I have read several articles on your site.
I am currently on month 7 of an 18 month contract with the Delta Law Firm of Boca Raton, FL. Attorney is Howard Feinmel. I was referred to Howard Feinmel by the August Belmont Group. He is stating he can accomplish debt dismissal on unsecured accounts suing creditors for reporting violations under the Fair Credit Reporting act.
Do you believe this is a legit service for a Louisiana client?
Thank you,
This is your chance to be a hero and help out this person by providing your feedback and answer to the question in the comments section below.
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I would like to say that I completed my contract with them and did not here from them for quite a while now I have the old creditors calling me and no one can contact the lawyer any more as far as I am concerned it is a scam. All of the creditors reported the debts as bad debt and the lawyers have not done anything it cost me 11,000 to the delta law firm . Howard Fiemel and they did nothing and now can not even contact them
If you follow this site you would have known that Howard Feinmel has been disbarred for some time now. It would be interesting to know who you were making payments to as of late so all can be made aware of what the new scam enterprise name is.
My experience: BEWARE! BEWARE! CAUTION! CAUTION!
Oct 2011 I began paying Howard Feinmel. via Meracord, $2000+ for debt resolution for which they claim to be 100% successful at reducing and/or eliminating unsecured
debt. In my case, Capitol One Bank for approx $9000. No other payment is
required. The total sum of my payment will retain Mr Feinmel and his office for ALL necessary and required work to complete the debt resolution including court appearances. The later I specifically asked if this was absolutely true and accurate. The answer I received and continue to receive for the last 3 years was an confident
YES!. The payment they required has been paid in full for over a year now and I have never received a receipt for completion of payment although I have asked numerous times. Most recently I have asked “the office manager” Jon Sabia on April 3, 2014.
Still I have no receipt.
As good, common and ethical practice of an attorney
evidence of work being performed is emailed or USPS mailed to the client. When asked why I am not receiving documentation of their work the response I received was, “It would be too costly because we have thousands of documents and we would then have to charge you for the mailings” Again I have asked Jon Sabia for documentation on April 3, 2014. He agreed to mail me the documentation as well and the receipt of my full and completed payment. I still have not received any documents as of April 10, 2014.
Since February 2014 I have mad countless phone calls to Mr
Feinmels paralegal Don Callahan as well as Mr Feinmels office and I have even
written to them in an email via their website, which no longer exists. All to no avail. Not one single return call or email…. until March 19th. On this day I received and
urgent email stating M r Callahan is no longer my paralegal and all inquiries
are to be directed to Nicole Pacheco. As was typical, when I called there was no reply or response.
On April 2, 2014 I received a court summons. I again immediately began calling Ms
Pacheco. I was told by her asst., Nicholas DiSalvo that he knew nothing of The Delta Law Firm nor Howard Feinmel. and that this new company which Mr DiSalvo could not tell me, has assumed all of the previous companies records. Ms Pacheco aparently was in the hospital indefinitely and no one could tell me of her return.I was directed to call
Krystal Hernandez at (561) 948-2118 crystal@miznerlaw.com. I left a message and again did not receive a return call.
Next I was told Jon Sabia was the office manager. Upon speaking to John on April 3,2014 he told me to fax him the summons and he would return my call to discuss the
matter. I have since made 17 calls to Howard Feinmels office with not a single return call back regarding my summons, my documentation or the receipt I have asked for. April 7th a representative of the Florida Bar Assoc left a message for Mr Feinmels office to contact her. As of April 10th there still has been no contact. I was advised to file a complain of “Case Abandonment”
It should also be noted here that Noteworld/Meracord, the
company that Mr Feinmel used to extract money from my acct for Debt Resolution
as been sued by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (attorney Jeff Erlich) for
$1.73 million dollars.
Link to case:
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/newsroom/cfpb-takes-action-against-meracord-for-processing-illegal-debt-settlement-fees/
In summary, I have paid in full to Mr Feinmels office who’s website no longer exists, who’s “office employees” have no idea who he is and where NO ONE will return my
call nor the calls of the Florida Bar assoc., where the company he used to
extract thousands of dollars has been shut down and now owes $1.73 to consumers
for illegal practices.
This is very similar to my experience. I hope no one does business with this company or Howard Fleinmel again! They returned my calls when I was still paying, however when I was finished they will not email or call me back.
My experience: BEWARE! BEWARE! CAUTION! CAUTION!
Oct 2011 I began paying Howard Feinmel. via Meracord, $2000+ for debt resolution for which they claim to be 100% successful at reducing and/or eliminating unsecured
debt. In my case, Capitol One Bank for approx $9000. No other payment is
required. The total sum of my payment will retain Mr Feinmel and his office for ALL necessary and required work to complete the debt resolution including court Appearances. The later I specifically asked if this was absolutely true and accurate. The answer I received and continue to receive for the last 3 years was an confident
YES!. The payment they required has been paid in full for over a year now and I have never received a receipt for completion of payment although I have asked numerous times. Most recently I have asked “the office manager” Jon Sabia on April 3, 2014.
Still I have no receipt.
As good, common and ethical practice of an attorney evidence of work being performed is emailed or USPS mailed to the client. When asked why I am not receiving
documentation of their work the response I received was, “It would be too costly because we have thousands of documents and we would then have to charge you for the mailings” Again I have asked Jon Sabia for documentation on April 3, 2014. He agreed to mail me the documentation as well and the receipt of my full and completed payment. I still have not received any documents as of April 10, 2014.
Since February 2014 I have mad countless phone calls to Mr Feinmels paralegal Don Callahan as well as Mr Feinmels office and I have even written to them in an email via their website, which no longer exists. All to no avail. Not one single return call or email…. until March 19th. On this day I received and urgent email stating M r Callahan is no longer my paralegal and all inquiries are to be directed to Nicole Pacheco. As
was typical, when I called there was no reply or response.
On April 2, 2014 I received a court summons. I again immediately began calling Ms
Pacheco. I was told by her asst., Nicholas DiSalvo that he knew nothing of The Delta Law Firm nor Howard Feinmel. and that this new company which Mr DiSalvo
could not tell me, has assumed all of the previous companies records. Ms Pacheco aparently was in the hospital indefinitely and no one could tell me of her return.I was directed to call Krystal Hernandez at (561) 948-2118 crystal@miznerlaw.com. I left a message and again did not receive a return call.
Next I was told Jon Sabia was the office manager. Upon speaking to John on April 3,2014 he told me to fax him the summons and he would return my call to discuss the
matter. I have since made 17 calls to Howard Feinmels office with not a single return call back regarding my summons, my documentation or the receipt I have asked for. April 7th a representative of the Florida Bar Assoc left a message for Mr Feinmels office to contact her. As of April 10th there still has been no contact. I was advised to file a complain of “Case Abandonment”
It should also be noted here that Noteworld/Meracord, the company that Mr Feinmel used to extract money from my acct for Debt Resolution as been sued by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (attorney Jeff Erlich) for $1.73 million dollars.
Link to case:
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/newsroom/cfpb-takes-action-against-meracord-for-processing-illegal-debt-settlement-fees/
In summary, I have paid in full to Mr Feinmels office who’s website no longer exists, who’s “office employees” have no idea who he is and where NO ONE will return my
call nor the calls of the Florida Bar assoc., where the company he used to
extract thousands of dollars has been shut down and now owes $1.73 to consumers
for illegal practices.
Hi Guy’s, I want to tell you my experience with Delta Law Firm has been a pleasant one so far. I will make my last payment in July 2013. So far they have been a gem.
Sincerely, Terry Baudean
Pleasant meaning successful ? What debts has he “eliminated”, if any, with his (or should I say Ed Cherry’s) “you are the victim of credit card fraud by the creditor” theory ? You would be the only one we have heard from thus far if , in fact, he was successful. Glad to see he has the time to work with you, given I heard he is being investigated by the Florida Bar, was threatened with sanctions by a Federal Judge because of his meritless lawsuits brought on behalf of Fidelity Land Trust, and had to defend himself after being charged by the Indian AG for more misdeeds. You obviously are not familiar with his past (or present) or are either very forgiving or just plain oblivious of just who you are dealing with. Go read the BBB report on August Belmont & Co. and its owners or look up the Florida AG case against the same guys who own Fidelity Land Trust (Larry Diodato and Ed Cherry). Feinmel has been with those clowns from E-limidebt to The Center For Legal Justice (both of which closed their doors fyi) to August Belmont and Fidelity Land Trust. What a gem.
Amen Ed. Thank you for this response. If you have a minute, please read my post just below.
Eva Lee
I am sorry to say you are yet another victim of this scam and others these individuals have perpetrated. The most recent is Mizner Grande Law which you will see several complaints on this site. While you may never get your money back you can help to stop these criminals by filing that complaint with the Florida Bar as well as with the FL AG’s office.You might want to reach out to Alma Louise Douglas at the AG’s office as she is involved in investigating them. I would also reach out to Kimberly Miller of the Palm Beach Post and tell her your story so she can possibly detail it in an upcoming article on these guys.
I have $27,000 worth of unsecured debt. I hired the Delta Law Firm last July with a 18 month plan to eliminate my debt.
Two of the largest amounts on credit cards ended in a civil judgement against me.
They were pulling monthly payments from my account through a company called Meracord, formerly Note World Services. Mericord was instructed by the FTC to not pull any more payments for the service of Delta Law Firm due to numerous complaints.
Were you solicited by The Center For Legal Justice or August Belmont & Co to work with the infamous Mr. Feinmel ??
A+ BBB Rating
Did they provide the name of the Louisiana attorney who works for them and did they give you his/her contact information so you could speak with him/her? If not, I’d be concerned
I keep getting calls from August Belmonte company though I only made one inquiry about a year ago. I know nothing about this so that is why I am hesistant to try it. But, it hangs out there like a dangling carrot. I so want help with debt, especially my student loans that I can’t even got a job for for 5 years now. But, actually it is these phone calls that have turned me off. No legitament law firm is going to keep ringing your phone for a year in hopes you’ll get your debt down if they aren’t up to something. Something just smells fishy though I wish it would work. Anyone find anything else?
most comments about them are on this post. https://getoutofdebt.org//33891/august-belmont-company-scam-complaint-review-or-praise
I’d like to know what “dismissal” means. Not reporting the debt is not the same as saying the debt is not due, or has been “dropped”, whatever that means. Sounds like credit repair. It certainly is not settlement. Anyone who thinks that failure to verify, all by itself, will extinguish the debt such that the account will never be collected on again is in for a rude awakening.
I’m still searching for what the legal definition of validation is anyway. Is it enough to show balances and activity or does a creditor have to show all account transactions over a number of years. I’d love to see a case that provides clarity on this issue because without boundaries and clarity all we’ve got is a best guess it’s not verifiable.
I agree with you though. Just because the creditor may elect to remove it from a credit report seemingly has no bearing on it the debt is valid, collectible in the future, or can be sold to another party who will report it again.
This type of service has been peddled for years. Is it possible to get a consumers debt to go away if an attorney can find FDCPA violations and use that as leverage to negotiate the debt down? Yes, it is possible and it happens.Â
Have I ever seen it sucessfully used on a massive scale where a majority of consumers get the promised results? Nope, never been done that I am aware of because there are just way to many factors to account for. These things must be handled on a case by case bases.
My question is how much did you pay him and what guarantee if any was offered? If I were you, I would be saving money so that I’d have something to settle with if he can’t get the debt dismissed.Â
Good luck to you. I had a lot of apprehension about using a debt settlement company.
 The program she is referring to is NOT debt settlement, however they just added a performance based debt settlement program with attorneys to assist- No fees, at all up front but a very small charge, placed in an IALTA account in the event of litigation. If the funds are not used, they will be returned to the client.
I am confused. How is this not debt settlement? So if a violation is found on a 20K debt and the creditor offers to settle it for 5k is the attorney not then obligated to report that to his client? If the client wants to take the deal, then how is it not considered debt settlement? Even if the debt was zeroed out, it is still a settlement.Â
Please provide some further information about the process.
Thanks.
Damon- Yes, the attorneys certainly do take settlement offers to their clients, however, they can keep the debts in dispute until the creditors produce all of the documentation on the accounts that is requested. The creditors almost NEVER provide us the info we have the right to ask for & they must provide. When the debts are dismissed, it is not settlement as the accounts have to be removed from the credit report altogether- not simply reported as Paid as Agreed, but removed. We get debts dismissed every day. When the creditors can’t provide account information on their own clients, instead of us reporting this to regulators, they will simply drop the debt. It does work & it works well.
As you know, consumers have the right to  dispute their debts. In dispute, unlike settlement, the debts do not get interest & late charges placed on them. Under the FCRA it is not legal for the creditors to report them as late either.Â
I invite you to call the office & we can provide many recent examples of debts we have had dropped for our clients.
Yes, I know consumers can do the exact same thing with a simple letter. The reality is though, what you are describing seems to be the exception and not the rule.Â
Could you point me to several cases where judges have ruled that validation is more than just the creditor having to show the name, address, and charges in a monthly statement? What is the “documentation” that is required, that creditors are unable to produce?
Over the last decade, I have seen this approach tried many different ways and in my experience it rarely prevails in court, and never on a large scale. I would be very interested to see if you guys are succeeding at something that most others before you have failed at.
The FCRA dispute approach was first applied on a very large scale by one Andrew Capoccia, who was eventually disbarred for filing multiple frivolous actions against creditors. Others have tried it with similar success, the most recent that I’m aware of being Laura Hess of Hess-Kennedy. She was also disbarred. This technique has been around for at least 20 years, and there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to debt relief approaches. I’m fine with the dispute approach when there is an actual dispute about the debt in question. Otherwise, it’s a game of finding technicalities, which can still work on the occasional exception basis. But if this approach is being applied to consumer accounts on a volume basis, it is only a matter of time before the blowback begins.
The Delta Law Firm is not a debt settlement company. They sit back and wait years for debt collectors to violate the FDCPA and then sue the collection agency, IF that EVER happens. Meanwhile, you are paying at least $300 to them monthly in “retainer fees” maybe for NOTHING.
When you say “legit for a Louisiana client” you make this a legal question and only lawyers are allowed to answer legal questions. The law firm in question has had a number of Better Business Bureau complaints yet it has an A+ rating.
If your goal is to get out of debt and you are willing to take this path you are risking the cash you pay the firm and I am a bit skeptical that all kinds of unsecured debt can be dismissed for violating the FCRA but then I am surprised every day.
Please do share with all readers if this works. It may be groundbreaking.
 There is an audit of all documents & many other fed & often state statutes may be used. May I suggest calling the firm for actual examples of recent dismissals? The proof is in the results. I’m certain they can provide it.