I agree. I don't think it's a scam, and I don't like my assumptions. It could be a scam. I'm just trying "scam" on as a hypothesis, and it doesn't seem to fit what I would do if I were working it.
It seems way too early to be killing the milk cow - I think a lot of us would have continued to buy trees and recommend TATF, particularly if a little cash was forthcoming. Shoot, many of us probably would have just rolled any proceeds right back in to new trees. If it were a scam, I would think it was designed for a much longer run rather than a big payday right now. If TATF is crying out for help and looking for a big cash infusion, that sounds like the exit strategy to a scam, the last big haul. But why now?
Question for those of you knowledgeable about business, law and mortgages: I would find it very odd if TATF were allowed to mortgage the land our trees are on. Can they use that land as collateral for a mortgage even if our trees are on it? Don't we already have a claim on that land for the life of our trees? To me, it would seem immoral if not illegal to put that land at risk as collateral if defaulting and losing the land would mean that TATF would be unable to fulfill their contractual obligations to us.
