I am posting this webpage that was archived from a controversial episode of The Profit. This is the Swanson's side of the story, and I am posting it here for posterity. This was put on their webpage by Larissa Swanson. I am not sure which side to believe. This copy was retrieved from archive.is:
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The Truth
Me notifying Marcus via text weeks prior to him accusing us of not telling him about the foreclosure process, which he said started in 2012?? No it started months into filming. AUGUST 26TH
A picture of the lien he said he did not tell him about either, but this is a 'Lien release' which means he already paid and took care of it in 2012. There are also no bank liens on the building like he states
The statement from the insurance, showing they received $903,204.70 but there was a 10% adjuster rate, so they only got $817,900 out of everything. The building cost 1.2 so my parents actually ended up losing out and having to take $ out of their retirement fund.
Me texting Amber Mazzola (the Executive producer) right after the last scene with the fight between my father and Marcus, she didn't even have the decency to pick up my call or really respond.
SEPTEMBER 20TH
<--Me speaking to two different producers about not getting any money after Marcus made me negotiate and promise to pay them the next day. JULY 30TH
Hi my name is Larissa, I am Gary and Sue Swanson's daughter. As you know, my family was just featured on, 'The Profit'. Unfortunately after being aired, we were not only humiliated but left with no chance to explain our side of the story. Behind the scenes, there was a lot that went on that no one knows about. For example, certain situations were manipulated, staged etc. I am writing this because I cannot keep quiet anymore and believe we were unfairly represented on the show. I understand it's my word against a huge network but I would not be coming out with all of this if it were not true. Below at the bottom I posted some photos and documents of proof. I ask that before you place judgment, you please read our side. I know this is a little long, but thank you for taking the time to read it. If you have anything to say you can go to our contact page. Thank you again and God bless!
I first want to start by saying, if I thought my parents were actual criminals I would not have written to the show. In my heart today, I still know that is the furthest thing from the truth. I am who I am because of them, and they raised me well.
The filming process started in June and ended in September. We did not film for four weeks like he stated, we filmed for four months and did not see a penny for that entire time. When we sat down to do the deal they told us before hand that if he writes us a check, it was only for show purposes and we would have to hand it right back. He also stated that he put the money in an escrow account but that never happened. As far as making changes, he took out a counter and purchased 15k worth of equipment, which we are still very grateful for!
My mother mentioned how she had a painter at the house and Marcus acted surprised and became "angry". The first day of filming we told Marcus and the production crew that we are slowly fixing up our house to put it on the market. My parents were putting a lot of their bills to the side during that entire time (which is how the foreclosure process started). Marcus kept promising every week that he would give us the payment in exchange for our building. I was asked to negotiate with our vendors and he had me promise to pay these people the next DAY with a certified check, but he never followed through with that either. One of these vendors is now suing us because they are so angry. Three months after we shook hands with him, things grew pretty bad so we finally approached him about dispersing the money. He offered us 100k in the meantime but his lawyer still wanted a title transfer of the building? My parent's lawyer cautioned us many times not to do it because he was scared that they could take it for such a small amount, so we had to decline.
August 26th I was served papers by a sheriff from Kasowitz (the firm who mortgaged our building). I notified Marcus immediately via text, and we were not aware that an actual foreclosure process already started. The building also had a contractor/mechanical lien put on it almost 4 years ago and my parents paid that in 2010. The lien release was never brought to city hall to be taken care of and we explained that to Marcus.
To touch upon the insurance accusations, in the beginning my father messed up his numbers and shame on him for that. My parents only received $817k from the insurance settlement and this statement is posted below. The building and expenses cost $1.2M and my parents ended up having to pay 400K out of their pocket. Also, their tenant next door did not have insurance! Therefore they had to pay $200K to cover them, which ended up pushing the whole project back a couple months. My father clarified that with Marcus immediately and also showed documents and receipts. In regards to the fire, we had an ex-employee at the time that was fired for doing drugs in the bathroom and stealing from our register. Shortly after he started stalking my family, driving by our house, going through our garbage and sending my father threats, which he later got in trouble for. When the fire happened he was seen across the street at a gas station watching the building burn down at 4 am and my father pointed him out to the police immediately. The authorities attempted to investigate but never actually found out how and why it happened. I can promise you it was not my father.
During that Christmas time we were working out of a tent in front of our building that only had it's foundation (still under construction). My father still wanted to serve our customers so the night before he had ten different employees working until 2 am in the warehouse prepping all of the orders for the next day. Around 3:30-4 am a fire erupted. After the fire department showed up they found the source of how it started, and completely ruled out arson. Before everyone left and locked up, someone pushed a table up against a cheap extension cord, and it eventually caught fire burning the entire downstairs. There was 150k worth of product and orders for the next morning in that fire!
When the boat happened he moved it out of the marina and put it in someone's backyard before hurricane Sandy hit. The motors ended up getting destroyed, so it turned into a salvaged project. My father bought that boat 15 years ago when they were in a better financial situation. It is also not a yacht like everyone is saying; it is a 30-foot boat. Marcus knew about the boat after the 2nd day of filming. Their 'story-line producer' was there for three straight days during the filming and asked my mom to bring my dad outside and confront him about it; the entire thing was staged, but the executive producer Amber told me later on the phone that night not to worry about us looking bad because they were going to "tie a nice bow on it at the end." If we knew they were going to blindside us like that we would not have cooperated.
With all the family drama they portrayed, they failed to mention the struggles my family experiences on a day-to-day basis. My little brother has a serious mental illness and was diagnosed 3 years ago. It has been a long road and has completely devastated all of us. We are constantly in and out of hospitals and have paid over 100K in medical bills including hospital, ambulances and medications. My brother was on the show but they blurred his face, he was standing next to me when Marcus said, "I'm 100% in charge now". The last thing I want to do it air our personal business, but they failed to present that a portion of my parent's expenses have been put towards medical.
My father also spoke about how much money he lost two years ago when he invested in a small restaurant next door. One of the owners they partnered with took advantage, so he went to court to break the contract and won. He was never able to get his investment back so in the end he really lost. The whole thing only made their financial situation a lot worse.
My mother never even wanted to film, but was told if she did not show up the deal was off. I know they wanted her there because they knew they could get drama out of her. My mother has not been a part of the business since last March, so why did they need to focus on her so much? During the 4-month process she had three deaths in her family, including her father, cousin and aunt. A few of the days she showed up late because she was upset and exhausted. After the death of her father she told Marcus that she wanted to move to Florida and live with her mother for a little, but she ended up staying just to film and make everyone happy. My mother was also medicated on Xanax because of everything, which may also explain why she acted like the way she did. They got her so upset one-day that she ended up having a mental breakdown. I have NEVER in my life seen her so hysterical that it brought me to tears seeing her that way. Halfway through filming she agreed to sell the BMW even though it was leased, it was still a sign of showing sacrifice. We also filmed a scene where we taped for sale signs on her car windows! She wanted to prove to Marcus that she would do anything for the deal but obviously they did not air that. I personally believe that BMW may have sponsored them for this episode but I could be totally wrong about that!
I also wanted to talk about the employees chipping in for product- that I agree was not right AT ALL. The employees chipped in on a few occasions and they got their money back at the end of the day. My father had vendors who would show up in the morning wanting cashiers checks for product and neither him or my mother were there to get to the bank, they should have had a check prepared!! I still think there is no excuse for that, but they have been making serious changes since the show..
Lastly I want to touch base on a few things people are mentioning about myself, which is the bag I had on me. I have seen dozens of comments and several media sites about it and I can't help but laugh at this point. I do agree that it looked bad but I never purchased it, my boyfriend of two years got me that for Christmas. My mother also leased that car two years ago before things got really bad. She has been a customer of BMW for almost 10 years and because their credit is so poor they were the only ones who would give her a lease. I agree with Marcus still that the car sends out a bad message. My parents have already agreed to downsize to something less expensive. I am sad I have to explain all of this, but we did agree to be on a reality show so I can't complain!
The Profit never wanted to do a deal before they walked in our door. I had a pit in my stomach right when we shook hands with him, and should have listened to my intuition to stop filming. When has Marcus ever done a real estate deal? Why wouldn't he do a title search right away? I do believe that he did not like my parents and could not connect with them. I have noticed how disconnected they have become after everything they have gone through and it breaks my heart. I think Marcus and Amber judged them before getting to know their real story and situation. Kicking a family while they are already down is just plain wrong
I feel I need to get the word out on how awful this whole experience was for us. I know this is reality TV but I am appalled over Machete productions and how they operate. My father is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and has literally put his heart and soul into Swanson's since he was 12 years old. He also had a good reputation in the town of Fairfield. They were getting threatening emails, calls and people driving by their house. It was SCARY and I believe they took things way too far with us. Do not forget that we are all human beings here and we all make mistakes, which we have learned from. One thing I will say is that we have most definitely learned a lot from Marcus and we are thankful for that! I am besides myself and just sad how they can be content with slandering/destroying a families name and 41-YEAR-OLD business just to get higher ratings.
UPDATE:January 18th 2017- Although it says we are closed on google, we are not, we are still open and currently debt free! My father has finally been able to pay down his vendors etc. Since I have posted this letter i have had numerous people from other past episodes contact me, and their stories are very similar and some of them were screwed over even worse than us. These people are too scared to speak out because we all had to sign contracts that if we talk about the show afterwards we will be sued for 1 million dollars.
This may be a little blurry for some people, but this is something a stranger put together and sent us. It shows the date on the check JULY 2ND. Marcus claimed my father lied about paying his mortgage and tried to say he hid the fact that the building was being foreclosed before he even got there. If you go online it shows we were served in August and the foreclosure process started several months into filming, that is why they blurred the document's date on camera because THEY were the ones who were lying.
Marcus is telling people that our business is closed because of a glitch on google, when I tweeted them both and told them that we are in fact NOT closed he literally blocked me within 5 mins. May 24th, 2015
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