Question:
Dear Steve,
My financial standing was destroyed by Lexington Law Firm beginning in August of 2017.
They were to repair my credit history by dealing with some student loans and Bill Me Later(Pay Pal Credit).
I approved the trial price of $14.99 using my debit card and personal account with US BANK. I also had my brother’s $14.99 on my personal account just to be cautious, he gets a substantial retirement paycheck, but my debit card was linked to his checking account. The TRIAL period 14 days.
We were trying to purchase a mobile home and one of the Loan companies transferred our call to Lexington.
The Lexington Law Firm drained my account by debiting my card for amounts of 59.00-$229,00 costing me over $1000,00 + overdraft fees of approximately $300.00.
I wrote to them asking them for a hard copy of my account activity and cancelled my ties with them prior to the massive withdrawals.
They never sent a copy of my account and didn’t cancel the accounts.
Instead, they used my card to start syphoning my brother’s checking account.
Since then, I have been barely making it, and I wanted to go after them.
Is it too late to add me to the lawsuit? I need them to pay for the Hardship and emotional suffering due to the financial destruction they caused.
My files are not on hand, but I thought it was a moot point. My Mom is the other witness to what they did.
Desiree
Answer:
Dear Desiree,
I’m so sorry to hear about your experience. It sure sounds stressful.
At the core of the issue, it sounds as if you have a misunderstanding about what Lexington Law was going to do or they didn’t deliver the services they sold you. It’s a genuine dispute by one or both parties. These things happen.
You can go back and do a detailed autopsy of the experience, but the most important issue right now is to deal with the situation as it stands today and move forward.
I think you will find my detailed process on what to do is fair and reasonable to all.
Asking for a listing of your account activity sure sounds like a reasonable request. And ultimately, I would bet the Lexington Law would like to resolve the issue and not have your unhappiness out there.
The most important document to refer to here is going to be the client agreement you signed when you enrolled. That will give a clear understanding of what was going to happen and how it was going to be billed.
People get caught all the time in the gap between what a salesperson says and what the client agreement says. They can be two different things. In fact, the client agreements with most companies will say something like it supersedes anything a salesperson or marketing information told you. Most people never read the fine print and miss that.
As you will see in my post How to Get Your Money Back From a Debt Relief Company if You Feel Like You’ve Been Scammed, I think starting fresh and without confrontation is a good and smart way to move the process forward.
But let’s put that aside for a moment.
What was it exactly that you were trying to accomplish with the student loans and Bill Me Later reporting? Was it inaccurate and needed to be disputed? If so, you can do that yourself. The credit reporting agencies provide online access to do that yourself.
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If you are trying to remove a delinquent payment history on those accounts, that’s a bit more problematic. Your credit reports should contain a true and accurate reporting of your account status, good or bad.
Removing an accurate poor payment history is a problem on a couple of levels.
Technically, if you remove accurate but negative credit information to apply for future credit, there are potential issues with credit fraud.
Getting an item removed over a technical issue like the creditor missing a date to investigate the issue does not mean it can’t appear on your credit report again.
Typically, my advice is to deal with the accurate but negative items rather than hide them and then constantly look over your shoulder.
Please post an update in the comments section below with what happens.
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I have dealt with Lexington Law and they do not let you know what they are going to do. To me, it is a scam not matter what you may find on the web. They do not care what money they take from you, nor will they give it back very easily or if at all. If anyone ever has a question about a company, please look at the Better Business Bureau. If Lexington won’t work with you about getting your money back, fight for it. That’s what I did. No I didn’t get all of it back, but I was only $200 short. I figured that was my my fault for not checking into it.