Update: October 15, 2019
I received an email from an attorney saying the represent Helbing Law Group. The email requested I remove “the link” which I assume to mean the attorney wants the post removed. While the attorney said, “I also would like to request that you please not try to address this matter with an update,” this is a good learning opportunity for both debt relief companies and consumers.
It is my opinion that Helbing Law Group just missed an incredible opportunity to show people some amazing customer support and win over new fans. From people who commented on this post, it is clear some have opinions about the company.
A much better way to turn a poor opinion into a positive is by welcoming the feedback and showing that you care about repairing the situation.
I wrote a helpful guide for debt relief companies to better deal with such issues, How to Handle a Consumer Complaint Like a Pro And Come Out Smelling Like a Rose.
It’s my point of view that a company can win over many new customers by demonstrating they care and want to address issues.
Helbing Law Group could have responded to comments demonstrating they care about the opinions of people and demonstrating a desire to resolve any complaints people may have. They could have submitted an update, which I would have added at the top of the post so readers could hear from them first. But instead, it looks like the response to this article was a “courtesy request to remove content” and delete the opinions of readers in the question and comments.
As always, I stand ready to post any update so Helbing Law Group can be heard and I’m ready to correct anything in my response that was incorrect.
In fact, I think readers will find that my response was factual and did not make any claims the company is a “complete scam” as the reader asked.
By the way, I had received another reader question about Helbing Law Group which I had not answered since the question below seemed to deal with a similar concern and my answer for the reader to do their own research rather than rely on the opinion of another is good advice.
Steve
Original Post Below – June 5, 2019
Question:
Dear Steve,
Questioning a company as to being legit?
Do you have any knowledge of Helbing Law Group LLC as to whether they are a legit company with good honest practices or are they a complete scam of a company?
Paul
Answer:
Dear Paul,
These kinds of questions are nearly impossible. Since I have no idea what you may consider a scam or legit, there is no way I can answer your question.
I’ve written these free guides to help people research companies and come to their own conclusion.
- The Ultimate Consumer Guide to Checking Out a Debt Relief Company Before You Sign On the Line
- 10 Must Do Steps to Find the Best Credit Counseling or Debt Settlement Company for You
- How to Check Out a Business or Company to Avoid Getting Scammed or Ripped Off
Here Are Some Observations
Using the guides above I took a quick look and here are some of the things I found in a couple of minutes.
The website HelbingLawGroup.com was created on 8-29-2017 according to DomainToos.com. The site also does not appear to say what the physical address of the firm is.
Do You Have a Question You'd Like Help With? Contact Debt Coach Damon Day. Click here to reach Damon.
Keep in mind if you are hiring an attorney to assist you then the attorney must be licensed to practice law in the state you live in. I can’t easily tell what state this company is registered to do business in or who the attorneys are behind the company if any. That would be a great question to ask your contact there.
It seems a bit odd since the failure to provide information on the attorney or disclaimers about attorney advertising would not meet the requirements of some state bar associations.
The news page on the website looks like the last news posted was 8-3-2017. Seems like the site has been left unattended.
I did discover the telephone number used on the website, 800-413-5011, is also used or was used by a company named Consumer Law Relief. – Source
The BBB says the owner of Consumer Law Relief is an Erik Helbing and this website, Compas Role Legal Group says an Erik Helbing “is the founding principal of Helbing Law Group, LLC, a practice specializing exclusively in consumer rights, which includes foreclosure defense, credit collection defense, and bankruptcy.” – Source
I don’t know what all these individual facts will mean to you but at least it’s a start in your research. Post a comment below and let me know what conclusion you reach.
I hired Helbing to help me get out of my debt. I paid for 3 years. I had a loan to pay off my credit cards. I was paying good, and Helbing told me to stop paying them. Like a dumb ass I stopped paying. They paid 2 of the 3 medical bills. I had to go to court for the 3rd one. No one showed up to represent me to help me out. Helbing said they would represent me and well needless to say, I had to pay the 3rd medical bill using my credit card. I was back in the situation I started with. When I finished paying Helbing, they were supposed to have the credit card loan that I stopped paying. 4 years later, I got my credit to where I wanted to be. I went to buy a new car with a Credit Score of 735 which is not bad. One dealership ran my credit 35 times and no one would finance me. I looked at my credit report and there it was, Delinquent Loan, charge off. I was so pissed that I paid Helbing all that time (3 years) thinking they were going to take care of it. Now, I keep calling and all they say is they are still trying to negotiate with the loan company. I can not get passed the 1st person I speak to on the phone. They will not transfer me to anyone. Honestly, I have no clue what to do.
That sucks. Sounds like a very stressful experience.
I would like for Helbing Law Group to call or e-mail me “YOU HAVE MY INFORMATION”. I am trying to reach you all. When I was signing up, you all always answered the phone and were easy to contact until I signed the agreement. I have been paying you all for 5 months now. I have been e-mailing su*****@*************up.com and no one has gotten back to me within 3 months. Mike set up my account and a person by the name of Erik is the “Owner” or attorney who is supposed to own this company. If you can reply to this post you can call me. The individuals who posted below are not lying. https://getoutofdebt.org//121263/is-helbing-law-group-a-complete-scam
My opinion is that they are not a complete scam. But, they are very deceptive. They call me by spoofing a number in my area code. I give enough info for the screener to pass me on to a closer. The closer tries to legitimize himself by texting his direct number, which is a 904 area code for FL…not my area code. Then he sends me links for Trustpilot and Google for Helbing Law Group reviews. So, you call as if you are in my state, then you give me a FL#, but you ultimately represent a TX law firm. Massive red flags for me. I let the guy talk long enough about the vague program with no name only that it’s not debt consolidation and it’s not bankruptcy. But, then he needed a soft pull of my credit to go any further. That was the end of the call for me. As I look them up further, I see even from the bad reviews they do attempt to provide a service. It just doesn’t always go right, I see people keep complaining things going wrong and they only have 2 or 3 accounts. I have way too many accounts to take a chance with them…via unsolicited spoofed cold call at that.
I’m reading through the comments i totally feel the same way I just spoke with Julie about my account which I hadn’t been contacted about any progress in over a year but ill get a call every 9th of the month about money being drafted. My credit is shit its showing charge offs im trying to purchase a home in about 5 months this doesn’t help at all please help me understand if this is a scam for 2 years or do I need to cancel. Please ill contact the BBB
I been with helbing for 1 yr and they havnot settled any accounts 12 of mine. every time i ask them why they havent settled any accounts yet they say they try to settle at 40 % but nothing yet. i cant wait any longer something has to be done. i need help and dont know what to do. can i get help.
It is always good to try and work out issues with any company first. Take a look at this fair process. https://getoutofdebt.org//20126/how-to-try-to-get-refund-from-debt-relief-company
I tried Helbing through a company called legal referral pros which referred me to them. I’ve made two payments towards their service and they have had a little bit more than a month to come up with some results. Nothing has happened. I felt that they should be calling me every week with updates and progress but each time they have no information or any updates with the credit card companies or credit bureaus. I would be happier if they sent copies of letters that they have sent and showed some effort by saying they’ve called them. There are a lot of things that could be done but as far as I know they have just been sitting on “Butt” and taking my money. So I am canceling the service as of today. Find someone that is going to take action immediately and not 3 months down the road when they feel like it.
Helbing is *hot garbage*! Their customer service is the worst i have ever seen in my life – no one responds to emails, no one returns phone calls, and nobody who answers the phones has any real answers to your questions because they can only read the few blurbs on your customer profile. I went to Helbing with three CC accounts, they settled the smallest first at 35%, then Discover sued me and Helbing lost that in court for me, so i had to pay 100% of what i owed plus court costs, Discover tried to set up a payment plan for me through Helbing and Helbing lost the paperwork to be sent to Discover and i ended up getting garnished for 25% of my pay for 6 months. I separately raised money to pay off Discover and called Helbing to set up the payment to Discover so i could get out form under garnishment and was given the run around for over two months – they would transfer me multiple times to different people in accounting, a negotiator, the legal department, and then back to generic customer service reps. Someone would tell me i had to speak with “so and so” in one department, that person would be gone for the day and would call me first thing in the morning, two days later i would call back because no one called me and i would go through the whole process all over again. I can’ stress enough how terrible their customer service is, everyone knows nothing except who you should be talking to instead of them! My last account, Fifth Third Bank, they sat on for so long doing nothing that 5/3 sold my debt to a third party, the third party reached out to me to settle for 50%. I called Helbing to see what was going on with my Fifth Third account and was told “our negotiator is currently working with 5/3 to settle the account” when i told that person that my debt was sold to someone else they were surprised and unaware this had happened. These are the people you are trusting to handle your financial business. I made my last payment to Helbing on 5/15/21 and on 5/17 i called to ask about the money i overpaid to Helbing to settle my accounts and was told any day i would get an email about “graduating the program” and a check would be mailed out to me shortly. Since then i have tried contacting them numerous times with no response. They take your money so quickly, but then take their sweet time giving it back. Speaking of paying and giving back, in the fall of 2019 i received an email from one of their “paralegals” (i put it in quotes because i have had a few people call themselves that, only to find out they are a customer service rep with zero legal back round) telling me that Discover wants to settle and they need $1,000 more from me ASAP. So i borrow money at a high interest rate and send it over, a few weeks go by and i haven’t heard anything from anyone, so i call and i talk to my contact there (i had five of them over 30 months, what does that tell you?) who has no clue what i’m talking about with a settlement, they transfer me to legal and they don’t have any record of a settlement being on the table! I forward the email sent to me to the head of the legal department and i never heard anything about it ever again because no one returns calls or emails and i don’t know the secret phrase to say on the phone to talk to anyone who makes any kind of decision there. In December, after begging for that $1,000 back so i can pay back my loan they finally gave it to me. Don’t do business with them! If you want to get out of debt, find a local lawyer who handles cases like this and talk to them. You will pay the same amount and probably get actual one on one consultation from a real lawyer, not someone at a call center who doesn’t know you from Adam. All Helbing tells you to do is stop paying your credit cards and when the creditors call you, you tell them to call Helbing. When you have 40% of what you owe to the lowest creditor, they call that creditor and say they will pay that amount if the creditor will call your debt even. Most creditors accept this offer because if you don’t pay they either sue you (which usually isn’t worth it to them) or they sell your debt to a third party for a fraction of what you owe so they can get some money back. Helbing does nothing special that you couldn’t do, but if you don’t feel comfortable, call someone local who will give you the time of day!
Update – i left this same review on BBB.org and Helbing reached out to me to discuss my review, they left a message for me to call back, i did, i left a message and they never called back! HOT GARBAGE! I’m glad they didn’t call back, i’m done with them, i never want to speak with anyone there again, but i want everyone to know how terrible they are!
I entered into a contract with Helbing Law in Jan 2020. So far they are aren’t communicative and after almost 6 months I am getting pissed. I had 3 credit cards and the banks have already cancelled my accounts. My credit has dropped 100 pts. I am calling them tomorrow and will see what they say.
I just paid a min payment on the last card so they wouldn’t cancel my account and leave me only 1 other CC. I am getting a bad taste in my mouth and may have to see if a lawyer can help me out possibly suing other lawyers. Pathetic. I should have just got a consolidation loan and actually improved my credit!!
If I wasn’t getting any communications it would piss me off as well. I think this link may be a big help to begin to resolve this. https://getoutofdebt.org//20126/how-to-try-to-get-refund-from-debt-relief-company
I entered a contract with Helbing Law paid all the money they asked me on the contract. Now they are asking me for more money which he claim is to settle with my American Express. I was told by a friend in my state I can see court cases online just look it up I noticed my case with AE been settled since November 2019. Helbing Law only called me today to tell me about them settling with AE. Also today in the mail I got a letter from another law firm telling me AE is trying to sue me for garnishment. I looked up my name on the court case an sure enough AE is suing me but have in mind Helbing Law took $615 from me each month for a year and a half to settle 2 credit cards for me and they have not yet paid any of them I am being sued and Helbing law is asking me for more money when I already finish paying them what they asked for. Why haven’t they paid AE as of yet God alone only knows. Now I am starting to think they are scammers
I signed up with them in January 2020. They started out good but them COVID hit. I’m sure it’s a great time to negotiate debt now because everyone is so committed to helping people effected by COVID. Just sent in POA, couldn’t get anyone to notarize it for a while. Will check back on progress, really hope they aren’t scammers.
I been with Helbing Law group for 11 mos. Paying 378.54 a mo. Paid one of our creders of, but i have two American Exp. And I’m got papers the other day saying im being sued.Dont under stand.i need help,real help.And they havnt dine anything with other creders, what can i di to fix this.
Hi,
I retained a Debt Settlement Law Group three months ago and cancelled my retainer agreement today. They did not want to refund me my first two payments in the amount of $686.22 because my retainer agreement states that the first two payments are 100% for attorney’s fees. But I was not aware that FTC has a rule that does not allow debt settlement companies to advance attorney’s fees if they haven’t reached a settlement. Which is the frustrating part, because they hadn’t even sent any power of attorneys to my creditors which is why they were harassing me for three months straight. They stated that those are the fees for finding an attorney that can represent me in my state, which is California. This law group is called Helbing Law Group and when they e-mail me their signature block shows an address 12333 Sowden Rd., Ste. B, 79507, Houston, TX 77080, and when I look them up through the Texas Corporation Search, the business shows as forfeited. Unfortunately, I did sign the retainer agreement without reading over everything and it was my mistake to assume that the paralegal going over the contract with me would mention all the critical parts of the agreement, but is there a way I can go around the retainer agreement and get my money back? I just don’t want to go through all of this process if I don’t have a right to request a refund on the attorney’s fees because I signed the agreement with them.
I think you have at least three issues here. The first is the observation the company may not be registered to do business at the time you entered the agreement. Second is a customer service issue and I’m always a big fan of coming to a mutually satisfactory resolution so the consumer is happy and does not have to escalate the issue further. Finally, there is one perceived exception to the advance fee ban when the consumer has a face-to-face meeting when signing the client agreement.
Two of these issues are technical in nature and require further investigation. I do publish this guide to help people resolve these issues that might be helpful. https://getoutofdebt.org/20126/how-to-try-to-get-refund-from-debt-relief-company
what do you do if you gave your information to them? call your bank? or an attorney or the credit bureau?
After recent communications with an attorney representing Helbing Law Group and this post, I am personally frustrated they seem to be less intered in coming in here and addressing the concerns of people and more interested, it seems, in having me remove this post entirely. Their lack of participation is, in my opinion, a missed opportunity for them to show they care about what people have to say.
Regardless, I don’t think now is the time to panic unless you have some issue you have tried to resolve with them and they have been unresponsive or the answer was unsatisfactory.
Is there something specific that is concerning you at the moment?
Posted an update to this reader question following concerns from an attorney representing Helbing Law Group about comments others have posted.
Has anyone gotten money back?
September 10 2019
We joined Helbing Law Group to reduce our credit card debt by 60 percent. Recently I have become suspicious of the service they say they are doing for us. When I inquired how and who do they have representing us and negotiating with owe creditors. I can’t get a straight truthful answers as to the status of the accounts we turned over to Helbing Law Group.
I need to know if there is any way we can get out of this contract? We began this contract March 27 2019.
Sincerely Yours
Annie and Percy Hayes
This company did the same thing to me, taking all my money for 8months without doing a single thing. When ever I call to Inquire about what is going on I keep getting the same response that an attorney is working on it, when I asked to know about the attorney handling my case the never provide me with the answer. This is a big SCAM guys.
So is the Helbing Law Group a scam or legit? I am referring to the one from this address: Erik Helbing 12333 Sowden Rd, Ste. B, #79507
Houston, TX 77080-2059
Veronica Helbing Law group is legit. Very good attorney and he has helped me with my debts.
im wondering if this would be a good idea< is this company truly help
Hey Veronica Did they help you because I just signed up now I may cancel from what I am seeing on here
I did a 1-year payoff program. Out of roughly $20,000 and 5 accounts, only one has been settled after 11 months. They never give you any straight answers and make no effort to give you updates at all. Something is very wrong with this company and they are not be honest about their legitimacy… don’t fall for the same mistake that I did.
is that Helbing Law Group ? please let me know im about to start a 2 year program and now im worry
Me too Can you let me know if you did already start with them because I just signed up yesterday.
I would not use the Helbing Law Group. I would suggest using a credit counselling organization, make sure it say “Non profit” Instead of paying 25% or more going to the Debt Relief company, most of your money goes to your debt at a very low interest rate. They do not charge you to participate in the program. The one I am in just charges a one enrollment fee of $60.00. Good Luck!!
I wonder if it is a scam and they are using the name Erik Helding as in the real Erik Helding the Financial Officer- net worth 2.82 million dollars. However, this Erik is in the insurance business.
I called the number for Debt Trends and spoke with an Amanda L. who said that if my cc debt is 60,000, I would only pay 39,000 at 600+ monthly payments for 5 years. I gave her my ss# and dob with which she promised a soft hit. She quickly emailed me a report with all of my credit card accounts. Stated that I should pick the accounts that I want to keep open and check the ones I want to add to their program.
I looked at the email and the name Amanda Lacosta @ some kind of lawyer referral is all that is in the email.
DISPLAY only first name on everything please.
Is helbing law group lagit? They sent a letter and other info to fill out.
Yes this is a scam they sent me a notice in the mail so I thought was legit signed a contract but haven’t taken any money but have all my information Dan Lancaster is the guy that was my rep he’s in Boca Raton Fl
After spending many hrs on internet looking up phone# and addresses I come up empty I just called Dan back put me through the law law firm talked to a Dave and cancelled my contract he said no problem I just tried calling back and get busy signal
I entered a contract with Helbring Law Group, but every time I talk to someone, about something, I’m talking to someone in Florida. When I finally got a chance to take to one of the so called Lawyers. I asked about how his firm could represent me in Indiana from Texas?He gave me some song and dance about how he was licensed to represent in a lot of states. the flags should have been flying at that point. well they shut down my credit reporting accounts. nage me for my copies of credit card statements (3) accounts which I e-mailed twice to them and mailed physically too thier Texas Law Office address. So if they haven gotten it by now they are not working out of that office in Texas. But working out of a call house in Florida in I believe in Orlando. Because when I talked to the Lawyer there was the sound of a call house in the background.
Question about Helbing Law Group.
Answered.
Hey Steve, it’s funny your selling your own debt relief plan on this site. My personal opinion is your a jerkoff.
I don’t sell any products or services or have any to sell.
Steve your a scumbag!!!!! you trying to sell debt settlement by bashing another law group. I personally have dealt with the Helbing Law group and they have settled accounts for me. Get you facts right before you accuse a actual good companies that is doing work. You can get back to me at my email that I will leave. Which I know you wont. For anyone who really needs the help and wants a reference please email me.
People are more than welcome to leave a comment to respond to you and ask about your experience with them.
What I did was answer a question from a reader. Is there anything in my answer that is not factual? Please let me know so I can fix it.
You say, “Get you facts right before you accuse a actual good companies” but what did I “accuse” them of in my response to the reader?