“Dear Steve,
I just received a letter from CNI regarding increasing their monthly fees (see attached), is this even possible?.
I have been with CNI for 4 yrs and they closed 2 of my smaller accounts. The big debt that I have is still hanging and CNI told me that I need to grow my funds before they can settle my account.
So far CNI charged me for maintenance fees over $3,000.00 plus I also get charged a monthly fee of $9.50 for reserves plus the future fee increase of $35. I want to get out of CNI and is there a way that I can just pay the creditor directly other than sending it to Noteworld. I appreciate any recommendation that you can give me. Thank you.
P.S. I’m glad that I found you browsing the web.
Honeylou”
Dear Honeylou,
Let’s look at this page by page.
So here is what I get out of this page.
Dear Client,
We didn’t do a good job in planning for the changes to protect consumers that went into force in September 2010. Even though we knew the changes were coming we now find ourselves wanting to make more money because we just never took responsible action to deliver our promised services or we just want to make some extra cash.
Sadly 75% of companies closed because they were charging people thousands of dollars in advance for services they never received and since the new law now prohibits those advanced fees, like we collected from you, we need to find a way to make more money other than charging people in advance for those same services.
Sadly we just can’t seem to enroll enough new clients that can settle debt fast enough so we can get paid for our services in a reasonable period of time. And even though you signed up under the old advanced fee model, we need to lay our lack of being able to now make enough money on your back.
These fee increases could wind up costing you thousands extra but it’s better that it comes out of your pocket rather than ours. We simply screwed up running our business so we are going to pass that on to you. Thanks.
We are sending you this letter because even though we have a contract that states what the fees are and which we both agreed to, now we want to jack up those fees to those that “…have been a loyal customer over these past many months…”
We’d like for you to select one of two horrible options that will screw you over even though we already have a binding agreement.
On this page please select the monthly payment increase that we want to be charged even though you probably have no obligation to agree to either. Neither option is fair to you but pick one anyway.
Tell CNI to Take a Hike
Frankly I think that’s a horrible thing for them to do. And I don’t see how they can unilaterally increase your fees when you have a valid agreement with them stating what the fees will be.
You’ve already paid them in advance for the services they sold you but have not delivered. At this point you are just waiting to be able to save enough money to settle the remaining debts. So what are they going to do for you on a monthly basis now that merits a fee increase? I’ll go with nothing.
I’d suggest you contact them in writing and let them know you don’t agree to any fee increase and want them to deliver the services they originally promised under the terms you both previously agreed to. If they don’t want to honor their contract they will have to terminate it unilaterally which will give you a great reason to find a local lawyer and go after them for taking your money and then dumping you.
Be sure to send your response to them in writing, by some so of traceable means that allows you to get confirmation of delivery. Keep a copy of your statement declining their increase and the delivery receipt in a safe place with your other important papers.
If they decide to terminate you then I’d raise holy hell to every regulator and Attorney General you can. in fact, just follow this process.
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Unfortunately many advance fee companies took on the Credit union accounts. Why not it would only raise the total debt amount which is used to calculate the fees.
Then as demonstrated in this case just park the debt and hope it goes somewhere else to try to settle. Everyone knew Credit Unions were not a good creditor to accept because they typically don’t settle or if they do it is for not so favorable terms.
crazy to see this going on, but the truth is that today NOTHING surprises me. Thank you for posting this and helping people open their eyes even more.
Alex V.
Isn’t CNI the same company that is heavily involved with LHDR?
Isn’t CNI the same company that is heavily involved with LHDR? Â
how can they be in that much trouble if they still charge up front fees?
how can they be in that much trouble if they still charge up front fees?Â
Do I smell a nice class action lawsuit? Come on Diamond Dave Leuthold, you know you can’t just charge people extra fees that were not contracted for. Anyone who pays that is a moron.
Do I smell a nice class action lawsuit? Come on Diamond Dave Leuthold, you know you can’t just charge people extra fees that were not contracted for. Anyone who pays that is a moron.
Thank you both for responding. I was going through my paperwork with them and found a “Truth in Services Form” which I signed in 2007, one of the item says “All of CNI Fees are included in the amount I am setting aside each month. There are no extra or hidden fees”. I also found a Credit Union Disclaimer that I signed thru CNI. Is there a limitation in California if you have outstanding credit card debt thru a credit union. This is the only debt that remaining that’s why I stayed with CNI. I appreciate both of your help.
HL
Thank you both for responding. I was going through my paperwork with them and found a “Truth in Services Form” which I signed in 2007, one of the item says “All of CNI Fees are included in the amount I am setting aside each month. There are no extra or hidden fees”. I also found a Credit Union Disclaimer that I signed thru CNI. Is there a limitation in California if you have outstanding credit card debt thru a credit union. This is the only debt that remaining that’s why I stayed with CNI. I appreciate both of your help.
HL
Unfortunately many advance fee companies took on the Credit union accounts. Why not it would only raise the total debt amount which is used to calculate the fees.
Then as demonstrated in this case just park the debt and hope it goes somewhere else to try to settle. Everyone knew Credit Unions were not a good creditor to accept because they typically don’t settle or if they do it is for not so favorable terms.
crazy to see this going on, but the truth is that today NOTHING surprises me. Thank you for posting this and helping people open their eyes even more.
Alex V.
Well I am not an attorney but seems to me that if you try to put your old clients into a new contract which is what you are doing, they will then be subject to the new TSR and therefore it would be illegal to charge them a monthly fee. I wonder what the FTC would think of what Leuthold is doing here and decide if he is in violation by creating a new agreement post TSR with a monthly fee.
HoneyLou, what State do you live in? If these debts are 4 years old, you may be past the point where they can sue you for any of them anyway. Of course, don’t rely on Leuthold to look into it for you. He only made 3,000 dollars to sit on his butt and tell you to save money, and then send you a letter letting you know he was going to be taking more and therefore making it harder for you to save money.
I wouldn’t give them another dime. I agree with Steve 100%.
Well I am not an attorney but seems to me that if you try to put your old clients into a new contract which is what you are doing, they will then be subject to the new TSR and therefore it would be illegal to charge them a monthly fee. I wonder what the FTC would think of what Leuthold is doing here and decide if he is in violation by creating a new agreement post TSR with a monthly fee.
HoneyLou, what State do you live in? If these debts are 4 years old, you may be past the point where they can sue you for any of them anyway. Of course, don’t rely on Leuthold to look into it for you. He only made 3,000 dollars to sit on his butt and tell you to save money, and then send you a letter letting you know he was going to be taking more and therefore making it harder for you to save money.
I wouldn’t give them another dime. I agree with Steve 100%.