22 thoughts on “The Elusive USOBA Membership List Made Public”

1. Looking at your list, I can see the criticisms are dead on. Just looking at a few… Vortex Media Group is “a publishing group of automotive related enthusiast websites.” Sheesh, the URL is right there; it took me two seconds to find that out.

   “ResQDebt – greenfieldfinancial.com” — the domain’s for sale, dude. “doccusign.com” doesn’t even resolve. debtsolutionsnetwork.com has been “disabled.”

   Affnet is a lead-gen company. So is QuinStreet, and in a later post you hold them up as a “debt relief company.” Since when? A glance at their website identifies them as “an online vertical marketer in financial services.”

   Intermark Media? Nope. And you link it to a page on your website that doesn’t exist. Did you even try to vet this list? Sorry, Ahab, but you’ll have to find some other way to harpoon that white whale.

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   • As I said this list was from a previous point in time. If you have a current list, please provide it. I am not surprised some of these companies have gone out of business or changed markets. More will.

     Steve

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     • Well, no. Affnet and QuinStreet haven’t “changed markets” — they were never IN that market. I’m in that industry and that much I can tell you.

       I certainly don’t have the list, but has it occurred to you that whoever supplied it was… having you on?

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       • Then how do you not know they were never registered with AADMO or USOBA and a participating vendor?

         Steve

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2. how about you check the websites listed? the bottom two dont even resolve to a website anymore.

   Trying to rank in the Serps for all of these companies for the google adsense revenue huh. Too much work to visit the sites of these alleged members? Rather spend the time doing the extra keyword linking to get this site ranked for more terms? More terms = more visitors = more adsense money from the very scam you are “exposing”. Got to love America, great country we live in.

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   • As I said, this list was at some point in time. I have even submitted the list to USOBA asking them to confirm or correct membership.

     Do you know for certain that the companies you refer to were not members or only that the sites are not working. If my list is in error, help me correct it.

     Steve

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3. And surprise, the executive director of USOBA, Jenna Keehan, has ignored yet another request for the current membership listing. So I’m trying a different approach based on previous statements from others that have said they have not had any problems confirming membership with USOBA, I have sent USOBA the list above and asked them to either confirm or deny membership of the listed entities.

   As always, if anyone knows of an addition or subtraction to this list, please let me know in the comments.

   Steve

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4. Steve,

   There are allot of people out there that you are uneducated and laugh at you. Just a matter of time for you website banned from the web.

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5. Saying you don’t have the time to click 3-4 links in your adwords interface is a joke. The reason you wont do it is because your click revenue from Google will dramatically drop.

   See debt consolidation companies pay lots of money for advertising. Steve writes a lot about this, advertising such as the google adwords all over this website, which ironically ranks very well for the companies Steve slanders. One can make the argument that Steve’s real motive is to sensationalize a story about a company or an individual in hopes of ranking well for that company’s or persons name in Google. He also works hard to rank for generic terms like debt help, debt settlement, etc.. in hopes of getting users ot his site to ultimately click on his ads. Those who Steve has slandered you might want to click his ads from Google so that his payouts per click drop due to poor quality clicks coming off his website.

   In the end remember Steve is only writing about this stuff to increase his own revenue to his site, he obviously only earns a living from the advertising on this site, otherwise Steve would be on welfare or flipping burgers at mcdonalds.

   Flame away Steve, i know and you know that you can easily monitor the ads on your site but those other ads generate little income to you. FYI ill be clicking your ads everyday, when your earnings per click drop youll know why. Ill stop clicking when you stop showing ads from companies you claim rip people off.

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   • Sergey,

     Are you a friend of Vince and Phil?

     I’m not sure what 3 or 4 clicks you mention. It takes much more than that to deal policing and blocking each company. I don’t have time to deal with that.

     For some the earth is still flat, for others they know it is round. You are welcome to your version of reality, and I’ve published your opinion, but that does not make it true.

     May I suggest if you disagree with what I write about that you constructively engage in a discussion about the post you object to rather than just taking wild swings at me.

     Steve

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6. You do have control over the ads Google presents. As a website owner you can easily screen the ads that you want, the types of ads you want, and even companies that you want to remove from the list.

   Your claim is patently false and since you seem so savvy with SEO I would consider it a fraudulent and misleading claim. You are no better than any of the “scame artists” that you claim to object to.

   Also, as stated in the testimony it is USOBA’s policy to verify membership. Should I even ask if you’ve bothered to try?

   PS. At least one of the companies on your list is a webhosting company and has nothing to do with debt settlement. Can you name it, dear whistleblower? Also, one of the companies you list with a website is clearly a car enthusiast website, also having nothing to do with debt settlement.

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   • Curious why the same comment came from Vince and Phil. Confusing.

     Steve

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7. Over the last few months I have been reading your blogs. Although some are pretty entertaining, I can see that you don’t let facts get in the way of a scathing article. It is now abundantly clear to me that you do not even attempt to verify information before blogging, but this list might take the cake. I like that you say it is from a USOBA member “with a soul”. I can’t verify that, but they definitely have a sense of humor… and you fell for it.

   This list must be from 2005 or around there as most of these entities are long gone; some I can’t find any evidence they ever existed. Some aren’t even in the debt space. I think I recognize about 10 from recent conferences I attended, but it was a real treat to take this walk down memory (make believe) lane.

   It must really stink to think of yourself as ‘whistle blower’ just to find out you’ve been huffing on a kazoo (handed to you by a USOBA member “with a soul”).

   I also find it quite funny that you are trying to take a stab at the industry as “dirty” when you are making a buck on google ads that highlight a bunch of debt settlement companies…some of which were named specifically in the congressional hearing.

   To what aims are you publishing a list that may or may not be accurate?

   I see your response to Russell Graves of CC&BC seems to indicate that you are not clear what this list is. I consider it irresponsible to be publishing your supposed list of factual information when you do not appear to have done any fact-checking!

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   • As I mentioned, I have requested a current list from USOBA on many occasions. This is the only list I was able to access that was given to me from another source as a USOBA member list from the past few years. I said the list may be mingled with AADMO and I said I was not sure at what point in time the list was from.

     I would welcome any current USOBA member, including yourself, to forward me a current membership copy and I’d definitely give you a thumbs up and pat on the back.

     I have no control over the ads Google presents. I cover all of that in the site terms.

     Seriously, what’s the purpose of having a secret USOBA society? How does that make USOBA credible when TASC is open and transparent about their membership?

     If the list in not accurate today, then why not be part of the solution and help me correct anything you see is in error.

     Steve

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     • You do have control over the ads Google presents. As a website owner you can easily screen the ads that you want, the types of ads you want, and even companies that you want to remove from the list.

       Your claim is patently false and since you seem so savvy with SEO I would consider it a fraudulent and misleading claim. You are no better than any of the “scame artists” that you claim to object to.

       Also, as stated in the testimony it is USOBA’s policy to verify membership. Should I even ask if you’ve bothered to try?

       PS. At least one of the companies on your list is a webhosting company and has nothing to do with debt settlement. Can you name it, dear whistleblower?

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       • Dear Phil/Vince,

         I let Google display whatever ads they feel are relevant based on page content. I just simply don’t have time to weed out individual companies. That would take time away from writing and research.

         If someone comes and reads my warnings about a particular company and then wants to click on an ad for that company, there is only so much I can do. Your statement calling me a scam seems a bit like criticizing a newspaper for publishing an ad for cigarettes when it is read by someone that does not smoke but might if they see the ad.

         Yes, I have tried repeatedly and have made multiple requests for a current membership list. I’ll even request another one from the USOBA Executive Director right now in your name.

         Do you have a current list you can send me? That would be a big help. I welcome you to be part of the solution.

         Steve

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8. This article and its author need to get their facts straight before they distribute false info. There are several companies on this list that are not USOBA members and I can name another 10 that are members and not on this list.

   I dont know what the purpose of this PR is?

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   • Stan,

     If you have additions or subtractions to the list, please post them in the comments. Since USOBA won’t come clean with a current list maybe we can all help each other to figure it out from this old one.

     Steve

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9. Steve,

   I was extremely concerned to find Consumer Credit and Budget Counseling (www.cc-bc.com), of Marmora, New Jersey on your published list of USOBA members. Consumer Credit and Budget Counseling (“CC&BC”) is NOT a member of USOBA, has NEVER been a member of USOBA, and will NEVER be a member of USOBA. CC&BC is a NON-PROFIT credit counseling organization that is licensed and bonded in multiple states, Accredited by the Council on Accreditation and has an A+ rating at the Better Business Bureau. CC&BC has been thoroughly reviewed by the IRS, HUD, the US Department of Justice, EOUST, and various states to provide Credit and Budget Counseling for those individuals seeking assistance. CC&BC’s inclusion on this list is very troublesome for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it puts CC&BC in the undesirable company of Debt Settlement Agencies. Consumer Credit and Budget Counseling does not condone the practices of the Debt Settlement industry as we, far too often, find ourselves trying to pick up the pieces of the clients who have had their finances destroyed by Debt Settlement providers.

   I RESPECTFULLY REQUEST THAT YOU IMMEDIATELY REMOVE CC&BC’s NAME FROM THE USOBA MEMBERSHIP LIST YOU PREVIOUSLY POSTED AND ISSUE A RETRACTION/CORRECTION VISIBLE ENOUGH FOR READERS OF YOUR BLOG TO CONCLUDE THAT THERE WAS AN ERROR.

   Russell Graves,
   Executive Director
   Consumer Credit and Budget Counseling, Inc

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   • Russell,

     Were you ever a guest at a USOBA meeting or attend a meeting? Could that explain how you wound up on the list?

     Steve

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10. The USOBA dude’s response to the Senator about publishing the list of USOBA members amounting to publishing a subpoena hit list followed by her response of “probably a genuine concern” can only lead one to think there are subpoenas sitting in a nice neat stack on someones desk all filled out and ready to go. They just have not been served yet (or maybe some have).

    The last several years has seen a fantastic campaign by TASC & USOBA to promote membership with themselves as a standard for market share and credibility.

    Who would have thought that membership in these groups would ultimately be the epitome of painting a bulls-eye on yourself?

    The Bulb

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