Phil Lehman spoke at the recent Debt Relief Master Class. Mr. Lehman presents his opinion and information about the view of debt relief and debt settlement providers from his position and experience as a participant in the federal testimony about the industry and a follower of the consumer debt niche.
He additionally talks about the consumer problems with regard to mortgage robo-signing issues.
Phil describes the issues he says that attract attention including being affiliated with a government agency, deceptive advertising, consumer complaints, and the fact the company won’t give a refund,
Best Way to Respond to Attorney General Complaints
He talks about the protocol the Attorney General office follows in pursuing debt relief companies. Some of the red flags that attract additional attention include not issuing a refund to an unhappy consumer. A tough stance of relying on small print in contracts draws additional attention from the Attorney General.
He offers this basic advice to stay out of double with regulators.
1. Respond to the complaint.
2. Respond appropriately.
3. Take care of the customer.
Phil talks about how hitting back at the AG office aggressively only leads to a quicker lawsuit against the company.
His advice on refunds is exceptionally good where he talks about the consumer deserves a full refund regardless of who the company may have paid for marketing or other underlying services.
Mr. Lehman doesn’t see any reason why credit counseling groups should not be involved in debt settlement services. He mentions the same issue we’ve seen before about the resistance of the OCC to force the charge off of debt after 180 days delinquent.
We engage in a discussion about how creditors are accepting debt workout arrangements with unlicensed companies. While he says he can’t see any issue against lenders for accepting payments from unlicensed companies. Lenders have been encouraged to not work with properly licensed agencies.
You can watch the entire presentation below.
Steve
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Steve you are the biggest teachers pet. 48min in I think those questions where intended for you. Instead of bashing on debt settlement companies, write more on how to help them.
How anyone can frequent this site, watch videos like the one posted, understand that Steve’s events are put on with zero profit motive, and walk away with anything other than Steve works hard to help the debt relief industry improve itself, is beyond me.
Unless of course you are doing shit wrong and take exception to that fact being point out on this site.
get a grip
Seriously? The entire conference was about what to do to find opportunities moving forward. Phil’s presentation is full of what not to do tips to help debt settlement and all debt relief companies to stay off the radar and avoid regulatory confrontations.
48 minutes in the presentation is a Q&A from attendees with Phil about industry related questions. What specifically are you claiming is bashing?