Is Americor and Credit9 Really a Good Debt Relief Option?

Question:

Dear Steve,

After spending much of 2018 and 2019 surviving on part time freelancing, I racked up ~$8k in credit card debt across 3 cards and exhausted my savings. I also have a personal loan balance at ~$6.5k.

In fall this year I returned to full time employment at ~$85k a year. Just got $3k as a bonus so I have a little savings again. $5k total in my savings account.

What’s the best strategy for paying off my cards? They are all around 22%-25% APR. I believe one of them will reach the one year interest free promo period ending in April so that’s my highest priority.

My personal loan is an 18.87% interest rate.

Americor has reached out with an offer of a “debt relief loan”. I’ve attached the full email with all of the financial breakdowns they provided if you’d like to review that. They say my total debt is ~$15k, but if I pay them $378.06 a month for 12 months, they will then offer a loan to fully pay off all my debts. In full I would pay $378.06 a month for 32 months and be paid off with a total cost of ~$12k.

Is this a good option, or are there other better strategies? My credit score is around 630. Dropped about 120 points in the past year and a half.

Is Americor a good debt relief option for someone in my situation with around ~$15k in debt combined between credit cards and a personal loan?

Nick

Answer:

Dear Nick,

I have not published your full email you sent me from Americor but there are some interesting parts.

• “The applicant does however meet the eligibility requirements for a non-credit based consolidation option. This option which has federal laws in place for your overall protection and success, consolidates all your debts into one lower payment.”
• “You’ll need to have made a minimum of 12 successful consecutive monthly payments into your assigned Dedicated Account.”

The BBB say that Credit9 and Americor are related businesses. – Source

I am clearly not saying this is a scam. There are more questions you should probably ask to determine if the companies are right for you.

For example, if this is really a loan then what are the terms of the loan. I would ask to see the loan terms and conditions before signing on the line. That’s just being a smart shopper.

The email you received refers to the solution Americor is selling as both a “non-credit based consolidation option” and a “debt relief loan.”

The email you received says you need to make “12 successful consecutive monthly payments” into a dedicated account before you get a loan? But is it truly a loan of unsecured funds from a third party? And the email does not appear to cover the service fees of this program, the success rate of consumers participating in it, or the potential negative consequences some have experienced when their payments are no longer being made to creditors for 12 months.

The BBB has both good and bad consumer statements on it Some people love Credit9 and others, well, you judge for yourself by looking here.

Consumer submitted comments have to be taken in the context that nearly anyone can submit one and who knows what their intentions are. But this comment seemed a bit on target for your situation. Pat said, “Applied and the “agent” called me. I explained that I had seen these comments on the BBB website and asked directly if they were a loan company or a debt re-organization company. Agent “Tony” got upset and made some disgusting remarks about my wife before hanging up on me. This is not how a legitimate company operates. Avoid this one.”

It might be a good idea to call Orville Dixon from Americor back again and ask him to clarify if what they are offering is a true loan, why you can’t be qualified for the loan before making “12 successful consecutive monthly payments” and if they are selling you a solution to settle your debt.

If you want to ask more questions then consider using my guides below to help you check out any company.

1. The Ultimate Consumer Guide to Checking Out a Debt Relief Company Before You Sign On the Line
2. 10 Must Do Steps to Find the Best Credit Counseling or Debt Settlement Company for You
3. How to Check Out a Business or Company to Avoid Getting Scammed or Ripped Off

The BBB says the founder of Credit9 is a Benny Ganatra. In doing some quick research to answer your question I came across two court cases. The first one was against Americor Funding by a bankruptcy trustee. Americor settled the case for $10,000. You can read those documents here and here.

Now I’ve seen some interesting lawsuits filed (this one still ranks as the strangest) but the case filed against Americor Funding, Banir Ganatra, Allan Jabczynski, Brandrep, and Brandrep Holdings by Business Solutions reads like a mystery novel.

The complaint states, “Business Solutions is informed and believes that Ganatra through his agents has conspired to harass, threaten, and intimidate Business Solutions and its owner, Deirdre Mammano, with the goal of tortiously interfering with Business Solutions’ business and Ms. Mammano’s ability to do business and work. Ganatra has a history of litigation, and lawsuits have been filed against him and his companies asserting theft of trade secrets, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty. Ganatra, under a company in which he has ownership, instituted a case against Ms. Mammano, Business Solutions, and Mr. Chad Ruskey, in the Chancery Court of the State of Delaware, based in part on information that Ganatra wrongfully obtained from Business Solutions. Around the same time the Delaware action was filed, a fair amount of suspicious activities have occurred to Business Solutions and Ms. Mammano including unlawfully accessing Business Solutions’ work computers, apparently accessing all of Ms. Mammano’s personal and business emails and passwords, changing her administrative access to her business emails, and interfering with her email accounts and the functioning of her business systems. Separately, a stranger interfered with and was taking pictures of Ms. Mammano’s car while parked in Business Solutions’ parking lot two days before Business Solutions was served with the Delaware action. This stranger had a “getaway” driver in a car with no license plates and darkly tinted windows, and verbally threatened Ms. Mammano, claiming that she was in “big trouble” and was “going down.” The stranger would not identify himself, and he did not leave until Ms. Mammano called a colleague from the office to come to her aid.

Business Solutions is informed and believes that, while Jabczynski was employed by Business Solutions dba Ad.IQ, Ganatra offered Jabczynski a new position at Americor. Further, Business Solutions is informed and believes that Ganatra instructed Jabczynski to steal trade secrets from Business Solutions when Jabczynski was seeking employment from one of Ganatra’s companies, including Business Solutions’ valuable, proprietary customer lists. Business Solutions is informed and believes that Jabczynski did as directed by Ganatra, and covertly stole Business Solutions’ customer information before leaving the company, bringing that valuable information to the other Defendants so they could improperly use that Business Solutions information. In so doing, Jabczynski and Ganatra conspired to misappropriate and convert Business Solutions’ trade secrets. Jabczynski’s actions breached his various agreements with Business Solutions, as well as his implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing with Business Solutions.” – Source

The case is ongoing and the company denies the claims. – Source

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Steve Rhode

Steve Rhode is the Get Out of Debt Guy and has been helping good people with bad debt problems since 1994. You can learn more about Steve, here.

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