ATLANTA — It takes only seconds on an iPad for a contractor or a medical provider to sign you up to pay your bill using a Georgia-based company called Momnt.
The money goes directly to the merchant. You never touch it.
Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray found that when things go wrong, you could be left on the hook for money you never saw.
Momnt still comes collecting even if you never got windows, dentures or whatever it was you were trying to buy. Now, some customers whose credit was tanked are fighting back.
“We were looking for windows for our home; our home needed new windows,” said Shundri Morgan.
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Morgan liked the price and the salesperson.
“I was approved right away,” she said.
She was approved for $25,000 in financing using loan servicer Momnt, with just a couple of signatures on an iPad.
“I signed the contract and we were expecting to get windows,” Morgan said.
But the windows never came.
Atlanta Window Pros, owned by GutterGard South, “ghosted” her. But Momnt didn’t.
“I got the bill, Momnt sent the bill and kept sending the bill and still sending a bill,” Morgan said.
According to Momnt’s own lawsuit against GutterGard South, the company already knew Morgan was one of many customers who were stiffed.
The company writes in the lawsuit, “Momnt received approximately 269 customer complaints––over 50% of GutterGard’s total customer base who had a loan through Momnt.”
But that did not stop Momnt from attempting to collect from customers.
“Momnt is still calling, Momnt is still knocking on the door, Momnt still sending the debt collector down to try to collect that money,” said Jarred Faber, Morgan’s attorney.
In its own lawsuit, Momnt claims GutterGard South “pocketed the loan proceeds intended to fund their customers’ projects for their own personal gain.”
The lawsuit also says that “in May 2023, Momnt began receiving an increasing number of customer complaints regarding GutterGard.”
But Morgan did not sign up until July.
“I can remember the day, July 31, 2023,” she said.
Momnt says it received twice as many complaints in August 2023 as it did in July 2023.
But other customers whose lawsuits Channel 2 Action News reviewed did not sign up until even later — August in one case and September in another.
“They continue to provide this man money knowing that he wasn’t providing the product,” Morgan said.
Momnt acts as a middleman between the bank and the merchant. But the customer never touches the money.
“They say, just sign here and you sign up for an obligation,” said Channel 2 Consumer Adviser Clark Howard.
Howard says that puts consumers at big risk.
“They’re the ones that provide the oxygen and the room to make it possible for you to get ripped off,” Howard said.
And it’s not just one bad contractor.
“I’m not going to pay for something I didn’t get,” said Shane Campbell.
Campbell hired a company called CG Consulting and Design to install siding and gutters.
Momnt paid the contractor thousands of dollars right away. But Campbell says no gutters or siding were ever installed.
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“If they would have sent me the money, and I would have gave CG Consulting the money, then it’s on me. But I never even touched the money. So, what do you do in a situation like that?” Campbell said.
The FBI now has a questionnaire on its website looking for information from CG Consulting customers who did not get what they paid for. But Momnt is still attempting to collect from Campbell.
“It tanked my credit,” he said.
That’s why for months, Morgan paid Momnt’s monthly bill for windows she never received.
“What’s it like to cut that check?” Gray asked.
“It’s hard, it cut me,” Morgan said.
Morgan eventually had to hire another company to install windows at her Conyers home. She has since decided to fight back against Momnt in court.
“It’s like they are working hand in hand because they’re getting the fee, the contractor is getting the fees, and the consumer is out,” she said.
Gray started reaching out to Momnt for this story June 16.
But, as of now, the company has not provided a statement, comment or answers to our questions.
But in court, the company did address part of the issue.
According to its lawsuit, Momnt said it has provided refunds to 30 GutterGard customers.
However, by the company’s own numbers, that one case involves more than 200 customers who have not received refunds.
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