

  *********************

  
  SVP Operations

• Initial Complaint

  09/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Live stories partnered with another organization in ********* ******** to assist with emergency rental costs for low income families I myself was approved for $1900 in rental assistance and was due to be sent out a check in may 2022 after lying to me and saying they attempted to issue a check but I had left my apartment number out but they will issue it again with the right address they had a representative reach out to me via phone personally and say I should Be getting my check in 3 days its been another entire two weeks .. Ive waited on these funds for four months now this is very hurtful coming from an organization thats supposed to help I feel like they are keeping our checks for themselves

  Business response

  09/13/2022

  Hello - we wanted to respond to this BBB Complaint. Below I have provided a timeline of dates 

  We are in the process of completing the payment for this applicant and would consider this issue resolved.

  Thank you,

  ***
  

   

  *********** Details:
  *********** submitted 4/20/22
  Initial outreach to tenant for additional documents 4/27/22
  *********** approved for tenant pay. *********** funded 5/9/22, and check for $1,959 mailed to tenant 5/12/22
  Received notification on 7/25/22 that tenant never received check. ****** acknowledged that they didn't put their apt # on the mailing address. Initial check voided.
  Reissued check with apt # sent 8/17/22. Notification to the tenant of the reissue, and request to the tenant if they don't receive within 10 days to reach back out.
  Received notification from tenant that they have not received check on 8/26/22 
  Received another notification from tenant that they have still not received reissued check on 9/2/22
  
  Recent Remedy Steps Taken:
  
  Internal investigation into if either check had been cashed. Confirmed neither check has been cashed
  9/12/22 reissued check from 8/17/22 voided
  

  9/12/22 new check to be reissued. As the mail system seems to be a problem with getting this check delivered to the applicant at this address, we are working with applicant to either do a direct deposit, or mail reissue to different address
  

  9/12/22 Director of *********** Services approved direct deposit to applicant
  

  9/13/22 Payments team gathering necessary documents to do a direct deposit

  9/15/22 Payment to be sent

  Customer response

  09/13/2022

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩