Under a Freedom of Information request a document was obtained which contains a number of complaints filed by consumers against Morgan Drexen, the Nevada and California based debt settlement enterprise. Morgan Drexen appears to be coming under an increasing level of scrutiny and has been the subject of a number of consumer complaints and lawsuits for services. – Source
Of particular interest is the alleged confession from a Morgan Drexen employee who says:
Consumer used to work for Morgan Drexen debt settlement company. Consumer states that they would tell the client not to pay their bills and that they should not worry about their credit scores. Company would also tell them they would have the lawyers mail out forms but it was the agents that did it. Company would be told to take people off their mailing list and call list and they would not do it. Company would take money from client and tell them it would go into a trust fund. Consumer does not know what they did with the money after the fact. Company would tell consumer what to say on recordings before they recorded the agreement with the company.
Here is a listing of some of the complaints filed against this debt settlement company.
- Consumer stated she obtained the services from the company to assist her with her debt. Consumer stated the company never paid her creditors and now she has legal problems. Consumer stated she had requested a refund but has not receive it. Morgan Drexen representatives involved: Renee Ortega, Matt Degroat
- Complaint was forwarded by the State of Georgia Department of Law. Consumer writes that Morgan Drexen Integrated Legal Systems, a debt management/credit counseling service, failed to negotiate with two of the consumer’s creditors causing a lawsuit to be filed against the consumer from the creditors. The consumer owes more money now than they did when they initiated contact with MDILS. The MDILS appointed attorney does not return the consumer’s phone calls. The attorney was assigned to the consumer after the consumer’s court date with creditors and the company had withdrawn funds from the consumer’s checking account without forwarding any of that money to the consumer’s creditors.
- I am filing this for my mother, she believes she was scammed by this company. They convinced her that she’d be relieved of some of the debt on her credit card. By paying them a monthly payment that was even lower than the card was billing her. They would star a trust account and make an offer to Chase Bank at some time in the future but set her up on a 48 month plan to pay $166.88 with $45.00 each month being their fee. And after she pain $810.00 then the trust would start to build. The attorney representing her sent a “cease and desist” order to Chase Bank. She was not even delinquent on the card until Morgan Drexen got involved. Within three months Chase Bank increased the interest rate from 3.99% to 29%. This started in 01/08. Chase Bank charged off the debt 08/08. Balance increased from $10,500 to $11,756 in interest and late charges. At the end of 48 months mom would have paid $8,010.24-$2,970 = $5140.24. Less than half the original balance. They told me by phone when I got involved in this they’d make an offer to Chase bank when balance was 25%-40% of balance and then whatever was accepted by Chase Bank they will retain 25% of the difference in other fees. This is ridiculous. 1) She really didn’t qualify for this plan. 2) She was not required to even complete all the application for the program. 3) This was not an equitable plan and in actuality would not save her any money plus ruin her perfect credit rating by letting the card go delinquent. They have scammed her. She was 78 when this started and has been preyed upon. She didn’t need debt relief and was convinced that she just wouldn’t have to pay all the card balance for some reason. She did discuss this with me since I was making the payment for her. I thought it sounded OK if that was what she wanted but then she came to me and asked if I could make a larger payment because it was not accomplishing anything at $166 per month. I then began to examine the paperwork and the statements she had. I should have studied them from the start and convinced her not to do it. So, it’s partly my fault. I just want the fees to be returned to her, however that will not restore her credit. She says she doesn’t care about the credit but she always was proud of hers and daddy’s credit till now. And I think that just goes with the aging process.
- Consumer received a phone call from Morgan Drexen Group stating they could help her resolve her financial debt. Consumer was told her debt could be lowered by 30% if she chose their services and was willing to pay their fee of $226 per month. Consumer agreed and was told not to respond to any of her creditors and not to pay any of the monthly bills. Consumer was told to forward all she received from her creditors to Morgan Drexen Group and they would handle it appropriately. Consumer did as requested and none of her creditors have been paid and some are threatening lawsuits. Consumer sent in a letter from Loeb and Loeb stating that Morgan Drexen was being investigated.
- This company was to negotiate my credit card debts with four credit card companies. They were also to set up a payment plan so that over a three year period my debt would be paid to those companies. I was told to inform those companies that I had hired Morgan Drexen to negotiate the debt inform those companies of contact information 800-868-1581. Those credit card companies harassed me at work and in essence informed me that they do no business with Morgan Drexen because they are frauds. I was then introduced to the Federal Trade Commission website, which directed me to the Attorney Genreal which supported the claim of fraud. The then requested my money to be returned and I was told that a Renee will get back to me. Morgan Drexen representatives involved: Ginny Sanderson
- I was contacted by a Desmond Adams who identified himself with Morgan Drexen stating that his company could consolidate my credit card debt, which I accrued while working on my masters degree. Mr. Adams indicated I would only have to pay 30%-40% of the debt after they negotiated with the banks in my name. We discussed a fee of monthly installments of approximately $545, which eventually cost $750 per month. They encouraged me to ignore any phone calls from my credit cards but I did direct any callers to the phone number they had provided me. I am not facing legal action from Bank of America and Mark Kruitbosch from Morgan Drexen has suggested that I ignore this, which I chose not to do. Mr. Kruitbosch can be contacted at Morgan Drexen Integrated Legal Systems, 18111 Von Kaman Ave, Suite 700, Irvine, CA 92612 800-872-2031 x 225. I explained to him that I had contacted this office and discovered they were not licensed in the State of Kansas. He attempted to explain they had a Lawrence Williamson attorney at 301 N. Main, Wichita, KS 316-261-5400 who represents them. I have contacted my bank and stopped any further automatic withdrawals from my personal account to this organization. Morgan Drexen representatives involved: Mark Kruitbosch, Desmond Adams.
- Let me share my encounter with Morgan Drexen. After receiving endless daily automated pre-recorded phone calls from Airin Linguard advising me she had my ‘file’ and wanted to follow up on a previous conversation regarding debt relief and credit card consolidation with a ‘pre-approved’ $1,000 available. I had never talked with anyone about these matters at any time. Marking it short, turns out the phone number led to a ‘boiler room’ call center who had no idea who Airin Linguard was but promptly screened me as to my credit card debt. I was then advised a Franklin Lujan with Morgan Drexen would call me in 10 minutes to provide the information I was seeking. More than an hour latter Jennifer Rhomberg called identifying herself as a ‘paralegal’ with Morgan Drexen called. As a side note I called the Orange County Paralegal Association in the county anaheim is located to discover she is not a member and that anyone can call themselves a paralegal regardless of training or employment. Morgan Drexen representatives involved: Jenifer Rhomberg, Franklin Lujan, Airin Linguard.
- Consumer used to work for Morgan Drexen debt settlement company. Consumer states that they would tell the client not to pay their bills and that they should not worry about their credit scores. Company would also tell them they would have the lawyers mail out forms but it was the agents that did it. Company would be told to take people off their mailing list and call list and they would not do it. Company would take money from client and tell them it would go into a trust fund. Consumer does not know what they did with the money after the fact. Company would tell consumer what to say on recordings before they recorded the agreement with the company.
- Consumer was going to work with Morgan Drexen debt consolidation. Consumer cancelled twice with this company. Morgan Drexen debt consolidation was to take payments out of his account. Morgan Drexen debt consolidation started taking his money out of his via Williams Law Firm. Morgan Drexen debt consolidation said he talked to a representative that said it was his fault that the cancellation did not got through. Now Morgan Drexen debt consolidation will not even talk to consumer. Morgan Drexen says they do not see a date that consumer cancelled.
- Consumer is filing a complaint against Morgan Drexen, a third party debt collector. Consumer states that he made payments to Morgan Drexen but nothing has been paid to the original creditor. Consumer will contact his New Jersey consumer protection agency.
- I was lead to believe that my credit card debts would be negotiated at about 50% settlement and my debts have gotten worse due to prolonged no payments, late charges, and last fees on my credit cards. As a result of so called Morgan Drexen did not inform me that they have not negotiated anything with any debts of mine. And will not for 12 more months. This cost me much more in fees and added to make my credit becoming more past due as I trusted that they stopped all payments and ongoing fees and charges on my credit cards. Had I known this I would of paid on my debts instead of paying Morgan Drexen for nothing. Very upsetting and on my credit file now. I want to get out of their Morgan Drexen as I now know that they only let your bills add up and at last collect 25% plus monthly dues to them for years/ I hope to let people known not to get into this trap. They even state that they are not here to help the consumer but to help you get cheap lawyer advice. Morgan Drexen representatives involved: Shana Wein
- Morgan Drexen called the house, my husband was laid off for six months. We used our credit cards to survive. When they called I thought this was a good way to not file bankruptcy. When our mortgage lender called to lower our mortgage he said our credit was destroyed so now we can’t save money on the house. I have called Morgan Drexen several times, never once could I get ahold of this Demetria Mabry. I also called and talked to Curt Reynolds, the person who called in the first place after being hung up on two times they told me he is only to contact people after that he doesn’t take calls. I am so afraid because now they have my identity. I stopped payment out of my bank account so I’m just afraid of what their going to do now? I am writing a letter to all my creditors and apologize for the stupid mistake I made. Morgan Drexen representatives involved: Curt Reynolds, Demetria Marby.
- Caller is a friend. Consumer is calling to report Morgan Drexen Integrated Legal Systems who called her and they were going to consolidate all her bills all she was to pay was $100 at front and for 24 months she was going to pay $455. Consumer states that they never did anything for her. Morgan Drexen representatives involved: Matt Lichtenberger.
- First few times tried to be removed by pressing ‘2’. Next few times waited to speak to someone and asked several times to be removed from their call list. usually got disconnected quickly. Final time, played along and pretended to need their services to get to the real rep (first two people are screeners). She called my back. I asked what company she was calling from. She said Morgan Drexen. I then explained how I really just wanted to be removed from their call list. She said I should be now. We’ll see. Morgan Drexen representatives involved: Diana Underhill.
- Morgan Drexen uses a phone service called Northside services (multiple complaints about this company online) to setup ‘appointments’ about how one can reduce ones debt. They have called me two to three times per day, every day for many months now. If you ask to have your number removed they hang up on you. If you ask the company name they hang up. I finally okayed an appointment ad was called by Shanaz Siddig from Morgan Drexen and when I asked Ms. Siddig to remove my name she too hung up on me. I repeatedly called Morgan Drexen to have my phone number removed and was hung up on each time. This is a scam and a fraud and they should not be allowed to subject us to this harassment and abuse. Morgan Drexen representatives involved: Shanaz Siddig.
- Consumer setup a payment arrangement with Morgan Drexen to pay off his $1,200 debt. He made a $100 direct payment that was to be returned if he decided to cancel the agreement. Consumer was told that if he pursued the initial $100 any further then they’d request that he pay the full amount of his debts. Consumer found out the company did not contact his creditors and he wants to know what he can do to dispute.
- Consumer received a call from a suspect claiming to help consumer to get out of debt in 18 months if consumer sends $262 and they would pay her creditors. Consumer gave suspect the amount she owes. Concumer gave suspects her SSN. Morgan Drexen representatives involved: Vanessa Gay.
- Harassing and offensive recorded telemarketing calls directing me to call Morgan Drexen to reduce my debt. When I called and ask for my name to be removed from their list I was told “fuck you.” Morgan Drexen representatives involved: Cesar Acosta
- Consumer states Morgan Drexen is a debt consolidation company who is now harassing her. Consumer has notified Morgan Drexen to cease calling. Consumer is on SSI and does not have a contract with Morgan Drexen. Morgan Drexen representatives involved: Alex Ash.
Sincerely,
You are not alone. I'm here to help. There is no need to suffer in silence. We can get through this. Tomorrow can be better than today. Don't give up.
You are not alone. I'm here to help. There is no need to suffer in silence. We can get through this. Tomorrow can be better than today. Don't give up.
Do you have a question you'd like to ask me for free? Go ahead and click here.
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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I signed up with morgan drexen. Said they would take out $160 from my checking account per month and they would get my debts paid off in 3 years. One month later they said if I raised the amount $20 a month it would be paid off quicker. After one year I paid them over $1400 and they only paid off a couple of little accounts
THIS IS THE WORRIEST COMPANY, RED FLAG, THEY WILL RIP YOU OFF, AND DO NOTHING TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR CREDIT, BEWARE, WARNING!!!!
WHY CANT WE JUST HAVE AN OPTION ON OUR PHONE TO BLOCK CERTAIN NUMBERS? THIS WOULD SURE END OUR CONSTANT HARRASSMENT OF BEING PHONED DAY IN AND DAY OUT AND IT WOULD PUT THESE KINDS OF COMPANIES OUT OF BUSINESS…SURE SEEMS LIKE AN EASY SOLUTION TO THESE UNWANTED TELEMARKETING CALLS….
I am a customer of Morgan and Drexen and for three months now I have called in telling them to stop my payments and they have not causing my account to go to negative every time. Every month they said the request was put in and that it would not come out of my account. The last month they called back to see if I could only pay the 50.00 monthly fee and I told them no they said ok and took out the entire payment. They have had enough to settle my debt for over three months and have not done so it does not take that long to call someone and tell them you have their money. This is my last account so I think they are taking long just to keep getting paid for themselves! Please do not use this company.
I work for a credit union and am trying to help one of our members cancel their contract with this company. They will not let her talk to anyone but her case co-ordinator, Jennifer Rhomberg, and JR is not in today. JR only talks with her clients by appointment. We spent at least 12 minutes on the phone with a receptionist who could have taken my member’s cancellation request easily. By waiting till tomorrow for her “appointment”, we’ll be cutting it close to the deadline for stopping an ach payment that is scheduled to come out of my member’s account. The receptionist, Irma at extension 617, seemed indignant when I questioned the integrity of a company that makes it so difficult to cancel a contract. I think I will use this as an opportunity educate all of our members on the dangers of using a debt settlement company like Morgan Drexen.
Dani, let me start by saying that I am with Consumer Mediation Services, a fraud fighting company that provides a “professional nuisance” service until right conquers.
Let me continue by saying I know the secrets of this company, and the MD’s owner’s last group of companies that were ALL shut down by the FTC for many things. Joint Enterprise and posing as a non profit were just some from what I have read. When the Feds came in and, as Gordon Ramsay would put it, SHUT IT DOWN, the documentation on United Consumers Law Group/Consumer Council/Solidium/United Consumer Debt Council/JP Landis/London Financial Group shows it was just as much a sham as MD is … And as I know, 99 out of 99.2 times the customer had never even spoken with the attorney. All information that is avaiable in public domain, but much of my personal knowledge comes from a W2 from one of the above named companies for several years.
As for the people that work there now, I also know the Case Coordinator you mentioned and a phone call from me may change the situation. If not, our services likely would.
What we do at CMS is provide a structured complaint process. If the complaint is valid, we begin to work it. We then allow the company to respond. If they refuse to provide a refund, well, we bug the hell out of them until they change their mind. It’s a leverage against knowledge. We know the industry better than most, and have the ability to show them the complaint is structured in a way that makes sense: not from somebody who they took advantage of and knows little to nothing about the issues; we know our stuff. In short, we know how to get their attention.
In an instance when our complaints are ignored, we contact the BBB, CFPB, AG and FTC. We also utilize tactics such as the media, silent protests and investigative journalists to assist in exposing bad companies.
Unfortunately for MD, they are super easy to pick apart. They use “processing center for attorneys and legal services” as a loose term. They have sales agents selling the service that are not lawyers. How can an attorney possibly need a processor to assist them whent the attorney themself has never met the client? How can the attorney claim to represent the client when in fact the client was enrolled by one of two ways: EDAF mailers or a dialer. (EDAF= Emergency Disaster Assistance Fund or some other gimmick. Im close on that ackronym but maybe not exact) – dialers are offshore.
I will try to help this person. We typically have a small fee for our service before we assist, BUT I WILL WAIVE ALL UPFRONT FEES in this matter. I will help this person free of charge until a refund is issued. I am VERY familiar with MD and it’s ownership. I will assist in this if you have the ability to contact me, or have the debtor contact me. What’s in it for us? We get a % of the refund. http://www.ConsumerMediationServices.com or call (855)667-2265
To those that say I am trying to strum up new business by making this post, well, maybe I am. But it’s a service this person obviously needs. And many more.
To those who doubt what I can do for people who got screwed, just wait.
To those who say I am a dirtbag who is just in it for the money, I just proved you wrong by waiving my fee to start working the complaint. I only get paid if the customer is issued a refund. If I dont succeed, I lose all the time and resources invested, and dont get a penny.
For the record, I am not an attorney and am not offering legal services. But I am offering a means to results.
I really hope I can help this person so that the services we offer can prove to doubters of CMS that we are for real. And we are not to be fussed with.
Dani, let me start by saying that I am with Consumer Mediation Services, a fraud fighting company that provides a “professional nuisance” service until right conquers.
Let me continue by saying I know the secrets of this company, and the MD’s owner’s last group of companies that were ALL shut down by the FTC for many things. Joint Enterprise and posing as a non profit were just some from what I have read. When the Feds came in and, as Gordon Ramsay would put it, SHUT IT DOWN, the documentation on United Consumers Law Group/Consumer Council/Solidium/United Consumer Debt Council/JP Landis/London Financial Group shows it was just as much a sham as MD is … And as I know, 99 out of 99.2 times the customer had never even spoken with the attorney. All information that is avaiable in public domain, but much of my personal knowledge comes from a W2 from one of the above named companies for several years.
As for the people that work there now, I also know the Case Coordinator you mentioned and a phone call from me may change the situation. If not, our services likely would.
What we do at CMS is provide a structured complaint process. If the complaint is valid, we begin to work it. We then allow the company to respond. If they refuse to provide a refund, well, we bug the hell out of them until they change their mind. It’s a leverage against knowledge. We know the industry better than most, and have the ability to show them the complaint is structured in a way that makes sense: not from somebody who they took advantage of and knows little to nothing about the issues; we know our stuff. In short, we know how to get their attention.
In an instance when our complaints are ignored, we contact the BBB, CFPB, AG and FTC. We also utilize tactics such as the media, silent protests and investigative journalists to assist in exposing bad companies.
Unfortunately for MD, they are super easy to pick apart. They use “processing center for attorneys and legal services” as a loose term. They have sales agents selling the service that are not lawyers. How can an attorney possibly need a processor to assist them whent the attorney themself has never met the client? How can the attorney claim to represent the client when in fact the client was enrolled by one of two ways: EDAF mailers or a dialer. (EDAF= Emergency Disaster Assistance Fund or some other gimmick. Im close on that ackronym but maybe not exact) – dialers are offshore.
I will try to help this person. We typically have a small fee for our service before we assist, BUT I WILL WAIVE ALL UPFRONT FEES in this matter. I will help this person free of charge until a refund is issued. I am VERY familiar with MD and it’s ownership. I will assist in this if you have the ability to contact me, or have the debtor contact me. What’s in it for us? We get a % of the refund. http://www.ConsumerMediationServices.com or call (855)667-2265
To those that say I am trying to strum up new business by making this post, well, maybe I am. But it’s a service this person obviously needs. And many more.
To those who doubt what I can do for people who got screwed, just wait.
To those who say I am a dirtbag who is just in it for the money, I just proved you wrong by waiving my fee to start working the complaint. I only get paid if the customer is issued a refund. If I dont succeed, I lose all the time and resources invested, and dont get a penny.
For the record, I am not an attorney and am not offering legal services. But I am offering a means to results.
I really hope I can help this person so that the services we offer can prove to doubters of CMS that we are for real. And we are not to be fussed with.
Can you cancel? I am trying to but no luck you can reach me at drive505@msn.com
I work for a credit union and am trying to help one of our members cancel their contract with this company. They will not let her talk to anyone but her case co-ordinator, Jennifer Rhomberg, and JR is not in today. JR only talks with her clients by appointment. We spent at least 12 minutes on the phone with a receptionist who could have taken my member’s cancellation request easily. By waiting till tomorrow for her “appointment”, we’ll be cutting it close to the deadline for stopping an ach payment that is scheduled to come out of my member’s account. The receptionist, Irma at extension 617, seemed indignant when I questioned the integrity of a company that makes it so difficult to cancel a contract. I think I will use this as an opportunity educate all of our members on the dangers of using a debt settlement company like Morgan Drexen.
this is a person that want’s to Finish his contract with this Company. But they don’t want to cancel but I am able to do what I have to do any company gives you 90 days to cancel a contract.and I just can’t pay the 167 a month I was thinking I could but I can’t and now they are trying to give me the run around.
Huh?
Where were you when he got into debt…Mom
i also worked for md and it is a scam people should know better and just do the settlements on their own. MD is making money hand over fist with this scam.
i also worked for md and it is a scam people should know better and just do the settlements on their own. MD is making money hand over fist with this scam.
So you couldn’t afford your monthly on JC penny but you could afford $100/ mo to MD? Over 23 years (as the atty said) at 28% interest your payment was $86.00
So funny how once people are out of debt they magically surf the web for blog sites so they can tell everyone how great the BAD company is!
All MD employees should go to jail.
I was apart of the Morgan Drexen Firm as a customer. I paid 227.00 a month for about 6 months. The rules changed within that time. During that time I was served with 2 supoenas to court. Morgan Drexen said that their scope of practice had changed? All I know is they have $5,000 of my money that I excepted some results from as of Feb, 2010 to today. Icancelled my membership with them over 3 months ago and made a request for my money back, but to no avail.
Disgusted, and I belive it is a scam!
I was apart of the Morgan Drexen Firm as a customer. I paid 227.00 a month for about 6 months. The rules changed within that time. During that time I was served with 2 supoenas to court. Morgan Drexen said that their scope of practice had changed? All I know is they have $5,000 of my money that I excepted some results from as of Feb, 2010 to today. Icancelled my membership with them over 3 months ago and made a request for my money back, but to no avail.
Disgusted, and I belive it is a scam!
My wife got into the same problems with Morgan Dexren. They put a lot of stuff on the internet for you to read and then in it they get permission to take money out of your bank accout without having anything in writing. They said that the paper work would follow to finalize the deal. The total costs are not told to you or some of it is not in the paper work they send like $2200 for the lawyer not the $1000 they say on the phone, but they took out $725 from her account without having a signed document, they say they need to do it. There is also a clause in the papers that says they get 25% of what they save you. They do not tell you that they will not start dealing with your creditors until a certain amount is paid in. In our case it was about 50%. In the mean time they say don’t pay but don’t say that the interest will keep going up along with your credit rating going down. We didn’t sign the paper work or send it back and requested to cancel out of their program. Needless to say we got a real run around. It would take them 24 to 48 hours to call back but the person doing so was not your rep. and that was another 2 days which is repeated two or three times. We were told we could cancel but we couldn’t get any money back but he would try. In working with our bank, explaning the deal and not signing any forms allowing them to deduct momey they went to bat for us and got all of it back.
My advice if you try to use one of these types get all paper work in hand before you give anything orally that they can debit your account. Then read it over very carefully before going ahead with their plan. They tell you that they usually settle for 25% but everything I can find it is usually 60 to 80%.
We were lucky that I went on line and read these complaints and decided to cancel out and get all of our money back with help of our bank and threatening them.
First I say read these complaints and if you go ahead with it study their contract with you and see if you are getting a good deal.
I hope that this will help people to stay away from these people. If need be hire a local lawyer to interceed for you, it will be better in the long haul.
My wife got into the same problems with Morgan Dexren. They put a lot of stuff on the internet for you to read and then in it they get permission to take money out of your bank accout without having anything in writing. They said that the paper work would follow to finalize the deal. The total costs are not told to you or some of it is not in the paper work they send like $2200 for the lawyer not the $1000 they say on the phone, but they took out $725 from her account without having a signed document, they say they need to do it. There is also a clause in the papers that says they get 25% of what they save you. They do not tell you that they will not start dealing with your creditors until a certain amount is paid in. In our case it was about 50%. In the mean time they say don’t pay but don’t say that the interest will keep going up along with your credit rating going down. We didn’t sign the paper work or send it back and requested to cancel out of their program. Needless to say we got a real run around. It would take them 24 to 48 hours to call back but the person doing so was not your rep. and that was another 2 days which is repeated two or three times. We were told we could cancel but we couldn’t get any money back but he would try. In working with our bank, explaning the deal and not signing any forms allowing them to deduct momey they went to bat for us and got all of it back.
My advice if you try to use one of these types get all paper work in hand before you give anything orally that they can debit your account. Then read it over very carefully before going ahead with their plan. They tell you that they usually settle for 25% but everything I can find it is usually 60 to 80%.
We were lucky that I went on line and read these complaints and decided to cancel out and get all of our money back with help of our bank and threatening them.
First I say read these complaints and if you go ahead with it study their contract with you and see if you are getting a good deal.
I hope that this will help people to stay away from these people. If need be hire a local lawyer to interceed for you, it will be better in the long haul.
My son had been paying Morgan Drexen for over 3+ years and one of his debts has gone from 5K to 13K under this plan. Doesn’t make sense to me. Wish I could talk him out of this program it just seems to be hurting him with the monthly payment and not getting anything paid off.
A mom in Oregon
My son had been paying Morgan Drexen for over 3+ years and one of his debts has gone from 5K to 13K under this plan. Doesn’t make sense to me. Wish I could talk him out of this program it just seems to be hurting him with the monthly payment and not getting anything paid off.
A mom in Oregon
Where were you when he got into debt…Mom
1) Started the program in March 2010 and canceled October 25, 2010. Paid in $1,130.00 with absolutely no results or attention to my matter.
2) Never paid our creditors and now we have legal problems
3) Told not to respond to any of the creditors and not to pay any of the monthly bills. In addition instructed to forward all info received from creditors to Morgan Drexen Group and they would handle it appropriately. None of the creditors have been contacted nor paid and some are threatening lawsuits.
4) Morgan Drexen did not inform me that they had not negotiated anything with any debts of mine and will not for 12 more months. Had I known this I would of paid on my debts instead of paying Morgan Drexen for nothing. This is costing additional late fees and causing me to become deeper in debt. I trusted they stopped all payments and ongoing fees and charges on my credit cards.
I have included additional websites of others who have had the same unfortuant experience as I did.
http://www.la.bbb.org/Business…
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx…
https://getoutofdebt.org//16497/…
How did you feel about the customer service experience you received? Horrible
Was the company easy to communicate with before or after you became a client? Not at all! It was horrible!
Did the company respond to your communications promptly? NO
What were the fees charged for the services you received? 226 a month
Was the program successful for you and accomplish the goals you had when you entered the program? NO
Did you have a really good experience you can share? HORRIBLE
1) Started the program in March 2010 and canceled October 25, 2010. Paid in $1,130.00 with absolutely no results or attention to my matter.
2) Never paid our creditors and now we have legal problems
3) Told not to respond to any of the creditors and not to pay any of the monthly bills. In addition instructed to forward all info received from creditors to Morgan Drexen Group and they would handle it appropriately. None of the creditors have been contacted nor paid and some are threatening lawsuits.
4) Morgan Drexen did not inform me that they had not negotiated anything with any debts of mine and will not for 12 more months. Had I known this I would of paid on my debts instead of paying Morgan Drexen for nothing. This is costing additional late fees and causing me to become deeper in debt. I trusted they stopped all payments and ongoing fees and charges on my credit cards.
I have included additional websites of others who have had the same unfortuant experience as I did.
http://www.la.bbb.org/Business-Report/Morgan-Drexen-100054427
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-800-868-1458
https://getoutofdebt.org/16497/morgan-drexen-and-some-of-the-consumer-complaints-against-them
How did you feel about the customer service experience you received? Horrible
Was the company easy to communicate with before or after you became a client? Not at all! It was horrible!
Did the company respond to your communications promptly? NO
What were the fees charged for the services you received? 226 a month
Was the program successful for you and accomplish the goals you had when you entered the program? NO
Did you have a really good experience you can share? HORRIBLE
Morgan Drexen is run by one Walter Ledda. If you google this man’s name you will find that he has been sued and closed down by the FTC for similar practices. Contact the FTC with complaints about this company.
THE TRUTH ABOUT MORGAN DREXEN AND DEBT SETTLEMENT COMPANIES
I am a former employee for MORGAN DREXEN (MD) and the reason for writing this message is to warn people against this misleading and cheating company. Please understand that MD and other “debt settlement” companies are only the middleman between you and real debt settlement attorneys. What they do is gather “clients” for a group of attorneys and get a commission for doing so. Here is a breakdown of the company and how it works:
After signing up each client is assigned a “Client Coordinator” (whom you´ll never speak to unless you want to cancel) because we are trained to tell you that they are away, on another call or any other excuse. This “client coordinator” is nothing but a contact between you and your assigned attorney, they have no real legal power. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE A CLIENT OF AN ATTORNEY, NOT MORGAN DREXEN. All MD does is paralegal work for the attorneys. They make their money form you for doing basically nothing. Once you sign up they will assign you an attorney and will send an “AUTHORZATION TO NEGOTIATE LETTER” to your debtors which basically states you are being represented by so and so attorney to negotiate on your debts. These are some of the law firms MD works with:
Willamson lawfirm, Levinsohn Consumer attorneys, Howard Nassiri.
PRACTICES
MD´s call center is located in BOLIVIA (South America) this is where I worked and served as a customer service agent. So mind you, ALL YOUR INFORMATION, including Social Security number, credit card numbers, bank accounts, medical information is readily available for foreigners to see and use, although the integrity of the agents (my co workers) is unquestionable and you would have nothing to worry about. All we would actually do is screen clients by asking them all their information and password so we could transfer clients to the right department. So we were basically screeners and nothing else but still had access to all your documents which are scanned an uploaded. When you sign up they fail to fully explain how the program works, they lead you to believe that MD will start negotiating right away and that calls from creditors will stop, They will get you to sign up really quick and charge you $100 right away before you get a chance to get the Welcome Kit and read the DISCLOSURE STATEMENT.
When you sign up they will calculate a monthly payment amount based on how much you can afford and how much your total debt is altogether. So let´s say you enroll 4 credit cards (CC) and the total amount of your debt is $12, 000 and this amount is divided like this CC#1: $1,000 CC#2: $2,000 CC#3: $3,000 and CC#4: $6,000. Now let´s say you r assigned “enrollment fee” (or attorney fees that you have to pay first when you enroll) is $1,500. Now let´s say all you can afford to pay monthly is $200. That monthly payment amount will not change during the course of you r enrollment but now let´s apply it to real life. Keep in mind that out of those $200 you have to subtract the $50 “maintenance fee” that MD charges for doing nothing so in theory all you will be paying towards the enrollment fee is $150. So after doing the math it will take you 10 MONTHS (almost a year) just to pay off the enrollment fee and in the mean time your accounts will accrue LATE FEES AND ridiculously HIGH INTEREST all while your credit rating is ruined. That could double the amount you owe in the first place. And the larger the amount of the debt, the bigger it will snowball into. We were instructed to tell clients not to worry about it because we would settle those accounts for about 40% and you would not pay all the interest and fees. LIE! (Although some credit cards do, not all of them settle for 25%, 30% or 40%. Some credit cards will not take less than 80% of what you owe).
Okay, so now you´ve paid off the enrollment fee. Now your monthly payment is going towards what MD calls a “Trust Account” which is basically like a savings account. MD usually tries to settle the smallest account first so that the look like they are getting things done. So from our example , they will try to settle CC#1 which at the beginning was $1,000 and let´s say with after 10 months of not paying it turned to $1,500 with late fees and higher interest. In order for MD to send a settlement offer they need about 30% of what you owe. So from our example they would need about 30% of $1,500 (current balance of CC#1) which would come up to about $450. So based on your monthly payment of $150 it would take you 3 more months to come up with $450 to make the first settlement offer. So it would basically take you 13 MONTHS (more than a year) to pay off a $1,000 debt. But that is not it, so CC#1 which was $1,500 was settled for $450, so in theory MD saved you $1,050 ($1,500- $450) now you have to pay the 25% settlement fee first before they move on to the next account which for this account would be $262 (25% of $1,050 or amount saved). Now DID YOU REALLY SAVE ANY MONEY?? You ended up paying $450+$262=$712 out of a $1,000 so you saved a miserable $288 right? WRONG!! What about 13 months of maintenance fees?? $50×13=$650. And this is ONLY for the first account!! Imagine the remaining three accounts which are much higher. Imagine what CC#4 ($6,000) will turn into by the time MD tries to “settle” it. How much will you have paid in monthly fees and god forbid you have to go to court for it and have to pay extra legal and court fees.
FEES
In the case your assigned attorney reaches a settlement with your creditor, MD gets a 25% commission or “settlement fee” from the money they saved you (for instance if you owe $10,000 and they settled that debt for $4,000 MD charges you 25% of the $6,000 you “saved”) so basically they are keeping or charging you $1,5000 for DOING NOTHING.
These are the fees that MD charges “clients” and don´t tell you at the time they sign up:
A $900 “enrollment fee,” which is usually more than that based on how much you owe. This fee has to be paid first before ANITHING gets done.
A $50 “maintenance fee” that comes out of a client´s monthly payment that supposedly is for faxes and postage costs. So, for example, if a client´s monthly payment is $150, out of that amount MD keeps $50 again for doing NOTHING and the rest goes towards paying the “enrollment fee” which they claim is the attorney fees.
As for legal help, don´t expect that the attorneys will be available to answer all of you questions. Unless you receive a SUMMOS you will NEVER even speak to the attorney assigned to you. You will have a legal appointment over the phone about once or twice but if you case goes to court MD will send you a LIMITED SCOPE letter which is kind of like a menu at a restaurant with all the cost for additional legal help. These charges range from $45 for a phone consultation with a local attorney up to $100 for other legal services. So don´t expect that the attorney will be there so help you right away, they have hundreds of clients and in the case you are served with a summons they will only have you fill out a document for ANSWERS that you have to deliver YOURSELF to the court.
There are numerous other fees for late payments, check handling and moving payment dates around.
From the moment we are hired we are trained to mislead “clients” by telling them to STOP paying their debts, not to answer any calls from creditors. And not to worry about any threats because they are “scare tactics” designed to scare clients and get them to pay their debts. If your debt is delinquent it will get sold to a collection agency, if the collection agency is unable to collect it will be assigned to an attorney who will most likely serve you with a SUMMONS and SUE you for the amount owed. This is serious. That is why I was appalled and felt horribly about telling clients “not to worry about it” and that it was only “scare tactics.” DAMN RIGHT you should be scared and take care of it right away. If there is no money on your trust account there is practically nothing that can be done.
What infuriated me the most is the thousands of elderly Americans that barely survive on Social Security and are being CHEATED by this company. These are people who are sick dealing with cancer and other illnesses and were still worried about not missing a payment. These are hard working, honest people who want to do the right thing and pay their debts and they are not aware that this company is taking their money and actually doing more harm than good and are scared to death when they are served with a SUMMONS to appear in court. I lost sleep over this, I would not want anybody doing this to my parents or grandparents, some calls were heartbreaking and I would ask people to cancel out of the program.
The most devastating effect of dealing with companies like MD. Once you stop paying creditors they will obviously call you and send letters because they want to get paid. By failing to make payments your CREDIT RATING will be severely affected and will stay there for 7 YEARS!! We were trained to tell customers or clients (you) that once debts were “settled” that their credit rating would improve right away. Depending on the delinquent status of the debt (how long it is past due) Clients would start getting letters and calls from attorneys which we were instructed to tell clients to fax to MD right away so that “the client´s attorney can take care of it right away” All MD would do is notify the creditor´s attorney that they were enrolled in the program and sent them a copy of the Authorization to negotiate letter. If you were just starting the program it would take you at least a year before any settlement offers were sent out.
In conclusion you DO NOT NEED debt settlement companies. You can go DIRECTLY to any attorney specialized in consumer debt and not pay unnecessary fees that will only enrich cheating scumbags that prey on the desperation of people. They are only middlemen who get a commission based on getting clients for the attorneys they work with. We were basically paid to tell client LIES while their credit was ruined. It may have worked for some people who were able to afford large monthly payments and start settling accounts right away (while still paying unnecessary fees) but for the average client it took an average of three years to graduate the program. Bottom line is you can do it yourself. Call your credit card and try to negotiate yourself by showing hardship documents (medical expenses, etc) if they don´t want to work with you then try to find a local attorney DIRECTLY who will help you. Not all creditors will settle and if they do, it will vary greatly how much they´d be willing to settle for. It depends on how much income you make, assets you own, hardships you are going through like medical expenses and many other factors.
PLEASE keep in mind that I am in no position to give ANY LEGAL ADVISE and everything I have shared in this post is based on my experience from working for Morgan Drexen as a customer service agent in BOLIVIA and my disgust at their business practices. I hope this has helped in some way to answer your questions. Please watch the report below on the TODAY show from the BBB website and read the article for further insight.
http://www.bbb.org/us/article/bbb-talks-debt-settlement-on-the-today-show-20670
http://specials.msn.com/A-List/Jailed-for-debt.aspx?cp-documentid=24753001&imageindex=1&cp-searchtext=jailed%20for%20debt&FORM=MSNIIT
SO WHAT DO I DO!? I FOUND OUT THAT OUR SON, WHO IS DISABLED AND UNAWARE OF SUCH THINGS GOING ON, GAVE HIS SSI OUT TO A MD REP. OVER THE PHONE TODAY!
I AM QUITE CONCERNED!!! PLEASE GIVE SOME ADVICE!!
THANKS SO MUCH,
SALLY
Since time is of the essence here and we are not sure what exactly he gave out I’d suggest the two of you go to the bank first thing and block any debits on the account. Call MD back and cancel the account and let me know what his financial situation is.
Steve
I agree, have him put a stop payment on his bank account right and have him call MD to cancel out of the program right away. The cancellation process takes quite a while and they continue to charge you. Have him DEMAND to speak to his client coordinator because he or she is the only person allowed to start the cancellation process and have them assure you they will not make any more charges. You can also find more information on the the Better Business Bureau website. Best wishes
My experience with the attorneys who use Morgan Drexen was completely different from previous people making comments.I live in Brooklyn, New York. As a 58 year old I was in debt up to my eye balls. I have to say that today is the day when I am finally debt free. I am so excited about it that I wanted to share my experience. I signed up with the attorney Dirk Levihsnon who works with Morgan Drexen, Inc . I started the program while over $3,700 in debt with JC Penney. It was very hard to pay off the debt on a single mother’s income while not receiving any child support and I also have a daughter who wanted to go to college.
The attorney and Morgan Drexen advised me that if I stayed with JC Penney and made the minimum payments I would have been paying my credit card off for the next 23 years. That was over $5200 in interest charges!
Everyone at who called from Morgan Drexen when taking my information was very helpful and took as much time as I needed to make sure I understood the program. Every time I called the office there was a real person to take my call. The payments were very affordable and they didn’t charge interest. I was told the program may take 31 months I completed it in 17 months. Morgan Drexen saved me over $2000! I ended up paying only a small fraction of what I owed to JC Penney. I plan on using this savings to help pay for some of my daughters college education.
So you couldn’t afford your monthly on JC penny but you could afford $100/ mo to MD? Over 23 years (as the atty said) at 28% interest your payment was $86.00
So funny how once people are out of debt they magically surf the web for blog sites so they can tell everyone how great the BAD company is!
All MD employees should go to jail.