Quick Answer: Keith should contact Debtcor directly to resolve issues with Johnson Law Group and ESS, as his advanced retainer fees may be lost. The debt settlement chain involves questionable companies, with Debtcor linked to Jon Kinney who has previous consumer complaints from Equity Direct Funding.
“Dear Steve,
I was one of those people using Johnson Law Group which was contracted by debtcor.com. I recently decided to stick with ESS instead of going with GCSolutions, which Johnson Law group contracted with. Right now I am hung out to dry. Don’t know the status of anything and Johnson Law Group took a front end retainer fee a couple yrs ago from me. Is there a class action law suit pending against this guy? ESS seems like they are finished. So where do I go?
Keith”
Each weekday I send one short email: one money story that caught my attention, why it might matter to you, and one manageable thing you can do with it. A couple of minutes, and a dad joke.
In the latest issue (Oct 9): Does Financial Literacy Make Financial Sense?
Free. I sell nothing. Unsubscribe any time.
The Daily Money Brief — Free, at 10 AM
Money you may be owed, scams to dodge, and the fine print decoded — the consumer money news that affects your wallet, every weekday.
Dear Keith,
It sounds to me as if you originally started with Debtcor and were referred to Johnson Law Group. I’d start with Debtcor and ask them how they plan to fix the problem. Post their response in the comments below.
I’ll tell you what though, looking at the Debtcor website does not give me a warm fuzzy feeling.
It looks like the site was/is owned by:
Jon Kinney
jon@equitydirectfunding.com
8985 S. Eastern Ave. #325
Las Vegas, NV 89123
It is a Nevada registered corporation.
It looks like that address is a virtual office space. Who knows where the employees, if there are any, actually work out of.
I found several complaints from consumers against Jon Kinney when he was running Equity Direct Funding as well.
I’m assuming you enrolled in their debt settlement program since you paid an advanced retainer fee. The bad news is all that money is potentially lost unless you fight for it back.
You should start with this refund process.
If you get no satisfaction from that process, then you may want to file a formal complaint with the Florida Bar against Clint Johnson, Esq. and try to recover some money from the Florida Bar Association Clients’ Security Fund.
It appears Debtcor is nothing more than a referral agency and does not provide the service themselves.
Unfortunately you are left with having to start over. Now might be the time to explore bankruptcy if you can’t afford to start over.
At the very least it would be a good idea for you to click here to find a local bankruptcy attorney and learn more about what your options in bankruptcy really are.
Please post your responses and follow-up messages to me on this in the comments section below.
Facing a Similar Situation? You’re not alone — and you have more options than you think. Start with the all your debt relief options page to see what’s realistic, or take the 2-minute bankruptcy quiz if the debt feels unmanageable. Federal Reserve research shows filers recover faster than those who don’t file. If a company is involved, run them through the Scam-O-Meter first.
Debt settlement companies hate it when you “ask for refunds” FYI
Debtcor is affiliated with Coastal Credit and Antony Murigu, all have been bitchslapped in the Johnson Law Group blowup.
They are all shady unfortunately.