“Dear Steve,
I have $80,000 in debt from private student loans.
Is The Credit and Banking Law Group out of Boca Raton a scam or legit?
Jeremiah”
Dear Jeremiah,
I always hate these questions because I never have any idea of what your individual definition is of a scam.
But here is what I can do. I’ll do a little research on them for you and using the links below you can finish checking them out and then decide what you want to do.
I would recommend that anyone considering using such a company should read the following free guides.
- The Ultimate Consumer Guide to Checking Out a Debt Relief Company Before You Sign On the Line
- How to Check Out a Business or Company to Avoid Getting Scammed or Ripped Off
According to the Better Business Bureau The Credit & Banking Law Group is located at 2201 NW Corporate Blvd., Suite 205, Boca Raton, FL 33431.
The BBB says the Principal of the company is a Florida attorney Harvey Scholl, That name has appeared in a few other stories here on the site, click here. Glenn Grossman is the other person the BBB lists. – Source
As of today the BBB gives the company an F rating and says they are in the debt relief services business. They also list the website for the company as bankinglawgroup.com. The bankinglawgroup.com domain name was registered on January 18, 2010 and the administrative contact is Harvey Scholl.
There are 24 domain hosted on the same server:
adamhayat.com
aimattorney.com
bankinglawgroup.com
bocaproperties.com
bocaratonproperties.com
casapanoramacr.com
cblawgroup.com
center-realty.com
christiandebtmanagement.com
christiandebtplanning.com
christiandebtservices.com
christiandebtservices.org
christianmoneymanagement.org
costaricatulemar.com
erasepaydayloans.net
erasingdebt.com
erasingdebt.org
hayatholdings.com
mystudentloanrelief.com
panoramacostarica.com
prestigeinternationalrealty.com
strategicbusinessinstitute.org
thebocajournal.com
xplosivemedia.com
It looks like I chased down the owners of the domain here.
A search of the Florida Department of State records could not locate a company named The Credit & Banking Law Group.
According to the Florida Bar, Harvey Scholl law practice is located at 3350 NW Boca Raton Blvd Ste A34, Boca Raton, Florida 33431.
And from his email address his practice is located at schollpartners.com. – Source
It would appear Harvey Scholl focuses on residential and commercial real estate title services. – Source
According to website for Law Offices of Harvey Scholl, PA, Mr. Scholl’s background is:
“Scholl has been engaged in the private practice of law in the state of Florida since 1974, with a primary focus on secured transactions involving real estate, mortgage financing and banking law. Representative clients over the years have included developers, mortgage and real estate brokers, banks and other mortgage lenders as well as buyers and sellers of residential and commercial real estate. Mr. Scholl is an issuing agent for Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, past director of the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers and holder of an active Florida Real Estate Broker’s license since 1972. During the real estate boom of the nineties, Mr. Scholl founded and ran a national document preparation service bureau to which lenders outsourced preparation of more than fifty thousand mortgage loan closing packages. Additionally, Mr. Scholl formed a captive title insurance company in partnership with a major south Florida home builder, handling real estate closings from five offices spanning both Florida coasts. Mr. Scholl combines his years of business experience together with an understanding of the law to assist clients with real estate, corporate finance and other transactional issues.” – Source
So it appears Mr. Scholl is an experienced real estate attorney and if you were thinking of having him assist you with a real estate matter his background looks extensive.
What exactly was The Credit & Banking Law Group going to assist you with?
Just as an aside, the other two attorneys that are listed on The Credit & Banking Law Group list of attorneys are Glenn Gromann and Jodi Green. A search of The Florida Bar listings could not find Mr. Gromann licensed to practice law in Florida. The Florida Bar lists an attorney that might be the same person as Jobi B. Green but The Credit & Banking Law Group lists Jodi E. Green. – Source, Source
So the odds are very good it is the same person but you’d at least hope the purported law firm would get the name of their partner correct.
The Law Office of Jodi B. Green appears to specialize in immigration issues.
It looks like the Glenn E. Gromann lists on as part of the group is the same Gromann that appears to have had his share of issues in Florida. According to the Sun Sentinel newspaper:
“Bill Trinka, a member of the committee, earlier this month asked Chairman Glenn Gromann to resign, citing Gromann’s “personal problems” as a defendant in a Federal Trade Commission case.
The FTC alleges in a civil suit that Gromann’s law firm offered fraudulent mortgage relief services to distressed homeowners.
“Essentially, the FTC says they defrauded these people who were desperate to stay in their homes,” Trinka said.”This guy’s integrity is in the toilet, and him being on that board ruins the credibility of the board. I think board members should serve at the will of the council.”
Gromann called Trinka’s allegations “nonsense,” saying Trinka launched a personal attack because of disagreements on the board about issues including growth, development and the barricades in Mizner Park.
“As a high-profile person, I am involved in lawsuits, and I have some motor vehicle infractions,” he said. “None of that has anything whatsoever to do with my service on the committee.”
Gromann, 51, is an attorney and real estate developer who has served on the Downtown Advisory Committee for four years and has lived in Boca Raton for 17 years. He pled guilty in 2010 to misdemeanor DUI, according to county court records. A charge of resisting a police officer was not prosecuted by the state. according to records.” – Source
The issue the article refers to with the FTC appears to be this previous action:
FTC Alleged that They Deceptively Marketed Mortgage Modifications and “Forensic Audits”
Settlements Ban Them from Mortgage Relief Business
The operators of an allegedly deceptive mortgage modification business will pay more than $750,000 in ill-gotten gains to settle Federal Trade Commission charges. The settlements also permanently ban the 11 defendants from selling any mortgage assistance relief products.
The FTC’s case against the four operators of the Debt Advocacy Center and another group of seven defendants that allegedly provided “forensic audits” to consumers are part of the agency’s ongoing crackdown on frauds targeting consumers in financial distress.
Do You Have a Question You'd Like Help With? Contact Debt Coach Damon Day. Click here to reach Damon.
According to the complaint the FTC filed in November 2009 as part of a law enforcement sweep against mortgage relief scams, the Debt Advocacy Center defendants charged consumers $1,500 in advance and claimed a 90 percent success rate for obtaining mortgage modifications. These four defendants also allegedly promised a refund of $1,500 or more if they were unable to obtain a loan modification. The complaint alleged that when consumers did not get the modification, the Debt Advocacy Center told them the $1,500 was only for advice and educational materials and refused to return payments from consumers. At the FTC’s request, the court ordered a halt to the unlawful operations and froze the defendants’ assets, pending resolution of the case.
The FTC later alleged that another group of seven defendants was involved in the operation, offering so-called forensic audits. The scheme purportedly involved checking a homeowner’s loan documents for law violations that would give them leverage in negotiating with lenders to obtain a loan modification or a “short sale” of a house for an amount that was less than the mortgage balance. The forensic audit defendants collected $995 in advance for each audit even though an audit was unlikely to aid negotiations with lenders, the complaint alleged.
Under the settlements, all 11 defendants are permanently banned from selling any mortgage assistance relief services. All the defendants will be prohibited from misrepresenting any relevant facts about the marketing or sale of financial products and will need to provide support for any claims they make about the products. The four Debt Advocacy Center defendants also will be barred from misrepresenting the relevant facts about any product they market or sell.
Under the proposed settlements:
- The forensic audit defendants Credit Services Alliance, Inc., Maurice Jackson, Patrick Butler, and Bradford R. Geisen will pay a judgment of $527,000. Glenn E. Gromann, John W. Smith, and CreditLawGroup, P.A. are not subject to any monetary provisions.
- The $1.8 million judgment against Debt Advocacy Center defendants Edward J. Davidson, The Debt Advocacy Center, LLC, and Smith, Gromann & Davidson, P.A. will be suspended, based on inability to pay, when Davidson turns over certain real estate and personal property to the FTC for liquidation, and pays $37,000 in installments to the FTC. These payments are secured by his interest in a movie called The Derby Stallion.
- The $717,000 judgment against Debt Advocacy Center defendant Kevin McCormick will be suspended, based on inability to pay, when McCormick transfers approximately $20,000 from an inheritance trust to the FTC.” – Source
All of this makes me even more curious to know what services they are selling you. Do tell.
Please post your responses and follow-up messages to me on this in the comments section below.
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Yes I believe they are a scam, I had requested someone to call me through their website studentloanrelief.com. The same lady Deidre Gerlach contacted me, she told me they could take my loans out of default and get me a new lender if I paid them $480. So I had them e-mail me the paper work which all are headed as The Credit and Banking Law Group P.A., for some reason I was psyched by the thought that they could help me until I showed the paper work to my wife. She brought me back down to earth and told me to Google them. I ran into a few complaints of people being scammed on foreclosure help. So I never bothered calling them back but it’s been about 2 months now and I keep getting a phone call from Deidre almost everyday and she leaves a voicemail saying she wants to help me with my students loans and blah blah blah. I don’t know if a law firm would keep calling everyday to help someone but it seems like she more interested in my money like a salesperson.
I am 80,000 in debt with private student loans thru wellsfargo. I am currently making monthly payments of over 800.00 for 15 years and only have an income of twice that, with numerous other bills to pay. They are telling me they can assist me with reaching a settlement with wellsfargo. Paralegal deidre gerlach is telling me if I send them about 500 a month for eight years they will be able to build up accounts to pay off each othe three loans equally 80,000. They say they will send a ceise and decist letter and have wells fargo contact them regarding the settlment. They say my credit will drop because no monies will be sent to wells fargo until the account I am building with them is sufficent to pay off each loan. I really appreciate you looking into this!
Well that’s interesting.
So here is the deal with private student loans. When you default, not only can they add up to 20% or more of your balance as a collection fee. You would have to check your specific loan agreement to make sure what additional fees can be added when you default.
And when you default you may be sued by the lender and if they win they could go for a judgment and wage garnishment.
It sounds like what they are selling you is a standard debt settlement arrangement. You should read this publication to become familiar with the debt settlement pros and cons. https://getoutofdebt.org//51523/debt-settlement-is-credit-card-debt-relief-really-possible-if-you-settle-pros-and-cons
Is this company promising you some sort of legal protection or a relationship with an attorney? Because judging by where your email came from they don’t have an attorney that is licensed in your state.
If you are looking for the best way to handle student loans, see https://getoutofdebt.org//51013/the-ultimate-guide-to-dealing-with-student-loans-you-cant-afford
Is there any information the company has given you that shows what kind of success they have achieved for all of the clients that they have sold this program to?
Most importantly, you need to make sure they are not charging you any fees before they actually settle your debt. Be careful, many outfits still front load fees before settling.