“Dear Steve,
My husband decided to settle approx $45K in credit card debt with the J Hass Group and we have several issues that we need help with:
1). They took our case without having our credit accounts in R-9 status (sent to 3rd party collectors) which is the only time they can help since the creditors won’t work with them directly.
2). My name was on 2 of the 3 higher balanced accounts and I didn’t sign anything! I would never have agreed to this if I knew everything about it!
3). We were able to pay the entire agreement within 4 months of the program with the understanding that they could then negotiate our debts and that is not true. We were very mislead!
4). They have our money and won’t give it back (approx. $25K!)
5). We need to get our money returned in order to pay our creditors now to avoid bankruptcy, wage garnishment, being sued etc…
6). We have until the end of August to negotiate the debt before it goes to a 3rd party collector and would like to avoid that!
7). They “sold” it to us as they would protect us legally and that is a lie!
8). Our credit is SHOT and we need to work quickly to repair it since we have a move coming with my husband’s company in the next year so that we can qualify for a mortgage!
PLEEEEEEZE HELP!!! I’ve contacted the Missouri State Bar Assoc., the Missouri Attorney General’s Office and a local Attorney last week and am waiting to learn about my rights legally but am desperate for an answer about what I can do!! Please help me!
What are my legal rights at this point and what should I do to get our money back?
Jennifer”
Dear Jennifer,
I am shocked they would negotiate on your behalf or represent you when you have notified them you did not authorize them to.
I’d suggest you start with this process, “How to Get Out of a Debt Settlement Program and Get a Big Refund“. In addition I would suggest that because of the limited time and need to get your money back that you contact a local attorney to represent you in this matter and contact J Hass Group for a quick refund.
I will add Jeremy Hass on this post and ask him to please review this post so he sees what is going on and can comment. Please be sure to update the comments section to let us all know what is going on.
It might just be that you will have to seek bankruptcy protection if the J Hass Group does not refund your money in a timely fashion. In that case I would expect the bankruptcy trustee to go after J Hass Group for the return of the funds in order to distribute them to your creditors.
Please update me on your progress by
You are not alone. I'm here to help. There is no need to suffer in silence. We can get through this. Tomorrow can be better than today. Don't give up. Do you have a question you'd like to ask me for free? Go ahead and click here.
Jennifer
I am truly hopeful that Mr Jeff Hass does what he told you he would.
In my case I did try the professional approach with JHG. That was over 8 months ago & it got me no where.
Please do me one favor, in spreading the word about debt settlement to individuals. Please read my post on 08/05/2010 regarding the statements Mr Jeff Hass made in this newspaper article. People can review the article & compare the statements made on the JHG website, then decide on their own if this company is legitimate.
Thank You & good luck
Update:
As of today I viewed my bank account and noted that there was a refund of $499 and some change to my bank account from Noteworld. I know that I had approx. $519 (and rec. validation of that from both Noteworld and the JHG) in that account, so I’m unsure of what happened to the remaining balance.
Just wanted to give an update…
At this moment in time (Friday, August 6th, 2010 at 5:07 pm) we are actually behind $2662 and some change…I think $.40. We are supposed to be getting the reserves of our Noteworld account in the amount of $519 (or so) soon, although at this moment that has not arrived at my bank. Once that arrives in my bank account I will update my status and at that time will be behind $2143.12. I will also update as to my status with the JHG looking into returning the remaining funds.
Jennifer
The JHG lies right from the begining.
When signing up for their program none of my accounts were behind.
Knowing I was getting nowhere & could only make my min. payments for a short time longer. They instructed me not to make further payments to my creditors.
Of course they denie that they would ever tell a customer not to make payments to creditors. *See other related articles to read above (Guardian Referal Network & J. Hass Group slammed in article).
Mr Jeff Hass quoted in this article that they would never tell a customer not to make payments to creditors.
Look at my comment on this article. The JHG on their website clearly tell customers they need to stop paying creditors. They know full well by doing this, your debts will sky rocket due to penalties & interest.
The whole company is a scam, why else would they change the name so many times.
The J. Hass Group, JDH & associates, JHG, American Debtsettlement Group, etc.
Don’t trust Noteworld either, sure I read they are currently named in a class action suit.
AND BY THE WAY…PLEASE TELL “JEREMY” THAT THERE ARE “HIGHER AUTHORITIES” THAN YOU (STEVE) LOOKING INTO THIS…EVER HEARD OF THE FTC, ATTORNEY GENERALS BOTH IN THE STATE OF MO AND AZ, THE BBB, BARR ASSOCIATIONS, STATE REPRESENTATIVES…LOCAL ATTORNEYS SPECIALIZING IN THESE SCAMS…THE NEWS MEDIA??? I WILL GO TO WHATEVER LENGTHS NECESSARY TO GET ALL OF MY MONEY, SO YOU MAY AS WELL GIVE IT BACK NOW TO AVOID EXPENSIVE FEES BOTH LITERALLY AND IN THE FORM OF INVESTIGATIONS WHICH WILL OVERRIDE ANY PROFIT YOU COULD MAKE FROM ME!! JEREMY, GIVE US OUR MONEY BACK.
I KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT LAW TO KNOW THAT OVER $20K IN FRAUD IS NO LONGER A CIVIL ISSUE…THE FEDS CARE ABOUT THAT! AS MANY PEOPLE AS THEY HAVE SCAMMED I’M SURE GO ABOVE AND BEYOND THAT AMOUNT! I BET JUST FROM THE PEOPLE ON THIS SITE WE COULD GET A FEDERAL CASE!
JEREMY HASS…PAY-UP WHAT WE RIGHTFULLY DESERVE AND MAYBE SOMEDAY WITH WORK AND LITTLE “SMACK” ACROSS YOUR SMUG (AND PROBABLY LAZER-PEELED AND MANICURED) FACE, YOU WILL ACTUALLY RUN A LEGITIMATE BUSINESS…DON’T RUIN IT FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR EMPLOYEES BY JACKING AROUND TAKING $1000 HERE OR $10K THERE FROM TRUSTING AND HONEST PEOPLE IN A BIND LOOKING FOR HELP WHILE YOU HANG OUT ON YOUR BOAT ON THE WEEKENDS LIVING THE GOOD LIFE ON FRAUDULENT MONEY AND “LOOPHOLES” IN THE LAW!!! IT WILL CATCH UP WITH YOU…EVER HEAR OF KARMA!!!
I just want to say that the above post (and a few other posts which come across as less factual and more emotional) were made when I was in a state of panic and anger of the situation and were my opinions at the time of “passion” of the situation. I believe that the best approach is always to remain as professional as possible at all times being as factual as possible as the information is given to you. I started out like that but I lost my cool for sure.
I have never personally met Jeremy Hass and don’t know anything about him personally. It was wrong to make the above statements out of anger and frustration. I have no idea what he does or doesn’t do in his personal time and have no idea if he even owns “a boat”! In addition, it was wrong of me to indicate that the JHG is not a legitimate business since I’m sure they’ve helped certain people in the program. Just because it wasn’t the best situation for us doesn’t mean that others may not benefit from the program.
After contacting JHG today, it is clear that they are willing to work with me through this situation in a professional manner. Jeff Hass has contacted me personally to assure me that we will solve this in an amicable fashion and that is reassuring to me as a customer. I will share my personal success in solving this amicably with Jeff Hass on this blog so that the rest of the individuals on here who doubt will rest-assured their case will be managed professionally by JHG.
To anyone who is reading this, let me say again that it’s always best to remain professional and factual as much as is possible in these kind of situations for optimum results. I assure you that if you do remain professional and factual you will have the optimum results and your situation will be solved professionally and amicably.
Again, I apologize for my inappropriate and unprofessional posts.
Jennifer
Sorry to hear you sold out to the JHG.
Some of your recent comments almost sound like you are a paid representative for their company.
What happenend since your comment about them making pepoles lives miserable?
I understand you are desparate to get your money back from them, but…
Please have the decency not to mislead other individuals for your own benefit.
If I never get my money back it will be worth it.
If I can help just a few people from experiencing the same situation with the JHG as I did.
Terry,
From my very first post all I said was that I wanted my money back. I don’t have the time, energy or money to go on a personal quest or make a business out of this experience.
Ultimately, charity begins at home and all I want is my money for my first priority…my family. I will, however do my very best to make sure that I spread the word about the fact that 1). You can settle your credit card debts on your own (which I did not know until after the fact!) 2). If you *think* you need help from an outside source, slow down, take your time and talk to as many experts as possible in the fields of finance, credit and law before signing ANYTHING! and 3). It’s like getting a major surgery from the first doctor you talk to! Get at least 3 viable “helpers” and get all the pieces of info you can…BBB rating, suits filed, customer names and contact info etc. etc.
Also, as they say…”you catch more flies with honey!” Being professional is always best no matter what! Remember to “walk softly and carry a big stick”!!! I believe that was a Winston Churchill quote…maybe Teddy Roosevelt, either way it’s something to live by and in conjunction with quote #1 it does work wonders!
Thanks for your input!
Hi Steve:
Another update…
Our “customer service” person(s) are lying and I have proof via an e-mail. My “customer service” agent told me that he and his supervisor personally contacted the company which holds our reserves, “Noteworld”, requesting that the account be closed and our reserves transferred back to our account.
I called Noteworld Customer Service today to check on that and the supervisor that I spoke with said that their turn-around for notations on their accounts is 48 hours. JHG was supposed to have contacted Noteworld Friday and Monday…today is Thursday, which is obviously longer than 48 hours! THERE IS NO RECORD OF JHG CONTACTING NOTEWORLD WHATSOEVER!!!
Here’s the part that I still can’t believe is legal…my name is on 2 of the cards and I neither verbally or physically signed anything stating that this is what I wanted!!! How is that legal?? Further, they provided ZERO service for us and AGGRESSIVELY took on our business, with false and misleading information, when my husband called to discuss OPTIONS since he was under the impression they were there to help people! They KNEW we were not at a place where they could “help” even though we specifically asked about paying the account off early and when we asked about early payment never mentioned that if we paid the agreement off before our accounts went into collections that they were of no use and offer no legal protection from being sued, wage garnishment etc.
By the way, I was able to settle 2 of my accounts for 30% and the other (which never should have been in the program at all, in contrast to the “adviser’s” sales pitch, since it only had around a $4K balance which we could have paid off, I have paid that account in full but since it had been 5 months since a payment was made (since JHG told us to stop taking their calls and ignore the statements) they closed the account which will ding our credit. That was so unnecessary since when we entered the program the account was only a month behind…this one could have actually been used to help our credit and now, even though it’s paid in full, will show as 5 months of late pays and a closed account.
They are scam artists!!!
Steve: If the claim by Jennifer that we took $25,0000 and won’t give it back was true, there would be need for response to a higher authority than you. Rest assured, however, we do know libel and unlicensed practice of law when we see it.
Jeremy,
Thank you for responding and addressing Jennifer’s issue but I’m confused by your comment, how did Jennifer engage in the unauthorized practice of law? From her comment above it seems she is happy that she has received all but $3,000 back and hopefully you are communicating with her to help resolve the remaining issue.
You will see that I did suggest to her to contact J Hass Group to deal with her complaint directly. Moving forward, is there a preferred contact there for consumers that have an issue?
Thank you again, your attention and direct responses have been helpful in the past in other situations and ultimately we both want the same thing, for them to be resolved.
Steve
Steve,
thank you and please let me just remind the JHG that all we want is our money back! Give it back and we will move on!
Jennifer,
Has anyone from J Hass Group contacted you with an explanation why they held $3,000 back?
Steve
Steve,
They are trying to keep what they consider to be some of their “fees” for their “services” although they’ve done nothing. They say they have to take 8-10 business days to review it but won’t guarantee some or any of the money will be returned!
Jennifer,
At this point my vote would be to slow down and give them ten days from the day they said they needed ten days. If you are unhappy with their response at that time then you have options to pursue your claim.
Has it been ten days yet since they told you that?
Steve
It’s obvious that the M.O. here is to take “a little” (from a legal perspective) from each customer who, in my observation, has been scammed into this deal and realizes it, all with the knowledge that as long as it goes under a certain amount you’ll avoid major run-ins with law suits and governmental entities. Basically, you do nothing to help and in many ways do more damage, then make an easy $1K-$15K based on taking advantage of people who looked to your company for help.
In our case, it was medical debts and a child with special needs which insurance would not cover, not fancy vacations and diamonds. That in culmination with other circumstances lead us to seek immediate “help”. That $3000 that you owe us will go to help our son…not a trip to Cabo!!! Please give us our money back!!!
Jennifer,
I’m not saying your request is unreasonable and i sense you are impatient. It is just my opinion but I think you need to allow them the days they said they needed to review the matter so you can appear to be reasonable. If they don’t agree to return the money at the end of ten days, then we can deal with that then.
Does that sound like a fair approach?
Steve
Steve,
Yes that sounds reasonable. Thanks for calming me down…it’s just that when it comes to my kids I will fight for them and this money represents something that I want to improve my son’s quality of life and future. I feel like they are attacking my baby, ya know??
Jennifer,
I totally understand. Giving them the time they asked for to review your request allows you to appear to be reasonable if you decide to pursue your complaints elsewhere. A good result is they decide to refund the $3,000 after careful consideration. A less fortunate result is they don’t. in that case you are not harmed in any way by waiting for a decision and can pursue your claim.
What day is the ten days up on?
Steve
Hello Steve,
Since I would like to get back onto more of a “professional” level with getting my money back from the JHG and working with them, I would like to see if I can remove some of my posts which I feel got off track onto an emotional/personal level. With a desire to keep this professional can I please have some of my posts removed? If you can contact me I will let you know which of the posts I would like to have removed. THanks for your previous advice of “calming down”
Jennifer
Jennifer,
My opinion is to leave them. JHG already got them by email since they are subscribed to the comments on this post. I don’t think your initial response was unexpected, many feel the same way. Readers of the comments will see you went from rage to panic to taking a deep breath. It also shows you were willing to be reasonable and step back to let the process work.
Steve
Steve,
Just a quick question about credit reporting/credit worthiness in my situation…
Since we got out of the program after only 4 months and they never settled any of our debts and we directly settled all of the debts with the creditors ourselves, what will be the backlash to our credit report? Will our credit report show something like “credit counseling” or 3rd party intervention of some kind? Can you give me a hint as to what we are in for credit-wise in the longer-term? Thanks!
Steve,
Steve,
It has been roughly a week since we first decided we wanted out. As my above post mentions, the immediacy is for funds for our son. That $3K could go a long way with his medical interventions which aren’t covered by insurance! That’s why we’re in this mess to begin with! I will try to calm down, but I’m just so blazing mad and want that money for my family!
I have also been mislead by J hass and they took 3800 dollars of mine and refused to give me back thr rest. I contatced the attorney general office, BBB, and the FTC. Their approach is passive and arw overwhwlmed with these scams. I have consulted an attorney and have an idea, contact me at paulsanchez2@verizon.net or 909 615 2410. I think the only way is to collectively work together, get our facts straight and then take action. I have been continuing to take action but I am seeing only one option left. J hass knows what they are doong and will mulk this until someone back them against the wall. I hope to hear from you soon.
I sent you a reply on your e-mail. Thanks!
Jeremy,
Can you please comment on this post and help Jennifer get her money back quickly?
Steve
Here’s my latest…
J Hass Group has given back some but not all of the money…I’m still in the hole approx. $3000. I’ve written an e-mail to the J Hass Group requesting the remainder of my money by Friday. I have no idea what will happen next. I would love some help to get this money transferred back into my bank account! Thanks for your help!
Jennifer
Very happy to hear you got some of your money back!
Don’t give up on the rest.
I am still waiting for my $4200. & won’t stop making their life hell, till they give it back.
Even if you get all your money back from them, keep filing complaints. They need to be put out of business.
Terry,
I know that the feds care about fraud…especially in the amounts that we are talking about collectively here and other complaints regarding the same issues of JHG taking anywhere from $1000K to $10K and making people’s lives miserable. We need a group approach since it’s obvious that Jeremy Hass’s M.O. is to take the money in those smaller amounts each time b/c he thinks nobody will pursue the suit. WRONG!!! As a group we have an excellent case that the feds will care about!!!