HAMPTON -- Free and money -- two words that will make anyone perk up to hear more.

Those words recently got the attention of dozens of local residents who thought that's what a Boca Raton, Florida company was offering.

But 13News uncovered the company has a troubled past.

For four days in February, National Grants Conferences set up shop at several hotels, looking for people wanting to learn how to get money from the government. At eight free seminars, the company claimed the government has millions in grant money available to the public. The problem is most people don’t know about it or how to access it and that’s where NGC comes in.

Video: "Money for free" can cost hundreds

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Its infomercial has people testifying they’ve gotten thousands of dollars of free grant money and guaranteed loans backed by the U.S. government.

The pitch intrigued Frank Langford of Newport News. So he, like many others, went to hear it for himself in Hampton. Lankford wondered if he could make some money and make improvements to his house.

The company's infomercial promises you can have “the chance to live the life you always dreamed of.” You need to buy training materials for $999 and be taught how to qualify. National Grants Conferences says you receive several resources including a two-day training workshop, toll-free access to Client Services Department, Member Support-review of business plans, grant proposals and applications and several training manuals.

13News showed the information to James Carroll, the Director of Small Business Development Center in Hampton Roads. Carroll heads the non-profit center that partners with the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce and Thomas Nelson Community College.  Its services to the small business community include planning assistance, training, research, networking and marketing assistance.

Carroll says companies that claim there is free grant money from the government don't tell the entire truth.

“They tell only part of the story," he notes.

Carroll says much of what’s in the National Grants Conferences training materials can be found for free and the idea of free money is an urban legend.

"It's a myth. There is no free money," Carroll stresses.

The Florida Better Business Bureau has had as many as 87 complaints on file for National Grants Conferences. The company is rated an F, the worst a company can get, by the BBB.   We dropped in on a seminar in Hampton.

Our cameras were ordered out. We wanted to know why they had an F rating. A company representative at the seminar would only tell us "We've had some issues with the BBB. We weren't happy with them either." He would not give his name.

Later, we spoke to Frank Kruppenbacher, regulatory counsel for National Grants Conferences. He had strong words for the Better Business Bureau.

"The real story, quite candidly is how big of a fraud the Better Business Bureau is," Kruppenbacher stated.

He says the BBB hasn't explained why they have an F rating and that many of the complaints were over trivial matters including customers complaining that the room where a seminar was held was too hot or that they had to wait too long to get their materials.

Kruppenbacher also says the complaints have been resolved. Just today, the BBB tells 13News the F rating will stand after an appeals process was completed last Friday.

But there have been other problems. In the state of Vermont in 2006, the attorney general filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against NGC, which eventually was settled for up to $300,000 in refunds to consumers and $65,000 to the state.

Vermont Assistant State Attorney General Elliot Burg said the company had no data tracking the success of the program. "We found it to be unfair and deceptive," he said.

Kruppenbacher says the company did nothing wrong and that no wrongdoing was found on the part of National Grants Conferences. It settled the suit, he says, because it was more cost efficient than fighting it in court.

Kruppenbacher admits NGC does not release data on its success rate.

“I think it would be wrong to tell people here’s the success rate," he said. "They’re going to assume because you have a high success rate, it’s going to be easy. Nothing’s easy. You have to work. We have numbers and numbers and numbers of successful people.”

A spokesman for the Virginia Attorney General says his office and the State Office of Consumer Affairs have received a couple complaints about National Grants Conferences.

"We would advise that before dealing with any new company, consumers are encouraged to check out the complaint record of the company with their state and/or local Consumer Protection Offices, their Better Business Bureau (BBB), as well as the Consumer Protection Offices and BBB of the area where the company is based," stressed Tucker Martin.

National Grant Conferences returns to Hampton Roads May 10-14.