I received the following statement from a tipster regarding Arete Financial Group that was recently taken over by the court.
Send in your tips here.
“I used to be an employee at Arete Financial. I worked for the debt settlement team… Initially they had the team at their Huntington Beach office then moved all of us to the location on Dyer once it was done being built for them. I left the company because the owners seemed like swindlers.
In their debt settlement operation they made us sell The Veritas Legal plan to the client. The client was forced to pay anywhere between $400-$800 BEFORE any funds were sent to the client’s trust account. They openly told us it cost far less to enroll a client in The Veritas Legal plan and that they were (illegally) collecting up-front fees on their debt settlement clients.
For that alone I decided to quit. You can’t charge up-front fees to clients in debt settlement. Now that all of this information is coming out, I’m not surprised. The owners didn’t care about making a long-lasting company. They only wanted the illusion of money & power but didn’t care how they got there.
Thanks for reporting on this. The internet is rather quiet on this situation and their “thousands” of clients have no idea that the company they entrusted to help them out will no longer be doing that.”
I felt the issue here might not be related to advance fees for debt settlement since Veritas Legal was a non-related product. If the consumer was purchasing Veritas Legal Plan as an option to the debt settlement services being sold then the initial fee might just be just fine.
However, where this could get problematic is if the consumer felt the service was bundled and a mandatory part of the debt relief service sold by Arete Financial Group which has been in the news recently after being sued and shuttered.
I reached out to Angelo Anzalone, the President of Veritas Legal Plan and gave him a chance to respond to the concerns. He is one of the good guys that actually responds when asked for a comment. Here is what he had to say:
“The no advance fee rule applies directly to debt settlement services and Veritas is not a debt settlement company.
We have no contact with creditors, we do not negotiate or alter consumers’ debt in any way.
As a prepaid legal plan, we are considered an add-on product, one that provides legal protection that tremendously benefits consumers so I can see why employees were encouraged to offer Veritas to all their members.
Affiliate companies offering Veritas all understand that Veritas is offered as an optional product and not forced or bundled into the debt settlement companies’ services and the agreement consumers sign also clearly states that Veritas is an optional product.”
So if anyone else had a similar concern I believe Angelo explained what I had suspected, that Veritas Legal Plan is supposed to be an add-on product.
But I think Angelo also raises a concern that any company selling the additional plan by giving the consumer the impression it is mandatory or required, is problematic. If you know of any debt relief company that is selling the Veritas Legal Plan as a required part of a debt relief service, please contact VeritasLegalPlan.com and let them know.
So why is a 83 year old widow whose income is protected even involved with a debt consolidation company? Do you think she was ever told that her income was protected and she didn’t need to pay this at all? When it comes seniors these companies are nothing but scammers and thieves. They never tell the complete truth.
Right!
I don’t know if my writing my comment is going to cause me more problems, but I am so stressed right now. I have been with Arete for two years, all my credit cards have been negotiated and paid except for one, Barclays. My contract ended in Jan 2022, and the monies in my account is over $9000, the negotiated amount with Barclays is $8101, however I received an email from Arete who wanted more money $3000+, and what I am confused about, shouldn’t the $9000+ in my account with gateway enough to pay the #8000+ debt. I have emailed Arete and talked to a worker several times and was told someone would get back to me, so far nobody has. I am an 83yr old widow, and am so stressed I don’t know what else to do. When Arete was closed down in 2019 I was offered another company, but after the problem with the company was resolved and Arete knew me and my situation, I stayed with them, and they have been fine and took care of everything except this last credit card, why the $9000+in my account at gateway isn’t used to pay the debt of $8000+is where I am confused and an editional $3000+ they want from me is confusing, when there is enough monies in my account to take care of Barclay.
My concern is depending on your financial situation you may not have had to pay these debts at all. I would suggest you talk to the folks at https://helpsishere.org/ about your specific situation.
I am a client that used this company. No complaints, all was done per agreement, but I probably would not have done it again. I wanted to point out that all settlement arrangements made with debtors are still being serviced/facilitated by the third party escrow account called Debt Pay Gateway. And when Arete was closed down, they did reach out to existing clients to provide a point of contact there at DPG. So it wasn’t handled badly in my view. Essentially whatever payments that were already in place will still happen, as agreed, but any remaining accounts that did not have settlement agreements in place will not be addressed.
Lies, you probably are one of the workers being treated like a puppet to comment this, I know how they are because I worked there.