Things are all of a sudden not looking so good for Debt Settlement marketers that were involved with the failed debt settlement, contract validation, and debt reduction services company known most commonly as Hess-Kennedy.
On July 28, 2010 Steve Vanderhoof and the Credit Exchange were hit with a $16,388,820 judgment for their marketing and services they delivered to Laura Hess & Associates, Hess Kennedy Consumer Law Center, Legal Debt Center, Campos Chartered Law Firm, et al. – Source
According to the court documents:
The Credit Exchange (herinafter “TCE”) recruited and enrolled thousands of consumers as clients of the Hess Kennedy law firms by telephoning consumers who responded to advertisements for debt reduction services. During the calls, the TCE sales representatives signed consumers up for legal services to be provided by the law firms. In exchange for the recruitment of the consumers, TCE was paid by the law firms for the number of clients who signed a retainer for legal services. The total paid by Hess Kennedy law firms is in excess of $16 million dollars. The Receiver contends that the recruitment efforts by TCE were illegal under Section 877.02, Fla Stat, and the contracts signed by the consumers were thus void ab initio. – Source
It will be interesting to see if there are more marketing firms that receive clawbacks for marketing fees paid for debt settlement or law firm referrals.
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