Each of us lives only now, in this brief instant. The rest has been lived already. So make the most thoughtful choices you can today that will lead to a better future.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Stop drifting and hoping a magic solution will appear. Instead, you can participate in rescuing yourself. Find peace by pursuing facts through trusted advisers and research rather than the blind trust of salespeople trying to sell you something by almost any means necessary.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Make decisions to deal with your debt with logic and facts, not assumptions, and worry about what other people will think. People who judge you will soon be forgotten. Nobody thinks about anyone that much.
Steve's Thought of the Day
The world is nothing but constant change. Your life is only a perception. Choose a way out of debt based on facts, not assumptions. Do what is best for your future because those that judge you will not feed you.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Do you have a greater responsibility to repair your financial past or your financial present and future? Make good choices that allow you to tackle your debt and immediately start building your emergency fund and saving for retirement. Tomorrow will be here before you know it. Lost time is a sin.
Steve's Thought of the Day
There is no sense in wasting a perfectly good financial mistake. Instead, learn from it and do better moving forward. The past is gone. Turn and face the future now.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Those who judge you for past financial mistakes are not your friends. So don't make choices about your future out of fear of what they may think. Instead, make choices based on truth, fact, and what is best for you moving forward from today.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Don't believe everything you think. Challenge your assumptions about getting out of debt. Do what is best for you, not others.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Is it less moral to file bankruptcy or to not take action that leaves you old, broke, hungry, and dependent on others?
Steve's Thought of the Day
If bankruptcy is so bad, why did our Founding Fathers specifically include it in the U.S. Constitution as protection for financial difficulties?
Steve's Thought of the Day
Maybe it is time to read what the Bible really says about bankruptcy instead of listening to the assumptions of others. Throw out your misperceptions and you'll be fine. (And who is stopping you from throwing them out?) - Marcus Aurelius
Stop listening to people that say bankruptcy is a last resort. It is neither first nor last. It is a tool like credit counseling, debt settlement, and others. For the best result, you need to use the right tool for the job.
Steve's Thought of the Day
People that tell you to avoid bankruptcy want to sell you something else are repeating something they heard or do not know what they are talking about. Get the facts and then make your own decision. Don't let an unskilled script-reading commissioned salesperson make life decisions for you.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Debt problems are like fingerprints. No two are alike. A one-size-fits-all solution will give you a one-size-fits-all result. You deserve better.
Steve's Thought of the Day
You are not your debt. Your value, self-esteem, and existence should not be defined by the money troubles you may be facing right now. Debt problems are solved with proper action, not guilt, self-hatred, and disgust.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Debt is nothing more than math wrapped in emotion. The math is easy, the emotional part leads us to do impulsive things. Not the right thing.
Steve's Thought of the Day
What type of money personality do you have? It is important to know. Take my online test now and discover how you unconsciously deal with money, credit, and debt.
Steve's Thought of the Day
How much retirement savings are you willing to throw away by dealing with your old debt instead of preparing for your financial future? Find how much you will lose by making the wrong choice. Use my online debt repayment calculator now.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Does it make more sense to ask for life-altering debt advice from an unskilled and untrained commissioned salesperson in a call center or an experienced debt coach like Damon Day that provides a customized solution for money troubles?
Steve's Thought of the Day
Throw out your misperceptions and you'll be fine. (And who is stopping you from throwing them out?) - Marcus Aurelius
Freedom Debt Relief, Chase Bank, & Nonprofit Credit Counseling
In a recent story that a reader brought to my attention, Freedom Debt Relief did a good thing and fully refunded a disgruntled California couple the $3,290 fee they paid Freedom Debt Relief for advanced fee debt settlement services after they got sued and Chase Bank said they would not work with Freedom.
A double pat on the back to Freedom for giving the refund. That was the smart and right things to do.
That’s not the part of the original story, here, that caught my eye.
It was the bit about Chase Bank said they would not work with a for-profit debt settlement company but would work with non-profit credit counselors.
But a year into the agreement with Freedom Debt Relief, the Theriaults got a call from Chase, one of their two creditors.
“They contacted us and said ‘we will not deal with Freedom Debt,’” Sherry Theriault recounted.
Chase sent ConsumerWatch a statement confirming it “does not work with debt-settlement companies.”
The company said it will work with non-profit credit counseling agencies.
Frankly, the position of Chase Bank stinks and not one I find to be consumer friendly. One could argue that since Chase Bank exercises more control over credit counseling groups by controlling their funding that they would rather steer the consumer that way rather than let the consumer find independent help.
Sincerely,
You are not alone. I'm here to help. There is no need to suffer in silence. We can get through this. Tomorrow can be better than today. Don't give up.
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6 thoughts on “Freedom Debt Relief, Chase Bank, & Nonprofit Credit Counseling”
typically, Chase outsources their deliquent debt to Fred hanna assoc. or zwicker. Even though, they are both law firms, they will settle for generally between 35% to 50% up to 12 payments. Once the account charges off, if the account is still held within Chase’s internal recovery dept, they will settle for as low as 25% to 35% lump sum or 40% up to 4 payments. Dont be confused that chase will not settle, its a lie to get you to pay 100% of the balance plus interest.
At some point Chase will likely see the light. In the meantime, most people enrolled in settlement programs will simply address their other debts first. If the account is not very big, it is likely Chase will charge it off and the debt buyer will agree to settle.
The sad thing is that Chase’s current stance is to only deal with attorneys for settlement- To me, that says Chase is inadvertently supporting the up-front fee attorney model, which collects their fees before any settlements are made. Since so many people see their financial picture change over time, either better or worse, this is a huge part of where that model typically fails the consumer. I don’t understand their thought process here- One would think Chase would prefer to deal with performance base companies like Bank of America. My guess is that Chase does not even know what they are doing here- that the accountants have convinced them this year not to deal with settlement companies, with no understanding of the current business. Eventually they will see that everyone else is getting paid and they will change.
It is a very odd position by Chase. They say they will only work with attorney model companies who have taken the fees up-front, leaving the consumer with less money to settle quickly.
I know this is going upset a lot of people, but as I laid out in an article on this site, I don’t know how DSCs do it. Chase is not looking at how the consumer rep makes money (up front or not) or what is or is not in the consumer’s “best interests” as clearly, it is thier view that DSCs are not in their customers best interests, however they are paid. They are looking at exposure (and “interference”) in who they are dealing with in regards to the financial products “their” customer has with them. While it is also true that they would like to see DSCs eliminated, they know they can’t get rid of attys representing consumers… Also clear is that they do not like consumer attys and if they could get rid of them too they would.
I agree, the only party not wanted around by Chase is the DSC that is representing the consumer. Still, it’s a policy that I hope makes financial sense for Chase but logically it seems a bit vacant.
At some point Chase will likely see the light. In the meantime, most people enrolled in settlement programs will simply address their other debts first. If the account is not very big, it is likely Chase will charge it off and the debt buyer will agree to settle.
The sad thing is that Chase’s current stance is to only deal with attorneys for settlement- To me, that says Chase is inadvertently supporting the up-front fee attorney model, which collects their fees before any settlements are made. Since so many people see their financial picture change over time, either better or worse, this is a huge part of where that model typically fails the consumer. I don’t understand their thought process here- One would think Chase would prefer to deal with performance base companies like Bank of America. My guess is that Chase does not even know what they are doing here- that the accountants have convinced them this year not to deal with settlement companies, with no understanding of the current business. Eventually they will see that everyone else is getting paid and they will change.
typically, Chase outsources their deliquent debt to Fred hanna assoc. or zwicker. Even though, they are both law firms, they will settle for generally between 35% to 50% up to 12 payments. Once the account charges off, if the account is still held within Chase’s internal recovery dept, they will settle for as low as 25% to 35% lump sum or 40% up to 4 payments. Dont be confused that chase will not settle, its a lie to get you to pay 100% of the balance plus interest.
At some point Chase will likely see the light. In the meantime, most people enrolled in settlement programs will simply address their other debts first. If the account is not very big, it is likely Chase will charge it off and the debt buyer will agree to settle.
The sad thing is that Chase’s current stance is to only deal with attorneys for settlement- To me, that says Chase is inadvertently supporting the up-front fee attorney model, which collects their fees before any settlements are made. Since so many people see their financial picture change over time, either better or worse, this is a huge part of where that model typically fails the consumer. I don’t understand their thought process here- One would think Chase would prefer to deal with performance base companies like Bank of America. My guess is that Chase does not even know what they are doing here- that the accountants have convinced them this year not to deal with settlement companies, with no understanding of the current business. Eventually they will see that everyone else is getting paid and they will change.
It is a very odd position by Chase. They say they will only work with attorney model companies who have taken the fees up-front, leaving the consumer with less money to settle quickly.
I know this is going upset a lot of people, but as I laid out in an article on this site, I don’t know how DSCs do it. Chase is not looking at how the consumer rep makes money (up front or not) or what is or is not in the consumer’s “best interests” as clearly, it is thier view that DSCs are not in their customers best interests, however they are paid. They are looking at exposure (and “interference”) in who they are dealing with in regards to the financial products “their” customer has with them. While it is also true that they would like to see DSCs eliminated, they know they can’t get rid of attys representing consumers… Also clear is that they do not like consumer attys and if they could get rid of them too they would.
I agree, the only party not wanted around by Chase is the DSC that is representing the consumer. Still, it’s a policy that I hope makes financial sense for Chase but logically it seems a bit vacant.
At some point Chase will likely see the light. In the meantime, most people enrolled in settlement programs will simply address their other debts first. If the account is not very big, it is likely Chase will charge it off and the debt buyer will agree to settle.
The sad thing is that Chase’s current stance is to only deal with attorneys for settlement- To me, that says Chase is inadvertently supporting the up-front fee attorney model, which collects their fees before any settlements are made. Since so many people see their financial picture change over time, either better or worse, this is a huge part of where that model typically fails the consumer. I don’t understand their thought process here- One would think Chase would prefer to deal with performance base companies like Bank of America. My guess is that Chase does not even know what they are doing here- that the accountants have convinced them this year not to deal with settlement companies, with no understanding of the current business. Eventually they will see that everyone else is getting paid and they will change.