Dave Ramsey regularly promises his followers that he takes his endorsements “so very seriously.” Ramsey promises that he “personally” investigates each company that he endorses.
Under oath, Dave Ramsey has confessed to a Tennessee court that he was lying.
When he is under oath, Ramsey claims that other people are responsible for his endorsements, and that he does nothing to investigate the businesses that he endorses.
Dave Ramsey & Timeshare Exit Team
In a sworn declaration recently submitted to a Tennessee court, Dave Ramsey confessed that he endorsed Timeshare Exit Team without doing “any independent due diligence.”
Ramsey submitted the declaration as part of his effort to avoid the State of Washington’s questions about his endorsement of Timeshare Exit Team.
In February 2020, the State of Washington filed a civil complaint against Timeshare Exit Team, alleging that the company regularly commits more than forty separate violations of the State Consumer Protection Act.
In April 2021, the State served Ramsey with a subpoena, requiring him to sit for a deposition and answer questions about his years-long endorsement of the company.
Ramsey has asked a Tennessee court to quash the subpoena. Ramsey has offered two main arguments: First, he argued that he is far too important to answer the State’s questions. Second, he argued that someone else is responsible for his endorsement of Timeshare Exit Team. According to Ramsey, the person responsible is an employee named Brian Mayfield.
Dave Ramsey Confesses to Lying
Under penalty of perjury, Dave Ramsey says that he does nothing to personally investigate the companies that he endorses, and that he does nothing to investigate the character of their leaders.
According to Ramsey, he endorsed Timeshare Exit Team only because employee Brian Mayfield told him to do so so: “I relied on Mr. Mayfield and his team to undertake the due diligence into Reed Hein prior to the endorsement relationship.”
Incredibly, Dave Ramsey even claimed that other people are responsible for the words that Ramsey himself speaks: “Mr. Mayfield and his team are also responsible for the content of the endorsement pieces that I promote on the radio program or online.”
Ramsey denied knowing anything whatsoever about the character of the man who leads Timeshare Exit Team: “I have had no contact with Reed Hein or its principals, other than brief, personal interactions with Brandon Reed before and after recording joint endorsement pieces, and social interactions at the annual Ramsey Christmas party for significant clients and similar social events.”
Most damning of all is that Ramsey confessed to knowing nothing about the value that Timeshare Exit Team delivers to consumers: “I have no direct insight into Reed Hein’s internal operations, representations to customers, or any other aspect of its business.”
Dave Ramsey Claims to Be Different
When Dave Ramsey is enriching himself by collecting endorsement fees, he promises followers that he personally investigates the companies that he endorses. Ramsey tells listeners that they can trust him to endorse only companies that are led by people of good character.
In this video, Dave Ramsey criticizes radio hosts who are willing to recommend “just about any product or service that you can imagine — for the right price.” Ramsey claims to find their behavior “disturbing.”
Ramsey promises his followers that he is different, and that he personally takes the companies that he endorses “so very seriously.”
Ramsey claims that he only endorses companies led by people of good character. “I trust these guys to steer you in the right direction — not just sell you a product,” he says. “That’s what’s important to me.”
“It’s not just about money,” Ramsey assures his followers.
Ramsey has made specific promises about Timeshare Exit Team, which he endorsed for more than five years. In this video, Ramsey assures his followers that he has been “very careful” with his endorsement of Timeshare Exit Team.
Ramsey warns that other timeshare-exit companies use “illegitimate tactics” that leave a consumer financially responsible for ongoing timeshare payments.
His “friends at Timeshare Exit Team” are different, Ramsey promises.
“Trust me,” Ramsey says. “It’s Timeshare Exit Team.”
Ramsey Refuses to Accept Accountability
Dave Ramsey’s behavior is shameful.
At every point, Dave Ramsey promised his followers that he personally investigates each company that he endorses, and that he endorses only companies led by people of good character.
Ramsey made these promises in Christian churches.
While speaking to followers seeking to improve their finances, Ramsey wrapped himself in the Bible and promised followers that he had investigated each of the companies that he was recommending.
While inside Christian churches across the United States, Dave Ramsey recommended Timeshare Exit Team.
Timeshare Exit Team is led by a man who has engaged in multiple sexual affairs with female employees, and who perjured himself when asked about sexual-harassment claims.
More importantly, Timeshare Exit Team is a vast consumer fraud that has cheated tens of thousands of middle-class and working-class consumers out of tens of millions of dollars.
Now that the State of Washington wants Dave Ramsey to answer questions about his endorsement of Timeshare Exit Team, Ramsey is claiming that other people were responsible for investigating Timeshare Exit Team, and that other people are responsible for the words that he spoke.
Fundamentally, Ramsey is claiming that he was lying when he promised to have personally investigated Timeshare Exit Team and the character of its founder.
Dave Ramsey & the Bible
Dave Ramsey regularly quotes the Bible in his books and on his radio program.
Words and ritual are meaningless without a genuine commitment to justice and righteousness.
The Bible itself is clear on this point. In the Book of Isaiah, the Lord expresses disgust with wealthy leaders who cite scripture and follow all the rules of animal sacrifice — while building and sustaining an unjust system that enriches themselves and that oppresses the poor.
“What need have I of all your sacrifices?” says the Lord. “I am sated with burnt offerings of rams, and suet of fatlings, and blood of bulls; I have no delight in lambs and goats.”
“When you lift up your hands, I will turn My eyes away from you; Though you pray at length, I will not listen. Your hands are stained with crime.”
The Lord’s instruction is clear:
“Wash yourselves clean. Put your evil doings away from My sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Devote yourselves to justice. Aid the wronged.” Isaiah 1:11, 15–17.
Dave Ramsey Takes the Easy Way
These are the facts:
Dave Ramsey took millions of dollars by referring his followers to a vast consumer fraud.
Ramsey claims to be unaccountable to law enforcement: He refuses to answer the State of Washington’s questions.
Ramsey claims to be unaccountable to his victims: He refuses to place his ill-gotten gains in a trust account — for distribution to the people whom he and Brandon Reed victimized.
It is easy to cite scripture. It is hard to do the right thing.
Dave Ramsey persists in his efforts to take the easy way.
This blog post isn’t legal advice.
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Thank you for reporting on this. The more I learn about Dave Ramsey, the more disturbed I am that so many pastors, churches, and para-church organizations blindly recommend him simply because he uses all the right phrases.
I had used the Time Share Exit because it was one company Dave Ramsey endorsed. It was hell! A lot of money went to Time Share Exit and 4 years later, I had to pay off the loan to exit. Any recourse? TY