Question:
Dear Steve,
I was enrolled in the Arete Financial program. I’m getting emails from you saying I haven’t paid my November payment. I’m so confused. I’m still making payments to the company. Please inform me as to what is going on. I’m not sure what to do.
Thanks, Tamie
Answer:
Dear Tamie,
Arete Financial Freedom was shuttered by the Federal Trade Commission after their scam was dealt with in a court action. You can read all the articles on this here.
I have nothing to do with the Arete program so the emails are not coming from me.
The Court appointed a Receiver to take over the business after it was seized. The Receiver found the enterprise could not operate legally and was closed.
In fact, On December 30, 2019, a court documented stated “The Receiver shall sell via commercially reasonable means Assets of the Receivership Entities, including, but not limited to, cubicles, office furniture, and computer equipment located at (i) 1261 East Dyer Road, Suites 100, 200, and 250, Santa Ana, CA, (ii) 5772 Bolsa Avenue, Suite 220, Huntington Beach, CA, (iii) 18001 Sky Park Circle, Suites L-M, Irvine, CA, and (iv) 500 Ygnacio Valley Road, Suite 430, Walnut Creek, CA (collectively, the “Receivership Sites”) as soon as reasonably practical, and without further Court order or hearing.” – Source
The latest information from the Receiver and the page to monitor is here on the Receiver’s website.
If I was to guess I’d say the notice came from a computer system still running. Arete Financial Freedom was collecting payments for its student loan assistance program and debt settlement program. Regardless, everything is shut down.
If you were in the student loan program you should contact your student loan processor and not let your account go past due.
If you were in the debt settlement program and had settlement payments due you should contact your creditors to make payment arrangements and the escrow to see how much of your money is available to be returned to you.
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Question asked about Arete Financial Freedom.
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