“Dear Steve,
I was with legal helpers debt resolution since 2010 — I was originally with Financial Solution Legal Services — they turned my account over to LHDR – they have not settled the 4 accounts I had with them 3 Discover accounts and 1 CHASE The CHASE account has been sold to Palisades and it is listed on my credit report twice — once as chase and once as palisades. I requested a refund from LHDR since they have not settled any accounts they charged me 15% upfront fees and $500 retainer fee. That’s about $4000. They are being sued by someone in west va., washington, and attorney general of chicago illinois for upfront fees and fraud — saying debt is handled by attorney’s — but it is not. its handled by people that just call the debt collectors and try to negotiate – they have no experience in negotatiions. One of the DISCOVER accounts is taking me to court. Is there anything i can do or any defense I can use in court — I’m trying to get verification and validation with a statement from DISCOVER — because the firm suing me is farrell and seldin who has a reputation of suing the wrong people, faking law suits, and charging more than the debt. The judge grants all the plaintiffs motions and denies my motions. I never did receive verification and validation from the original creditor back in 2009 when I requested it. I also requested from Farrell and Selding when they first sent me a summons, but had not filed.
can i ask the courts to dismiss or postpone this case since they are in violation of FDCPA — not providing me verification and validation of debt.
I was with Financial Solutions Legal Center – then they transferred my debt to Legal Helpers Debt Resolution – . FSLC had my accounts for 16 months and did not settle any accounts. They transferred it to LHDR – who have been sued in illinois and now in Washington state. One of my accounts is going to court – hearing on Nov. 29. Discover will only settle at 80% of original debt _30% of late and over limit fees and high interest rates.
How can I get my fees back from LHDR – who have basically done nothing. They are claiming attorney fees for looking at my paperwork and determining if i am in the right plan, telephone calls trying to negotiate debt, writing letters notifying creditors that I have been transferred to them. I have paid about $3900 in fees.
Do you have any sugestions for court Its a discover acct. that got transferred to zwicker and zwicker who have hired a local law firm Farrell and seldin. All they plan to provide is affidavit from discover accounting firm — not employees of discover — and a telephone witness day of trial to validate the debt amount and contract and my default payment. judge has denied my motions to strike affidavit and get verification of qualifications of affidavit person and telephone witness.
Weezey”
Dear Weezey,
You sent me two questions about the same issue so I’ve combined them above.
You’ve raised a couple of diverse issues. The first is regarding your defense in your case in which you are being sued for non-payment by one of your creditors. Really only a local attorney that is licensed in your state can answer that. You could look for an attorney through the NACA.net website.
When you enroll in a debt relief program using a third-party service it does not negate your obligation to make at least the minimum required contractual payment on your debt. While a third-party may try to assist you in coming to some negotiated resolution, failure to make the payment may or can trigger the creditor to avail themselves of the remedies under the terms of the agreement you had with them. Those remedies can include suing you.
The only debt relief solution that I am aware of that does prevent the creditor from either collecting or suing is bankruptcy. Once you file bankruptcy, collection efforts must cease and the creditor can’t sue to collect debt approved for discharge under the bankruptcy. You can click here to find a local bankruptcy attorney and schedule a free consultation with them to discuss if bankruptcy would be right for you.
Regarding your desire to get your money back, that would have to be negotiated between you and the debt relief provider. You can follow my guide on how to try to get your money back in your efforts to get the money back you’ve paid but feel the company has not earned.
Please post your responses and follow-up messages to me on this in the comments section below.
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Wow.. Now I know this website is joke!! you don’t clue how to get people out of debt!! Steve your fraud!! all the answer you gave to Weezy were wrong !! all you do is slander good quality companies that help there clients. Bankrutcy is the best you can come up with? how do know if this client even qualifies for Bankrutcy? this client never listened to his debt agent !! and now he’s unhappy. typical blame company it’s never the client!! it’s idiots like this that make job ten times harder because THEY DO NOT LISTEN!!! then they go looking for help then they find you another idiot whogives false hope and wrong advise. they were told in advance it will take at 12-18 months before any accounts will settled. Your Fraud Steve. Someone should break you goddamn hands for typing this crap and sue you. This message is for anybody listening this clown Steve the get out debt guy is joke all he does is bad mouth compaNies then blackmails into paying him money he does know what he’s talking about do not listen to this idiot he CAN NOT HELP YOU!!
John,
So let me see if I understand your logic here. Weezey hired Financial Solution Legal Services, which was probably just a sales front for Legal Helpers. This company did nothing but collect fees for 16 months. After paying 3900 and settling nothing Weezey now finds himself in court. The suit will likely result in a judgment which could lead to wage garnishments and bank levies.
Steve rightfully suggested he should meet with a bankruptcy attorney before he simply continues to pay Legal Helpers for nothing.
You claim Steve is a fraud and your suggestion is to simply continue paying the fee to a company that has been ripping him off for 16 months?
You further blame Weezey for the fact that Legal Helpers screwed him over.
So Steve suggests that Weezey explore an option that would Legally require all creditors to stop all collection activity and give him a fresh start.
You suggest to keep sending money to the company that screwed him over and put him in this position.
Please explain how you have come to the conclusion that Steve is giving bad advice to this reader?
Is Steve making your job harder because he is telling people the truth? What exactly is harder about your job? What do you do for a living? Steve is telling a consumer to explore bankruptcy as a way to possibly solve a huge problem that a debt settlement program put him in (which is a very common problem). Why is your job harder because he tells a consumer there are other options?
Why does it take 12 to 18 months to settle accounts? Most creditors will start talking about settlement in as little as 4 or 5 months. Please tell me why you are not aware of this fact.
John,
Thank you for your tirade. Seriously.
What in the world did I say about the company in my response that was unfair?
I suggested the person meet with a local attorney to discuss their options, stated bankruptcy is a legal option, and gave self-help information on how to try to workout the issue with the debt relief company.
Apparently I struck a nerve but I have no clue what your real issue is other than wanting to “break my hands.” And what in the world is this statement about blackmailing companies? What’s that about?
How many people do you think you convinced with that well thought out response?
I am currently with Legal Helpers filing Chapter 7. We have already had our hearing with
the Trustee. As we have a small business, our #1 priority has been to protect it as it’s
our main source of income. We were reassured by our attorney as we had “nothing to
worry about” as our business wasn’t in jeporady. When we met with the trustee, he grilled us over the coals as our business assets were not listed on the documentation as Legal
Helpers neglected to do ( !! ). However, he allowed the Chap 7 filing to continue forward, but wanted a list of our locations and the “value” of each. It seemed our attorney overlooked it. Idiot ! Anyway, we are trying to keep our business which is a small family vending business. Our vending machines plus truck total less than $15,000., which is apparently less than what can be taken by the creditors, from what we are told. The real value of our business is the locations, not the machines,and which cannot be bought or sold as the vending company serving the account is at the sole discretion and permission of the location.
Question : what do we need to to do to keep our business ? Any advice greatly
appreciated. We live in California.
Thanks !
I would suggest you find a local bankruptcy attorney and make an appointment to get a second opinion, today!