Real-Estate Essay Contest Under Investigation by State Police

For those who haven’t heard, a winner was named recently in the internationally publicized Center Lovell Inn Essay Contest, which promised to award the lucky writer of a perfect, 200-word essay with a sprawling, three-story inn and restaurant in picturesque Center Lovell, Maine.

The inn-keeper and owner, Janice Sage, who made the decision to give away her business and property for $125 and an essay, had appealed to thousands of people world-wide to take a chance on their dreams. The contest was advertised in newspapers, on morning and night-time news programs, and through social media sites as a contest for those who might never otherwise be able to afford a business like this. This marketing approach brought in close to a million dollars for Sage, and even resulted in a gang of hundreds of groupies who named themselves “The Dreamers!”

The winner was called on June 6th, but Janice Sage kept the thousands of losing contestants waiting a week before the name of the winner and his winning essay were finally published on June 12th.

That’s where the all the excitement and “Dreamer” energy took a tumble.

As it turns out, the winner of the contest is Prince Adams. Prince already owns an inn and restaurant business, on a resort island in the Caribbean. His winning 200 words described a successful business and some TripAdvisor awards, while 1,500,000 words describing the struggles, accomplishments, hopes, and promises of thousands of losing contestants went unheard.

This news was a blaring alarm for some Dreamers, who decided to wake up and take a deeper look into The Center Lovell Inn Essay Contest.

It only took a week of digging before it was discovered that Prince Adams, a.k.a Roger Adams, is also a published author of the eBook ‘Crowd Funding Made Simple.’

What is crowd funding?

Crowd funding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people. Sounds an awful lot like paying $125 for a shot at winning an inn and restaurant on 12 beautiful acres, doesn’t it? In addition to writing a book, Prince Roger has his own website which features the choice to create your own crowd funding campaign, or contribute to one of his... or one fronted by his wife, Rose, going by a different last name (Smith) and asking for money to fund a vintage sunglasses start-up.

Prince “Roger” Adams’ book, self-published in 2012, outlines the steps required to earn “easy” money by

“getting people emotionally involved” and “convinc[ing] people to contribute to your campaign NOW.”

About as emotionally involved as an angry coalition of cheated contestants, Mr. Adams?

Those aggrieved contestants have taken the information they’ve found to the Maine State Police, where an investigation is currently under way. This assembly of contestants, known as the Center Lovell Contest Fair Practices Commission, has also filed reports with the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The group’s description on Facebook reads:

“This group began as a safe place for those who believed the Center Lovell Inn Essay Contest may have been handled unjustly to speak their minds and share their experiences.

Research and critical thought have developed this group into an impassioned team with a clear focus.

Our mission is to inspire thorough, informed investigation of the Center Lovell Inn Essay Contest by as many law enforcement officers, government officials, judiciary professionals, and news and journalism sources as possible by communicating our knowledge legally, professionally, and extensively.”

Many similar essay contests have popped up around the U.S. in the wake of the Center Lovell Inn contest’s level of outreach and publicity. The outcome of this investigation could lead to the extinction of this particular brand of real estate crowd funding.

To contact the Center Lovell Contest Fair Practices Commission on Facebook, click here.