Table of Contents
Address:
Orlando
1307 International Parkway South, Suite 1071,
Lake Mary, FL 32746
Phone:407-420-2115
Fax: 888-898-6210
Tampa
2435 US Highway 19, Suite 290, Holiday, FL 34691
Phone:407-420-2115
Fax: 888-898-6210
Website: AzamLaw.biz
Description: Appears to be yet in another of law forms that is taking leads from marketing organizations for debt settlement services.
Management:
Managing Partner: Nishat Azam
Email: nishat.azam@azamlaw.biz
Practice Areas: Bankruptcy (Chapter 7 & 13), Foreclosure Defense, Loan Modification, Debt Management, Wills, Trusts, and Estates
Admitted: 2007, District of Florida; 2007, US District Court for the Middle District
Law School: Barry University School of Law, J.D., 2007
College: University of South Florida, B.A., 2003
Memberships: The Florida Bar,National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, National Association of Consumer Advocates
Languages: Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi.
Member: Michael Snytkin
Relationships
The Azam law Firm as disclosed in the lawsuit by an 88 year old retired nurse living on a pension has ties to Coastal Credit Solutions and Nulo Debt Processing. Read lawsuit here.
Do You Have a Question You'd Like Help With? Contact Debt Coach Damon Day. Click here to reach Damon.
In addition, from this comment the Azam Law Firm is accepting client referrals from The Credit Exchange which is a referral marketing company for debt settlement services. The typical referral relationship is that the marketing group is paid per client signed up for debt settlement services.
Interesting Points
Nishat Azam appears to be getting involved in the very same debt settlement business model as did the legally sanctioned firms of Hess Kennedy in Florida and Allegro Law in Alabama. I do not know is this firm is holding all fees in trust and only taking fees as services are provided.
Of concern is the Azam Law Firm relationship with Antony Murigu who is operating both a non-profit credit counseling office (DebtWave Credit Counseling) and a for-profit debt relief office (Coastal Credit Solutions).
Nishat Azam, Esq was listed as (Legal Department) by the BBB for the Hess Kennedy & Company Florida debt settlement company that was shutdown by the state of Florida for illegal activities.
Nishat Azam is also referenced in the Supreme Court of Florida case Florida Bar vs Laura L. Hess where:
The respondent is offering a deceptive debt settlement scheme toclients from across the United States of America. This scheme purports to relieveconsumers of their debt burdens by negotiating down their outstanding debtobligations. In fact, the respondent’s debt settlement program operates as anadvance fee scam, designed to extract up-front fees from financially-strappedclients whether or not any useful services are performed. As shown below, clientsrarely obtain debt settlements through the respondent and end up in a far worsefinancial position. Source
In the suit it is stated “However, after complaints were filed with The Florida Bar, respondent’s employee Nishat Azam contacted most complainants and issued full refunds upon the condition that complainants “withdraw” their complaints. A copy of one of these letters is attached hereto as Exhibit 4.”
Is This Your Company?
If this is a review is about your company and you would like to respond to the information I’ve presented here to possibly put it into a broader context or make a correction, please feel free to post your response in the comments section below. I invite you to read my Debt Relief Company and Site Review Policy first.
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I started working with these folks two years ago and have had no issues. I did some research and was very impressed with their BBB rating. I didn’t do a debt settlement, they took all my credit cards and contacted my creditors who brought my interest rates down to around 6%. I’m paying one monthly payment which is a couple hundred dollars less than what I was paying and that includes the $58.00 fee per month that they charge. My creditors are still getting paid the total amount that I owed and my credit has not been ruined as I’ve pulled my credit report three times since then, it’s lower because of all my debt (high 600’s). I have contacted these folks a couple of times via email and phone and have gotten everything taken care of and was treated in a very respectful manner. I also still get my statements from my credit cards that show my payments being made on time by them, my balances are dwindling, and my interest rate is 6%.
The only thing I can think of is people having problems with this company has defaulted on their payment to them, which we are told at the beginning if you default, all creditors will return their interest rates and all bets are off. I have two years left and will have $56,000 in credit cards paid off. I’m glad these people are here.
I had a really bad experience with AZAM.I Was told one thing and it didn’t happen you actually need a lawyer to deal with these lawyers.I had accounts taken out of my plan that wasn’t suppose to be taken out.I had creditors that wasn’t paid because they settled to fast and now my credit is worse than when i started out.I paid them $900 to screw me over.Try solving this with the creditors yourself you would come out ahead.To me its a rip off
I had a really bad experience with AZAM.I Was told one thing and it didn’t happen you actually need a lawyer to deal with these lawyers.I had accounts taken out of my plan that wasn’t suppose to be taken out.I had creditors that wasn’t paid because they settled to fast and now my credit is worse than when i started out.I paid them $900 to screw me over.Try solving this with the creditors yourself you would come out ahead.To me its a rip off
Don’t do it because you will be.I certainly am sorry i dealt with them. i could have paid off two creditors with the $900 they charged me.But my two creditors didn’t get a nickel and now my accounts are on the way to collections. They were current when i started this mess.
You will come out better trying to resolve this on your own.It made my credit worse.Trust me the only one to come out on top is them.
YOU did the right thing by pulling out.Its a rip off.they made promises they didnt keep and made my credit worse than what it was.They settle at the first offer and it really isn’t helping anyone but them.I have three accounts thats in collection and when i started they were all current.
azam law firm has gotten rid of 4 of my bills and working on other i am very satisfied with them whwn i,v e mailed m snytkin he has gotten right back to me and mi paralegal kerry is exceptional thank you azam e kemelmacher
azam law firm has gotten rid of 4 of my bills and working on other i am very satisfied with them whwn i,v e mailed m snytkin he has gotten right back to me and mi paralegal kerry is exceptional thank you azam e kemelmacher
i just sign with nulo after reading your coment should i cancel/
I was signed up for Nulo debt settlement program they “took” 3 months of up front fee’s at $850,$750 and $750 all was going OK they settled a 600 CC for like 250. Then my Wife got layed off at her work and I could no longer pay the 750 a month payment to Nulo. So they did refund what was in my “Trust” acct. of like $1050. So I am not unhappy with them they did refer me to a Bankruptcy lawyer and so far that is working out. Our Lawyer is working on our chapter 7 filing for next month. What I was surprised about is when we went through the mandated bankruptcy Counseling we found out that we should have done our own debt settlement directly to the CC you don’t need to go though these debt settlement programs. I would strongly advise anyone with a lot of debt like I had to contact Lutheran Social Service of MN they were great and it was free to get a consultation. Hopefully they have that in other states to. I would also advise get a hold of a Bankruptcy lawyer and have them do their free evaluation. I don’t know if what these debt settlement places do as far as collecting up front fees is illegal but I would say they are opportunistic. If what it states from the above responses are correct not many people complete these programs so they collect there enormous fees and when you can not finish the program you still need to cough up another $1500+ when your debt gets bad enough to file with a Bankruptcy lawyer.
Sorry to get windy on ya but I know how it feels to be looking through these pages for answers!
I have kind of a moral problem: Nulo accidentally sent my trust acct refund back twice. So I stuck both checks in a savings acct to cover the Chapter 7 fees I was going to need. Sure enough about a month later they are calling wanting me to call them about a “urgent” matter. They finally left me a detailed voice mail about how 1 check was suppose to go back to them undeliverable. So normally I am so honest I would not have thought about it twice to send the money back. But I still feel “screwed” that they took $2350 of up front fees and all they did was settled on a 600 credit card before I had to end the program. So I am curious to know what their next step would be if I keep ignoring there calls to get their $1050 back. I feel like telling them it was illegal to take my $2350 in up front fees and that I will settle out of court for the $1050….. Right,,, I am sure I would not fare so well…. I think I’ll just send them there money back so I don’t have to keep thinking about it….
Wow you must be a mind reader yes Mark is my room mate. I told him he should do what I did but he isn’t very trusting and is a smart person so he is doing research on his own. I did tell him he should call damon Day because he does seem honest but we’ll see if he calls him or not.
Keith,
I was wondering why the two of you were posting positive comments from the same IP address. Do you guys by chance happen to work for the same debt assistance company in California as well?
Steve
I don’t know what the first part of this means but yes we do share the same computer in the house if that is what your asking. Are you asking if we work at this comapny and that is why we are saying these things? No I work at Home Depot and Mark works at AT&T. Did it seem like we we doing a commercial. I told my experience just like another lady talked about a good experence and other people talked about a bad experience I thought that is what this was for. I didn’t think I said anything out of line and Mark hasn’t even signed with them yet for Godsakes and he might not. Big plug for them there huh. He liked what your pal Damon had to say but I guess we’ll see. I don’t like being called a liar so I guess I won’t comment anymore. Try to be a nice guy and look what happens oh well.
How were you called a liar?
Steve
So are you telling me the point of your comment was not to say that I was lying about being a customer and I was tryng to get free air time because I worked there or something? If so please go ahead and tell me what you meant
I thought you and your roommate worked for a debt relief company and you said you worked at Home Depot and Mark works at AT&T. If you say you work at Home Depot I believe you. What reason would you have to lie about that?
Steve
Ok now I’m really confused I guess you are trying to be sarcastic but I don’t get it. I never said I worked for a debt releif company only that I signed up with them. At this point I’m not doing anything to relate my information to anybody to help them or learn anything for myself so I’m signing off for good. No wonder people say that you canh waste so much time on the internet. Anyway thanks for the information on Damon and goodbye.
Keith,
Not trying to be sarcastic. Bye.
Steve
Thank you for your reply Damon. That is actually better than I expected and I do like your style you seem like one of the good guys. I agree with what you say that most debt settlement companies will recommend debt settlement, most bankruptcy attys will recomend bankruptcy, etc. I must say that I am very happy with Azam and feel that they went above and beyond to tell me all o fthe pitfalls and problems, getting sued maybe etc. Still I will keep your name handy just in case and thanks again.
Keith,
I forgot to ask you before, do you and Mark Frazier work together or live together? Do you know a Mark Frazier?
Steve
Hi Steve,
Forgive me for asking, who’s Damon Day? And, how do I get in touch with him?
Thank you,
Lenin
Lenin,
Damon is an independent person that helps people find the best debt settlement company based on their situation. Click on his name, Damon Day, to reach him.
Steve
So am i to assume that Damon is not only independent but doesnt receive any compensation whatsoever from any company that he referrs people to? If so that is wonderful and I might call him myself but if not then that changes things a bit.
Keith,
Damon does not charge for a review of your financial situation. He does extensive personalized consultations for free. I don’t work with individuals anymore, like I did in the old days. By all means give him a call. You’ll find him to be a helpful, honest and straightforward person to help you work through your financial situation.
I’ll send him an email and tell him to watch for you to call.
Steve
Hey Keith,
Yes, I work on behalf of consumers as a financial advocate. The most important (in my opinion) service that I provide is an independent consultation to analyze a consumer’s situation and review all of their options moving forward. Unlike what usually happens when you call a specific debt settlement company for instance. Usually the answer with them is going to be, sign up into our debt settlement program.
I do not charge clients upfront money, I simply provide the consultation, do a financial analysis, address their concerns, listen to their goals, and tell them what I feel is the best course of action based on their specific financial circumstances and goals. Then I will recommend specific strategies and things to look for if they need to hire a professional to help with that plan.
As you undoubtedly know from your research before signing up as a client with the Azam law firm, most settlement programs charge a large amount of money and provide mediocre service. It is very difficult for most consumers to know ahead of time which programs operate with a consumers best interests at heart, and which programs are operating counter intuitively to a consumers best financial interest.
Sometimes, depending on the strategy, I will make recommendations for programs for my clients to research and compare to other programs that they are currently looking into. I ask my clients to compensate me for the consultation only if they found value in it. So yes, I provide the service first, if the client finds value they can compensate me for my time and information, if not, they don’t send me anything, it is pretty simple.
.-= Damon Day´s last blog ..New Era Debt Solutions Review =-.
Did you notice how both Steve and Damon did not mention weather or not Damon is compensated by the companies… He stated that he does not charge clients upfront, and they can pay for his services if they find value. I call shenanigans ! No one would ever pay you if they didn’t half to. Let me ask you how is it you make a living, I bet its the same way all of these other people, by telling them that you are here for them. I called coastal and they gave me the exact same pitch you did… Why should I trust your word over theirs? Because one lawsuit? No matter what kind of business you run someone is always going to be unhappy. I spoke with Azam and they clearly explained the fees that would be paid as well as the time frame and risks involved. I signed an agreement page that went over all of the payments and fees. The reason I am doing this is because I can’t manage my money on my own, and if I have to pay someone some money to help me with that while trying to cut my debt in half, then so be it!
Dear Mr. Doe,
Yes, when I did individual consultations I left it up to people to decide what to pay. Those that could were generous and those that could not made a payment that for their situation was generous as well. Leaving it up to people to decide what to pay for the service they receive is not a unique concept. Some restaurants like the One World Cafe have been very successful with this approach. See this article.
You assume that because you might take advantage of the situation that everybody does, and that’s simply untrue.
Steve
Hello John Doe,
I think we just must have two different world views. I believe that most people are trustworthy and honest and if you focus on helping people, everything else will take care of itself. In my experience people are so tired of sales pitches that they just want honest, straight forward information and help. I provide that information and leave it up to my clients to decide if it was valuable to them.
Sometimes I receive a referral fee for a recommendation that I make, sometimes I do not. It depends on what I recommend based on my clients needs. If I do receive a referral fee, I disclose that to my client and I offer to credit whatever they paid me for the consultation to their fee for the program recommended.
Keep in mind a client is not required to pay me or even take my recommendation. I encourage them to do further research and compare my advice to everything else out there. I have the confidence to do that and not charge a client upfront because I know my advice is sound and consumers are smart enough to spot BS a mile away.
Frankly I am confused by your motivation and calling “Shenanigans” when I actually provide the service before I ask the client for a payment. I know what I do really irritates most debt settlement companies that are not operating under the best of intentions.
.-= Damon Day´s last blog ..Most of My Articles are about Debt Settlement – Why? =-.
I have an update to my post of yesterday. I called Coastal Credit Solutions which is the company I first dealt with and whom they use The Azam Law Firm. As it turns out Coastal Credit Solutions is a non-profit, and they will work with you to do debt consolidation, but if you are too behind on your payments your only other option is debt settlement and for that they use the Azam Law Firm to “legally” negotiate the debt with creditors. I was also told that they have a refund policy, meaning that if at any time you are unhappy with the results you can collect your money from your trust fund, obviously minus any services incurred by the law firm thus far. I was also explained that the Azam Law firm also works with other companies/ non-profit. Coastal Credit Solutions stated that their success rate is higher then 80%. Furthermore, they make sure they are on top of the law firm regarding “their” client’s file. So for now I will work with them since I don’t have the time to do all the leg work to begin negotiations with all 5 of the creditors I owe money. I will keep you posted. I thank everyone for their feedback. I did find it very useful. Regards…Lenin
Lenin,
Coastal Credit Solutions claims they are non-profit? They are not. Read the review on Coast Credit Solutions.
I think you might want to take a very close look at the refund policy. Typically the programs front load all the fees, meaning that all or the vast majority of money you pay for the first year only go towards the total fees charged for the program and not just for actual worked performed. Be careful. Ask for the guarantee in writing.
I would seriously doubt the success rate is above 80% when the debt settlement trade association TASC says only 34% of people in debt settlement programs settle debts and the success rate for settling all debts for an individual consumer is less than 10%. Read The Truth About The Failure Rates and Completion Rates of Credit Counseling, Debt Settlement, and Bankruptcy.
Steve
Hi Steve,
Thank you for your helpful advise. I will ask for their refund policy in writting. So how does one know who to trust? Do you know of any companies that have a good track record? I hope I don’t end up regreting this decision. What are your thoughts? Thank you kindly.
Go talk your situation over with Damon Day. He’ll steer you in the right direction.
Steve
I’m on the fence about doing this. Has anyone other than Kieth Efhoff or Mark Frazier had a good experience with them? I’d like to hear from someone else.
This is a law firm with lawyers not some boilerroom and yes they have taken great care of me and already settled 2 accounts for less than 50 percent on the dollar. I spent months researching this industry b4 I signed with them and they were 1 of the few that were transperent enough that I felt comfortable with them and the bottom lnie is that this is a brutal industry where creditors want their money. Some people are going to get sue’d and blame the lawyer when that is what they were told could happen to start with. They did a quality check call before I signed up which theyr ecorded where they told me all of the down side BEFORE i sent them any money. They are the real deal and will do the job they weer hired for. It will not be painless because you are taking money out of the banks pockets and they aren’t happy about it. If you want to save a bunch of money and can’t afford your monthly pmt and don’t want to declare bankrupcy then this is about your only option. It would be better to do on ur own but if you cant do that or don’t have the time then what are your other options?
I signed up with them on March 8, 2010. After reading all the reports on them I am extremely concerned. They will be collecting the money directly from my account. Has anyone experience a positive outcome from them? I have already called my bank to alert them and now I want out!
YOU did the right thing by pulling out.Its a rip off.they made promises they didnt keep and made my credit worse than what it was.They settle at the first offer and it really isn’t helping anyone but them.I have three accounts thats in collection and when i started they were all current.
ineed to kno is this system a fraud.is there anybody out there that can tell me that
No, it is not a fraud. This is a real licensed attorney, with real brick-and-mortar offices. I can’t tell you much more than that because I haven’t signed up with yet, but I probably will. Also, this is a newer division of the company, but other divisions have been around since like 2002 if I remember right. The Debt Settlement process will have its ups and downs based on everything I’ve read, but if you stick with it, it works.
Debt settlement does not work. The remaining debts that have been settled are still fair game by new collection agencies. The calls can continue until debt are paid off in full. Verify this at any consumer credit conseling service.
You will come out better trying to resolve this on your own.It made my credit worse.Trust me the only one to come out on top is them.
i just got set up with them.r they gonna pay my creditors off.i need to kno because i dont want to b in any worst shape than im already in.
Don’t do it because you will be.I certainly am sorry i dealt with them. i could have paid off two creditors with the $900 they charged me.But my two creditors didn’t get a nickel and now my accounts are on the way to collections. They were current when i started this mess.
Under California law nobody can take upfront fees for debt reduction services? What does this mean? Never seen this law anywhere and I’ve been doing lots of research about what to do about my debt.
Do you want to be a little more specific about it so you don’t scare people away from a (possibly) good solution for them…and into the arms of a truly fraudulent company because they lie well?
Under California law nobody can take upfront fees for debt reduction services.
i ve just got involved with azam law firm they make it seem that they can help me with debt management and settlement am i doing the right thing?im getting divorced and owe 35 000 we support our 2 children grandchild and dtrs boyfriend so far everything seems ok they put in trust funds to pay creditors i need help thanks e kemelmacher i am truly scared and depressed
Other members of my family recommended the Azam Firm to my husband and I. Their experience, as well as ours so far, has been exceptional. Everything was fully explained, Ms. Azam was always available for further questions, and the paralegal working for her was most efficient. I have no worries and rather have great confidence in the help they are giving us.
Having read the privacy policy specifically regarding Debt Settlement, I have great confidence that you didn’t read the privacy policy.