A reader sent in an interesting question. They wanted to know why if TASC (The Association of Settlement Companies) changed their name to AFCC (American Fair Credit Council) then why did TASC report having 41 members and AFCC only reports 35. – Source
Good question.
What’s interesting about the AFCC membership list is that it is broken into accredited members and members. Of their membership only 16 are accredited.
- Achieve Financial Security
- America Debt Resolutions
- American Debt Services
- American Financial Services
- Century Negotiations Inc
- ClearOne Advantage
- Debt Point
- DebtAmerica
- DebtHelp
- Debtmerica
- Franklin Debt Relief
- Freedom Debt Relief
- Pacific Debt
- Professional Debt Relief
- Quality Support Services
- Settlement Corporation of America
After looking over the AFCC website I’m not sure what it takes to become an unaccredited member.
These are the unaccredited AFCC members:
- Countrywide Debt Relief
- CuraDebt
- Debt Assist America
- Debt Care Processing
- DMB Financial
- First Choice Debt Relief
- GlobalOne Debt Resolution
- Help Settle
- Nationalrelief.com
- Orion Financial Group
- Park Group Associates
- Premier Debt Solutions
- Prestige Financial Solutions
- Provanta
- Rapid Debt Settlement
- Reliant Support Services
- UDS Financial
- US Financial Options
- Yellow Brick
So if anyone finds the missing TASC members that didn’t make the trip over to the AFCC website, can you please let the AFCC know. Who knows, maybe there is even a reward?
While looking over the site I came across the following statement.
The AFCC was formed in April 2011 by a group of industry-leading companies to advance the goal of an industry in full compliance with the regulatory initiatives of the Federal Trade Commission. The AFCC founders realized that the former trade association, The Association of Settlement Companies (TASC), did not fully represent the wave of change that has swept through the industry, and that the American public deserved a clearer, more forward-looking approach to consumer credit advocacy. TASC no longer exists. We are now the American Fair Credit Council (AFCC). We have a new vision and a new mission that focuses on the people we serve. – Source
I don’t want to make a big deal out of this accredited and unaccredited issue but it’s just flat out confusing. If, as the AFCC says, “All AFCC members agreed to abide by our Code of Conduct, which is the strictest in the industry” then would a non accredited member not agree to the Code of Conduct? What’s the difference?
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Are all the companies listed above supposed to be performance based companies? I may be wrong but I think there are a few in there that certainly utilize the attorney model.
Honestly I can’t answer that accurately as I dont know every one of them.
I do know when I asked Tami Brown, President of the Association of Attorneys for Debt Resolution, why she would be the host speaker for the TASC/AFCC conference in Vegas earlier this year which represents a completely different position on debt relief than her own trade association, her answer clearly stated that there needs to be a separation between attorney and non attorney models.
Probably because TASC allowed both legal models and non legal models to be members. In an attempt to separate themselves from loopholers, the AFCC does not allow legal models to be members. Expect that once the “Association of Attorneys for Debt Resolution” launches, supposedly led by Tamara Brown, those other members will likely show up if they are still in operations.