Address:
Unknown. Not on site and no registered company found with the name of Decision One Solutions.
Website:
DecisionOneSolutions.com Domain name was registered on January 21, 2010 and is owned by Michael Basilicato. mikeyb@mybuzzteam.com
Description:
“A full service debt solution company” – from Decision One Solutions sales video.
Decision One Solutions is a full service Debt Solutions Company started in 2010. We offer an array of products and services for our clients. The companies that we decided to partner up with have been servicing customers for over 100 years combined. – Source
Management
Michael Basilicato – AKA MikeyBee
mike@decisiononesolutions.com
I could find no registered company under the name of Decision One Solutions registered in Pennsylvania where the domain name is registered.
Click on images for larger view.
Contacts
Tel: 800-490-4860 – Source
FAX: 800-685-9871
support@decisiononesolutions.com
Christopher Ramsey – Source
Relationships
Through Michael Basilicato I found the following other business opportunities or networking marketing activities he is involved with.
Mandura –
5 Star Global Live – Local Ad Link – Source
Buzz Team –
XanGo – See video below
video=”https://getoutofdebt.org//wp-content/uploads/xango.mp4″
player=”5″
width=”600″
height=”450″
title=”Decision One Solutions Review”
description=”A review about Decision One Solutions.”
duration=125″
autoplay=”false”
autoload=”true”
autorewind=”true”
loop=”false”
splashimage=”https://getoutofdebt.org//wp-content/uploads/2012/05/watchvideo1.jpg”
/]
Interesting Points
This debt relief company appears to have been created recently by someone with a background in network marketing and not debt relief.
While the company may have partnered with more experienced service providers I am concerned by some of the incorrect facts in the videos and site, in my opinion many people marketing this service are going to run into trouble with the law and regulators in many states since they may just be jumping into this “business opportunity” rather than understanding the reality of the debt relief world.
Some of the information presented like “Fair Debt Collection Protection Act” use the wrong name. In my opinion, if Michael Basilicato is the owner of this company and he doesn’t even know the basics it does not bode well for people buying these services. For example, in another video he talks about eliminating your interest in the debt settlement program and it appears to be implied that people can settle their debt for 50% in 3 to 48 months.
The company proudly sells “Credit Repair” services but their sales pitch in my opinion is clearly in violation of the Credit Repair Organizations Act and pitches how some company called Aggressive Credit Repair, they must have partnered with, can remove negative information from a credit report. The Aggressive web site says this services “starts at” $59 per month.
Decision One Solutions is also selling an auto loan modification service. This appears to be nothing more than yet another loan modification service for a secured debt. These types of modifications are hugely unsuccessful and loan modification companies, even those that do auto loan modifications have not been able to get loans modified. The auto loan scheme seems to be yet developing and I’m sure more complaints will surface in general. My prediction is that as more companies get into auto loan modification services we will see more lawsuits and attorney general complaints over these services.
The Decision One Solutions auto loan modification page promises:
Some of the solutions you can expect to see are:
- Lowering Your payments
- Reduce Your Loan Balance
- Fix Your Interest Rate
- Stop Repossession NOW
- Keep your assets –
Decision One Solutions also promotes a home loan modification program. The home loan modification programs offered by most providers have been ineffective, heavily regulated, have shown no results and are one of the most complained about debt relief services.
The debt settlement program is in my opinion, one to be avoided. The company promises results but has only been in business a few months at the time of this review. I find it hard to believe any claims of results they may have only from second hand knowledge. What they have not learned yet is the debt settlement world is a quagmire of legal problems, attorney based debt settlement networks have been closed down by different states, and past results are not a prediction of future results.
There is no mention of the fees for their debt settlement program.
They make, in my opinion, some ridiculous statements regarding debt settlement instead of bankruptcy.
- “…thus enabling the debtor to save money without the ramifications of having to file bankruptcy.”
- “Bankruptcy can eliminate all of your debt, but the consequences of bankruptcy can often outweigh its benefits.”
- “The bankruptcy process is often expensive, invasive and uncertain.”
- “Bankruptcy stays on your credit for 7-10 years; and the impact of a bankruptcy will negatively affect you as far as credit and the ability to obtain financing for years to come.”
All of the statements about bankruptcy above appear to be nothing more than the typical misinformation used to sell debt settlement services and has no relationship to reality.
And my favorite quote on the debt settlement page has to be, “Debt Resolution while problematic to your credit will usually have less of an adverse effect on your credit and over a shorter period of time.” What? That’s just not true.
They did do a better than average job of making sure to explain while in a debt settlement program your credit would be shot.
RED FLAG: In the sales presentations and the debt settlement page on the site there is no mention of the potential tax implications, continued collections, lawsuit potential, judgment and wage garnishment potentials of participating in a debt settlement program. At one point in a video Michael mentions that the President speaks about debt settlement, yeah, maybe to warn people about it.
Decision One Overview for Potential Custoemrs
Incorrect Statements Made in Video
In the video above Michael Basilicato, the founder of this company makes the following incorrect statements.
- You can get a judgment against your home. Wrong.
- You can get a judgment against your credit. Wrong.
- He says that when you work with Decision One they will immediately send cease & desisit letters to your creditors so they stop contacting the consumer. But a cease & desist letter have no power over an original creditor, so big deal. And a cease & desist letter send to a collection agency may only hasten a lawsuit.
- Creditors require an attorney to negotiate and settle a debt. Wrong.
- Only an attorney can challenge the validity of the debt. Wrong.
- Once in the debt settlement program your payments will be interest free and affordable. “Whatever interest you are paying right now will be eliminated in our program.” Not only will creditors continue to charge interest but also penalties as well.
- Team of attorneys that actually represents you. Not sure how they get around the attorney licensing requirements for representation unless they have an attorney in each state.
- “Your going to retain the service of attorneys, you are going to be represented by attorneys.” Again, I find it highly improbable that the consumer is paying for specific legal representation by a lawyer licensed in their state.
- “According to the Fair Debt Collection Protection Act only an attorney can stop collection calls.” Wrong. It’s the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and anyone can send a cease & desist letter to a third party collector to stop calls.
- It is presented that a $10,000 debt will be settled for $5,500 interest free. An unlikely and unsubstantiated clam. Makes no mention of the cost of the program as well.
- No up-front cost to the program. I find it highly suspect that the underlying debt settlement program is not front-loading fees from the payment the consumer would be making into the program.
Videos
How to Sell Decision One Solutions Services
BBB Reviews & Ratings
No BBB listing.
Complaints
None found.
Picture of Web Site
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.
- Who Knew TitleMax Sucked This Bad? - February 23, 2023
- Litigation Practice Group Lawsuit by Business Partner All Service Financial – We Want Our Money - January 24, 2023
- HomeAdvisor and Angi to Pay Up To $7.2 Million and Stop Deceptively Marketing its Leads for Home Improvement Projects - January 23, 2023
What I want to know is why Decision One is hooked up with ESP, considering all the info Steve has exploited concerning ESP and P&E Solutions. Someone give me a clue, because I think your company is raping me financially Mike and I’m pretty peeved/pissed.
Lawrence
What I want to know is why Decision One is hooked up with ESP, considering all the info Steve has exploited concerning ESP and P&E Solutions. Someone give me a clue, because I think your company is raping me financially Mike and I’m pretty peeved/pissed.
Lawrence
Just the fact that FTC has highlighted its ILLEGAL to collect Fees Upfront should be scary enough let alone $16,000(wish we can bold that) fine per violations. Everyone is now linked, from lead vendors down to front end sales down to backend processors. Goodluck and Becareful, customer comes first and customer is now protected with full force.
Mike,
You have, perhaps unwittingly, chosen the worst time to cut your teeth in this industry due to the following:
Hyper sensitive state a federal regulatory scrutiny of those profiting off the woes of the financially disadvantaged (whose numbers have increased dramatically in the past 3 years).
New laws affecting how a marketer of debt relief services can represent their wares and delaying compensation for most.
New laws affecting how a debt relief service provider (back end) can represent their wares and delaying compensation for most.
Costly fines of up to 16k for violations of new laws which can reach every person/company in the transaction chain for one single new customer.
Marketing costs which have not yet decreased to the level that reflect the new operational realities in this space.
If your company is simply offering to settle debts, clean up your message by the end of this month, be sure that your back end servicers are credible and good at what they do and have clean operations, put your head down and go to work. In 6-8 months you should be able to look up, see the fruits of your efforts start to materialize and be proud of the work you do.
That’s my one cent worth – Deflation and all…
Mike, after finishing your posting on how you are a nice guy and have thousands of references to support it is great and I am sure you are a very nice guy who feels or believe you are helping consumers out with your programs. But lets not forget why these consumers fell into this mess the first round, its because there was no transparency when they had applied for a credit card. The creditors did a great job wording their contract agreement that even a college student can’t even understand and having to leave up to lawyers to decipher for them. Transparency should include in your program crystal clear that you are attempting to get in the middle between the client and their creditor to work out a new arrangement to repay back the debt. With the new TSR ruling, you have to becareful and be clear as to not mislead or confuse your clients as to what you are offering them. When you say “Debt Verification” so you are saying your service is there to make sure the client did not accumulated the debt on their own and having the creditors prove that the client indeed made a purchase using the creditors card issued? The industry has a if not 2 big black eyes, I think this is the starting point to show the consumers there is legitimate help out especially during these times of hardship. You also pointed out that Steve should take down the post because because it is making you lose business and one of your sales rep is having trouble producing because this blog has brought FACTs to the table that is scaring the consumers off and your rep with 4 kids is about to be evicted. I understand your concern for your rep, however do you have concerns about other consumers you sign on if not done correctly can also get wages garnished, possible eviction from home or rent, being sued, bank account levied and judgements being placed? You took a responsibility to help consumers get out of debt the best way possible so I am sorry about your rep but your priority should be your CLIENTS COMES FIRST not your sales floor.
sounds exactly like a debt settlement procedure to me Steve. I like how some companies are trying to reword what they do or can do for consumers in debt. “Debt Validation, Debt Verification, Debt Negotiation, Debt Resolution, Debt Elimination, blah blah… bottomline they are trying to reach a settlement with a consumers creditor on behalf of the consumers so in plain english its a Settlement Program lol.
Joe,
If you want to get even more confused the Consumer Law FAQ refers to the process as Debt Settlement.
“How long does the debt settlement program take to complete?
The length of time to complete your program will depend on the amount of your current debt and the amount of time you take to fund your trust or escrow account. Debt Settlement can usually eliminate your unsecured debt within 12-36 months.”
And you’ll love this nugget on the FAQ page as well. I bet you’ll have a response to this one.
“Are my creditors going to continue to call me?
Your creditors are immediately notified by a Power of Attorney letter and Cease and Desist order, that you are a client of the law firm and all correspondence shall go through them. In the event that a creditor(s) still persist in calling, you are provided a log sheet and are asked to record these calls for a short period of time. The law firm will use this record against the creditor to order them to stop.”
Joe,
Good catch. You are right, the description on the Decision One site about their Consumer Law service is confusing and seems to mix two different approaches. Paragraph one focuses on verification but paragraph two and three read like traditional debt settlement? And if the approach is really a mixture of the two, is this the discredited Hess-Kennedy approach all over again?
The site says:
“The legal program is known as Consumer Law focusing on “debt verification†and “debt resolution†services. This is program whereby attorneys review the billing practices of consumers’ creditors and the debt collection activities of any third party that has purchased their information. In many cases equivocal fees and interest calculations affecting a consumer’s bill, as well as the aggressive debt collection practices being employed to collect on the consumer’s debts, are in violation of Federal consumer rights. All consumers have specific rights and the lawyers’ responsibilities are to see they are upheld. Attorneys well versed in consumer law will work diligently with each and every client to ensure their rights are protected.
How does our program work?
Our services are comprised of a network of attorneys that will renegotiate your current financial obligations with your creditors for a lesser amount then you currently owe. Your monthly payment is based upon your income and financial status. If you are interested in speaking with one of our qualified staff members please fill out the inquiry form and we will set up a confidential no obligation phone call to discuss the benefits of the program.
While the negotiation process is taking place the client will be making monthly payments into their third party FDIC insured account. These funds will be used for future negotiations on the client’s behalf. During this process the client’s credit will be adversely affected. However, most of our clients who qualify for Debt Resolution already have a credit score that is being adversely affected due to being behind on payments, late on payments, or from being overextended with to much debt. After completion of the program the client will be on the road to a credit worthy debt free future.”
Mike,
I see you filled out a reader Q&A form in which you made a number of points. I am not going to have an offline conversation about this.
You publicly thank me and then fill out a form saying that you feel I’ve treated you unfair here. It just seems like a duplicitous approach.
You said in the reader form you filled out:
“There are many many things you mention that are not even fair. Like your MLM comments??
Come on Steve, honestly, what does my MLM history have to do with my business?
You did that because you know most people have a bad taste about MLM and then they would look at me as some hot shot sales person.”
See my previous comment to you in which I addressed the point. I made one reference to it in my review. If you look at the story and the comments, you are the one that keeps talking about it.
For the sake of this discussion I’ll repeat exactly what I original said, “This debt relief company appears to have been created recently by someone with a background in network marketing and not debt relief.” That’s not a slam about network marketing. It’s an observation that you did not have experience in the debt relief industry before starting this operation. When getting into the debt relief business, an awareness of marketing is good, no experience in the debt relief industry, is bad.
“I am asking you one more time, privatly and nicely. Please take it down. Not even so much for my sake. One of my agents lost a few sales because of this article and now she is getting evicted from her home. She is a single mom with 4 kids. My business is legit. I have enrolled many people through our Consumer Law product. Our back end system are all A+ with the BBB and I choose not to disclose that publicly unless you are a client.”
Mike, if one of your agents lost a few sales because of this article, it is not the fault of the article, it’s yours. The original review gave you an opportunity to fix what was broken and to address the issues that needed attention in order to make your business better. Instead you say that rather than rapidly take action to fix what was broken, “I have waiting a few months to see if anything would build from this “Post” about My company, my partners and myself in the last 6 months.”
Decision One Solutions has no BBB rating and you won’t even talk about the other companies involved. Not a confidence builder for anyone reading this.
Instead of commenting about how you’ve addressed issues and make things better, which would inspire potential customers, you attacked and threatened to “…really ruin Steve Rhodes reputation.” If potential customers of your agent are going to be turned off about anything, in my experience, it’s going to be how you’ve handled this with threats of lawsuits, ruining reputations, and your other accusations. Who wants to do business with an organization like that?
In the form you filled out you also said:
“[1]. Steve, I do not know you and I honestly feel that you do have a heart.
[2]. Please take this article down right away.
[3]. As far as my business being registered, You will find it here
http://appext9.dos.state.ny.us/corp_public/CORPSEARCH.ENTITY_INFORMATION?p_nameid=3961494&p_corpid=3969205&p_entity_name=%64%65%63%69%73%69%6F%6E%20%6F%6E%65%20%73%6F%6C%75%74%69%6F%6E%73&p_name_type=%41&p_search_type=%42%45%47%49%4E%53&p_srch_results_page=0
[4]. I am in NY. The owner is not listed as me because I am a Branch under Mike Schmid.
[5]. Also you will notice that they just recently registered the name.
not sure why.
[6]. I did not get into this industry to screw people and you know that there are some good companies out there. “
Let me respond to these in order.
1. I do have a heart and I do have compassion. If I didn’t I would not be taking all this time pointing out what YOU need to fix in order for you to run a better operation. If I didn’t have a heart I would not have allowed you to post your point of view and speak your mind. If I didn’t have heart I would not work as hard as I do to protect consumers from companies that appear to either not know what they are doing or taking advantage of people.
2. No.
3. Super, the business is registered in New York. My article was in March, the company was registered in July. What I said was true, at the time of the article the company was not a registered business. And if you are just a branch under Decision One Solutions and don’t even own the name, that’s a bit of a risk representing this is your company, when in fact it’s not. It’s even more perplexing when the “parent” company has no website I can find and the only listings I can find for Decision One Solutions in Hauppauge, it’s registered address, are for sales rep jobs. In fact I can’t find a single reference to a Michael Schmid at Decision One Solutions on Google at all.
4. You say you are in New York but the domain name is registered to a ZURVITA, RR7 Box 7420, Stroudsburg, PA. So if you are in New York, what’s the New York business address of your branch office?
And if you are in New York, are you aware it is illegal to operate as a debt relief/budget planning business without being registered with the state banking department? I’m looking at the list of licensed debt relief providers in New York and your company is not listed as licensed or registered. See this list from the State of New York Banking Department. And that’s just in New York, many states have individual licensing and bonding requirements before doing business in those states. What states are you registered in for debt relief services?
5. Not sure why either. Frankly, that was sloppy to not be registered or appropriately licensed before doing business.
6. I never said you got into the business to screw people. But if you want to NOT screw people you need to be licensed, regulated, bonded, insured, and comply with the FTC TSR coming into force. You also need to show people you understand the debt relief industry and not just marketing debt relief stuff someone else told you about.
By your own admission the original videos were full of errors and you said “I have to agree Steve, much of the content is not correct but there is much much worse out there to pick on out there,” and “ALL THE VIDEOS are old and I recorded them my first few weeks in the business. Of coarse I didn’t understand it all.”
In conclusion, the mark of a good company is not if they made mistakes, but how they responded to them. And rather than be angry with me, start focusing your energy in getting your business compliant so you and your agents can avoid the $16,000 FTC fines, per occurrence, that go into force on September 27, 2010 for not complying with the new debt relief sales rules.
Steve
Mike, your posting “Consumer Law which is not even close to Debt Settlement. The legal program is known as Consumer Law focusing on “debt verification†and “debt resolution†services” but on your website under link “Consumer Law” it states:
How does our program work?
Our services are comprised of a network of attorneys that will renegotiate your current financial obligations with your creditors for a lesser amount then you currently owe. So I am curious how is that different from debt settlement?
Thank You Steve
I sent you an e-mail personally
Please let me know if you received it
Thank You Steve
Mike,
Thought you’d be interested in this settlement announced today by the FTC against this credit repair operation. See Clean Credit Report Services Loses Big to FTC.
From the release:
“The settlement order bars Clean Credit and its owners from making misrepresentations about any good or service, such as the ability to improve a consumer’s creditworthiness or remove negative information from a consumer’s credit report. The order also prohibits Clean Credit from charging money up-front for credit repair services, and from collecting payments from consumers who purchased its services before October 22, 2008, when the court froze the defendants’ assets, including their bank accounts.”
Steve
Just a side comment of Mike here wrapping himself in the flag of MLM (big red flag there), Amway’s claims are debatable at best (at what cost those “millionaires”?) and there’s a reason why Quatloos keeps an entire forum section on MLMs.
Mike,
If you’ve been watching the article for six months and you felt something was incorrect, why did you not speak up sooner to correct incorrect information?
I don’t think you read the site review policy before holding it in for six months and then exploding. You might want to read this.
Let me tackle your points one at a time.
Your past in network marketing was an observation that you had come from a background that was not debt relief. “This debt relief company appears to have been created recently by someone with a background in network marketing and not debt relief.” That seems innocent enough. You are the only one that expanded that.
The videos posted were available online at the time I wrote the article. I believe the overview videos came from YouTube.
You said it yourself, “I have to agree Steve, much of the content is not correct but there is much much worse out there to pick on out there,” and “ALL THE VIDEOS are old and I recorded them my first few weeks in the business. Of coarse I didn’t understand it all.”
If the picture of the website is wrong then why was there a whole website that looked like it at decisiononesolutions.com. You can find the archived copy of the pages from that site by clicking on the site archive link in the article. The archive contains eight pages from that site that appear with the same header.
The business cards were found publicly online, I believe through the vendor site that printed them. They were online as a sample, and not behind a secured site.
Which one is the “Gathering Customers” video? Is that the one I say in the article is from XanGo?
Maybe you can help clear up some information I raised in the article. I could find no registered company under the name of Decision One Solutions registered in Pennsylvania where the domain name is registered. Where is the company registered?
I think the rest of the points that I raised speak for themselves. They come directly from information you created for the public.
What is there to defend? Explain maybe, but what accusations did I make about you besides observations about information you put out that was factually incorrect? This is information that sales reps and consumers were relying on at the time of the article.
In your program overview you provided in your comment there are some other issues to consider.
Consumer Law – There have been cases in the past year on this subject. The most prominent was the mess with CCDN and attorney Robert Lock. See Debt Relief Scam Network Hit With Racketeering RICO Lawsuit. The strategy you mention is not without problems.
Home Loan Modifications – On loan modification, it is illegal in places to charge any fee based only on a “pre-approval” from a lender. Take California for example. The program you describe does not conform to SB94 and I can find no listing by the Attorney General that you are licensed to act as a modification consultant. The Attorney General site says “NO, “decision one solutions” is NOT a registered Foreclosure Consultant.” Readers can check this site. Similar issues in North Carolina and other states as well.
You say, “My company “Decision One Solutions” is a marketing company and in no way do we ever misrepresent our clients and allow them to think we are doing all the work.” If you are not the provider of the services the provider should be listed to make sure consumers know they are working with companies in compliance.
Speaking of underlying service provider issues, you need to be aware of the new FTC rules that say:
“Even if you don’t directly sell or provide debt relief services, you may have obligations under the new Rule. Specifically, it’s illegal to provide “substantial assistance†to another company if you know they’re violating the Rule or if you remain deliberately ignorant of their actions. What amounts to substantial assistance depends on the facts. In the context of debt relief services, substantial assistance may include:
– obtaining and selling leads – the contact information of potential customers – to other companies;
– helping a debt relief company with its back-room operations, for example, by reviewing customer files, processing customers’ payments or contacting customers’ creditors once they’ve signed up; or
– offering dedicated accounts to customers where they set aside the debt relief provider’s fees and funds for payments to creditors or debt collectors.
If you work with debt relief companies, review their policies, procedures and operations to make sure they’re complying with the Rule. Willful ignorance isn’t a defense.”
CCMS – This sounds like the other debt relief services and debt management services, if not operated by a bonafide nonprofit organization, will become illegal to charge any advance fee before the service is fully delivered. See the new FTC Telemarketing Sales Rules that cover these services. You might want to know that for-profit CCMS companies are now at great risk of class action suits as a result of this recent case.
Auto Loan Modification – Same issue. It does not appear that you are aware that you are not operating in compliance with the new federal rules covering these debt relief activities. September 27, 2010 is the deadline for good faith estimates and according to the new FTC rules if the underlying providers you are using do not comply with the TSR then you, as a lead generator, may be fined up to $16,000 per violation. It’s something you should check on for compliance.
Additionally the BBB has issued a consumer warning about auto loan modification services, see this. “Beware of Advance Fees. Large fees in advance should be considered a red flag even if the company claims to offer a money-back guarantee if they are unsuccessful. Some states do not allow companies to charge customers in advance for financial services including loan modification.”
Credit Repair – Under CROA you may not charge a fee before the credit repair service has been fully performed, it is illegal, but it looks from the description of services there was a monthly fee.
In closing you say, “Steve is saying “Give up on everything you fought you whole life for ” because you have a little debt. Does Steve mention that you credit score will be crushed and you will NOT be able to buy anything worth buying for 10 years.” Yet another factually incorrect statement.
Credit after bankruptcy can be easily rebuilt and in fact people get offers for new credit immediately after discharge, which in the case of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, may be a few months after filing. If you follow a plan to establish good credit following bankruptcy car and home loans will be available within 1 to 3 years. In fact, this video by a lawyer goes into how bankruptcy can actually improve credit.
I would appreciate the chance to defend my company, my partners and myself. I sure hope that Steve allows this post to go through. I have waiting a few months to see if anything would build from this “Post” about My company, my partners and myself in the last 6 months. It appears that much has been read by many people who “do not ” know me. Every single person has had a negative opinion about either my company, my partners or myself and in turn has cost me money.
That being said, allow me to start off by saying in the United States and in many countries around the world, truthful statements about another person are safe to publish. However, publishing outright lies with the intent to defame or injure the reputation of others is illegal. That is correct, Illegal. In the U.S., the victim of libel has the right to bring a civil lawsuit against the defamer. Such lawsuits are usually very expensive and not worth the effort for most people. If you find that someone has published untrue information about you online, there are less expensive and more effective ways to remove that false libelous information from the web.
I say that because although Steve does have some truth behind what he is saying, much of what he is saying is “False”. I am a nice guy and I can provide thousands of reputable references if needed. Just e-mail me at mike@decisiononesolutions.com and ask me for references. I have over 2200 friends on Facebook. username mikeybee21 and over 12,000 followers on twitter in just about 6 months time. I also have a group on facebook and a fan page with my business name ‘Decision One Solutions’ – 200 – 300 fans there. Many are customers leaving their feedback about our company and services provided.
So I sure hope that Steve will take down this post about My company, My business, My partners and myself because I am fully prepared to throw a “Law Suit” on Steve Rhodes. My attorney seems to believe that Verbal Slander and Defamation of Character are the charges.
But, I would rather “Not” do that and really ruin Steve Rhodes reputation.
Now , to my response to Steve
I only started in the industry of “debt settlement” as of January 1st, 2010. Prior to that I was a full time network marketer. “Now, why would Steve have to comment on that??” Doesn’t everyone that is or was involved in debt settlement have a past??? If I saw that I leader had experience in network marketing and if you google my accomplishments in network marketing, Steve, you will also find that I helped organizations of over 8,000 people and built a business in 15 countries. MLM is all about ‘HELPING PEOPLE” Steve. Just what we are doing here with Decision One Solutions.
Are you knocking MLM Steve ? Look at what Amway has done for people, they created many multi millionaires. many
Next Point – All of the video’s that Steve posted are OLD. I have to agree Steve, much of the content is not correct but there is much much worse out there to pick on out there. Many of my watchers feel that my video’s are professional and deliver some great information. I do appreciate you watching all my video’s and pointing out what time my bloopers were on. But again , ALL THE VIDEOS are old and I recorded them my first few weeks in the business. Of coarse I didn’t understand it all.
Next point – My company “Decision One Solutions” is a marketing company and in no way do we ever misrepresent our clients and allow them to think we are doing all the work
We do offer 5 products
1. Consumer Law which is not even close to Debt Settlement. The legal program is known as Consumer Law focusing on “debt verification†and “debt resolution†services. This is program whereby attorneys review the billing practices of consumers’ creditors and the debt collection activities of any third party that has purchased their information. In many cases equivocal fees and interest calculations affecting a consumer’s bill, as well as the aggressive debt collection practices being employed to collect on the consumer’s debts, are in violation of Federal consumer rights. All consumers have specific rights and the lawyers’ responsibilities are to see they are upheld. Attorneys well versed in consumer law will work diligently with each and every client to ensure their rights are protected.
This program happens to be extremely effective.
2. “No Up Front Fee” Home Loan Modification Program – If you can no longer afford to make your monthly loan payments, you may qualify for a loan modification to make your monthly mortgage payment more affordable. Millions of borrowers who are current, but having difficulty making their payments and borrowers who have already missed one or more payments may be eligible.
Our backend processing company has an A+ rating with the BBB , they work, with national organizations AARP, Workforce, Job Corps and Project Restore,10+ Years of Mortgage Industry knowledge, Customer Care hours of operation from 9am -8pm EST, plus the best part is that the program is truly a ” NO UP FRONT FEE PROGRAM ”
I can sleep at night knowing that we do not collect fees from a customer until we get a pre approval from the bank or lender. No other company can do that. Many Loan Mod companies are going under left and right so I can understand why Steve loves to bash this industry however there are good ones out there.
3. CCMS – Credit card management program – Basically , this is a program that we enroll customers into if they want to protect their credit and they want to pay their debt down in a shorter time. 90% of the time , we will allow our customers to make the decision with Consumer Law or CCMS. Sometimes , CCMS will not work for them if they are too far behind on their bills.
4. Credit Repair – The service Speaks for itself – yes Steve , we use Aggressive Credit Repair. Check out their website and view the video. They are the only company I know that only charges $59 per month and once you are happy, you can cancel. Most companies charge $1000-$1500 to repair credit and they do nothing and the customer is left stranded.
5. Auto Loan Modification – Our backend system here offers a money back guarantee. So, where is the catch Steve? Again – This is a different backend that we used before Steve wrote this article.
Next point – The picture of the website is “WRONG”
Next point – My business cards ??? How did you even gain access to that Steve ? That is only found from my sales agents and it is on a secure site????
Next point – The gathering customer video ???? – Show me where that one is PUBLIC ?????
Careful the information you take.
Next point – AKA – Mikey Bee – Yes – you got me there Steve. Thats me – Mikey Bee – Yes please please please google “Mikey Bee” and tell me what comes up???? Professional Poker player. Did you mention that too Steve ? Is that something that people should be “Aware” of about me???
Next Point and almost final point – This is all coming from a man who supports “Bankruptcy” for people with very very very little debt. Are you kidding me Steve???? Just because you publicly went BK, doesn’t mean that it is for everyone. Has anyone actually read some of his advice???
I would love to know how much you earn in Google Adsense each month promoting bankruptcy.
Steve is saying “Give up on everything you fought you whole life for ” because you have a little debt. Does Steve mention that you credit score will be crushed and you will NOT be able to buy anything worth buying for 10 years ???
Well folks , I can go on and on but I think I made my point
Steve , please either call me , be a man and interview me publicly or take this ridiculous post down.
Regards
Michael Basilicato
AKA – Mikey Bee
AKA – Mike basilicato
Decision One Solutions
AKA
Buzz Team Marketing Corp / Training
God Bless All
I would appreciate the chance to defend my company, my partners and myself. I sure hope that Steve allows this post to go through. I have waiting a few months to see if anything would build from this “Post” about My company, my partners and myself in the last 6 months. It appears that much has been read by many people who “do not ” know me. Every single person has had a negative opinion about either my company, my partners or myself and in turn has cost me money.
That being said, allow me to start off by saying in the United States and in many countries around the world, truthful statements about another person are safe to publish. However, publishing outright lies with the intent to defame or injure the reputation of others is illegal. That is correct, Illegal. In the U.S., the victim of libel has the right to bring a civil lawsuit against the defamer. Such lawsuits are usually very expensive and not worth the effort for most people. If you find that someone has published untrue information about you online, there are less expensive and more effective ways to remove that false libelous information from the web.
I say that because although Steve does have some truth behind what he is saying, much of what he is saying is “False”. I am a nice guy and I can provide thousands of reputable references if needed. Just e-mail me at mike@decisiononesolutions.com and ask me for references. I have over 2200 friends on Facebook. username mikeybee21 and over 12,000 followers on twitter in just about 6 months time. I also have a group on facebook and a fan page with my business name ‘Decision One Solutions’ – 200 – 300 fans there. Many are customers leaving their feedback about our company and services provided.
So I sure hope that Steve will take down this post about My company, My business, My partners and myself because I am fully prepared to throw a “Law Suit” on Steve Rhodes. My attorney seems to believe that Verbal Slander and Defamation of Character are the charges.
But, I would rather “Not” do that and really ruin Steve Rhodes reputation.
Now , to my response to Steve
I only started in the industry of “debt settlement” as of January 1st, 2010. Prior to that I was a full time network marketer. “Now, why would Steve have to comment on that??” Doesn’t everyone that is or was involved in debt settlement have a past??? If I saw that I leader had experience in network marketing and if you google my accomplishments in network marketing, Steve, you will also find that I helped organizations of over 8,000 people and built a business in 15 countries. MLM is all about ‘HELPING PEOPLE” Steve. Just what we are doing here with Decision One Solutions.
Are you knocking MLM Steve ? Look at what Amway has done for people, they created many multi millionaires. many
Next Point – All of the video’s that Steve posted are OLD. I have to agree Steve, much of the content is not correct but there is much much worse out there to pick on out there. Many of my watchers feel that my video’s are professional and deliver some great information. I do appreciate you watching all my video’s and pointing out what time my bloopers were on. But again , ALL THE VIDEOS are old and I recorded them my first few weeks in the business. Of coarse I didn’t understand it all.
Next point – My company “Decision One Solutions” is a marketing company and in no way do we ever misrepresent our clients and allow them to think we are doing all the work
We do offer 5 products
1. Consumer Law which is not even close to Debt Settlement. The legal program is known as Consumer Law focusing on “debt verification” and “debt resolution” services. This is program whereby attorneys review the billing practices of consumers’ creditors and the debt collection activities of any third party that has purchased their information. In many cases equivocal fees and interest calculations affecting a consumer’s bill, as well as the aggressive debt collection practices being employed to collect on the consumer’s debts, are in violation of Federal consumer rights. All consumers have specific rights and the lawyers’ responsibilities are to see they are upheld. Attorneys well versed in consumer law will work diligently with each and every client to ensure their rights are protected.
This program happens to be extremely effective.
2. “No Up Front Fee” Home Loan Modification Program – If you can no longer afford to make your monthly loan payments, you may qualify for a loan modification to make your monthly mortgage payment more affordable. Millions of borrowers who are current, but having difficulty making their payments and borrowers who have already missed one or more payments may be eligible.
Our backend processing company has an A+ rating with the BBB , they work, with national organizations AARP, Workforce, Job Corps and Project Restore,10+ Years of Mortgage Industry knowledge, Customer Care hours of operation from 9am -8pm EST, plus the best part is that the program is truly a ” NO UP FRONT FEE PROGRAM ”
I can sleep at night knowing that we do not collect fees from a customer until we get a pre approval from the bank or lender. No other company can do that. Many Loan Mod companies are going under left and right so I can understand why Steve loves to bash this industry however there are good ones out there.
3. CCMS – Credit card management program – Basically , this is a program that we enroll customers into if they want to protect their credit and they want to pay their debt down in a shorter time. 90% of the time , we will allow our customers to make the decision with Consumer Law or CCMS. Sometimes , CCMS will not work for them if they are too far behind on their bills.
4. Credit Repair – The service Speaks for itself – yes Steve , we use Aggressive Credit Repair. Check out their website and view the video. They are the only company I know that only charges $59 per month and once you are happy, you can cancel. Most companies charge $1000-$1500 to repair credit and they do nothing and the customer is left stranded.
5. Auto Loan Modification – Our backend system here offers a money back guarantee. So, where is the catch Steve? Again – This is a different backend that we used before Steve wrote this article.
Next point – The picture of the website is “WRONG”
Next point – My business cards ??? How did you even gain access to that Steve ? That is only found from my sales agents and it is on a secure site????
Next point – The gathering customer video ???? – Show me where that one is PUBLIC ?????
Careful the information you take.
Next point – AKA – Mikey Bee – Yes – you got me there Steve. Thats me – Mikey Bee – Yes please please please google “Mikey Bee” and tell me what comes up???? Professional Poker player. Did you mention that too Steve ? Is that something that people should be “Aware” of about me???
Next Point and almost final point – This is all coming from a man who supports “Bankruptcy” for people with very very very little debt. Are you kidding me Steve???? Just because you publicly went BK, doesn’t mean that it is for everyone. Has anyone actually read some of his advice???
I would love to know how much you earn in Google Adsense each month promoting bankruptcy.
Steve is saying “Give up on everything you fought you whole life for ” because you have a little debt. Does Steve mention that you credit score will be crushed and you will NOT be able to buy anything worth buying for 10 years ???
Well folks , I can go on and on but I think I made my point
Steve , please either call me , be a man and interview me publicly or take this ridiculous post down.
Regards
Michael Basilicato
AKA – Mikey Bee
AKA – Mike basilicato
Decision One Solutions
AKA
Buzz Team Marketing Corp / Training
God Bless All
Mike,If you’ve been watching the article for six months and you felt something was incorrect, why did you not speak up sooner to correct incorrect information?I don’t think you read the site review policy before holding it in for six months and then exploding. You might want to read this.Let me tackle your points one at a time.Your past in network marketing was an observation that you had come from a background that was not debt relief. “This debt relief company appears to have been created recently by someone with a background in network marketing and not debt relief.” That seems innocent enough. You are the only one that expanded that.The videos posted were available online at the time I wrote the article. I believe the overview videos came from YouTube. You said it yourself, “I have to agree Steve, much of the content is not correct but there is much much worse out there to pick on out there,” and “ALL THE VIDEOS are old and I recorded them my first few weeks in the business. Of coarse I didn’t understand it all.” If the picture of the website is wrong then why was there a whole website that looked like it at decisiononesolutions.com. You can find the archived copy of the pages from that site by clicking on the site archive link in the article. The archive contains eight pages from that site that appear with the same header.The business cards were found publicly online, I believe through the vendor site that printed them. They were online as a sample, and not behind a secured site.Which one is the “Gathering Customers” video? Is that the one I say in the article is from XanGo?Maybe you can help clear up some information I raised in the article. I could find no registered company under the name of Decision One Solutions registered in Pennsylvania where the domain name is registered. Where is the company registered?I think the rest of the points that I raised speak for themselves. They come directly from information you created for the public.What is there to defend? Explain maybe, but what accusations did I make about you besides observations about information you put out that was factually incorrect? This is information that sales reps and consumers were relying on at the time of the article.In your program overview you provided in your comment there are some other issues to consider.Consumer Law – There have been cases in the past year on this subject. The most prominent was the mess with CCDN and attorney Robert Lock. See Debt Relief Scam Network Hit With Racketeering RICO Lawsuit. The strategy you mention is not without problems.Home Loan Modifications – On loan modification, it is illegal in places to charge any fee based only on a “pre-approval” from a lender. Take California for example. The program you describe does not conform to SB94 and I can find no listing by the Attorney General that you are licensed to act as a modification consultant. The Attorney General site says “NO, “decision one solutions” is NOT a registered Foreclosure Consultant.” Readers can check this site. Similar issues in North Carolina and other states as well.You say, “My company “Decision One Solutions” is a marketing company and in no way do we ever misrepresent our clients and allow them to think we are doing all the work.” If you are not the provider of the services the provider should be listed to make sure consumers know they are working with companies in compliance. Speaking of underlying service provider issues, you need to be aware of the new FTC rules that say:”Even if you don’t directly sell or provide debt relief services, you may have obligations under the new Rule. Specifically, it’s illegal to provide “substantial assistance” to another company if you know they’re violating the Rule or if you remain deliberately ignorant of their actions. What amounts to substantial assistance depends on the facts. In the context of debt relief services, substantial assistance may include:- obtaining and selling leads – the contact information of potential customers – to other companies;- helping a debt relief company with its back-room operations, for example, by reviewing customer files, processing customers’ payments or contacting customers’ creditors once they’ve signed up; or- offering dedicated accounts to customers where they set aside the debt relief provider’s fees and funds for payments to creditors or debt collectors.If you work with debt relief companies, review their policies, procedures and operations to make sure they’re complying with the Rule. Willful ignorance isn’t a defense.”CCMS – This sounds like the other debt relief services and debt management services, if not operated by a bonafide nonprofit organization, will become illegal to charge any advance fee before the service is fully delivered. See the new FTC Telemarketing Sales Rules that cover these services. You might want to know that for-profit CCMS companies are now at great risk of class action suits as a result of this recent case. Auto Loan Modification – Same issue. It does not appear that you are aware that you are not operating in compliance with the new federal rules covering these debt relief activities. September 27, 2010 is the deadline for good faith estimates and according to the new FTC rules if the underlying providers you are using do not comply with the TSR then you, as a lead generator, may be fined up to $16,000 per violation. It’s something you should check on for compliance.Additionally the BBB has issued a consumer warning about auto loan modification services, see this. “Beware of Advance Fees. Large fees in advance should be considered a red flag even if the company claims to offer a money-back guarantee if they are unsuccessful. Some states do not allow companies to charge customers in advance for financial services including loan modification.”Credit Repair – Under CROA you may not charge a fee before the credit repair service has been fully performed, it is illegal, but it looks from the description of services there was a monthly fee.In closing you say, “Steve is saying “Give up on everything you fought you whole life for ” because you have a little debt. Does Steve mention that you credit score will be crushed and you will NOT be able to buy anything worth buying for 10 years.” Yet another factually incorrect statement. Credit after bankruptcy can be easily rebuilt and in fact people get offers for new credit immediately after discharge, which in the case of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, may be a few months after filing. If you follow a plan to establish good credit following bankruptcy car and home loans will be available within 1 to 3 years. In fact, this video by a lawyer goes into how bankruptcy can actually improve credit.
Just a side comment of Mike here wrapping himself in the flag of MLM (big red flag there), Amway’s claims are debatable at best (at what cost those “millionaires”?) and there’s a reason why Quatloos keeps an entire forum section on MLMs.
Thank You Steve
I sent you an e-mail personally
Please let me know if you received it
Mike,I see you filled out a reader Q&A form in which you made a number of points. I am not going to have an offline conversation about this. You publicly thank me and then fill out a form saying that you feel I’ve treated you unfair here. It just seems like a duplicitous approach. You said in the reader form you filled out:”There are many many things you mention that are not even fair. Like your MLM comments??Come on Steve, honestly, what does my MLM history have to do with my business? You did that because you know most people have a bad taste about MLM and then they would look at me as some hot shot sales person.”See my previous comment to you in which I addressed the point. I made one reference to it in my review. If you look at the story and the comments, you are the one that keeps talking about it.For the sake of this discussion I’ll repeat exactly what I original said, “This debt relief company appears to have been created recently by someone with a background in network marketing and not debt relief.” That’s not a slam about network marketing. It’s an observation that you did not have experience in the debt relief industry before starting this operation. When getting into the debt relief business, an awareness of marketing is good, no experience in the debt relief industry, is bad.”I am asking you one more time, privatly and nicely. Please take it down. Not even so much for my sake. One of my agents lost a few sales because of this article and now she is getting evicted from her home. She is a single mom with 4 kids. My business is legit. I have enrolled many people through our Consumer Law product. Our back end system are all A+ with the BBB and I choose not to disclose that publicly unless you are a client.”Mike, if one of your agents lost a few sales because of this article, it is not the fault of the article, it’s yours. The original review gave you an opportunity to fix what was broken and to address the issues that needed attention in order to make your business better. Instead you say that rather than rapidly take action to fix what was broken, “I have waiting a few months to see if anything would build from this “Post” about My company, my partners and myself in the last 6 months.”Decision One Solutions has no BBB rating and you won’t even talk about the other companies involved. Not a confidence builder for anyone reading this.Instead of commenting about how you’ve addressed issues and make things better, which would inspire potential customers, you attacked and threatened to “…really ruin Steve Rhodes reputation.” If potential customers of your agent are going to be turned off about anything, in my experience, it’s going to be how you’ve handled this with threats of lawsuits, ruining reputations, and your other accusations. Who wants to do business with an organization like that?In the form you filled out you also said:”[1]. Steve, I do not know you and I honestly feel that you do have a heart. [2]. Please take this article down right away. [3]. As far as my business being registered, You will find it herehttp://appext9.dos.state.ny.us/corp_public/CORPSEARCH.ENTITY_INFORMATION?p_nameid=3961494&p_corpid=3969205&p_entity_name=%64%65%63%69%73%69%6F%6E%20%6F%6E%65%20%73%6F%6C%75%74%69%6F%6E%73&p_name_type=%41&p_search_type=%42%45%47%49%4E%53&p_srch_results_page=0[4]. I am in NY. The owner is not listed as me because I am a Branch under Mike Schmid. [5]. Also you will notice that they just recently registered the name. not sure why. [6]. I did not get into this industry to screw people and you know that there are some good companies out there. “Let me respond to these in order. 1. I do have a heart and I do have compassion. If I didn’t I would not be taking all this time pointing out what YOU need to fix in order for you to run a better operation. If I didn’t have a heart I would not have allowed you to post your point of view and speak your mind. If I didn’t have heart I would not work as hard as I do to protect consumers from companies that appear to either not know what they are doing or taking advantage of people.2. No.3. Super, the business is registered in New York. My article was in March, the company was registered in July. What I said was true, at the time of the article the company was not a registered business. And if you are just a branch under Decision One Solutions and don’t even own the name, that’s a bit of a risk representing this is your company, when in fact it’s not. It’s even more perplexing when the “parent” company has no website I can find and the only listings I can find for Decision One Solutions in Hauppauge, it’s registered address, are for sales rep jobs. In fact I can’t find a single reference to a Michael Schmid at Decision One Solutions on Google at all.4. You say you are in New York but the domain name is registered to a ZURVITA, RR7 Box 7420, Stroudsburg, PA. So if you are in New York, what’s the New York business address of your branch office?And if you are in New York, are you aware it is illegal to operate as a debt relief/budget planning business without being registered with the state banking department? I’m looking at the list of licensed debt relief providers in New York and your company is not listed as licensed or registered. See this list from the State of New York Banking Department. And that’s just in New York, many states have individual licensing and bonding requirements before doing business in those states. What states are you registered in for debt relief services?5. Not sure why either. Frankly, that was sloppy to not be registered or appropriately licensed before doing business.6. I never said you got into the business to screw people. But if you want to NOT screw people you need to be licensed, regulated, bonded, insured, and comply with the FTC TSR coming into force. You also need to show people you understand the debt relief industry and not just marketing debt relief stuff someone else told you about. By your own admission the original videos were full of errors and you said “I have to agree Steve, much of the content is not correct but there is much much worse out there to pick on out there,” and “ALL THE VIDEOS are old and I recorded them my first few weeks in the business. Of coarse I didn’t understand it all.” In conclusion, the mark of a good company is not if they made mistakes, but how they responded to them. And rather than be angry with me, start focusing your energy in getting your business compliant so you and your agents can avoid the $16,000 FTC fines, per occurrence, that go into force on September 27, 2010 for not complying with the new debt relief sales rules.Steve
Mike,
Thought you’d be interested in this settlement announced today by the FTC against this credit repair operation. See Clean Credit Report Services Loses Big to FTC.
From the release:
“The settlement order bars Clean Credit and its owners from making misrepresentations about any good or service, such as the ability to improve a consumer’s creditworthiness or remove negative information from a consumer’s credit report. The order also prohibits Clean Credit from charging money up-front for credit repair services, and from collecting payments from consumers who purchased its services before October 22, 2008, when the court froze the defendants’ assets, including their bank accounts.”
Steve
Thank You Steve
Mike, your posting “Consumer Law which is not even close to Debt Settlement. The legal program is known as Consumer Law focusing on “debt verification” and “debt resolution” services” but on your website under link “Consumer Law” it states:
How does our program work?
Our services are comprised of a network of attorneys that will renegotiate your current financial obligations with your creditors for a lesser amount then you currently owe. So I am curious how is that different from debt settlement?
Joe,
Good catch. You are right, the description on the Decision One site about their Consumer Law service is confusing and seems to mix two different approaches. Paragraph one focuses on verification but paragraph two and three read like traditional debt settlement? And if the approach is really a mixture of the two, is this the discredited Hess-Kennedy approach all over again?
The site says:
“The legal program is known as Consumer Law focusing on “debt verification” and “debt resolution” services. This is program whereby attorneys review the billing practices of consumers’ creditors and the debt collection activities of any third party that has purchased their information. In many cases equivocal fees and interest calculations affecting a consumer’s bill, as well as the aggressive debt collection practices being employed to collect on the consumer’s debts, are in violation of Federal consumer rights. All consumers have specific rights and the lawyers’ responsibilities are to see they are upheld. Attorneys well versed in consumer law will work diligently with each and every client to ensure their rights are protected.
How does our program work?
Our services are comprised of a network of attorneys that will renegotiate your current financial obligations with your creditors for a lesser amount then you currently owe. Your monthly payment is based upon your income and financial status. If you are interested in speaking with one of our qualified staff members please fill out the inquiry form and we will set up a confidential no obligation phone call to discuss the benefits of the program.
While the negotiation process is taking place the client will be making monthly payments into their third party FDIC insured account. These funds will be used for future negotiations on the client’s behalf. During this process the client’s credit will be adversely affected. However, most of our clients who qualify for Debt Resolution already have a credit score that is being adversely affected due to being behind on payments, late on payments, or from being overextended with to much debt. After completion of the program the client will be on the road to a credit worthy debt free future.”
Joe,If you want to get even more confused the Consumer Law FAQ refers to the process as Debt Settlement.“How long does the debt settlement program take to complete?The length of time to complete your program will depend on the amount of your current debt and the amount of time you take to fund your trust or escrow account. Debt Settlement can usually eliminate your unsecured debt within 12-36 months.”And you’ll love this nugget on the FAQ page as well. I bet you’ll have a response to this one.“Are my creditors going to continue to call me?Your creditors are immediately notified by a Power of Attorney letter and Cease and Desist order, that you are a client of the law firm and all correspondence shall go through them. In the event that a creditor(s) still persist in calling, you are provided a log sheet and are asked to record these calls for a short period of time. The law firm will use this record against the creditor to order them to stop.”
sounds exactly like a debt settlement procedure to me Steve. I like how some companies are trying to reword what they do or can do for consumers in debt. “Debt Validation, Debt Verification, Debt Negotiation, Debt Resolution, Debt Elimination, blah blah… bottomline they are trying to reach a settlement with a consumers creditor on behalf of the consumers so in plain english its a Settlement Program lol.
Mike, after finishing your posting on how you are a nice guy and have thousands of references to support it is great and I am sure you are a very nice guy who feels or believe you are helping consumers out with your programs. But lets not forget why these consumers fell into this mess the first round, its because there was no transparency when they had applied for a credit card. The creditors did a great job wording their contract agreement that even a college student can’t even understand and having to leave up to lawyers to decipher for them. Transparency should include in your program crystal clear that you are attempting to get in the middle between the client and their creditor to work out a new arrangement to repay back the debt. With the new TSR ruling, you have to becareful and be clear as to not mislead or confuse your clients as to what you are offering them. When you say “Debt Verification” so you are saying your service is there to make sure the client did not accumulated the debt on their own and having the creditors prove that the client indeed made a purchase using the creditors card issued? The industry has a if not 2 big black eyes, I think this is the starting point to show the consumers there is legitimate help out especially during these times of hardship. You also pointed out that Steve should take down the post because because it is making you lose business and one of your sales rep is having trouble producing because this blog has brought FACTs to the table that is scaring the consumers off and your rep with 4 kids is about to be evicted. I understand your concern for your rep, however do you have concerns about other consumers you sign on if not done correctly can also get wages garnished, possible eviction from home or rent, being sued, bank account levied and judgements being placed? You took a responsibility to help consumers get out of debt the best way possible so I am sorry about your rep but your priority should be your CLIENTS COMES FIRST not your sales floor.
Mike,
You have, perhaps unwittingly, chosen the worst time to cut your teeth in this industry due to the following:
Hyper sensitive state a federal regulatory scrutiny of those profiting off the woes of the financially disadvantaged (whose numbers have increased dramatically in the past 3 years).
New laws affecting how a marketer of debt relief services can represent their wares and delaying compensation for most.
New laws affecting how a debt relief service provider (back end) can represent their wares and delaying compensation for most.
Costly fines of up to 16k for violations of new laws which can reach every person/company in the transaction chain for one single new customer.
Marketing costs which have not yet decreased to the level that reflect the new operational realities in this space.
If your company is simply offering to settle debts, clean up your message by the end of this month, be sure that your back end servicers are credible and good at what they do and have clean operations, put your head down and go to work. In 6-8 months you should be able to look up, see the fruits of your efforts start to materialize and be proud of the work you do.
That’s my one cent worth – Deflation and all…
Just the fact that FTC has highlighted its ILLEGAL to collect Fees Upfront should be scary enough let alone $16,000(wish we can bold that) fine per violations. Everyone is now linked, from lead vendors down to front end sales down to backend processors. Goodluck and Becareful, customer comes first and customer is now protected with full force.