The numbers of rogue debt settlement companies are growing, and it is becoming easy to see why. With inadequate regulation of debt settlement companies and the vulnerability of indebted customers, debt settlement companies are springing up just about everywhere.
Certainly, the affiliated companies of Laura Hess, including the Consumer Law Center, have made headlines with millions allegedly siphoned off of customer trust accounts. Those firms are currently in receivership, with regulators struggling to recover the money and provide refunds to victimized customers of the firms.
Most people that are facing debt collectors are desperate to end the calls. They look for someone to handle it for them so that they don’t have to worry about legal action.
The sad fact about debt settlement companies is that they provide no protection from judgments. Some financial experts go as far to say that creditors are even more willing to pursue a judgment if they think that you have a pile of money sitting in your debt settlement account.
In addition to providing no protection from legal action, debt settlement companies provide no relief from collection calls. They just tell you not to answer the phone. Isn’t that the reason you were looking for help in the first place?
What is sad about many of these debt settlement victims is that they did not check out these companies before sending in their money. Most debt settlement companies have negative or unsatisfactory ratings with the Better Business Bureau. Simply checking a BBB reliability report may not prevent you from becoming a victim, but it can at least help you avoid companies with documented problems.
Do you really trust a debt settlement company to hold onto thousands of dollars of your money? Remember they send nothing until a settlement is negotiated. Otherwise, they continue to earn interest off of your money while charging you $30 to $40 a month as a “service” fee.
If you are considering debt settlement, consider negotiating your own settlements. If you are not yet behind or are only a few months behind, then you might have much better options available through a nonprofit credit counseling organization.
Tags: debt settlement scams, Hess-Kennedy Chartered LLC, Laura Hess
Along with the genuinely helpful firms, there are plenty of operations billing themselves as legit debt settlement companies. These debt company scams prey on debtors by promising relieved debt and empty their pockets forcing payment of outrageous fees
The scam debt settlement companies are one of the problems with the internet. When someone is desperately trying to get out of debt, these companies come along and promise the moon. (Unfortunately, the only moon you get is them flashing out of the window) There are ways to reduce the balances legitimately without huge cost to the debtor.