Action by the Alabama Attorney General this week further highlights the tough stance that law enforcement is taking against debt settlement companies. In this case it is against a lawyer and his related professional companies. This suit might lead other debt settlement attorneys to exit the debt settlement business to prevent the loss of their professional license. The suits and actions we are currently seeing against debt settlement companies are just the tip of the iceberg I predict.
Here is the official press release from the Alabama Attorney General’s office.
The Attorney General’s Office and the Alabama Securities Commission are suing a Prattville attorney and the companies he is operating in what is alleged to be one of the largest debt settlement schemes in the nation involving approximately 15,000 customers and millions of dollars nationwide. Autauga County Circuit Judge Ben Fuller is considering a request to grant a preliminary injunction against defendants Allegro Law LLC, Allegro Financial Services LLC, and Keith Anderson Nelms.
Keith Anderson “Andy” Nelms
This preliminary injunction would prevent the defendants from continuing to engage in deceptive trade practices and to operate without a license. On June 30, the Attorney General’s Office and the Alabama Securities Commission obtained a temporary restraining order against the defendants’ that stopped the defendants’ conduct, appointed a receiver, and froze the defendants’ assets. A preliminary injunction would ensure that those consumer protections will remain in place.
Nelms is a resident of Montgomery whose law practice and financial services company are located in Prattville.
On its web site, the Allegro law firm offered to negotiate restructured debt plans for clients to pay off its debts, contending that such services provided through an attorney have superior results and are handled in a more ethical and professional manner.
The State’s civil complaint alleges that Allegro promoted a risky practice known as debt settlement, in which consumers stop making monthly payments hoping to encourage creditors to write off the debt, reclassify it as less collectible, and agree to settle for a greatly reduced payment. The complaint states that “defendants are attempting to gain this benefit by purposefully and artificially lowering creditors’ assessments of the quality of the customer debt, thereby inducing creditors to accept less to settle accounts. The consequence of this lowered credit standing is a lower credit rating for the consumer, more fees for the service provider, less money to the creditor, and more overall problems for the consumer.”
Attorney General King said, “Alabamians who are suffering hardship and distress during these severe financial times must be protected from exploitation and false solutions that may cause even greater harm. We contend that these defendants were operating a massive scheme that reached across our nation and unscrupulously targeted frightened and desperate consumers. With Alabama’s unemployment rate now at a record 25-year high of 9.8 percent, and many of our people struggling through no fault of their own, this is a particularly contemptible violation, and we will not tolerate it.”
Alabama Securities Director Joe Borg said, “This is a prime example of the cooperative efforts of agencies to protect the public. It is imperative that we require all companies to abide by the law and do not allow them to take advantage of our citizens. In these hard economic times, with resources scarce, the leveraging of our efforts to help consumers is of the utmost importance.”
According to the complaint, Allegro and Nelms have solicited and obtained clients from all 50 states, many of whom made their selection believing they would be represented by a law firm. However, because Nelms is not licensed to practice law in any state other than Alabama, these consumers were deceived. Furthermore, Alabama consumers who believed they were hiring a law firm to represent them were also deceived, because Nelms and Allegro were actually serving merely as a conduit to refer cases that were handled by a third party, Americorp, which is not a law firm. In addition to these deceptive practices, Nelms and Allegro were not licensed by the Securities Commission, as required to conduct debt payment services in Alabama.
The complaint alleges that defendants have violated the Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Sale of Checks Act. The Alabama Deceptive Trade Practices Act is designed to protect consumers by prohibiting business from committing a variety of deceptive practices including engaging in any “unconscionable, false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice in the conduct of trade or commerce.” The complaint alleges that the defendants violated the Deceptive Trade Practices Act as a result of various deceptive business practices and various false, misleading, and deceptive representations made to consumers. Under the Sale of Checks Act, any person engaging in a business that receives money as agent for obligors for the purpose of paying such obligors’ bills, invoices, or accounts must obtain a license from the Commission prior to conducting business in Alabama. The complaint alleges that defendants have breached their statutory duty to obtain a license pursuant to the Sale of Checks Act prior to engaging in the debt payment services business from their office.
The Attorney General’s Office and the Alabama Securities Commission are seeking a permanent injunction, civil penalties, and other relief. The Alabama Deceptive Trade Practices Act authorizes civil penalties of up to $2,000 for each act or practice found to be in violation of the Act.
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Thank you Steve for keeping this going for us since 2009. This is great news!
Jane Parker
Final distribution checks being sent to consumers who were trapped in Allegro Law bankruptcy case. See https://getoutofdebt.org/62775/debt-settlement-nightmare-partially-allegro-law-clients
Update on Allegro Law bankruptcy. See https://getoutofdebt.org/61992/allegro-law-litigation-bankruptcy-nearing-completion
This is very guidance. I have to say I really like experiencing this alot. It can help me to turn into much better understanding about them. It is very nicely printed. I will certainly find these components really intriguing. I hope it is possible to present much more at some point.
Allegro Law Bankruptcy Update – Don;t expect to get any refunds till after possibly 2014. Consumers owed refunds are creditors in the case.
Update on case yesterday:
At this time we are still continuing with the process of reviewing filed Proof of Claims and filing Motions to Strike and Reclassify. We are approximately half way through this process. If your claim is subject to a Motion, you will receive notice in the mail. The Trustee will not send status updates through the mail, nor should you receive anything from the Trustee in this case, except as it pertains to your actual claim. All status updates will be made on this website.
As a reminder, we have had many inquires as to how to understand the motions. If you receive a Motion, you will see four columns. In the first column is the creditor’s name that filed the proof of claim along with the claim number. In the second column is the address we have on file for that creditor. In the third column is the amount the creditor requested that they receive on their proof of claim. In the fourth column, and the most important column, is the amount that the creditor’s claim has been reclassified to by our office. On many of the reclassified amounts there are two categories, priority and unsecured. We anticipate all funds classified as priority will be paid to the extent there are sufficient funds in the bankruptcy estate. For those amounts classified as unsecured we anticipate only a percentage will be paid, not the entire amount. We will not know the exact percentage that will be paid until all claims have been reviewed and reclassified.
If the word “strike” is in the fourth column, then we are moving to expunge, or remove, that particular proof of claim based on lack of supporting documentation both from the creditor and in our records. It is important that if we are moving to strike your claim and you have supporting documentation, (bank records, money orders, checks, etc) that you contact our office immediately to provide those documents. Once the time period has run for responses to the motion we will be unable to reinstate your proof of claim. If you have any questions on this process we ask that you please consult with an attorney.
If you have not done so already, please update your mailing address if you have relocated since filing a claim to ensure you receive any notices. Our office cannot process change of addresses. All change of address forms and any responses to a Motion need to be mailed to:
United States Bankruptcy Court Middle District of Alabama
Clerk of the Court
One Church Street
Montgomery, AL 36104.
We do not anticipate a distribution being made to creditors during the calendar year of 2013, and possibly 2014. We understand that this case was opened in 2010; however this is a complex case with thousands of creditors involved. Therefore, this case has been and will be moving slower than a “typical” bankruptcy case. We are striving to make distributions to creditors as soon as possible. Please do not call our office simply to ask when the distributions will be made. As soon as we begin the process of making distributions, we will update this website. Also, please remember we are not allowed to give legal advice. If you need legal advice please consult an attorney.
We have been informed that a third party company has been contacting creditors attempting to purchase the creditors interest in their claim. We are unaffiliated with the third party company and do not have any information pertaining to that company or their correspondence that has been mailed. If you have any questions about the company or the correspondence you received please call the company directly, their telephone number should be listed on the correspondence you received.
Update on Allegro Law case. See https://getoutofdebt.org/51951
Allegro Law Bankruptcy Update – From AllegroBankruptcy.com
At this time we are continuing with the process of reviewing filed Proof of Claims and filing Motions to Strike and Reclassify. If you are subject to a Motion, you will receive notice in the mail.
We have had many inquires as to how to understand the motions. If you receive a Motion, you will see four columns. In the first column is the creditor’s name that filed the proof of claim along with the claim number. In the second column is the address we have on file for that creditor. In the third column is the amount the creditor requested that they receive on their proof of claim. In the fourth column, and the most important column, is the amount that the creditor’s claim has been reclassified to. On many of the reclassified amounts there are two categories, priority and unsecured. All funds classified as priority will be paid to the extent there are sufficient funds in the bankruptcy estate. For those amounts classified as unsecured only a percentage will be paid, not the entire amount. We will not know the exact percentage that will be paid until all claims have been reviewed and reclassified.
If the word “strike” is in the fourth column, then we are moving to expunge, or remove, that particular proof of claim based on lack of supporting documentation both from the creditor and in our records. It is important that if we are moving to strike your claim and you have supporting documentation, (bank records, money orders, checks, etc) that you contact our office immediately to provide those documents.
If you have not done so already, please update your mailing address if you have relocated since filing a claim to ensure you receive any notices. All change of address forms and any responses to a Motion need to be mailed to:
United States Bankruptcy Court Middle District of Alabama
Clerk of the Court
One Church Street
Montgomery, AL 36104.
Allegro Bankruptcy Case Update
At this time we have completed our transfer of all filed Proof of Claims from the third party claims agent, BMC Group, to the traditional CM/ECF bankruptcy web site used in all bankruptcy cases.
Since the claims are no longer housed with the BMC Group, all change of address forms and all other documents to be filed need to be mailed to:
United States Bankruptcy Court Middle District of Alabama Clerk’s Office
Attn: Allegro claims 10-30631
One Church Street
Montgomery Alabama 36104.
You may now view all filed Proof of Claims on the Allegro Law bankruptcy case docket sheet. The docket sheet can be accessed by logging into PACER at the following web address: https://ecf.almb.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl
. You will have to register for the service to view the docket sheet and there will be an access fee for viewing and printing each document.
The case number for Allegro Law is 10-30631. Neither the trustee’s office nor the clerk’s office will be able to answer questions regarding PACER. If you are unable to access PACER after registering for the service, or you have questions regarding PACER, please call (800) 676-6856 or visit http://www.pacer.gov/ .
We continue to be in the process of reviewing filed Proof of Claims and filing Motions to Strike and Reclassify. If you are subject to a Motion, you will receive notice in the mail. If you have not done so already, please update your mailing address if you have relocated since filing a claim to ensure you receive any notices.
ALLEGRO LAW BANKRUPTCY UPDATE
The Trustee’s office is still in the process of reviewing Proof of Claims and filing Motions to Strike and/or Reclassify. Once we have completed this stage the website will be updated. This stage is likely to last several months to a year. If you are subject to one of these motions you will receive a copy of the motion via U.S. mail. These motions are reclassifying claims pursuant to 11 U.S.C. et. seq. Furthermore, claims have been reclassified to reflect the creditor’s actual amounts paid into Allegro; verified either through Allegro records or the supporting documents the creditor provided with their Proof of Claim.If you feel that your claim was unfairly struck or reclassified, do not contact the trustee’s office or send an email to this website; neither option will suffice, you will need to file a response with the Bankruptcy Court at: United States Bankruptcy Court, Clerk’s Office, One Church Street, Montgomery, AL 36104.In the meantime, please remember the “contact tab” should be utilized for questions regarding individual claims or particularized questions that are not raised by the website. Status updates regarding the case or distributions will be addressed through the website updates and not individually through emails. – AllegroBankruptcy.com
HERE IT IS ALMOST 3 YRS LATER, AND HE IS BACK IN BUSINESS AS “ANDY” YET I HAVE NOT SEEN A DIME OF MY 8,000 DOLLARS HE STOLE. ONLY IN AMERICA
What is the name of his new business?
Georgia,
The last update was that the response was so overwhelming they need additional time to work through the 5,000 claims filed.
Otherwise, the Trustee has been suing related companies that provided services to Allegro in order to try and recapture some money to help pay part of the claims.
I was a client of Allegro. That’s how I found you in the first place, when things first hit the fan. I was googleing Allegro and found your site. I’ve been a member since 2009. I
I was just wondering what do you know about the status of the claims for Allegro. I’ve been going to the Allegro bankruptcy site, but not much info there. I’ve emailed them too. I get a canned email saying they are processing and verifying the claims. Just wondering if you knew anything. Thanks and please continue doing what you do! You are awesome!
I was a client of Allegro. That’s how I found you in the first place, when things first hit the fan. I was googleing Allegro and found your site. I’ve been a member since 2009. I
I was just wondering what do you know about the status of the claims for Allegro. I’ve been going to the Allegro bankruptcy site, but not much info there. I’ve emailed them too. I get a canned email saying they are processing and verifying the claims. Just wondering if you knew anything. Thanks and please continue doing what you do! You are awesome!
Georgia,
The last update was that the response was so overwhelming they need additional time to work through the 5,000 claims filed.
Otherwise, the Trustee has been suing related companies that provided services to Allegro in order to try and recapture some money to help pay part of the claims.
UPDATE
The deadline for filing a proof of claim expired on May 31, 2011. At this time, we are processing the over 5000 claims that were filed. Processing Proof of Claims involves verification of the claim with data. This is a method to ensure all claims filed are accurate. This is a slow process that takes time to ensure that no duplicate or false claims are filed. Next, we will propose to the bankruptcy court the distribution for each client. If the court approves the distribution, then we will begin to make disbursements. All claims will be paid pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 726. Claims processing is a lengthy process and could take a number of months to complete. We are in the process of updating the “Filed Claim†and the “Docket†tabs at the top of the page.Allegro Law, LLC Bankruptcy
If you were a client of Allegro Law, LLC and believe you are entitled to a distribution, and did not receive a Proof of Claim form then please contact us. Please include you current mailing address in the message portion of the contact form with the Subject heading of “Did not receive a Proof of Claim Form.â€
Contact:Â http://allegrobankruptcy.com/c…
UPDATE
The deadline for filing a proof of claim expired on May 31, 2011. At this time, we are processing the over 5000 claims that were filed. Processing Proof of Claims involves verification of the claim with data. This is a method to ensure all claims filed are accurate. This is a slow process that takes time to ensure that no duplicate or false claims are filed. Next, we will propose to the bankruptcy court the distribution for each client. If the court approves the distribution, then we will begin to make disbursements. All claims will be paid pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 726. Claims processing is a lengthy process and could take a number of months to complete. We are in the process of updating the “Filed Claim” and the “Docket” tabs at the top of the page.Allegro Law, LLC Bankruptcy
If you were a client of Allegro Law, LLC and believe you are entitled to a distribution, and did not receive a Proof of Claim form then please contact us. Please include you current mailing address in the message portion of the contact form with the Subject heading of “Did not receive a Proof of Claim Form.”
Contact: http://allegrobankruptcy.com/contact/
STEVE,ALL CLIENTS OF ALLEGRO LAW/ I RECEIVED CONFORMATION OF CLAIM FORM AND ATTACHMENTS TODAY IN SELF ADDRESED STAMPED ENVELOPE THAT I SENT. IT CONTAINED ACOPY OF CLAIM FORM AND ATTACHMENTS AND $1.46 POSTAGE DUE.SO EVERYBODY WHO HASNOT SENT IN FORMS,ATTACHMENT SHOULD INCLUDE THE SAME AMOUNT OF POSTAGE AS ORIGANELY SENT TO COVER COST OF RETURN COPIES AND CONFIRMATION OF RECEIVING. JUST A THOUGHT/FOR YOUR INFORMATION. THANKS,KEN 11/09/2010
STEVE,ALL CLIENTS OF ALLEGRO LAW/ I RECEIVED CONFORMATION OF CLAIM FORM AND ATTACHMENTS TODAY IN SELF ADDRESED STAMPED ENVELOPE THAT I SENT. IT CONTAINED ACOPY OF CLAIM FORM AND ATTACHMENTS AND $1.46 POSTAGE DUE.SO EVERYBODY WHO HASNOT SENT IN FORMS,ATTACHMENT SHOULD INCLUDE THE SAME AMOUNT OF POSTAGE AS ORIGANELY SENT TO COVER COST OF RETURN COPIES AND CONFIRMATION OF RECEIVING. JUST A THOUGHT/FOR YOUR INFORMATION. THANKS,KEN 11/09/2010
Allegro Law Update
We are getting many requests on how to fill out the Proof of Claim form. We at the Trustees office are asking potential claimants to fill out the form to the best of their ability. Send the form to the BMC Group, Inc the address is provided at the bottom of the Proof of Claim form please, not send the Proof of Claim forms to the Trustee’s office or the Bankruptcy Clerks Office.
As per the timing of refunds, it is Bankruptcy law that no disbursements can be made until all claims have been accessed and verification of the amount of the claim has been made.
Source – allegrobankruptcy.com
Allegro Law UpdateWe are getting many requests on how to fill out the Proof of Claim form. We at the Trustees office are asking potential claimants to fill out the form to the best of their ability. Send the form to the BMC Group, Inc the address is provided at the bottom of the Proof of Claim form please, not send the Proof of Claim forms to the Trustee’s office or the Bankruptcy Clerks Office.As per the timing of refunds, it is Bankruptcy law that no disbursements can be made until all claims have been accessed and verification of the amount of the claim has been made.Source – allegrobankruptcy.com
Hello Steve;
Thanks for all your support. I reacived my proff of claim and my lawyer assisted me to fill all the information. I sent all my statements, but Allegro did not send me any statement for Jan, Feb, March and april, which i made the payments, but they never applied those payments to my credit cards. Should I send the bank statement as a proff of my payments? when should we reacived the refund? if there any money back?
cheryl smith well i am glade we made the right choice we back out of the program and froze the account before any thing could take place i feel some kind of lucky i think allergo law dont owe us nothing they never had a chance.
cheryl smith well i am glade we made the right choice we back out of the program and froze the account before any thing could take place i feel some kind of lucky i think allergo law dont owe us nothing they never had a chance.
I can’t make you any promises but if you can upload the form to me through this link and form I’ll take a look at it.
Steve
I’d be willing to fax/scan over to you my form I just recieved in the mail. Not quite clear on what you fill out and how to do it… I am in agreement with Mark as far as not really being able to afford an attorney to get counsel, but you Steve, have been AWESOME counsel through all this. I’m wanting to get back the deposit I made with Allegro Law when I first signed up for debt consolidation. Not sure if it’s worth it though compared to others who have lost thousands of dollars…
Mark,
I’d love to help but I have not seen the form.
It does seem that your claim can only be the money you had on deposit and paid in fees for services you had not received yet.
But that’s just my logical guess.
Steve
Steve, I got my notice in a couple days ago and will be getting with an attorney to tell me what I can and can’t claim. I’m a little disappointed that I have to file a claim against a lawyer, but have to pay another lawyer to help me figure out what I can claim. There really isn’t much in teh letter to tell a client how to fill out the form.
Do you know what we can or can’t claim? I really don’t have $175 (going rate per hour in my area for a consult) to pay an attorney.
UPDATE ON ALLEGRO BANKRUPTCY
Having mailed a Proof of Claim form to potential Allegro Law, LLC client/customers on September 2, 2010, all former Allegro Law, LLC. Clients should receive these notices within 7-10 business days. If you have a claim against Allegro Law, LLC, please read these forms carefully and return your filings to the BMC Group at the address provided on the forms. No Proof of Claim form should be returned to the Bankruptcy Trustee. If there are questions or concerns regarding the Proof of Claim form or any attachments, please consult counsel of your choice.
UPDATE ON ALLEGRO BANKRUPTCY
Having mailed a Proof of Claim form to potential Allegro Law, LLC client/customers on September 2, 2010, all former Allegro Law, LLC. Clients should receive these notices within 7-10 business days. If you have a claim against Allegro Law, LLC, please read these forms carefully and return your filings to the BMC Group at the address provided on the forms. No Proof of Claim form should be returned to the Bankruptcy Trustee. If there are questions or concerns regarding the Proof of Claim form or any attachments, please consult counsel of your choice.
Steve, I got my notice in a couple days ago and will be getting with an attorney to tell me what I can and can’t claim. I’m a little disappointed that I have to file a claim against a lawyer, but have to pay another lawyer to help me figure out what I can claim. There really isn’t much in teh letter to tell a client how to fill out the form.
Do you know what we can or can’t claim? I really don’t have $175 (going rate per hour in my area for a consult) to pay an attorney.
Mark,
I’d love to help but I have not seen the form.
It does seem that your claim can only be the money you had on deposit and paid in fees for services you had not received yet.
But that’s just my logical guess.
Steve
I’d be willing to fax/scan over to you my form I just recieved in the mail. Not quite clear on what you fill out and how to do it… I am in agreement with Mark as far as not really being able to afford an attorney to get counsel, but you Steve, have been AWESOME counsel through all this. I’m wanting to get back the deposit I made with Allegro Law when I first signed up for debt consolidation. Not sure if it’s worth it though compared to others who have lost thousands of dollars…
I can’t make you any promises but if you can upload the form to me through this link and form I’ll take a look at it.
Steve
Hello Steve;
Thanks for all your support. I reacived my proff of claim and my lawyer assisted me to fill all the information. I sent all my statements, but Allegro did not send me any statement for Jan, Feb, March and april, which i made the payments, but they never applied those payments to my credit cards. Should I send the bank statement as a proff of my payments? when should we reacived the refund? if there any money back?
RCVD. ABOVE CLAIM FORM. ILL DEFINATLEY NEED TO SEEK COUNCEL FOR QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS REGARDING THE PREPERATION OF THE PROOF OF CLAIM AND ATTACHMENTS. THANKS,KEN 09/04/2010
Hi all, I just recieved a reply from the trustees. This has been posted on thier website. I hope this helps.
http://www.allegrobankruptcy.com
On August 23, 2010, in Allegro Law LLC.,
Within the next few days a Proof of Claim along with instructions will be provided to all potential claimants of the Allegro Law, LLC. Upon receipt of these forms please read them carefully and return your filings to the BMC Group at the address provided on the forms. No Proof of Claim form should be returned to the Bankruptcy Trustee or the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Alabama. If there are questions or concerns regarding the preparation of the Proof of Claim form or any attachments, please consult counsel of your choice.
RCVD. ABOVE CLAIM FORM. ILL DEFINATLEY NEED TO SEEK COUNCEL FOR QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS REGARDING THE PREPERATION OF THE PROOF OF CLAIM AND ATTACHMENTS. THANKS,KEN 09/04/2010
Mark–
How were you able to even get back the money they took from your account? I have not received any money back yet, and am curious to know what steps you took. Also, Citibank will not even talk to me about a different plan, as they are insisting Allegro is still servicing my account. How did you get them to let you dropout of the debt management plan?
Thanks in advance.
Mark–
How were you able to even get back the money they took from your account? I have not received any money back yet, and am curious to know what steps you took. Also, Citibank will not even talk to me about a different plan, as they are insisting Allegro is still servicing my account. How did you get them to let you dropout of the debt management plan?
Thanks in advance.
Darcey, Hello and sorry you are part of this mess. First, to my benifit CitiBank never accepted the program through Allegro so I wasn’t really “protected” by the program, but Allegro was making the payments from money they got from me. Second, As soon as I found out about this mess I called the creditors and they contacted Allegro and were able to get the money to my accounts. It took several weeks though and I think it was just luck that I caught it when I did. If it had been a little longer I don’t think I would have gotten the money back.
It took me about three days and a lot of headaches, but to get the lower rate I just wouldn’t accept “no” for an answer and asked to speak to a supervisor. Eventually I was passed to a senior manager (or something like that) and was able to work something out. I was only trying to get a rate that was more manageable (around 10-15%) and did not expect the 3.9%. None of my accounts are “protected” through a debt management program. The creditors agreed to keep the lower rates, but if I miss a payment I am (excuse the expression) screwed and my rates could go up as high as 40%.
I learned that many of the big companies do have some form of debt management program and you need to ask to speak to one of thier representatives if you still want that protection. I have been able to manage my money a lot better now and even paying a little extra on each account. I just can’t take the family out much anymore and vacations are limited to around the house… like now. I had to take 10 days vacation (or I lose it) and don’t have any money to go anywhere so I’m hanging around the house doing chores and repairs.
WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO GET THE INFO ON THE LAST COURT SESSION OH JULY 21ST ???
Ken, After my post yesterday I found a brief story that in late July (can’t remember the date) Nelms pleaded guilty and under an agreement the State suspended his lic for 3 years. I’m not sure if this was through the court or the Bar Association. Personnaly I think he needs to spend some time in jail for misrepresenting his clients for so long. I’ve had some computer problems lately and my computer shut down before I could save the article or read the whole thing. I’m looking for it again and will post it as soon as I find it.
Good luck to you and I hope we all get our money back. I’m just looking for the fees. I was lucky enough to recoup money that was taken from my account, but not sent to the creditors. Still, I was able to work with my creditors and negociated an even lower rate than that thief Nelms and his cohorts did. I actually got CitiBank to lower my rate to 3.9%! Allegro could not work a deal with them at all and my rate initially went up to over 30%. At that rate it would have taken 175 years to pay it off by what Allegro was sending them. Nice huh? If I had not been deployed to Iraq I would have been able to catch this sooner and saved my self thousands of dollars in fees. Nelms better hope I never run into him… Sorry for that comment, but I know I speak for a lot of people. So much frustration and anger.
I recieved some paperwork to fill out and send in to the attorney’s but did not get a confirmation of reciept and have not heard back. Just curiuos if anyone has any new information.
I read over my contract and as I read it Allegro is in breach of contract. I hope everyone get’s all the fees they were charged for this “service” back. I also conacted the company that referred me to Allegro and they don’t seem to care. This should be a warning to anyone calling the Credit Exchange for help.
what happened at the july 21st court session on allegro law bankruptcy
It’s great to see some of the rotten eggs of this business is finally getting what they had coming! I hope everyone will get their money back even though I doubt it. At the very least we can all help to spread the word and save others from going through the same trouble.
I had gotten called and went with this company and then I was not able to get anyone to talk to me and went back online to see if I could find out any information or maybe a different phone # to call. What I found was the information concerning our attorney general building a case against the one and the same.
I called that office and was told to contact my bank and scan them the information and ask them to pull my money back – which I did – and I only got a portion of what they had taken from my account however I considered myself blessed to have gotten that much.
I am following the case and hopefully will get more of my money back – since I have called my vendors direct and settled with them myself and have paid everything myself.
Bankruptcy Update
The Trustee for the Allegro Law, LLC Bankruptcy Estate and the recently employed accountant will visit the Allegro Law, LLC third party processor’s New York office on July 15, 2010 to begin a review of all accounting records. Currently it is believed that all accounting records related to the activity conducted by Allegro Law, LLC is in the hands of this third party processor. The purpose of the review to be conducted by the Trustee and the accountant will be to determine the reliability of the information in the hands of this third party processor.
The records in the custody of the third party processor are the only known documents available that will support the bankruptcy claims process and these records are viewed as necessary to ensure a fair distribution of the bankruptcy estate proceeds. Once this review and evaluation is complete, the case will move to the mailing of Proof of Claims to all potential claimants.
From the Allegro Law bankruptcy site.
MY NAME IS ALBERT AND LUCIA RAGSDALE, WE TOO HAVE BEEN VICITIMS OF THE ALLEGRO LAW MIS HANDLINGS. HOW DO WE FILE CLAIM FOR OUR REFUND.
Bankruptcy Update
As of June 24, 2010, the Allegro Law, LLC Bankruptcy estate employed an accountant to review the records in the hands of the third party processor. Once this review takes place, a Proof of Claim form, the form necessary to file a claim against Allegro Law, LLC, along with instructions and other necessary documents will be mailed to all former customers/clients. Please keep in mind that the review of records in the hands of this third party processor and the approval of a Proof of Claim form may take several weeks.
In addition, a representative from Allegro Law, LLC is to be at a § 341 Meeting of Creditors schedule for the 21st of July 2010. Attendance by potential Allegro Law, LLC claimants is allowed but not required.
Once again, neither the Clerk’s office nor the Trustee’s office can provide advice related to this case. Additional information will be provided in subsequent mailings. Should you need immediate information, please consult counsel of your choice. You may also review the Frequently Asked Questions made a part of the web site.
From the Allegro Law bankruptcy site.
i been giving allegro money every month for the last 2 yrs just to find out it was for nothing.ill never see that money.happy for those who did get money back!i just found out about all of this when i just try sending a payment and called customer sevice and listen to a recording
I’ve sent an email to Allegrow via the address provided on their banruptsy website, http://www.allegrobankruptcy.com/, and I still haven’t received a reply regarding my claim. Some people have mentioned they received a letter regarding their claim and I haven’t received any response through the mail although I’ve submitted 2 claims to the receiver when he was in charge.
Unbelievable.
I recieved the last money order that I sent Allegro Law in April. Feels good to have my money returned.
what????? are you saying money was returned to you??? i sent $3,00.00 via money ordrs and no payments were made to my debtors, still witing to here something,anything from allegro, what are you saying
I am happy to hear someone got money back. What steps, if you don’t mind me asking, did you go through to get the money back? Or was it just returned to you? Were you doing debt settlement or debt management?
HOW DO I FILE FOR CLAIM TO RECIEVE MY MONEY BACK
Update
Over the past few days, the Notice of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Case was mailed to all former Allegro Law, LLC, customer/clients. This is a required notice to those who had business dealings with Allegro Law, LLC. For those receiving this notice, there is no action necessary at this time. As stated in earlier updates (May 2, 2010 and May 11, 2010), the Proof of Claim forms, the forms necessary to file your claim against Allegro Law, LLC, will be provided in the same manner as the mailing just received.
It is yet undecided whether the Court will employ a “modified” Proof of Claim process for this case, therefore making the Standard Bankruptcy Form Proof of Claim less than fully effective. At the time any Proof of Claim form receives Court approval for this case, all former Allegro Law, LLC, customer/clients will be provided with this approved claim form, instructions and other necessary documents.
As stated above, neither the Clerk’s office nor the Trustee’s office can provide advice related to this case. Additional information will be provided in subsequent mailings. Should you need immediate information, please consult counsel of your choice.
i got the same notice, this is not the form to file a claim seems like its just a notice if you want to communicate by e-mail?? steve- is that correct??? i do not believe i am signing it, i want mailed official forms to file my claim, any suggustions //??????
Hi Steve, I just received in the mail today a CONSENT TO SERVICE BY E-MAIL in reference to Allegro Law’s Chapter 7, Case No. 10-30631. It says: I,_______________, a potential claimant in the above-referenced case, hereby consent to service of documents in this case by receipt of documents directed to the email address indicated below. By completing, signing and returning this form to BMC Group, Inc. Attention: Allegro Law Claims, PO Box 3020, Chanhassen, MN 55317-3020, I am consenting that document(s) sent to me via email shall constitue effective service of all papers and notices governed by Rule 7005 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure (incorporating Rule 5 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure), Rule 9022 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, Rule 9036 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and all documents and notices governed by Rule 9014(b) of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, except as otherwise provided by law. This consent will remain effective until it is withdrawn by submitting a signed written notice to BMC Group or the Trustee.
Should I sign this and send it back or is this just another way for Allegro to do more damage? I have my CC accounts with another company and they are doing what they promised me and I am happy with them. I don’t want anything to go wrong again. I just want my money back that Allegro stole from me and be done with them for good. What should I do about the letter? I appreciate your comments.
This is not coming from Allegro. This is from the bankruptcy court. If you want any hope of getting some money back you need to complete your claim form for the court.
Steve
I just got that one today. The “Consent to service by email” is if you want to receive all of the forms and such exclusively by email. It is not the claim form itself.
Hi I am a clint of Allegro Law, I have lost over 1000’s with them..I had to file Chapter 7 because of them and others..Now, I am up against trying to make it in an ecomoney bust and trying to get back on track when retired without anything is awful.
I know they owe me over 5 maybe 7 for I was paying them 6-700 a month for over a year..I would have to get out all the papers..
My concern; is that today I received the Chapter 7 notification from Middle Dist.of Ala.Court..There is a CONSENT TO SERVICE attached wanting signature:
AM I TO SIGN THESE OR WHAT? Do I HAVE TO APPEAR IN COURT..??
OR IS IT FOR PAYBACK?
Please email and give me your in put to the question?
Thanks for get at the truth..
OUR COUNTRY FOUGHT ON THE LINE DURING THE WARS..NOW WE HAVE TO DO IT AT HOME!
J.Haber
name of the place i paid a fee to who sends me to allegro:: first choice financial solutions, oh they had the sollution all right, keith palmer 800-216-1734 x-2109. as i said they still are in business??? keith is on my xmas card list, “not” they still answer the phone !!!!!!!!!!!!
TALK ABOUT SCUMBAGS— HOW ABOUT THE DEBT RELIEF CO. THAT SENT ME TO ALLEGRO WITH THEIR FEE OF $300. PAID UP FRONT AND THEY ARE STILL IN BUSINESS CALLED THEM ONE DAY AND TALKED TO KEITH , STILL WORKING THEIR IN FACT, AND HE WAS AWARE OF THE SITUATION AND EVER SO APOLOGETIC FOR THE WAY ALLEGRO WENT
Ken, who was the company that referred you?
What makes the situation even more interesting is the marketing companies that still have claims against Allegro for unpaid services will probably be paid a percentage out of consumer money seized by the receiver and now under the control of the bankruptcy court.
This case has no winners, at all.
Steve
I haven’t recieves squat yet, but I’m trying to be patient and hopefull file against this scumbag for defrauding us. I was one of the lucky ones that did not have a problem with the last payments, but I would like my initial and monthly fees back for breach of contract.
ANYBODY ELSE GET THE NITICE FROM ATTORNEY GENERALS OFF. IN ALA. TO CONTACT NOW ATTORNEY DANIEL HAMM RE: ALLEGRO CRAP ?? HE IS HANDLING THINGS, MAYBE THAT WAS ALL BOGUS ALSO, WROTE HIM A LETTER TO TRY AND GET THE FORMS TO FILL OUT TO GET ON FILE FOR REFUNDS, NO WORD YET, BUT MY FINGERS ARE CROSSED K. MCW
It is in fact being handled by the bankruptcy court. See this other post for updates on this case.
Steve
I’m closing the comments on this article and directing people over to Keith Nelms, Owner of Allegro Law Debt Settlement Fame, Goes Bankrupt With $28 in His Pocket for more information on what’s up with the Allegro Bankruptcy.
Steve
Hm, I was hoping my payments would have actually posted, but if they haven’t by now, I’m guessing it’s down the drain, and it’ll be months before I get any kind of claim form from the courts, and asking them for anything would be less effective than writing a letter to Santa Claus. Luckily I was able to scare up enough money to bring all my credit accounts up to current.
If Vanco isn’t supposed to debit accounts anymore, would it still be wise to talk to my bank to block any attempt by them anyway?
Bob S.
Thank you for your information. I was in Debt Management with Allegro. My monthly auto deducted payment was supposed to come out today and I’ve been working with my bank, they let me withdrawl all but the bare minimum from my account so that if Allegro did try to deduct this months payment it would bounce. They didn’t try to take anything out of the bank yet, but the day’s not over. One of my creditors called because they weren’t paid last month and when I discussed this with him he told me that they will continue with the lower interest rate and the lower payments like I was still in the program, because until they get a letter from Allegro they don’t know that I’m not in the program anymore. So I’m just paying the bills on my own.
RE: LAST UPDATE SAID WE WOULD ALL BE NOTIFIED BY MAIL WITH LATEST PROCEDINGS, RIGHT– ANYBODY GET ANY MAIL YET RE: ALLEGRO CURRENT SITUATION FROM THE BANKRUPTCY COURT?? DIDN’T THINK SO !!!!
JUST A THOUGHT WITH THE 12M TAKEN OVER BY BANKRUPTCY COURT LETS NOT FORGET ABOUT THE MONEY THAT WAS SUPPOSABLLEY PUT IN ESCROW ACCTS.IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO FIND OUT HOW THIS IS GOING END.KEN
STEVE DO YOU THINK THEIR WILL BE A MASS SETTLEMENT WITH DEBT FORGIVENESS FROM CREDITERS[CHASE BANK]AS IN THE HESS KENNEDY CASE IN FLORIDA ? OR IS THIS NOT POSSIBLE WITH THE ALLLC BANKRUPTCY ? KEN
Good question. I don’t think so. The bankruptcy court has no jurisdiction in providing services, they are their to liquidate and distribute all assets seized to creditors of Nelms, not your creditors.
The reality is that people who enrolled in the Allegro Law debt settlement program would have been far better off going bankrupt from the start than how this turned out. Many still will as a result of the Nelms filing having lost money to needless service fees and money paid for settlements.
But I would bet you a dozen donuts this will not be the last similar case we will hear about. The Federal Trade Commission will soon release new rules to prevent debt settlement companies from doing what Allegro Law and others have done to their customers. This change will put a lot of those fly-by-night companies out of business and their customers will be faced with the same thing you are. You’re just first.
I’m so sorry this happened to you.
Steve
STEVE.JUST A THOUGHT IM THINKING THE ONLY REASON IVE NOT HEARD FROM CHASE IS THEIR LISTED AS A CEDITOR IN THE ALLLC B/RUPTCY CASE. THANK.KEN
so how do you get this form to fill out from the bankruptcy court on allegro??? why is this so difficult??? can anybody help, or is this just the american way?? ken
HAVE NOT HEARD ANY THING BY MAIL YET, I PAID $3,00.00 TO ALLEGRO AND NOT A PENNY WAS SENT TO ONE OF MY CRECITORS.DEBTORS. WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM BANKRUPTCY COURT SOMETHING , LIKE THEY SAID WE WOULD? I FILED WITH ATTORNEY GENERAL OFFICE IN NEW YORK AND PA. BUT NOT ALABAMA, PEOPLE CAN MOAN ALL THEY WANT BUT LETS GET SOME FACTS FROM THE BANKRUPTCY COURT IN ALABAMA WHY IS THAT SO FIFFICULT???? KEN
I ALSO DID TOO.AND I AM IN NY.CAN WE REALLY FILED FOR THIS SITUATION
Hey Steve, Thanks for your willingness to provides us all valuable info regarding this Allegro mess. I have been following this thing since the begining (discovered on your website). After reading all the horror stories, i feel fortunate that i only lost 4,300 to this Kieth Nelms MF’r i hope he has to live in a shack and never is allowed to practice Law ever again. So just when it started to look favorable to us all, Mr. Nelms decided to file Bankrupcy and F us all over again. So now what ?. I did send all my info to Mr. Colley when this all started, so is my info with the bankrupcy rustee ? do you think we even have a chance to recover any money at all ? is there someone to call ?. Thanks again Steve….. Chris
Chris,
In Nelms’ bankruptcy filing he listed approximately 17,000 unsecured creditors (you) and I’m sure the bankruptcy court will send you a form to complete regarding your claim for money owed. Unfortunately the claim process will have to begin all over again. It is my understanding that everything that Mr. Colley did is closed and the bankruptcy court has their own, new, and different process. There is nobody to call.
If I hear that notices have been sent out I’ll post it here and if anyone gets one, let me know, please.
Steve
Once again Steve to the rescue, You D’a Man. Thanks, Chris
Steve, I had contacted Mr. Colley several times and he was as worthless as Allegro. He kept senting me canned statements and would not answer a single question about the reciever process or my money or how to file against Anderson. It’s sad that people are paraising him when he could not answer anything. As teh reciever he should have sent some kind of notification to clients as soon as this dropped in our laps.
I agree with Marcus68. I gave up sending emails to Mr. Colley. He was as worthless as Allegro. Doesnt answer any questions, only sends generic emails, if he ever does answer.
Mr. Colley has not been handling this case since it was taken over by the bankruptcy court. See this other article for more information.
Steve
Nicky,
If I were you, I’d call all of your creditors to see if any of your accounts are past due. Even though they claim that April 2, 2010 was the day they stopped servicing accounts, I found out last week, when I heard of this mess, that they had not paid all of my accounts for March. So, apparently, they stopped long before April 2. So, I lost over half of the money they withdrew from my account on March 8. I’m lucky because my creditors are willing to work with me, however some of them can’t do much for me because until they get official notice from Allegro about the bankruptcy, I’m still technically Allegro’s client. This is just one huge mess and I am grateful for Steve, because without him and this website, I’d be in the dark, as Allegro has yet to contact me, and from what I’m gathering, will not bother to do so.
Darcey
Darcey,
It’s important to note for everyone that if they run into a creditor that does not want to work with you individually you just need to play the game and get another agency to represent you as I described in this post.
Creditors are not logic based, they are process based.
And nobody should hold their breath waiting for Allegro to notify any creditor. The way it sounded from Mr. Colley, the former official receiver, was that everything was stopped cold turkey by the bankruptcy trustee, including him.
Ultimately the trustee is following the law and doing his job. If anyone wants to assign blame it would have to fall back on Keith Nelms for filing bankruptcy to avoid the claims for his bad acts. After reading through his bankruptcy filing I was surprised the number of years he owed back taxes, had defaulted student loans, etc. What in the world was he doing with all the money he took from tens of thousands of people?
Steve
I have a regular payment deducted from my checking account around the 12th of each month by Allegro. They deducted the March payment on the 15th but have not dispursed it. So, basically they (he) stole that $465 from me to fund bankruptcy? Also, will April’s payment be deducted? I can survive with last month’s payment gone but not two months in a row. Any answers?
Nicky,
My understanding is that all monies in the Allegro accounts as of April 2, 2010 is frozen by the court and will be held by the bankruptcy trustee to distribute to creditors that file claims under the bankruptcy, rather than to be distributed to your creditors. Mr. Colley told me that Vanco, the company that was debiting accounts was notified to stop immediately. Basically, as a result of the bankruptcy, everyone’s debt management plan with Allegro was dropped like a hot potato on April 2, 2010 and everyone was cut adrift, they just don’t know it yet unless they’ve read my site.
Steve
Thank you for your prompt reply. I am going to now call my creditors and see if they will work with me. Wish me luck! – Nicky
I just found out today about this! I usually check my credit cards and appears to be late. They took March payment and they never paid the creditors. Practically, they took $600 dollars. I know this may be a dumb quationd but is there a way to get part of that money back?
John,
You need to go read Keith Nelms, Owner of Allegro Law Debt Settlement Fame, Goes Bankrupt With $28 in His Pocket.
Steve
Steve,
I’ve been on the debt management program for a little over a year. I was making monthly payments to Allegro and the payments have been dispersed to my creditors up to last month (03-17-10 being the latest). Are you saying the dispersed amounts ALREADY made to my creditors will be payments made in vain? Because if not, I can follow Darcey’s footsteps as she mentioned above and continue to make payments on my own without handing any money over to Allegro.
Derek,
They would be payments made in vain if you don’t either contact your creditors to see if you can take over your payment plan or find another agency to represent you to continue the payment plan you are on.
Steve
SINCE MY CHASE ACCOUNT WAS BOUGHT OUT BY ZWICKER AND ASSOCIATES FOR PROBABLEY PENNIES ON THE DOLLAR;WHO DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO CONTACT ME FOR PAYMENT[S] OR SETTLEMENT;FIRST ZWICKER;BANKRUPTCY COURT OR CHASE THEMSELVES.THANKS STEVE FOR ALL YOU DO.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!KEN ALSO AS NOTED ON 3-05-2010 POST LAST SCHEDULED PAYMENT WAS DEDUCTED FROM MY ACCOUNT.
Hey Steve,
I posted a while back about me transferring close to $10,000 into my mother’s allegro account (allegro reps encouraged this action over the phone and was done via wire transfer) to settle her debt. From what I understand this event solidifies that there is no chance we will see any of those funds….correct? Everyone has avoided directly answering that question. If so, I understand. I would just like confirmation. If this is so, what can I do to contribute to his punishments? I don’t feel being broke or unemployed is enough justice for me. What would you do?
Dan,
You will become one of the 17,000 unsecured creditors. While you may get some money back it won’t be enough to satisfy you or any creditor. One thing I know for certain, nobody is going to happy here.
If you want to get a pound of flesh then you need find some assets Nelms hid and did not claim in his bankruptcy filing. See my other article on his filing which lists his claimed assets.
Steve
Thanks, Steve. You have been most helpful.
IT SHOULD BE NO SURPRISE BUT EVERTHING ALLEGRO CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTETIVES TOLD ME WAS ALL BS. KEN
Steve,
Thank you. Without you and this message board, I would have had no idea what was going on, as Allegro has not contacted me in any way. I discovered that had stopped servicing my accounts in the beginnig of last month, that I was past due on a few thanks to them, etc. I had to jump through soem hoops, as in closing my checking account to ensure they wouldn’t swindle me out of more money, and thankfully, my creditors, now that they know the situation, are willing to keep me on the same payment arrangements, so I still have the benefits of the low interest rates, but now, am not paying Allegro $59 a month to “service” my accounts. Anyhow, if it had not been for youSteve, I have no idea what kind of a bigger mess I would have been in.
Darcey
Darcey,
Aw shucks.
Steve
So, what are we supposed to do about payments to our creditors for this month?? They took a payment out March 16, and usually distributes them by the 6th/7th of the following month. I’ve checked half of my creditors, and there are no payments posted. If they took the money out last month, shouldn’t it have been in process, so should have been distributed, even though they’ve filed for bancruptcy. If they don’t pay my creditors, it means they stopped much sooner than the April 2 stop date. Any assistance would be helpful.
I’ve tried to start up with another service, but because my wife and I are both unemployed, no one will accept me into their program. Do you have any suggestions on how to proceed??
Thanks
J
Joel,
Unfortunately all money not by April 2, 2010 was most likely frozen by the bankruptcy court because of the filing of Nelms and will not be distributed to creditors on a timely basis.
If you want to prevent collection calls and lawsuits you will need to go bankrupt. All the previous money paid will have been paid in vain and not accomplished your task of getting out of debt. That’s the problem with non-judicial solutions like debt settlement or credit counseling. It’s an all or nothing bet.
Steve
Except I was a debt management client. How does this affect my money dispersal? Is it still the same as for debt management? Should I contact my creditors and see about possible solutions, or is filing bankrupcy the only solution. If I wasn’t unemployed, I would be paying back my credirtors, and have been since being unemployed, it’s just that I don’t have much left in the reserves to keep paying. Is there some other option besides bankrupcy? Once I am again employed, I would continue to pay creditors, it’s just that right now, it’s finalcialy straining.
Joel
Joel,
Nelms claimed that all deposited funds, including yours, were his personal property and were then seized under his bankruptcy. You can read his bankruptcy filing here, Keith Nelms, Owner of Allegro Law Debt Settlement Fame, Goes Bankrupt With $28 in His Pocket.
You can always contact your creditors but you need to rethink this strategy if you are unemployed. If you can’t find a job and replace the unemployment income, when the unemployment expires you’ll be in the same boat.
Steve
It actually looks that the filing was of March 12, and all accounts frozen at that time, even though they continued to take money out of the account. http://www.allegrobankruptcy.com/
Joel
Joel,
The filing was on 2-22-2010 and the seizure by the bankruptcy court was last Friday.
Steve
I was in the DMP end of it. On the debtaccountonline site, mine shows the following dates: Withdrawal from checking on the 22nd, then sent to creditors on the 29th. Payments typically post to my creditor accounts a couple weeks after. I’m trying to wrap my brain around the path of the money: At what point did it go through Allegro?
Bob,
The money was drafted by Vanco and disbursed by Americorp, maybe even paid through MasterCard RPS, all were agents of and performing the work of Allegro.
Steve
LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT THEY TOLD YOU THAT THE RECEIVER FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY NOT KEITH ANDERSON HELMS HIMSELF.THANKS:KEN
Yes, but it was Nelms that filed, not the receiver.
Steve
Just Confirmed – Americorp No Longer Servicing Allegro Law Clients.
I just received the following email from a former Americorp/Allegro Law customer service person.
“I was a former employee of Americorp and If I knew what I was getting myself into before I got hired, I honestly dont know if I would have accepted the job. Well first of all I was recently let go from Americorp on March 30th, along with an entire new training class which only worked about two days along and also about 7 other employees that started around the same time that I did. The reason for the layoff is that we got a message from Mr. “nine lives” himself Tim Mccallan that the receiver for Allegro filed for bankruptcy which halted all processing for Allegro. This news was given to us on a Tuesday afternoon, and Wednesday morning when I went to work I was let go. The told us that they have to regroup and they had to let us go.”
My suggestion is that all Allegro law debt management clients read my post “Allegro Law Receivership Frozen by Bankruptcy Court. All Client Accounts are Closed.”
What about the payments they didn’t make?
It is my understanding the bankruptcy court took over everything so that will be up to the court.
Steve
Darcey,
Here is the official statement on this issue.
Breaking Allegro Law News
Effective immediately ALL Allegro accounts are frozen. This impacts all debt management and debt settlement clients. See my post “Allegro Law Receivership Frozen by Bankruptcy Court. All Client Accounts are Closed.”
Steve
Does anyone know if you can still get a hold of their customer service?
tryed all day was told their having technical diffuculties at this time thx ken
I would not be surprised if they just turned off the phones since they probably are not going to be paid under the bankruptcy. Everyone need to read my update about all client accounts are now frozen.
Steve
I saw that post. I also found out that they did not pay
all of my creditors last month, so I’m wondering if those
payments, which they always did at the end of the month,
are pending, or if
I magically need to come up with the double payments.
I haven’t gotten calls from creditors yet, but if these
yahoos make my credit bad…
Darcey,
Call your creditors tomorrow and/or get your account moved to the new credit counseling group right away to prevent this from getting worse than it is.
Steve
Are these people actually going to call our creditors
to let them know what’s happened? I can’t negotiate with
some of my creditors until they know Allegro has “dropped”
me.
Darcey,
I doubt it. Get a new agency to represent you ASAP.
Steve
Call Your Creditors, You May Have had Bad Experiance, but those are individual collector, if your debts are with collecton agencys and still owned by the original creditors (most Major Banks ) you can work it out youselves, (since the fall of the economy these companys are required to with with you.
DID YOUMEAN TO SAY YOU WOULDNT BE SURPRISE IF IT TOOK THECOURT ANOTHER YEAR.???? THAT OTHER NOT IN THE END THROUGH ME OFF.THANK,KEN
MY LAST SCHEADULED PAYMEMT WAS DEBITED FROM MY ACCT.THIS AM.LETS SEE HOW LONG THIS IS GOING TO TAKE TO FINNALLY END THIS NIGHTMARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANKS;KEN
Kenneth,
I would not be at all surprised if it did not take the court another year.
Steve
I guess after reading your blog I am not the only one being fool by Allegro. I have been in the program for almost a year now. I was speaking to one of the creditor the other day and what he told me about Allegro I was shock. So here is my questions: I wonder if I stop paying now will I be violating the contract or not since there is a legal action against Allegro. Since Allegro automatically takes my money out of my account every month how can I stop this if I decide not to go with Allegro anymore. Your expert advise will surely help.
Are you in the Allegro debt management plan where money is being taken out each month and paid to your creditors?
Steve
Steve, I was set up on a monthly withdrawal (EFT) into an escrow acct. Once the escrow acct built up enough money to work with my creditors they will start to negotiate.
Ouch. Funds deposited into those accounts is frozen by the court and can’t even be refunded without the courts permission. If you decided to go bankrupt you bankruptcy attorney can request those funds to be returned. Otherwise your choice is to stay on the path you are on, stop the deposits and deal with the debt yourself while you wait for a refund, or go bankrupt. If you decide bankruptcy is something you’d like to explore, click here to find a local bankruptcy attorney.
Bankruptcy would stop all collection activity and prevent any further lawsuits for you delinquent debt.
Steve
yes,i am a client of allegro law and they were taking my money and not making the payments to the creditors.i am from NY.and is not fair that the lie to all of us.i notice that the last 2 payments were not done eaither.i hope i get my money back including or the fee.to start all over again.thanks for your help.
you know steve it seems like you put some effort into setting up this website to take allegro questions but you never have any answers??last update 2/16said once again a mailing is being pre-paired for termination, well they said that 2-months ago and i have still not received a peep from allegro, let alone received any valuable info from you!! it seems as tho you work for allegro and this is just a front to appease people, you have never given me any meat and potatoes of what is going on with my situation with allegro why bother to get on this website anymore, wht doesn’t allegro respond to anything: e-mails, phone calls, they don’t live up to anything they post on that website of there’s
Kenneth,
You said, “it seems as tho you work for allegro and this is just a front to appease people”, now that’s something I never thought I’d ever be accused of. LOL.
I know you are frustrated by the lack of response from players in the Allegro situation but clearly that’s not under my control. The Allegro situation court appointed receiver Colley and backend processor Americorp, for some reason are just HORRIBLE communicators and don’t respond to people.
You can always get a local attorney to represent you and have the attorney contact the receiver Louis Colley, Esq. to try to get your specific questions answered, what ever they are.
Steve
I thought everyone would enjoy this post, “Here is What Debt Scammers Look Like. Watch This.” It has a cameo appearance by non other than Andy Nelms of Allegro Law infamy.
Hello Steve, whatever happened to Bob Lindsay? I know they closed him down, but so what? Did he go to jail?
Thanks, Georgia
Georgia,
Nope, Bob is running from everything at the moment and filed bankruptcy not that long ago. Click here for the Bob Lindsey saga.
Steve
Hello Steve, thank you for the info. That’s almost as good as jail. After all of the theft, it’s nice to see them have to go through some trouble at least. And now instead of enjoying the fruits of their theft, they are in the same boat as the rest of us. That’s pretty coo. Thanks also for the info the other day about the credit cards after bankruptcy. You said that you want to empower me to make a decision. I don’t know how empowered I feel, after making the decision to use Allegro. I don’t have too much confindence in my choices. But, I understand what you mean. You are awesome. Thank you so much for all that you do. I appreciate it. Thanks, Georgia
Steve,
I was thinking of calling Compass of Carolina, since it’s local to where I live, but I just have no idea. I’ve spoken with at least one of my creditors and they said that they would be happy to continue the payment plan Allegro set up with them with me, if I were to drop Allegro. I might just contact all of my creditors and see if they would be willing to do this as well. I just don’t want Allegro to hurt my credit score.
Darcey,
Explain your situation to your creditors and start with that first.
Steve
Steve, thanks for that link, but I called there and Tinamarie can’t help me because she isn’t licensed for the state I live in. She referred me to her coworker, and I’m just concerned that I’ll be jumping from one sinking ship to another at this point.
Darcey,
Nobody sinks better than Allegro. Any licensed credit counseling program will be light years ahead of the fraud that was Allegro. Just let me know who the other agency is and I’ll give you my opinion of them.
Steve
Has the debt management side of Allegro been affected by this? I just found out that one of my creditors has not been paid on time.
Darcey,
The customer service from Americorp, who is handling the Allegro Law debt management accounts, has been horrible. You might want to read “Allegro Law Debt Management Clients. Important Information to Get Better Service.”
Steve
I was just wondering for those of us who were burned by Allegro and have since been forced to file bankruptcy, if you have an idea of what it will do to our bankruptcy case if by some miracle we actually do get a refund from all of this. My wife and I were out about $7000 before we realized what was going on. Even though we filed BR we still have a hard time (not as hard as before) trying to stay ahead. It’s still paycheck to paycheck. Should have filed BR to begin with.
Thanks!
You will really need to discuss this with you bankruptcy lawyer. Too many variables to assume.
Steve
Thanks for keeping us up with the Allegro isues!
All still going well with my Ch. 13 Bankruptcy with John Orcutt! As long as you make your payments, it all move right along!!
Jane Parker
From Alabama Attorney General’s Office
ATTORNEY GENERAL, SECURITIES COMMISSION OBTAIN ORDER FOR PERMANENT SHUTDOWN OF ONE OF THE LARGEST DEBT SETTLEMENT SCHEMES IN THE NATION Approximately $12 million in assets seized
February 24, 2010
(MONTGOMERY)— The Attorney General’s Office and the Alabama Securities Commission announced the permanent shutdown of one of the largest debt settlement schemes in the nation, which had been operated in Prattville by a local attorney.
Autauga County Circuit Judge Ben Fuller granted the agencies’ request for a permanent injunction to stop deceptive and illegal activities by Keith Anderson Nelms and his companies, Allegro Law LLC and Allegro Financial Services LLC. The Court’s summary judgment ruling establishes a permanent receiver and makes provisions for the receiver to protect and recover remaining resources for the benefit of the companies’ clients.
Attorney General Troy King and Securities Commission Director Joe Borg filed a lawsuit seven months ago which halted operations and froze the defendants’ assets while the Court reviewed allegations regarding Allegro’s unlicensed business, its ineffectiveness in reducing the debts of its clients, and its false representation of the services provided. The Court’s ruling now permanently prohibits Allegro and Nelms from engaging in any further deceptive trade practices and from operating a debt settlement or debt management business in Alabama.
“Now the Court has put an end to Allegro Law’s illegal operation, and has stopped it from continuing to exploit the clients it purported to serve,” said Attorney General King. “People who were in desperate circumstances came to Allegro for help, and instead they suffered greater harm. With this ruling, Allegro will not be allowed to cause further damage, and steps are being taken to restore as much money as possible to the victims whose trust was betrayed. My office will not permit any person or business to operate massive scams within our state.”
Joseph Borg, Director of the Alabama Securities Commission said, “This action continues our determination to enforce compliance with the law in the debt management industry. With the continuing financial crisis affecting Alabama citizens, those who have credit issues must carefully investigate and understand the debt management solutions being offered. Before any Alabamian enters into a contract with a debt resolution company, check their license with the Alabama Securities Commission’s Registration Office (800-222-1253) to make sure they are licensed as required under Alabama law and be certain you fully understand what the terms of the contract are.”
Nelms is a resident of Montgomery whose law practice and financial services company were located in Prattville. After some of Nelms’ activities came under scrutiny by the Alabama Bar Association, he pleaded guilty to violating numerous rules of professional conduct and was suspended from the practice of law in Alabama.
In the order, the Court agreed with the State’s assertion that Nelms and Allegro violated the Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Sale of Checks Act. Approximately $12 million in assets will be held for approximately 15,000 Allegro customers nationwide, of which about 175 are Alabama residents. These assets have been in the care of a receiver who has now been appointed to permanently oversee the protection of the funds to insure that the funds are handled appropriately and in the clients’ best interest.
The distribution and scheduling of any potential refunds will be determined in the future.
Clients will be contacted by the receiver, Louis Colley, and may also contact him by mail at Allegro Law Receivership, P. O. Box 680840, Prattville, AL 36068, by telephone toll free at 1-888-361-3303, or on the web at http://www.Allegrolawreceivership.com.
Under the Sale of Checks Act, any person engaging in a debt payment services business must obtain a license from the Commission prior to conducting business in Alabama. The defendants operated in violation of the law by failing to obtain a license as required by the Sale of Checks Act before engaging in the debt payment services business nationwide from their Alabama office.
The Alabama Deceptive Trade Practices Act is designed to protect consumers by prohibiting business from committing a variety of deceptive practices including engaging in any “unconscionable, false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice in the conduct of trade or commerce.” Defendants were found to have violated the Deceptive Trade Practices Act by engaging in various deceptive business practices, including making false, misleading, and deceptive representations to consumers.
Nelms advertised that debt payment services provided through a business run by an attorney would provide superior results and would be handled in a more ethical and professional manner than debt payment services offered by a business not run by an attorney. In reality, Allegro promoted a risky practice known as debt settlement, in which consumers stop making monthly payments to their creditors, hoping to encourage creditors to write off the debt, reclassify it as less collectible, and agree to settle for a greatly reduced payment. Instead, as the Court’s order states, “defendant’s debt settlement program failed to reduce consumers’ debt in most cases, negatively affected consumers’ credit ratings, and subjected customers to increased lawsuits and collection activities by creditors.” Furthermore, consumers sent monthly payments to Allegro which they believed would be used to pay their debts, but which were instead used to pay Allegro’s massive upfront fees. The Court states that “it was deceptively unclear to Allegro consumers that Allegro Law would collect its fees in full before any funds were used to pay creditors.” The Court also found that Allegro engaged in deceptive trade practices by representing that it was providing customers with legal services, when in fact Allegro simply referred the cases to be handled by a third party that was not a law firm but which represented itself to clients as if it were.
The Court concluded that Allegro customers were deceived in the following ways: “(1)consumers were led to believe that Allegro Law, LLC was a law firm providing legal services, when in fact, consumers were not provided legal services; (2) consumers believed that Allegro was located in New York, when it was located in Prattville, Alabama; (3) consumers were not aware that they would be charged a fee of 16 percent of their total debt enrolled in the program and that 100 percent of their monthly bank drafts would go toward payment of that fee until the fee was paid in full; (4) consumers were deceived about the effectiveness of Allegro’s program and the certification of Allegro’s services; and (5) consumers were directed to stop making payments to creditors, which resulted in increased interest rates, late fees, further damage to their credit ratings, and additional and increased collection activities by their creditors.”
Attorney General King and Securities Commission Director Borg commended those who worked hard to bring this case to a successful conclusion, noting in particular Assistant Attorney General Noel Barnes, Deputy Attorney General Rushing Payne, and Special Agents Kyle Clark and Bob Caviness of the Attorney General’s Office, and Assistant Attorney General Jane Brannan and Special Agent Chip Harrison of the Securities Commission.
i was with this company for a year and the some payments were not apply to my account..and i still trying to pay my bills.please help us in this situacion.
I got a letter from Allegro yesterday stating that they had settled another one of my accounts. Now I’m really confused! What am i suppossed to do?
DID YOU GET MY PREVIOUS E-MAIL
scammed by allegro, now they don’t respond to their web-site receivership— somebody esq. callie– handling– doesnot answer the phone— i think that web site is bogus just like allegro, jan 26th court hearing we were supposed to be notified results, still have not heard anything, no respnse to e-mails, phone calls ?? do you know of any updates?? please respond or are you part of the scam aLSO AND THIS IS ALL A FRONT TO MAKE IT LOOK GOOD ????????????
Wow, where do I begin? I was scammed by x-business partners and left with 98,000.000 CC debt. Went to BankR Attn who refered me to Credit Exchange, Allegro Law. Debt Settlement side. I have been with since Jan 2009. Pay $1083.00 every mnth. I just startedd getting calls again and recieved law suit from one of the remaining CC. I tried to long on to Allegro site and to no avail till I found this site. just spent the last hour & half reading(and crying). I am at a loss for what to do. I am out over 12,000.00 from Allegro and have not had any contact from them other than them taking my $$$. the accts that have been settled have been done directly from me. Now I see all of this and am very scared. My husband and I own our own business and can’t file for BR as the courts will take control of our business. What to do??? Please let me know your thoughts.
Also I would like to say that God has an angel on earth in the form of this wonderful man named Steve Rhode. thank you in advance for all thqt you are doing. the world needs more caring people like you. BIG BIG HUGS for all that you do.
Vanessa
Sorry if I commit some kind of boo boo in my post. I too have been scammed by Allegro,We decided to go with Allegro Law LLC because of how promising they sounded in helping us with our situation, did some research and went with them. We signed up 10-27-2008, paid an initial payment of $970.00 to start. We were still getting calls from creditors and was reassured that this was typical as we were just starting on the program, be patient, this will take some time. Time went on and still was getting calls and threatning letters from creditors, we got tired of the run around and I asked for a printout of what we have paid and where it has gone, got the printout in April and I was blown away, out of all the monies that we paid in there was only $234.67 in the “escrow” account to start to pay the creditors.Over 3,000.00 we paid in and only $234.67 was put aside for escrow. I called and asked if any creditors had been paid and why again was I still being contacted. I was told that until I had the total funds of my original debt in the escrow that none would be paid. Now let me show the breakdown of where funds were going.
In May 2009 I decided to cancel with Allegro Law because of the above issues, I was sent a check for the escrow amnt of $204.67, deposited the check and was contacted by the bank that the check had bounced, we had to pay a $30.00 fee. I called Allegro concerning this matter and was told that the company had no control as to the executing of payments and that I was to view information concerning this at their website for further details. I did so and sent an email to this receivership stating what had happened. Got an email back telling me what I had already knew.
Here is a copy of email:
This e-mail is in response to the request that you submitted Thursday,
October 29, 2009 at 6:04 PM.
I am sorry that you were unable to cash the refund check issued to you.
Please understand that no refunds will be issued at this time. The only
means to securing a refund of any sort will be through a claims process that
the receiver is in the process of establishing. I would encourage you to
review the receiver’s website for further details.
If you have any further questions, please call Customer Service
Thank you,
Allegro Law
Customer Service
This is very frustrating, and it seems to be just a big circle when explainations are needed. They sent me a bad check for funds that I know are there because I paid them.
Its not fair that we were charged over $2,000.00 in lawyers fees when I am reading that the lawyer involved was deceitful.
Hello everyone … I just saw this update on the Receivership website:
UPDATE 01-28-2010
A hearing was held before Judge Ben Fuller in the Circuit Court of Autauga County, Alabama on January 25th, 2010. Indications from the Court are that the Receivership will be made permanent and plans can move forward with the winding up of the business. As stated before it is anticipated the debt management plans will continue so long as the clients choose and their payments remain current.
Debt settlement plans are being evaluated on a client by client basis to determine what money remains in escrow for potential refund to the client and/or the possible settlement of at least some outstanding debts. A direct mailing will be made to all clients in the near future informing them of their options. Each debt settlement client is again reminded that the funds frozen by the Court will be insufficient to refund all money paid in by client.
I hope this helps.
Update on my part:
I have settled two of my credits cards last December. I have already made arrangements on settling my only remaining credit card and would be debt free by the end of this year, except for the car loan that I just got.
Thank you so much for all the good work you are doing Steve. May God bless you and your family.
Ashish
Yes. Please post an update on the case from 1/25/10.
I was contacted by a debt collector this morning and she was talking about verifying my employment and “moving forward” (whatever that means) if I couldn’t give her the money to settle the account today. What do you do in this situation? I have about $25000 in cc debt that is scattered throughout 3 or 4 cards. What are my options?
Thanks for any help you can provide
Cody,
I know of no update. Your only option to avoid lawsuits from collectors is going to be bankruptcy. Contact a local bankruptcy attorney and discuss what bankruptcy would mean for you. Collectors and creditors are not going to wait till this mess is resolved and they don’t have to.
Steve
STILL WAIT..ING ON WORD ABOUT COURT HEARING ON25TH.THANKS.KEN
Was there any update on this? I have not heard. Thanks! Vanessa
WHY CANT YOU JUST NOTIFY BANK OF SITUATION WITHOUT STOP PAYMENT AVOIDING AN ADDITIONAL CHARGE. THANKS:KEN P.S. TRY TO HANG IN THEIR TILL WE FIND OUT WHATS GOING TO BE RESSOLVED IN COURT ON JANUARY 25TH;2010.
People beware – – I closed and canceled my Allegro Law account (settlment side) as well as ceased the automatic drafts on 12/18/09. Or so I thought. The service center people you get when you call what is supposed to be Allegro Law told me to send in the request via fax and state why I was canceling my account (are they serious?) and it would be done. Now in January, they drafted my account what was my normal payment, $554. I called them back and tried to control my temper as the girl told me, “Oh yeah, I see your fax right here. Don’t know why that wasn’t taken care of.” And of course, she can’t give me a refund. I have to contact the receivership, who doesn’t return phone calls, by the way. So, now my question is, am I totally screwed out of this money, just as I am screwed out of all of the fees they sucked away from me for a year and did nothing for me? Will I have to wait until this thing goes to court and beyond, what, like 2 years? I am so totally pissed off right now. I thought I was taking control of this stupid situation by canceling my account and now someone’s incompetence has cost me another $554 for absolutely nothing! All of you reading this need to run away as fast and as far away as you can from Allegro Law!!!
Kelly,
Sorry to hear about the situation, but not surprised. Americorp is the entity servicing these accounts and their customer service appears to be beyond horrible. And you are right, money in can’t be released without permission of the courts.
I’m coming to the conclusion the only way to prevent unwanted debits is to change your bank account number.
Steve
Take a copy of your fax to your bank bookkeeping department. They should be able to revoke the transfer and get your money back. Same thing happened to me and that is what I did and it worked.
my wife and i have been w. allegro law for 9 mos now they continue to take money from our account now i am being sued by credit card cos. and allegro wont get back to me w. any help my wife is going to get served papers also is there anything we can do or is it to late?
Words of wisdom: I to was involved in this mess i have lost 4,300.00 to allegro first thing you should do . 1)put a stop payment thru bank so they cant take anymore money from you. 2) Fax allegro a letter telling them to cancel contract immediatley per agreement. 3) talk to a Bankrupcy attourney immediatley to see what is the best option for you.Dont worry about bankrupcy, if you are getting sued your credit is screwed allready you need the leagal system on your side working for you. I did a chapter 13 bankrupcy it was the best thing, i should have done it in the begining.All phone calls stoped all lawsuits stopped. I hope this has helped you good luck. Chris
I had three credit cards to payoff and loss my job. I have been given Allegro Law $184.00 a month for a little over a year and they have settled one of the three bills. After hearing all about the law sue I am confused as to whether I should stop payments and try to settle them myself without all the extra fees Allegro is taken and putting less in escrow for the payment of my last two debts.
Should I stop payments to Allegro and with the money saved from fees and whatever else they are doing with my money try to settle with the last two companies myself. I reviewed my credit report and see them as chargedoff does this mean they will still try to collect money from me? Please advise a very disable individual on a fixed income. Thank you for your help
New Update on Allegro Law from Colley 1-6-2009
Now that the receivership case has been remanded from Federal Court to State Court, a hearing has been set on January 25th, 2010. At this hearing it is anticipated the Court will address any challenges the owners of Allegro Law may have concerning the establishment of the receivership. If the receivership remains in place, the process will begin for establishing a refund procedure. There are not enough assets available for a complete refund of client payments. An accounting is ongoing to determine what potential refunds are available.
As stated in the past, debt management agreements are continuing unless the client terminates those agreements and some debt settlements are being accomplished.
A new update will be posted on January 26tth, 2010.
Lots of scary stories here, I spent an hour reading many of them months ago after I did a search for Allegro just out of the blue. We have been members of their debt management services since March 2008 and other than a few hiccups we have not had any issues. However I am more vigilant with checking my monthly statements since I discovered this page. I am not sure if we are just lucky to be in the management services and not settlement, but I wish the rest of you luck in your struggle with debt.
bob
My advise to all involved in this mess is to file bankrupcy either a 7 or 13. I myself did a thirteen it was not that bad, the hardest thing was getting all your ducks in order. for those that are worried about losing things dont worry. As long as you are able to pay your car and mortgage it should not be a problem. I was able to keep my Harley even though i had a car, you are allowed to keep certain things. I wish i did this in the begining, but as we all are, i was afraid to file bankrupcy.In a nutshell i should have done this in the begining, all my crediters were laughing at me when i told them to call Allegro cuz they all knew it was BS when i finally filed bankrupcy all phone calls stoped, and all lawsuits stoped. In times like these we need real attorneys representing us not some shame debit settlement company cuz that what we needed representing not someone just taking our money. Well i hope this helps out. FYI i lost 4,300 it cost me 1,200 to file bankrupcy.
Chris,
I completely agree. And your feedback is exactly what people need to hear.
If you don’t know of a local bankruptcy attorney, click here to find a local bankruptcy attorney you may like. At this point for all the people buried under the Allegro mess, bankruptcy is the logical way out.
Steve
Hi, Steve i just wanted to say thank you for your advise and this website cuz thru this site is how i found this mess back in July. I really cant beleive how the gevernment has not stepped in to stop these vultures. Also what happened to the receiver website tried to see if anything new was going on and it seems to be down. Thanx Chris,Happy New Year to ya
I feel like I’ve been living under a rock – I didn’t know a thing about this until a few weeks ago when I answered the phone and it was a collection agency. I started with my speel about “contact Allegro about this situation” and was cut short and told about this whole mess. The previous comment sums up my thoughts “my misguided attempt to do the right thing”.
When I started this whole thing my debt was 42K I’m afraid to know what it is now. I’ve NEVER received any kind of notification from anyone about any of this. They have my $$ but to my knowlege have not settled anything.
Do I try to negotiate with creditors or just end this whole mess with Bankruptsy. My husband has been unemployed for over 18 mos., we were in the process of making our home wheelchair accessible for our 23 year old son with Cerebral Palsy when he lost his job, literally the roof was off our house. I don’t want to jepordize (sp?) our home – we are not behind in our mortgage, we don’t have a car payment – just this credit card debt. This debt is all in my name, not his. any thoughts and suggetions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much for this website. I’ve been sitting here for hours reading every entry and feel so bad, but not alone, I’ve been able to find out more information here than anywhere else. Thanks sooooo very much!!
Paulette
Hello, Paulette, I am also in this mess found out about it back in July after all the Law suites started coming in and Allegro was not doing anything to stop i desided to stop all dealings with Allegro. First thing i did was to put a stop on all electronic payments to them(you may have to close that account. Then i sent them(Allegro) a letter that i was cancelling debit settlement due to all this mess going on. Then i found a Bankrupcy attourney to figure what best solution was best for me. In a nutshell with Allegro i have lost 4,300 bankrupcy filing cost 1,200. Dont worry about losing your home you are allowed to keep certain things(they are not going to take the roof over your head when you are current). I hope this helps you. Chris
Hi Steve,
After reading your comments on bankruptcy, I finally really looked into it and wish I had done it a year ago. It is not the horror we think! It has actually been a great process – my attorney has been wonderful so far. We will actually pay our fee and do our counseling on Monday – I am so ready to have this mess behind me. Almost 2 years of sleepless nights, tears, rude phone calls, and $8k that I will likely never see again that I paid to Allegro in a misguided attempt to do the right thing, to pay at least some of it back.
If you’re hesitant to follow Steve’s advice, do yourself a favor – at least seriously look into it. I have been thoroughly surprised and feel a relief I cannot express at being granted a new beginning.
Anna
Anna,
I know it is really hard for people to trust once they’ve been burned but as you can see I really do try to provide honest, caring, and from the heart advice. I’m so glad you found the courage to take action and I’m so happy this nightmare will be behind you so very soon.
A really big hug for you.
Steve
Thank you, Jane! My situation sounds like yours. I am not behind on the mortgage or the car payments, but am on the credit cards and they have been going up every month with interest and late fees. But my attorney did suggest including everything and when he told me what the monthly payment would be for the 5 years of bankruptcy, it is less than what I pay for everything individually. So I think we will get a little relief on the monthly bills. I’m still gathering all of the facts and getting things organized, but I think this is the way we will go. We are at rock bottom now….so the only place to go is UP, right!!! Thank you again for the info. Hope all works out for you!!! Merry Christmas!
~Kelly
Steve – thank you too for all you are doing on this website. Like Jane, it was something you said about bankruptcy and our credit being bad already anyway that prompted me to investigate the dirty “B” word. Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas as well as everyone who reads this website!
You are very welcome Kelly. Happy New Year!
It is surely going to be better for me in 2010! I hope that it is for you as well!!
Jane Parker
Hi Kelly,
Because I was not behind on my mortgage payment or my car payment. The credit card companies screwed me with increase of interest rate and monthly payment, so they were the only thing that I was behind on. That is what filing Ch.13 is. But the attorneys will tell you what you need to do, Ch.13 or Ch.7. That is their job.
I was not scared at all. My attorneys embraced me and gave me all the info that was needed. All I did was do what they asked me to do. Hope this helps!!
Sincerely,
Jane Parker
My question is for Jane-
Jane-I’m curious, why did you file bankrupcty only on the credit cards and not include your house and car? I recently met with a bankruptcy attorney and am seriously considering it (ch. 13), but I am terrified. I am an Allego Settlement victim and am trying to reclaim my life and get out of this stupid mess I’ve gotten myself into. Is it better to file on just the credit cards or include everything? Thanks!
Hi Steve,
His whole team of people were awesome!! All the paralegals were very experienced and they smiled and actually like their job of helping people!! I did not have a lot of questions, because they told me everything that was going to happen. I just brought in every paper information that they told me to. My bankruptcy payment is for the credit cards only (ch.13), and I pay the car and mortgage outside the bankruptcy payment. It was so simple. I filed with the court and the trustee on Tuesday. I should have never listened to Bank of America tell me that I could not file bankruptcy! I highly recommend them and other attorneys like them in other states. Please go check it out!!
Thanks Steve for steering me in the right direction!!
Jane
Hi All,
I was with Allegro and Credit Exchange mess since last February and have almost $5000 tied up with them. I just got finished going to court to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy with my lawyer, John Orcutt. I am in North Carolina. Steve has been suggesting this for months now. I did it, and it is the best, quickest thing to do. It will stop ALL creditors from harassing and will get you started on a payment plan to a Trustee that divides out all the money every month. My lawyer is even taking over trying to get money back from Allergro, whenever that may be.
PLEASE CONSIDER DOING IT OR TALKING TO A BANKRUPTCY LAWYER.
YOUR HEALTH DEPENDS ON IT!!!!!
Jane,
Great update. Thanks for the feedback. What did you think of the services provided by Orcutt. I’ve referred several people to him lately but they have not made it through the process.
By the way, thanks for listening.
Steve
So in other words Nelms gets away scott free while Chase Bank is threatening to take me to court and take my house and pay check away. What happens to the over $8,000 Allegrow took from me to be used for attorney fees when Allegrow never even represented me in court? I quess like myself and alot of other we are helping him pay for his yaht and expensive vacations. I was just trying to make good like alot of other people and settle their debt.
Thanks.
Jim,
Yep, that’s the problem with getting screwed. There is never any fairness in it. Dude, I don’t take this lightly. I’m just telling you like it is. The problem here is the underlying premise that debt settlement was going to save you was a lie to begin with. The fees they took, they spent. They are gone.
I’m sorry to be so blunt about it.
Your only chance of retribution would be for you to find a consumer attorney in Alabama that would want to take this on as a class action suit against Nelms personally. You could search for one here on the National Association of Consumer Advocates site. If you can find one that wants to do that, I’ll provide the information here so others can join in.
Outside of that, I’m afraid you’ve learned a really expensive lesson. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. The idea that all your creditors will let you pay back part of what you owe, over time, is the premise of an excellent scam. There is just enough truth to it to make it plausible and to draw people in.
Steve
Steve,
From all the hype and previous jail time served by criminals
like Andy Nelms, do you think he will actually ever “do” jail time? After searching his name on the internet, it appears he’d recently invested in several Steak-Out restaurants, etc. His wife had even bragged on one website about the new “boat” they were getting this past summer and how they enjoyed their visits to the beach. How nice this must all be with OTHER people’s money!
Otherwife,
Do I think Nelms will do jail time for the Allegro mess? Absolutely not.
Steve
I just found out that Allegro has not been sending my creditors monthly payments and they are still drafting the money each month from my bank account. What’s the first thing I need to do?
Call Allegro Customer Service and sit on hold till you get to speak to a person and ask for an explanation. If you are in the debt management program, read this Allegro Law Debt Management Clients. Important Information to Get Better Service.
Steve
Hello,
As soon as I read this post in July, I contacted Allegro and canceled my account with them in August. I called two of my creditors and arranged a settlement myself. However, Allegro Law sent one of the creditors a letter of representation after I arranged a settlement and so they canceled my settlement. I was worried when they did not take out the monthly installment. I called them and they told me about the situation and I was informed since they received that letter, the settlement was not valid anymore. So I had to set up a new settlement which obviously meant more money. 🙁 I just wanted to share this for the benefit of people who are settling on their own and have canceled their Allegro Law account. They may want to call their creditors and inform them not to honor any correspondence they might receive from Allegro Law.
Finally, two I have settled two of my credit cards and there is just one to go. I am feel really excited about the idea of being debt free and I can see it happening soon. 🙂
Ashish
Not sure how this works now. Allegro settle my debt with AMEX and I just received a letter from an attorney trying to collect the remaining debt. I thought once it was settled it’s settled. Where do I go from here?
Thanks,
Natalie
Update on Allegro Law
This matter has finally been remanded to the Circuit Court of Autauga County, Alabama and it is anticipated matters will move forward much more quickly at this point. As previously mentioned, debt management plans continue to be paid in accordance with the original agreement.
Debt settlement plans have been settled where an agreement can be reached for the client and where sufficient funds were available. All client escrow funds are held in a trust account supervised by the Court and, if not used for settlement, will be refunded to the client. This does not mean all money paid by a client in the past, will be refunded. Much of the fees had already been withdrawn and paid to various entities, prior to the receivership including marketers, and are not available for refund. All debt settlement clients should remember they are not protected from creditor’s suit or action as a result of your contract with Allegro Law, LLC.
We also got ripped off by Allegro who took our money and did not pay anything to our creditors. Today I called the Middle District court in Alabama to see if I could find out when the court date/hearing is scheduled for Allegro/Keith Nelms.She told me that on November 24 it had been remanded to Autauga County Court. I called this court office and he did not know that It had been changed back to their jurisdiction. I believe that all of us who were ripped off by Allegro should keep faxing and emailing Louis Colley, the attorney in charge of the receivership. His Fax # is 334-365-1601, his phone # is 334-365-1500, his email is louis.colley@clevelandcolley.com
We need to demand what is rightfully ours, our money. We need to demand more information such as the court date, what the delays are, where our money is, etc.
Good Luck everybody. We were having a hard time before and this didn’t help anyone.
Marci,
I totally agree with you on this. As a consumer that got screwed you have more power collectively than anyone does to force changes to the way things are being handled.
Steve
I used Allegro, how do I get all my money back from them?????
Cheryl,
You won’t get all your money back and when you do it will take a year or so. The legal battles about Allegro are ongoing and all of that chews up money available for future refunds.
Steve
I enrolled in Allegro’s debt settlement program in February 2009 with 5 credit cards totaling about $42k. They were taking $935 a month out of our bank account. In July I started getting phone calls from CC companies offering to settle the accounts. I had not heard anything from Allegro so I settled them and called Allegro to get those cards off the program. I then had two cards with debt totaling about $8. They dropped the payments to $896. I did not know until about an hour ago that anything was going on with Allegro. I have not had any contact with them since and I tried to find their website to contact them today. I just got off the phone with someone there (after waiting for 30 min) are they are planning on setting one of the cards with the money that is in escrow. My question is that since they already took $5k out of escrow for “fees” and they have not even settled either of the two cards left in the program, can they take more “Fees” out prior to them settling any of the cards? I don’t understand. They have not done anything, including contacted any of they creditors, and they have taken $5k.
Vanessa,
This is why Allegro and other debt settlement programs are getting closed down. Most debt settlement programs are designed to take all the fees out up-front and if the company fails, you are left in the dust.
Steve
Steve,
I’m being threatened by Chase Bank, also.
I can’t afford to hire a lawyer to file for bankruptsy. Allegrow took all my savings. So what else can I do other than try to negotiate with the creditors? And why don’t they go after Allegro Law and this Nelms character?
Thanks.
Jim
Jim – I am also involved in this mess, as are many others. Chase was the only one I was to settle with and I too received a letter from their lawyers threatening me. HOWEVER, I contacted this lawfirm / collection agency directly, and we did in fact settle for about 60% of what I owe – they were very nice with me on the phone and very helpful. They even gave me a dollar amount they wanted and I got them down even further another $500. Had I known I could do this on my own, I never would have thrown Allegro the $8,000 bone I did. Now, lets see how much I/we all get back after this is decided.
Hi Sheri,
Unfortunately the law firm that Chase uses is not lowering the amount that I owe them. I’ve finally decided to take Steve’s advise to hire a bakruptsy attorney. It seems to be the only way out for me at this moment. My attorney is even going to go after Allegrow Law. Out of the few attorney’s I’ve spoken with, he was the only one who knew of the Allegrow mess. Thanks for the comment and Happy New Year.
Jim
Hi Jim, will your attorney take on Allegro for me too?
Thanks, Georgia
Georgia,
I’m not sure on that and how it would be handled since I do not know what state you reside in.
When you contact your attorney’s you may want to ask them about Allegrow Law.
Jim
Hello Steve, I’ve been following your posts for a few months now. I got into the debt settlement program with Allegro in April. I got into the program because of The Credit Exchange, Brian Lee 1 800-810-3390×4395 and Jay Choe 1 800-180-3390×4307. I had told them after I signed on that I had changed my mind about going into the debt settlement program. I was told that I had 3 days to change my mind. The person at The Credit Exchange that I had been speaking to was Brian Lee, when I contacted him and told him that I had not made up my mind to go into the debt settlement program, Jay Choe from the credit exchange started calling me to convince me to go into the program. I told them that I would think about it. The next thing I knew was that The Credit Exchange had taken my money out of my account anyway. When I called Brian Lee at The Credit Exhange to tell him that they had taken the money out of my account anyway. His comment was, well you might as well go into the program now since we’ve deducted the money and will have their attorneys on our side to work this out. I fell for it. Then two months later they are in recievership. I tried calling Brian Lee and Jay Choe to find out what was going on and of course can’t get either of them to return a call or every answer their phone. I then got involved with Michelle 1 800-810-3390×4366 at the credit exchange, who was a very nasty lady and said I should just file bankruptcy. I asked her how they could refer people in trouble to a scam company, she was very nasty. She claims the credit exchange is a 501 c company, a non-profit and they don’t get paid for their services to help people. I told her that someone needs to shut them down as well. My question is this, why is nobody doing anything about the credit exchange? They took money, $6000.00 out of my account for allego and now they have just washed their hands of the whole situation. I hold them just as responsible. I’ve never spoken to Allego during the signup process only The Credit Exchange. In my eyes they are just as guilty if not more than Allego. Is anyone investigating The Credit Exchange? They should not hold 501c status. I would like to file a compalint against The Credit Exchange as well. Who would I go to for filing a complaint against them? I’ve been in touch with the Alabama Attorney General and Allego, but The Credit Exchange needs to go down too.
Georgia,
I’m so sorry to hear about the way you were treated by the Credit Exchange. The lack of communications and nasty responses certainly fuel your concerns. I find it interesting the Credit Exchange, AKA Credit Exchange Corporation, does list where they are located on their site. It just makes it hard to figure out which state they are in. After a little sleuthing I discovered they are located in Orange County, California.
According to a suit filed against the Credit Exchange and Steven Vanderhoof, the employees of the Credit Exchange are paid minimum wage but earn a percentage of your first payment into a program the refer you to. “…Defendats paid all Debt Consultants, including Plaintiffs, weekly based on a varying percentage (determined from referral volume) of the debtor’s first reduced monthly payment.” This might explain why the Credit Exchange employees appeared unwilling to stop your first monthly payment.
The two places you should file a complaint are with your state Attorney General and with California. You can file the California complaint online here.
In addition, you might want to contact the lawyers that filed the previous class action lawsuit against the Credit Exchange. They obviously have information about them and might be willing to move this forward.
Mower, Carreon, Desai, LLP
Jon R. Mower, Esq.
James A. Burton, Esq.
8001 Irvine Center Drive, Suite 1450
Irvine, CA 92618
949-474-3004
mower@mocalaw.com
burton@mocalaw.com
Steve
Steve it has been a while since I came back to the site. I just wanted to say thank you for the information. I will be filing complaints against The Credit Exchange and contacting the attorneys that handled the previous law suit. Thank you so much for the information. We did file bankruptcy on my mothers debts that were in the debt settlement and I’m am so glad we did. No more calls, what a relief. I will of course be following up to find out if we can get any refund. We were only in the program for 3 months so I’m hoping we get something back. They did nothing for us. I am going to eventually move from the debt managment program too, to the one that you recommended. It’s just been such an awful experience, it’s taking me a minute to take care of things. You are so right about the receivership too, they are not much better than allegro. I’ve written them, called them and you basically get nothing from them either. During this entire time you would think that Mr Colley’s office would respond in some way, but nothing from them either. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you. Georgia
Georgia,
You are very welcome.
Steve
I am also dealing with Allegro Law and have been for a year and a half.For the past 2 weeks I have been trying to get in touch with them to no avail , on hold for anywhere from a half hour to two hours. Since I signed up I’ve spoke to several people. Today I got through to them one of my accounts has been taken off (i received a letter stating this) that is half of my dept however I still have to pay Allegro the 3600 for a dept that has been sguashed .I am signed up for36 months I’ve already paid Allergo all that I am in dept which was suppose in escrow but Allegro took it and has not settled any account.What should I do??? I am so FRUSTRATED.I am paying double the dept I owe.
I just received a call from a law firm about my debt with Chase bank which was being dealt with by Allegro Law. I was just informed about the bankruptcy and lawsuit against them. They are still taking money from my account. I have put a stop on the withdrawls from my account today and am wondering who I get a hold of to get my money back. I was on the debt settlement side and have not been contacted by anyone on Allego’s side. I have been threatened with being taken to court by Chase and am wondering if I should try to settle with them. Who do I contact to get my money back from Allegro in Huntington, NY. No one answers the phone and the website is down now what?
.-= Julie’s last blog ..Madoff Auction: $4,750 for a Decoy Duck? – CNBC =-.
Julie,
You can find a ton of information in the comments above on the Allegro mess and what to do next and the fact there is no process at this point to get your money back and claims for refunds will take a year or more once the court allows funds to be released.
Unfortunately, for most people bankruptcy is going to be the likely outcome since it is the only legal way to end the lawsuits by creditors that are included in any debt settlement scheme.
Steve
their website is now debtaccountonline.com//fcdctcx it really is there and they have customer service at 866 648-7878 try it!!
I’m in the Allegro mess as debt settlement. I’ve been on the phone and internet for 2 days trying to get answers. I’m to the point I don’t know what to ask or say. Information I have gotten would fill a book and very confusing and things I did not know. It seems apparent that I need to get out of the program. I’ve already paid them $4,000 that I probably won’t recoup. Can I go to a reputable debt management and start all over? I am married and only filed on my credit card debts. My husband is not on this, only me. Should I file bankruptcy on my debts only? Can my house be sold. I am a co signer of a mortgage for our son’s house. How would that be handled? The only other tangible property I have is my car and I am making payments on it. I only draw a disability check. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Mar,
If you are the debt settlement side of Allegro you should seriously examine bankruptcy as a solution to dealing with this mess. With changes coming down in the debt settlement industry 85% will close their doors before debts are settled. See 85% of Debt Settlement Companies May Be Closing Soon and Taking Your Money With Them.
Steve
Allegro Law Update
This just out on the Allegro receiver site:
So here is what I take out of this. Allegro debt settlement clients are getting sued by creditors and there is no update about a claims process to get money back.
Steve
Hi Steve,
Just another quick question if you don’t mind. We’ve been working with our creditors (outside of Allegro)and most of them have been very accomodating. Most of them are agreeing to about 40 – 50% of what we owe. Our biggest problem is with Capital One. They are telling us that they will settle for no less than 80 – 90%. We’re not sure if they are just playing hardball or they are the one company that won’t settle. We also found out that initially Capital One had our acct. in bankruptcy b/c that’s what they were told by Allegro. Is that a negotiating tactic for Allegro? We had wondered why Capital One had stopped contacting us for a while. Any suggestions/comments/advice for us?
Thanks,
Natalie
Natalie,
If you don’t have the cash for a lump-sum settlement with Capital One right now you might just want to let it age some more or get charged off and then settle with the new buyer. No creditor has to accept any settlement.
Steve
Hi Steve,
Thanks…our goal is to get totally out of debt once and for all!
Natalie
I ALSO AM A CLIENT OF SO CALLED ALLEGRO LAW. SOME DAYS I AM ON HOLD FOR AN HR. I DIDCUSS MY SAME SIRUATION WITH 12 PEOPLE ALREADY I HAVE ALL THERE NAMES, FOR PAYING MY MONEY INTO A WRONG ACCOUNT , ITS BEEN 1 YR 1/2 ALREADY AND NO REFUND OF IT YET! MY TRANSITION TO THIS CREDIT CO. WAS A NITEMARE, i WILL NEVER HAVE MY A+ CREDIT AGAIN. I WANT ANSWERS NOW!
My husband and I have been with Allegro a year now in the debt settlement program. They settled one account for us but since this fiasco we’ve been postponing our EFT each month b/c we don’t want them to take any more of our $ in fees esp. since we don’t know what the future brings. Right now there isn’t enough $ in escrow to settle anything esle. We are now in a position where we are trying to settle our other accounts on our own. The cc companies have bee very easy to work with and so far most are willing to take about 40% of what we owe. The cc’s that are now with attorney’s are being just awful about it. Theyr’e telling us that they will only settle for 90% and if not they don’t care if we file banruptcy…that’s just their policy. I seems they are playing hardball but we’re not sure how to proceed with these two law firms. One has filed a judgement against us so I am presently writing my answer to the court stating the Allegro story and that they are now in receivership. Any advice for us would be great. Plus, Iv’e noticed that there have not been any updates to the Allegro Receiver website since early Sept. Do you have any info? Thanks!
Natalie,
Is your goal to be partly out of debt or totally out of debt?
There are no updates. The receiver is the black hole of information.
Steve
Thankyou Steve.
Steve,
I have been dealing with Allegro “law” for about a year now. I just recently came across all of this drama when I tried to log into my online account overview several weeks ago, although I think that it is wrong that I was NEVER notified in any way of the situation. I am a little confused because Allegro is continuing to take almost $300.00 out of my checking account monthly, but it seems as though payments are still being made to my creditors. If this is the case I don’t see a reason to stop my EFTs. Everything is being paid. My question to you is:
Do I continue the EFTs with Allegro and pretend everything will work itself out, or do I cancel the EFTs and find a different debt settlement program?
Also I would like to thank you for everything that you have done to help with this situation.
-Andrew
Andrew,
It sounds like you are in the debt management side of the Allegro Law program and not the debt settlement side if creditors are getting payments monthly. You should read a previous post of mine Allegro Law Debt Management Clients. Important Information to Get Better Service.
Steve
It looks like the Allegro Law Receiver web site is offline now. I don’t know if that is something permanent or just a technical problem. The web site was http://www.alegeolawreceivership.com/
I’ll let you know if I find something out.
Hi Steve, I just found this article you posted I have been trying to get in contact with Allegro because I was supposed to finish paying off my debt this October but the only correspondence I received from Allegro was that my automatic debting has finished, I really want to know what the status of my accounts are. Should I contact the creditors to get the information that I need? I enrolled in the Allegro debt settlement program June 2008 and after reading all the post here got me worried that now I might have lost thousands of dollars and my credit might be worse than before.
Herbert,
Getting information has been a real problem for many. The court appointed receiver, Mr. Colley, has not been that forthcoming and people report waiting on hold for 30 minutes or more to get through to Allegro customer service. Unfortunately sitting on hold is probably the best way to reach someone and try to get answers. Call your normal customer service telephone number and good luck.
Steve
thanks steve, i signed up with allegro in oct 08, paid them 244.00 a month for 10 months then found out purely by accident that they were in receivership…i stopped payments at my bank went to mmi to try to set up a new payment plan but after late fees and everything else..i now owe 9000.00 more than i did..mmi could help but my payment was gonna be 458.00 a month for 5 years…to my knowledge allegro did not pay anyone anything on my account…now i do bankruptcy on those accounts…i feel horrible…i always paid what i owe but now find myself in a position to where i cant…i hope and pray that after this mess there are enough unhappy people like me to bring up a class action lawsuit against this whole operation..or at least the people responsible..thanks for all you do steve..info on this site helped me alot to create a plan of action…thank you..gerry
Steve,
When all this began and I found this site I stopped payments to Allegro. I was using the Debt Reduction program I think it was called. They had told me to cancel my cards and I was paying them so much a month. Did get one card payed off through them. But with the issues I didn’t want to continue. I attempted to contact Allegro and got no answer. Now of course all the cards in question have been sent to collectors. I am paying on one of them and should have it done in a few months. What I was wondering is what would my best route to go to get the others paid off. I get calls from them but am unable to comply with them for what they want up front with what I am already paying to the one collector. I am going to contact the Alabama State Attorney General and hopefully there is some money there from Allegro that can be used for the debt. I am not counting on that money at this time and figure it might be gone.
Tim,
Your only chance of eliminating the debt is to participate in a different debt management or credit counseling plan or strongly consider bankruptcy.
Steve
Hi Steve,
I gotta say you should have been selected for the Nobel Peace Prize. You keep us at peace and at ease from the stress Allegro has put forth on us. Something should be said about all the time and energy you have put forward, asking for nothing in return.
I would again like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Sincerely,
Brian
Brian,
I’d go for the Nobel. Oslo is one of my favorite cities to visit.
I’m just happy to help.
My approach to life is if you do good things, good things will happen. And I feel damn lucky with my life so I give back as much as I can by helping others and asking nothing in return.
Thank you for your kind words and whatever you can do to spread the word I’m here and ready to help.
Steve
Hi Steve,
It has been a while since I wrote to you. I have made 2 payments with Money Management International and everything is going smoothly so far. All of my creditors are on board except one but they will be on it by February as I had already set up a payment plan with them but it ends in February and then they will be on the program. As for Allegro, they had smitted proposal to my creditors after I told them verbally and by certified letter that I wanted to cancel my contract with them. I get a letter from them which they have dated August 17th saying per my request they have cancelled my electronic debit. I cancelled the EFT with my bank when this first started. I got this letter in October. I wonder why they sent something to me 2 months later. They sent me another letter dated July 28th(I received this letter in October) to confirm my request to terminate my contract with them. On the back of the letter was a Off Program Qestionnaire asking 5 questions. the 4th one asks what was my primary reason for discontinuing the program? Get real people. I would have put down Dissatisfied Customer Service and counselor, felt misled by counselor. The final question was how likely would you recommend their company to anyone? Stay the h*** away from the them unless you have money you just want to give away. I am happy where I am and they have been taking care of our accounts like I want them to do. I have another company that I have been paying other cards with and I have 2 more payments with them. I had trouble with them off and on but they straighten out and got our accounts back in order and almost paid off. Thanks for all of your help. By the way I have not heard anything from Mr. Colley’s office since I sent them a certified letter with all the info that Allegro sent to me. Do you know what the hold up is on answering customer claims?
Leslie,
I was talking, actually bitching and complaining, to my wife last weekend about how screwed up the receivership part of this Allegro Law mess is. I suppose I look at it from a different perspective. In my book, easy and smooth communication between consumer/client and Colley and Americorp should be the first order of the day. I don’t think there is any excuse for such poor feedback and information distribution.
All I can say is if you or anyone else is unhappy with the way the receiver is handling things, contact the office of the Alabama Attorney General and give them your feedback and opinion.
I just wish that Mr. Colley had taken me up on my offer of free help to set this receivership off on the right course. At this point it just looks like the rescue ship is preparing to flounder on a different set of rocks.
I’m frustrated also.
Steve
Suzanne…I hear you and it gets even better for me. After hearing about the Allegro mess I contacted all my creditors to see what my options were. They all told me that it didn’t matter who made the payments and I should just continue what was negotiated. After paying all the payments July – Sept and catching up what Allegro didn’t pay when taking over my payments. I have been removed from the program for “failure to make arranged payments”. This is a total lie but Allegro contacted them and they found out I was making the payments and removed me from the program. Now I am being charged late fees and 30% interest….and I am not behind just not making the “recommended” payments. I am going to take all this paper work to a lawyer to see what can be done.
Melanie,
I’m sorry to say, the reality is that for most people caught in this mess, bankruptcy is and was the best answer for those unable to pay their bills. The Allegro debt settlement hype was a flawed plan to begin with and all started with lies and false promises.
Steve
hello,
I sign up for Allegro Law and submitted my 1st pymt and needed to hold back on pymts but at that point this company was being sued and after that i’ve spent anywhere from a half an hour to an hour on hold to be told difference story. then i wanted my payment back and was told I could have my money with a simple fax stating that because of the company being sued. So I fax and called and waited on hold again then i wasn’t entitled for a refunded so i sign back up and then ask why none of the companies that i wanted to consoldiant was inform. the “supervisor” said she would handle it. so after speaking to 1 of my credit card company inform me that Allgra or Debt Settlement had cancel me. and now i can’t reach anyone in this company and i’m out 440.00.!!!! someone explain this to me.
William,
Easiest way to stop the transfer to Allegro Law would be to contact your bank and instruct them to no longer honor any transfer requests. Get a written confirmation from your bank.
If you’re being sued by a collector you need to appear in court on the court date. Explain to the judge that you were in a program and that the settlement firm is in receivership and that you need some time to sort things out. You’ll probably be ok.
I am reading through this but I can’t find the info I really need. Please, how do you stop the electronic payment to Allegro Law? There is too much odd and ends to sort through the comments section to find out how to stop the payment. Can someone please tell me how to stop payments? What do I need to say and include in the letter? Who do I mail it to?
I just found out that I’m being sued by a debit collector and just found out about the whole Allegro Law Recievership when I called them yesterday. (10/05/2009) I’m overwhelmed. I need to hire a lawyer and stop paymenst to Allegro. How do I stop the payments?
allegro law hase been calling me a hase said they a back in busness is that true. i dont want to start sending them money if they cant pay me dept.
Me and my wife just recently got into the program with a debt of 17,000. Their late on taking payments out which in turn withdraws our bank account leaving us with fees and every week we get a letter saying that one of our credit card companies is not participating with the program but that allegro will still continue to pay them. Me and my wife are both in our 20’s and have no idea what to do with all this. Any advice?
Erik,
Go talk to a bankruptcy lawyer.
Steve
I KNOW OF EVERYONES FRUSTRATION WITH ALLLC.I SUGGEST EVERYONE REREAD THEIR TERMS OF AGGREEMENT FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SITUATION. THANKS,KEN
i am a client with fcdc. they sent you my bank statement showing where they screwed up and took money out of my account on the wrong date. this resulted in $175 in bank fees. its been two months now and ive heard nothing and i cant get ahold of you by phone. my client id with fcdc is [XXXXX]. this is rediculous-two monts and nothing. if i dont hear from you within the next week im calling my at. gen. my phone is [XXXXX]. i dont wish to get him involved but its looking like i have no choice…
I have a family member who was in debt and set up a debt settlement plan with Allegro. We researched the company and finally I decided to pay the required balance off (to the tune of $10,000) to end this hard time in my family members life. We never heard from them for months, and when I called they claimed they never recieved the wire transfer. I have the wire receipt and after telling them this they “located” the money “just sitting in an account” with no ones name on it. The most important thing was to have those funds noted under our account, which they said they communicated to the receiver, but are not allowed to send us a receipt of. This is just crazy. I want my money back, not to be in the dark about what it to happen. I mean, I have a wire receipt, so if someone cant explain where the funds went, its theft, and that should be criminal charges. How should I proceed and who should I be contacting?
Dan,
Wow, that is crazy. My best advice for a speedy resolution would be to hire a local attorney and have the attorney contact Mr. Colley. That will probably get a faster response than anything else.
Steve
I’ve been a debt management customer of allegro for about a year now. I have some concern because I just received a statement from them showing my disbursemsnts from April – June, 2009 last week. The return address still has the douche bag attorney’s name (Nelms) on it. They have handled my case as properly as I can tell with paying the creditors. Their customer service does suck with the loooooong wait time on hold. But if what I’ve read on this thread is true about it being taken over, etc, why does my documentation appear to be “business as usual?” Even the autodraft from my bank still just says “Allegro Law.”
Hi Steve,
Thanks for this site – this has all been a surprise to me. I thought everything was going well – since enrolling in debt settlement, calls ahd stopped and I felt like I was making progress. Now it seems they have my $7k+ with no chance of getting it back.
My question is this… for debt settlement, I think it would be wise to stop making payments, but if I cancel the program will my debts be included in the event that Mr. Colley does achieve a mass settlement for debt settlement clients?
Anna,
I don’t think anyone has an answer to that. Even with the work by the Hess Kennedy receiver not all the debts were settled. Only a few of the major banks agreed to it.
My educated guess is that even if some are, you will still be left with some debts not settled.
Steve
I have been with Allegro since October 2008. I have made my one time payment of $2130 on November 2008. That was the full amount needed to settle my debt. During my last phone conversation with Allegro representative I’ve found out that negotiations are still in process. At that time I got frustrated because they had my money for a long time at that point and as I was told at the beginning negotiations take up to 3 months. Shortly after that I was contacted by a company that was appointed by my creditor to settle my debt. Actually they are asking the exact amount of money that I paid to Allegro but I’m unable to pay since I’m already engaged with Allegro. Should I wait for the outcome of the lawsuit against Allegro? I’m receiving a phone calls prompting me to settle my debt every day. What are my obligations toward company appointed by my creditor? Thanks.
Bart,
The issue with Allegro is actually a different matter. That money will probably be locked up for a year or more and there is no end date in sight for when the funds will be released by the court. Right now, nothing is happening since the receiver is waiting for the Allegro case to be released back to state court. See comments from Mr. Colley above.
If you want to settle your debt now you will need to do it with different money.
Steve
Steve, thanks for advice and the info on Tinamarie at Cambridge Credit Counseling. For the past few days, I’ve been stressing out over this matter with ALLEGRO. I even closed my account at the bank, so they won’t take anymore $$$ from me. I’m in the process of writing a cancellation notice to them. I just wanted to make sure I have the RIGHT ADDRESS,to send my notice of cancellation to ALLEGRO.
Is it 2005 Cobbs Ford Road, Suite 301B, Prattville, AL 36066?
That’s what I got from BBB. I just wanted to make sure.
Also, I just wanted to say thank you for having this website. If it wasn’t for the comments from other people dealing ALLEGRO and advice from you, I would never known what was going on. You’re like a godsend, angel.
A BIG HUG AND A THANK YOU!!!!!
Maureen,
Thank you for your kind comments. It is my understanding that you can send your termination letter to the customer service address in New York. You probably already have that address in your records. Just be sure to send your letter with some sort of traceable means, either return receipt requested or signature required via FedEx, UPS, or Priority Mail.
Steve
I received a statement from one my creditors today and noticed that a late fee had been added. I called the creditor and found that they hadn’t received my money by the 30th of the month. I then called Americorp and had to wait for an hour on the phone to talk to a Customer Rep. The Customer Rep stated that they had taken my money out on the 15th and sent it to Louis Colley who then disbursed it to my creditors. So I called Louis Colley’s office and left a message regarding the late fee. However, he is out of the office until next week and no one else could help me. What is with this arrangement? So Americorp takes my money on the 15th and my creditors don’t get it until the 31st? I changed the date Americorp will be taking out my money to the 14th to hopefully stop this. However, why should it take 16 days to disburse my money? Who is responsible for the $30 late charge? Does no one in Colley’s office care about us poor schelps trying to do the right thing? If I have to keep calling people every month it negates the fact I paid them a fee to take care of everything don’t you think?
Allegro Update From Mr Colley.
I just received the following update from Mr. Colley and sent him my response below.
From Mr. Colley:
Sorry I have not had much info to give lately. The Federal Court has not ruled re: returning the case to state court but we anticipate it will be done soon. We have been able to move forward with debt management. Debt settlement and the claims process will be done when the court rules.
Louis Colley
My Response:
Mr. Colley,
Thank you for the update.
May I suggest that to avoid more unhappy debt settlement customers that you consider the following:
1. Stop taking funds from consumers who do not opt-in to continue to participate in the debt settlement approach. I have many very unhappy readers that are not at all satisfied there money is being taken and frozen and they then can’t get through to anyone at customer service and speak about this.
2. Send a letter in the mail to each debt settlement customer explaining your view of what the process will be. They feel left out in the dark and as some say, “victimized twice.”
3. Do whatever you can to get your customer service folks to answer customer service calls within five minutes instead of the reported 30 minutes or more people report waiting on hold to speak to a human.
I would still like to come down and do an audio interview with you to help personalize the man behind the situation.
Steve
I would like to get my money back from Allegrow Law! I have lost trust and I’m afraid I will loose my money that I worked very hard for. I have just lost $3,000.00 in another company called Elect group based in Florida,(foreclosure company) they shut shop and ran off. So I guess you get my drift…want my money back ASAP….How do I do such a thing?
Regards,
Martina (Boston)
I’m glad that I had the chance of reading comments about Allegro Law. I’m also one of their clients as well. Today, I was calling them, trying to get through, but no answer at all. I started get this BAD feeling about them. I’ve been with them, since May 2009. So, far I’ve paid them, about $950 including with down payments and fees. Also, including that I have a monthly payment with them. I’m seriously thinking about canceling my contract with them. One of creditors, that I’m in debt with, called me today; they are willing to work out a payment plan with me.
What should I do? Cancel my contract with Allegro, now before its gets worse. And just deal creditors and the collection agency; which they are willing to work out a payment plan with me? I do not want to file for bankruptcy.
Help me!!
Maureen,
Why would you take bankruptcy off the table since it is the only legal option to take control over your situation?
Steve
Hi Steve!
I’m so glad I came across this website. I have been a client with Allegro since May 2008. I have making payments few months ago(maybe at the time when this mess started) because I was wondering why I can’t get thru this Customer Service number. Nobody answers! I was going to ask when are they gonna start to settle with at least the smallest of my debt which is just around $800. Before that, when I was able to talk to someone, I was told that out of the $256 that I pay Allegro every month, most of it is admininistrative fee and a very small amount goes to Escrow. I was so disappointed I hang up. Made stop payments with my bank and forgot about it. When I tried to call them again to cancel my account, I could not get to the poitn of actually talking to someone…That’s when I realized that maybe this company is already closed or just a scam! Forgot about it again until recently I kept getting calls from them asking me why I haven’t made payments. This is all voice messages but when I try to call back, nobody answers the phone…
Stevem how much do you think is put in escrow out of the $256 that I pay them each month and how much do they charge for administrative fee?
I’m getting scared now!
Thanks
Marie,
I have no idea how payments are being portioned since the take over by the courts. But I think you are safe in assuming that very little will be available for settlement. People say it takes 30+ minutes on hold to get through to a human. You might have to invest the time to get some real answers and specific details about how your payments have been applied.
Steve
I heard about Allegre law debt management from a radio advertisment after June 30th. 2009. I than called and subcribed to this debt management agreement well after June 30 2009. They excepted me. I paid my initial program charge of 1,310 dollars. I than paid my first payment to be disbursed to my creditors and it was. They were also working with proposals for my creditors up until July 25th 2009. This is also the date I sent another debt payment in by Western Union Quick Pay to Allegro Law DM. This payment was received by someone. Western Union varified this and is sending me all documentation from the receiving end. However, the disbursments were never made. The monies were to go out on August 30th as like the prior month. Now, my question is how were they able to be operating after June 30th. 2009 when the court had there hands on them? And, does anyone think this money was received by the receivership established by the court or lost to Allegro Law?
Steve,
I have been in the debt settlement program for almost a year. I still have 3 years left. My total debt was around $45,000 that I was current on until Allegro said I needed to stop paying. They said they couldn’t help me unless I was late or behind. Do you know if I continue to make payments will the full amount go into an escrow account or will they still take fees out of it? I am confused on if I should continue making payments or if I should look for another debt settlement company. Should I try to wait this out and see what comes of the suit?
Hello,
I am very close to settling with one of my credit card companies, except for I need my money in my escrow. Steve do you think I should send Allegro the rest of the money and trust Colley to settle my account?
On Colley’s website he said he will settle debt management accounts where there is enough escrow.
Brian,
Your escrow money is frozen and off limits until the court releases it. I don’t think you should do anything until you get specific feedback from Mr. Colley regarding your plan.
Steve
I am a little confused…there are good comments about americorp and bad? which one is it? Why is it that people get screwed and others get away with it. Of course still I have heard nothing back from anyone.
Steve,
I also have been a victim of allegro law. I have tried contacting the receiver and still no answer. I would have never known about this if I didn’t try to use google to get their phone number because I didn’t have it and then this pops up. Now what do I do? Nobody is contacting me and letting me know what is going on. How do I know what to do? I probably will never get my money back. Can I sue allegro law firm myself? If so how do I go about doing this. I am not to sure if I can even find out if they have been making payments for me. I just know that they themselves were getting my collection letters that is why I did not not receive them. Now that I am deeper in debt what can I do? Another thing is my credit report says I lived in Huntington NY. WTH????? Should I try to stop these payments? For this month it is too late. Nobody is getting back to me and I am starting to get angry because this is just a bunch of bs…
Jon
The address change is worrisome. That means that your home address was changed to the AmeriCorp processing center. You are right, your credit report will now look like you live in New York. Additionally, if a creditor sends you important communications or you get sent a notice of being sued, it will go to the NY address.
Steve
Hi Steve,
Just wanted to let you know that I will be starting with Money Management International tomarrow. They already told me that they are going to get my proposals out tomarrow and the creditors have 7 days to answer and then they will get their payment then. I sent a letter to Allegro stateing that I want out of the program and that I wanted my money back and if not I will turn them over to the BBB and the AG since they have not done anything for me but just take my money. They received it on 8-15-09 because I sent it certified with signature. Well when I go to look at my account there is nothing showing for up coming payments but they have the $59.00 on there but I am not paying for that. Then the last couple of days I got letters from creditors saying they have received a proposal from my debt management company. I talked to MMI and they said that they haven’t sent anything out so I guess Allegro did it just to have proof that they did do something for me just to keep my money. WRONG! I also sent everything that I had plus copies of my bills to Louis Colley by certified mail with signature at the same time and they got it on 8-18-09. So hopefully that they will get back with me real soon.
Thanks,
Leslie
Steve your suggestion for using Tina is fantatstic.. she has told me a lot of things I was not aware of, such as Allegro charging me over 100 more than the monthly fees allowed by an agency in florida… that has accrued for almost a year now on top of the insane fee. I am in the debt management program and will switch to her services, however she told me that the claims process to request fees etc is on this site… as did one of your links… Im still not sure where that site is.. I clicked on the allegro recievership link and there is nothing I see that shows me how to file a claim… did they take a claim link down? or are you aware of anything on this?
thanks!
Tim,
The information is in the FAQ section of the AllegroLawReceivership.com site.
Thank you for the positive feedback on switching your DMP from Allegro to Tina. If anyone else is interested in talking to Tina see this link for contact details.
Steve
Gail
You can get your reports at http://www.annualcreditreport.com just fill out the questions and follow the instructions.
How do I get a free credit report from the three companies because I am unemployed and question number two,how do I contact Allegro law to cancel my contract? They attempted to debit my account and I had already closed the account after attempting to contact them for two months. I have tried to email,have sent faxes, and have not sent a letter as of yet.
NOTICE TO ALL ALLEGRO CUSTOMERS
I would suggest if you have not done so to get your credit reports from the three agencies. I just got mine today and all three of them show that I once lived at the Huntington NY address of Allegro and I have never lived outside of my stat I live in now. This seems to me verging on identy theft.
Just found out today that Allegro has be deducting money electronically from my checking account to pay on accounts for my debt settlement, then today I receive letters fromm creditors stating that my accounts have not been paid in three months and I am terminated from the debt management program and I have been turned over to collection agencie. and my credit score is now so low that would have to hire experts to even find the bottom.
If Allegro has been taking my money out of my account as agreed to pay off debt per signed contract and they don’t pay my debt with creditors, does that not equal wire fraud???
John
the above phone number actually works and contacted this Mr. Colley office .
call them.
I will day and night
somebody know Alabamas attorney general number ? 🙂
I filed a claim in Alabama and all they did was give me Mr. Colley’s information and tell me they couldn’t possibly have contacted 15000 customers to let them know about this mess. I did also file a claim with the State that I live in (WI) and the attorney general has taken action.
This is part of the email that I got in response…….
The Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions received your complaint against Allegro Law, LLC (“Allegro”). We have written to Allegro to try and assist you in finding a solution to your complaint. We have asked them to review your complaint and then to respond to this Department.
Your patience is appreciated during this process. It is not possible to tell exactly how long the process will take. Some situations can be handled within a few weeks, but complicated matters may take many months. If you wish to pursue this matter outside of our efforts, please contact a private attorney to discuss your legal remedies.
As you are aware, the Alabama Attorney General’s (“AG’s”) office has recently taken action against Allegro. If you have not done so already, we suggest you contact the receiver for the company, Mr. Lewis Colley asking for a refund of all money you have paid to Allegro that has not been submitted to your creditors. Since it appears that Allegro is no longer in control of their assets, this Department may have difficulty resolving any issues with them. Mr. Colley may be reached at 334-365-1500.
…………………………
I have a case number and everything so we will see what happens.
Mel
We are also affected by this dilemma. My questions is how exactly do you file a claim? Do we contact the Attorney General’s office in Alabama? Would if you live in a different state? Has anyone contacted an attorney? Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Update From Mr. Colley the Allergro Law Receiver
“Steve
The attorney for Allegro has filed a motion to remove the case to Federal Court. I do not believe it will be successful but it has slowed down the process somewhat. I anticipate having some final decisions made in about two weeks. Stay in touch and I will let you know the details.
Louis Colley”
Joe,
All claim information can be found by visiting AllegroLawReceivership.com.
Steve
You say in order to get debt settlement funds released we have to file a claim. Who do we file the claim with and how?
Jennifer
i have been a customer of allegra law, for about a year now, i just figured i would see whats going on with my account and now i run across this. im not exactly the brightess person so im not exactly sure what im suppose to do now in this situation since from what i understand that they are no longer. if someone could please!! help me i guess tell me what to do because im not sure what to do. i dont want to keep giving them my money if theyre not helping.
hello
ok
I have one question winch will help a Lott me and maybe others :
will they release the escrow balance ? easy?
I understood that fees are a problem to release .
any toughs about this?
thanks
John,
If you look in one of the comments posted somewhere above yours you will find that I’ve already addressed this issue in detail. Escrow funds are frozen by the court and will not be released probably for a year or more. But before any funds can be considered for release you must file a claim.
Steve
Hi Steve,
I just found out today and I am surprised.I have been a client of Allegro Law for over a year and I must say that they did help me. I am at the end of my contract with them.Just two months left.I too have had some frustrating moments but I just kept at it.To late to explain now but I will at another time.I am on board with all of you.Good Luck and GOD BLESS
Ana
FINALLY!! I waited on hold for 30 minutes while sending an email & I have in my hand now paperwork to cancel my account with debt management through allegro!! HAPPY DAY!!
my creditors are willing to keep my apr down, so allegro’s ‘threats’ are as empty as they are!
hell yah! see ya allegro!
everyone – keep at it, they will fold soon
Amy,
Great news. A 30 minute wait on hold for customer service is completely unacceptable. In case you didn’t see my previous post about moving your debt management account, see Allegro Law Debt Management Clients. Important Information to Get Better Service.
Congratulations on achieving your goal.
Steve
I just interviewed Daniel Stermer, the court appointed receiver of the Hess Kennedy debt settlement law firm in Florida that was shut down. I thought it would be beneficial for the Allegro Law people to hear some of his experiences and lessons learned. You can listen to the interview online here.
Steve
Well I am in the debt settlement which Americorp is not a lawyer so they can not be servicing my account they may have my money and they may have my account but there not a lawyer. The site says Louis Colley and right below it is a link for email should that not be his email and not Americorp?
Steve,
I believe that Mr. Colley has kept AmeriCorp on to provide administrative help.
Steve
Ok I have a question why is that when you submit a claim or question to http://www.allegrolawreceivership.com? your email is answered by Americorp instead of the reciever as it says? What is going on this just makes a bigger mess all around. Are all of these people stupid or what.
Steve,
Americorp is servicing all the accounts still. As far as your question, I’ll have to go with “or what.”
Steve
I am an Allegro Law customer. I had paid my account in full in January of 2009, $16,189.55 and Allegro was in negotiations. I put in a request on July 27, 2009 to have my funds returned to me. What is the likehood of that happening? I have no clue what to do about this.
Jennifer Methvin
Hi Steve,
I wanted to give you an update of my situation. I am a debt settlement client and have over $10,000 in my escrow. I would have had enough money to settle with my collection company next month if I had access to my escrow money. I called the collection agency to tell them the situation I’m in with Allegro. They didn’t care that the money is tied up with the State of Alabama in a lawsuit. All they know is they don’t have their money. So they are currently filing a court case against me.
I asked them if I could sign a note that would promise them the money when it becomes available. The only offer they had was for me to pay off the entire balance through monthly payments (which would take me 5-6 years to pay off), so I declined.
I now have to hire a lawyer and come up with money I don’t have for a retainer. By Mr. McColley holding my money it is costing an already broke person to become more in debt, more in trouble with the law, and even worse credit. I wish McColley could release MY MONEY to prevent further damage to my financial well being.
Can you forward my story on to Mr. McColley when you meet with him so that he realizes what is happening to me?
Sincerely,
Brian
Brian,
I have sent him similar stories and he can’t release any funds without the permission of the court. I hear you, I understand and it is a screwed up situation.
The somewhat good news is that if they do sue you and win before you go bankrupt, the bankruptcy will stop any collection on any judgment they might get. The most productive action you can take right now is to save for bankruptcy to end this mess once and for all.
Thank you for the update.
Steve
To all my Allegro Law friends,
The Federal Trade Commission is soliciting feedback about debt settlement services. The new proposed rules would have prevented many Allegro Law clients from losing money. If you have a moment I think you should provide your constructive feedback to the FTC request feedback regarding the proposed new rules. Please see FTC Wants Your Feedback on New Regulations on Debt Settlement and Debt Relief Services.
Steve
I have still not received a call/email back from Mr Colley’s office regarding cancelling my debt management. i’ve sent 5 faxes & 2 emails through the website. this is incredibly frustrating! i’d rather cancel & deal with payments myself then wait and find out that the DM side of ‘allegro’ goes under too. what a headache!
Amy,
It is utterly frustrating.
See my comment above about switching over to Cambridge.
Steve
So, I’ve found s company online, Clearpoint Credit Counseling Solutions, and was wondering if you’ve heard of them, and are they reputable?? They are showing as accredited by the BBB, and are a member of the NFCC.
I just don’t want to get stuck in the same boat as with Allegro, and I’d like to get out of debt in less than 5 years.
Any help would be appreciated, and thanks again for all your advice.
Attention All Allegro Debt Management Clients
I have made special arrangements for you with Cambridge Credit Counseling to transfer your accounts to and to receive exceptional customer service. I got you a dedicated counselor and I have spoken to her and filled her in on the whole Allegro mess. Her name is Tinamarie Cangemi and her direct number is toll-free 888-850-9432.
While you are more than welcome to terminate your debt management program with Allegro and switch to any provider, I suggest that you call Tinamarie for help in switching to them. She already has a process for an orderly transfer of accounts and I will be in touch with her if she needs any help with the whole Allegro Law mess.
If you are getting less than satisfactory customer service from Allegro Law’s underlying service provider, AmeriCorp, you are waiting on hold for long periods of time for help or you are not getting access to your account information, I suggest that you consider transferring your debt management account to Tinamarie at Cambridge Credit Counseling to get the level of care and service you expect. She is on the East Coast in Massachusetts so be aware that she is probably easiest to reach 9-5 ET.
If you have any issue with or praise for Tinamarie, I want to to let me know immediately in the comments here.
Just for history, Cambridge Credit Counseling had some issues many years ago that you might find on the web. The old management was removed and a new dedicated team of professionals has worked very hard to build a strong debt management company. Give them a chance. You deserve better service than you are getting with Allegro Law and AmeriCorp right now.
Steve
For anyone considering switching their DMP from Allegro, I’m making arrangements with one company to assign a special counselor to give you VIP care with the switch. I don’t get anything out of this so use whomever you want to. I just thought having one company up to speed on the mess that wanted to help would be a good thing for Allegro customers.
I’ll get you the phone number and name as soon as I talk to the counselor. If that person does not provide you with exceptional customer service, let me know.
Steve
I am currently with Achieveable and have been for the last 2 years – I’ve seen things get paid off – because my creditors have contacted me via mail or in some cases via phone – to let me know my balance is at zero. My ACH withdrawal lists Hess Kennedy as the recipient. The program has worked for me – I have one year left to paying off all my debts! But reading about Ashish’s story makes me extremely nervous — I’m from the mid-west and hadn’t heard about the troubles that Hess and Allegro were having… but I do know that Allegro is not who handles my account through Achieveable.
Should I continue in the program or jump ship immediately?
Chris,
Sounds like you are a Hess Kennedy client. I’d call the customer service number you have for your account and ask them for a current status of your account. The Hess Kennedy mess is being handled by a different receiver. His number for questions is 954-510-7840.
Steve
Hi Steve,
Again, you are a good Samaritan! Everything you find out helps me sleep a little better b/c I can make more educated decisions.
#interview
I mentioned in a question on a post earlier in that a collection company wants to settle for $12,050. I have $10,080 in my escrow right now and can have $12,050 in my escrow in another month. Should I continue to deposit money into my escrow so Mr. Colley can settle my account?
Is this the smart thing to do?
OR
Is it risky since it could take a year to settle and they could use some of my money to pay for the receivership?
Sincerely,
Brian
Brian,
Mr. Colley can’t release the money in your escrow account without a court order to do so. That could take months or years to get. I think you’ll need to consider the escrow money as frozen for any settlement until things change.
Steve
#interview
Steve I have a question for Mr. Colley if it says on the webiste they posted without a contact link under the FAQ
Why are bank accounts still being debited if no service is being provided to debt settlement clients?
We are continuing to attempt to reach settlements with creditors
Does this mean Mr. Colley is now representing me as a former Allegro client and my creditores can be referred to him on my debt?If not who is attempt to negotiate with?
Now that I am done with the question I do have a comment. At this point with no contact from the reciever as to what is going on with my money I have determined that Mr. Colley and his lawfirm are no better than Keith Nelms and Allegro they are now doing the exact same thing that Allegro did. There sitting on my hard earned money and not providing any information as to what there doing. My next step after numerous calls, emails and faxes is to file a complaint with the US attorney general I am bypassing the state of Alabama. I beleive if Mr. Colley or the court in Alabama was concerned about the consumers information would be forthcoming he is obviously not.
Steve,
I hear you and feel your stress. I think bank accounts are still being debited because people have not individually called to request debits to stop. In my perfect world the default on taking over would have been to stop all debits. This is turning into a lesson about what not to do. Yes, I’m frustrated as well. It doesn’t have to be like this and it doesn’t have to be this hard.
I’d skip the US AG and file a complaint with the AL AG. Your complaint creates a pattern that draws attention to the issue and generates a spark for a fire to take action by the AL AG.
That letter will be important, so save a copy and proof of delivery. If this continues I would not be surprised to see a lawsuit by unhappy Allegro customer against the receiver. Sad, but true.
Steve
I found this site because I went to check out the Allegro website, as I have tried unsuccessfully to get the welcome package from Allegro Law, and noticed their site was down.
I seem to be in the same boat here. I signed up with the debt management program with Allegro Law through the Credit Exchange.
I had to pay an initial payment for set-up (which was basically the first months payment + a little extra), and then each month they would debit my account, and disperse the funds to the creditors.
Right now, I’ve received a letter from each creditor saying I’ve been accepted into a debt management program. But, this program will take 5 years to pay off my debt, and I’d rather pay that off sooner. But, if I make extra payments to the creditors, won’t that drop me out of the program??
So, would you recommend I just let things shake out, keep letting them debit my account (my last one was dispersed to creditors 8/1 or 8/3), or call each creditor and try to negotiate payments with them.
I would like to thank you for this site. It’s been really helpful allaying some of the confusion about what’s been going on. I’m glad I even stumbled on this site, as Allegro never contacted me that any thing was wrong.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Joel,
It is the stated intention of Mr. Colley, the Allegro receiver to continue the debt management program. If you are unhappy with the customer service you are getting, switch companies. A good debt management company will gladly work with you to transfer your account and coordinate this with your creditors.
Apparently, all Allegro debt management service is being handled by AmeriCorp and you can find their number up in the comments.
Steve
Here are some interesting little tidbits I just learned that will interest you about Allegro Law.
1. The sales commission for selling people into the Allegro program was as high as 70% of the fees people paid. Some marketers would have been paid from a percentage of fee payments made until the sales commission was paid to marketing company.
2. It is probable that the funding for the receivership of Allegro Law will be paid from funds help in escrow. People may not get all their escrowed funds back when they are eventually released.
3. It may take a year or two to get escrowed funds released based on similar experience of people that were stung by the Hess Kennedy debt settlement firm closure in Florida.
I’m looking into these issues further and will let you know what I learn.
Steve
#interview
Steve,
Thank you for answering all of my questions. I have one question for Mr. Colley and that is When we started the program in June 26th they took $633 from our account and then a few days later Allegro was in trouble. They never did anything more to our account since then. I was wondering if since they haven’t serviced our account at all are we intitled to a refund of the $633?
Thanks,
Leslie
#interview
Steve,
Thanks a lot for answering all the questions we have so patiently. I really appreciate your help.
I have already de-enrolled myself from the debt settlement program and I have started negotiations we one of the creditors and entered a payment plan with them. Will talk to one more tomorrow. I have just about $2000 in my Escrow account. Do you think Mr Colley will try to settle for one of my credit cards which I have not started negotiations with even though I de-enrolled? There was only two months of payment left and I can start paying again if he suggests that.
Regards,
Ashish
Everyone,
Just an FYI. I have contacted Mr. Colley and asked him for permission for an interview. I plan to fly to Alabama and record an interview with him in hopes of getting answers to questions.
Please let me know if you have a specific question you would like for me to ask him if he grants me the interview.
Just post your question in the comments and add #interview to you comment so I can search for the questions easily.
Steve
Hi Steve,
This website has been a godsend in keeping us Allegro clients informed.
So I called my collection agencies as you suggested and told them what was going on.
The first agency is willing to settle for $12,000. I have $10,500 in my escrow and can come up with the rest. I told them the only thing is I cant get to my escrow right now for a few months. They said a judgement is going to get filed soon and I will be in court. Do you think I should start a small payment plan with them to keep me out of court until I can give them what’s in my escrow and be paid off?
The second agency said my account is closed with them and was given back to Chase. This credit card was under my LLC I started and had my name on it. What do you think Chase is going to do it since they took it back?
Could you provide some direction on these 2 questions for me with your best judgement?
Thanks,
Brian
Brian,
Interesting questions. Hum.
On the first, if the agency contacting you is the owner of the debt then maybe a long term solution could be worked out but if they a third-party collector it will probably be passed back before you get your escrow money out. Additionally, if they did agree to take small payments while waiting for an agreed settlement amount I’d be damn sure to get that offer in writing from them so they honor it when the cash does show up. If they won’t give you anything in writing, all bets are off as to what they will actually do when the cash does arrive.
The bigger problem here is that Mr. Colley has stated that his intention is to settle the client account en-masse and if that’s the case your account would get eventually settled with the funds in your escrow account. I think you are clearly in limbo here on this debt and the fact that you have money frozen to pay towards this debt is only an explanation and not an excuse. I think the chances are fairly high that if you are sued the creditor will win and you can offer the explanation of the funds to the court but the decision against you will probably just be a matter of law.
On the second question, Did you personally guarantee the Chase card or was this a business only card? If this was an LLC guaranteed card they can’t go after you personally for it. If you did personally guarantee the card I’m make sure you ask for proof when you are contacted again by another entity that will attempt to collect on this. Chase will probably sell your account to a bad debt buyer and they will begin chasing you all over again.
I hope that helps.
Steve
Hi,
I was also going to say that like Celina, I had also filed ch 7 bankruptcy in 2001 and that is one of the reasons I did not want to pursue that route again, and went to Creditors IT (who then transfered us to Allegro). I think Bankruptcy can be such a dirty word but really I am realizing that it really can be the best way to go. We spoke to a lawyer last week- a real one with a real office we can touch, smell and visit right here in MN! We are looking at Ch 13 which appears to really be a way to make payments towards your debt- based on what YOU can AFFORD and yes you will pay some fees, but at least you are actually protected against being sued, garnished, etc. That is a good feeling! You “do your time” for 5 years (instead of the probably 10-30 years it would take most of us to pay down our cards) and then you are good to go. You can keep your house/car if you can afford them, want to. Wish i would have done this months ago.
After all of this my husband and I are challenging ourselves and those we love to never again live beyond our means and do whatever we can to stay credit card free! We wont be 100% debt free cuz of student loans, house loan, but close enough. I realize most of us who are in this boat are not due to wild shopping sprees, rather hardship situations. For us it was a combo of buying things we didnt need and also a 6 month strike my husband was on. Anyway- good luck and please talk to a lawyer about bankruptcy- it is worth your time… the debt will not go away (maybe some in 7 years) but they can keep coming after you until then.. I had a garnishment last summer from a debt that was a “charge off” from 5 years ago!
Good luck everyone!
Alissa
Alissa,
No sense wasting a perfectly good mistake, I always say. Sounds like you learned a tremendous amount, by living through this mess, that will serve you well for the rest of your lives.
Thanks for the update, comment and advice for others.
Steve
Steve, I am so thankful for this site that my sister happened to stumble upon at the end of July. She did so after I called Allegro to ask for legal advice regarding a judgement against me and a letter indicating my wages may be garnished in the future. As any Allegro client knows, the first rule is never talk/negotiate with the creditors yourself, let Allegro do it. That is why we were paying them- right? Anyway- the representative told me, “sorry, normally I would have you talk to a lawyer but due to receivership, I can’t help you.” She advised me to contact them myself! WHAT!? I asked her then why had they just taken an automatic debit payment 2 days prior to me calling if they can’t help me? She said sorry and would not charge me in August. OH THANKS ALOT. Tried to get a refund through my bank, no go. We ended up changing our bank account number so no more future debits can go thru and verbally and now written are requesting no further debits and to de-enroll us from program. What a hassle!!
So- upon reading this information you have provided and doing some more research it is clear Allegro is not doing good business and it really makes me mad I wasted so much money with them. Since Oct I have had one card settled. I didnt realize until I called them this summer that over 1/2 of my payment goes to fees each month! What!? I really would not have signed up with them in that case!
More later… need to take care of my three year old 🙂
I am an allegro law custumer. We have our debt with allegro law now i have emailed and faxed questions to mr colley but have not gotten any answers. Yesterday my 16 year old child answered the door to be served papers for her dad to go to count for an account we have with allegro law. We dont know what to do now we have put in almost 7000.00 with allegro with not accounts seltted. we filed bankruptcy back in 2001 should we and can we file again for our accounts we have with allegro? Please give us some guidice thanks for your time.
Celina,
I think you should contact a local attorney for legal advice. They may suggest that you speak with a bankruptcy attorney and pursue a Chapter 13 bankruptcy to resolve your debt situation. You would be eligible for that.
I forwarded your question to Mr. Colley and asked him for specific advice for people in a similar situation.
Steve
Hello,
I was part of the Debt Settlement program with Allegro. I paid them around $4000 in fees and have over $10,000 in my escrow. I am looking to get out of debt ASAP. I need to make a few moves and cant with my credit card debt.
I have $24,000 of debt on a Mastercard and $10,800 of debt on a Chase card. My Mastercard offered a settlemtn for half of my debt back in April but Allegro never settled on it. So both of my card debts are open.
Any suggestions on what to do next besides contacting the collection law firms hired to come after me? Should I file a claim to get my escrow back?
Thanks,
Brian
Brian,
Surprising how such an easy question is so hard for me to answer. At this point in time, I frankly don’t know. The issues with poor communications and a lack of information from Mr. Colley’s office have me in the dark as well. He has told me on multiple occasions that his intention is to negotiate bulk debt forgiveness deals like were done in the Hess Kennedy mess in Florida. But at the same time he was unable to provide me with specific details on what to advise people in your exact situation.
Since this situation is so open ended and we are without information, my gut says to make a claim, get your escrow back, settle the MasterCard and then deal with the last card yourself.
Steve
I just came from the website that was placed on the future claims. Under the FAQ it states on the debt settlement customers:( Why are bank accounts still being debited if no service is being provided to debt settlement clients?
We are continuing to attempt to reach settlements with creditors.)
I saw no where nor have I been informed that Mr. Colley is representing anyone in a debt sttlement claim does anyone know about this?
Steve
Fax, phone, or email he is not replying to any form of communications at least that is my experience. If he is in over his head he needs to buck up and say so and get some help because I am to the point of filing a complaint on him with the AG in Alabama this is totally inconceivable that an attorney or anyone else would take over a case and not help or communicate with the people inviolved in the case.
Steve,
I think that anyone who is unhappy with the level of communication should contact the Alabama AG office and voice their opinion. You have a right to ask for better service.
Steve
hi steve
do you think you can get me status on the claims process?
the website is not working and voicemail is full
Minnie,
What can I tell you, Mr. Colley is understaff and underwater on this Allegro mess. You could always fax him a letter. The fax number is up above in the comments.
Steve
I have been in the Allegro program since Feb. and have not received one piece of correspondence from them. I do not know if they have reached any settlements, if they have paid any creditors and of course cannot get an answer as to any of my questions. I am stopping my draft but would like to contiue in the program but think I deserve some answers from this firm before they take any more of my money.
Any suggestions on how I could get a status update?
Ya voice box is full and I have sent two emails to no avail, not 100% sure it is a correct address. I am begining to wonder if I will ever be able to get a hold of this Colley person. I know for sure I am done with type of so called help. Lesson learned is the way I am looking at it now.
I’m with the Debt Management program and have been very disturbed by everything going on (Lots of crap, long story, I’m not going to write it all) Bottom line: I was all set to switch to Money Management International, but not only was the lady I talked to not helpful, but she almost had me in tears because I was trying to get a few very simple answers and she kept giving me some company line and needed all of my info before she would tell me anything and she eventually HUNG UP ON ME..
I (finally) was able to contact the company through whom I contracted Allegro and they gave me the number for a lady at Americorp. She transferred me directly to customer service and they were very helpful even calling some of my creditors on the spot while I was on hold. The Debt Management is up and running and business as usual (now) and they do have a new website:
http://www.debtaccountonline.com/fcdcfirstamer
Direct Debt Management Customer Servcice: (866)648-7878
I don’t know if this number has changed or not, but I think it is only for the DEBT MANAGEMENT, NOT THE DEBT SETTLEMENT.
She also informed me that the August payments should be fine, and that if there were any repercussions from the July payments that they should be forwarded to the Reciever (Mr. Colley)
After how I was (mis)treated after I spoke to MMI, and the customer service I recieved from the Americorp call center for Allegro (yes, Steve, you were right on that one), I’m staying with Allegro.
i called allegro today and just got informed if we want any refunds to contact the receivership directly and not the customer service for allegro.
the funny thing is louis colley’s voice mail is full
I fully understand the beating yourself up with a stick routine for that’s what I’ve been doing ever since I found out about all of this here on this site.I calculated that I have sent AllegroLaw close to 3,000. dollars since October of last year and I could have paid off alot of my debts with that money where they only paid off one.Where is the rest of the 2,200.? In limbo with the rest of our monies until someone who actually knows what they are doing gets the ball rolling on this/these lawsuits.It galls me to know that the unscrupulous selling tactics of a company whose purpose was to help you get out of debt actually put me in deeper debt and I have no income to fix it.There are sharks everywhere and I no longer desire to be their bait so lesson learned,now to plan a new strategy and keep up with this site so that in turn I’ll be the shark looking to tear them apart.
Well just got off the phone with Allegro. Basically it was the proceesing center for the money. The gentleman was helpful to a point and did put a stop on my electronic payment, though I already did a stop with my bank costing me 15 bucks. Other than that the only information he provided was no more than what I have gotten on here. So I am still wanting to make contact with this Louis Colley to find out what my next step will be. Damn this sucks! If it wasn’t for finding this site I would have been going on my merry way thinking everything is fine and dandy. To top it off some of the collectors say they refuse to work with a third party, the ones collecting for Discover, and I forget right now who, were a bit nasty about that. If only I can win enough in the lottery to pay off my debts I would be happy, but that ain’t looking too good. Have a better chance of getting hit by lightining. It angers me that I let myself get in this situation, but no use in crying over spilled beer.
I have been trying to get hold of somebody about this mess. Tried calling Mr. Colley and just got a long message and ended up saying the voice box was full. I had sent an email back on 7/23 and have not heard back. The site is up and that send button thing has not been taken care of. Last I knew I had 365.58 in escrow before another payment was taken out on 7/20 which should have been taken on 7/7. The lack of communication is a bunch of bull****. I am now sending money to one of the sharks (collectors) and have an agreement with them for six months. Then I can work on the others. But I need that money back from Allegro. I tried calling the Allegro number when I learned of this mess and gave up after half an hour of waiting. I have not tried again. Do you have a site where I can get ahold of the State Attorney in Alabama. I may also contact the State Attorney of Kansas to see if anything may help me out there also. Any other advice would be very helpful.
Some interesting links….
http://creditcollectiondefense.com/ This one is pretty funny. Who is going to protect us from being victimized?
http://www.facebook.com/s.php?q=keith+nelms&n=-1&k=400000000010&sf=r&init=srp#/profile.php?id=1500679782&hiq=andy%2Cnelms&ref=search
I thought about creating a facebook group but decided against it. Instead I am filing a complaint with my State Attorney General and the federal gov http://www.ftc.gov/. Also, I have decided to forward this link (if it is ok Steve) and a “shame on Allegro for taking advantage of all of us in this economy” blurb to any news media I can.
Whew,what a mess! I was simply trying to contact Allegro Law to find out what was happening with my account and came upon this site and now I know.I,too, have been with this company for almost a year and had to close my bank account for other reasons and have been trying to get them to resume the debits in order to keep my account with them in good standing.One phone call lead to another which lead to another which lead to a letter and three faxes with information and not once was there a mention of assets on hold or problems with lawsuits only that I had not sent the proper paper work and bad attitudes from the staff answering the phone.I honestly did not read all of the replies and information given so here’s my question,do I close another account to keep them from debiting money or go to my bank representative and put a stop hold?I am currently out of work and could use what little I have left so any advice would be very helpful.
I was part of the settlement program and have been told numerous times that the settlement program was cancelled and would not return. I was told that debits from the bank accts would not continue, since the assets were frozen and the program was cancelled. I withdrew the money from my bank acct and on 7-31 they debited the acct, of course overdrafted the acct and now I have fees. I called Allegro and they told me that the receiver said they could continue with the debits. I asked why they did not contact the clients and asked how they were going to help me in the situation I’m in now. He said that they couldn’t issue refunds since the assets are frozen… but they can add to the assets??? He told me that I should contact the receiver, I told him I did and that I also spoke with the AG of AL that is pursing this legal action. He told me to send in copies of my bank statement showing the debit and the fees. I told him I would, and I’d also send a copy to the receiver and the AG. Not sure what happens from here but now I owe the bank $300, Allegro now has MORE of my money but they are going to do nothing with nor have they since they have taken my money… Very frustrated and overwhelmed…
Thank you Steve for the wonderful site… the only constant source of information throughout this whole thing!
Hi Steve,
When I enrolled in the debt settlement program with Allegro Law in October 2008, I had a debt of $6878.56. They estimated a payment of $4915.80 over the next 12 months and I have paid them $410.00 for the past 10 months. Only two payments were left. I was so excited at the prospect of being out of debt. I was informed that they have settled my account with one creditor. However, 3 more creditors are left. I really do not want to go for bankruptcy. I found out about these problems just now and I have email Mr Colley and left a message on the number from the website. Do I have any other options? I know that one of my accounts is in with a collection agency since I received a letter from them. I called them today and informed them I am in debt settlement program with Allegro Law and authorized them to contact them. I am very confused. Is there any other option than bankruptcy? I am not even aware which collection agencies have my other two credit accounts? Please advise.
Regards,
Ashish
in a recent release from the attorney generals office in alabama was qouted that all monies are going to be attempted to be recovered does this apply to minnesota residents or could you provide us minnesotans with the proper channels like phone numbers attorney generals office bbb this is along with from being finished thanks again byron
I noticed the same thing MaBell. Oops we forgot the button for you to actually send us a message….on purpose??
I emailed Mr. Colley from the link you provided previously and let him know I am done with this. I am taking matters back into my own hands and come what may.
Thanks again Steve for all your follow up on this. At least we have had some information through this mess.
Mel,
You are very welcome. I’m glad I was able to be of some assistance during these difficult days. I’ll email Mr. Colley and let him know about the send button issue.
Steve
Steve,
Got on web site earlier and found it to be up. I went to e-mail but there is not a submit message button on page. Looks like up but not running yet.
Steve,
I paid Allegro Law Firm a lump sum to pay off all of my credit card debt at once because they said they could cut the amounts in half. I’ve been calling their office the past few days and can’t get anyone to answer. What do I need to do?
Steve, Just got off the phone with Allegro(Alberto)1-800-295-6025. He says mu contract which is called Debt Negotiation service is on hold until they receive instructiions from the Receiver. My monthly pmts. are being held in an escrow a/c and semm to be all there. I pd. an up front fee and all of my monthly payments are being accumulated (no monthly charge). Right now we all seem to be waiting on the Receiver. Thanks for you web site.
Web site is up
http://www.allegrolawreceivership.com?
Steve,
I just went on line to see if the website is up and it is up and there is a statement from Mr. Colley on there and a place to send a e-mail to him. Thought you would want to know.
Steve,
What a Godsend you are! Thanks for sticking through this with everybody that’s affected by Allegro Law. My situation is much like everybody else. I do have a question concerning my automatic withdraw out of my account. Allegro Law takes it out every month (on the 15th) and makes on time payments by the end of the month. After I found out about Allegro law on Friday, I put a stop payment on the withdraw for August (and the continuing months) out of fear of loosing my money and not getting my monthly credit cards paid. However, I was slightly surprised this morning to find that they had paid the payment on 3 out of 5 credit cards. Should I wait to see if they keep paying? Will Allegro eventually contact me if they aren’t able to get their money (due to the stop payment) and then I can ask them questions. I can’t get through to them and don’t have hours to be on the phone waiting for them to answer. Also, I’d be interested in knowing how to get out of the contract but know that chances of me doing this right now are slim due to the overload in phone calls, legal mess, etc.
Thanks for all you do:)
Kasey
STILL no $ to my creditors, though according to the debt management website where i track my payments. i am now getting calls, and mr. colley’s office has not responded to my 3 faxes. i just want to close my account but i don’t know how
Amy,
If you look further up in the comments you will find earlier discussion on how to close your account.
Steve
On July 30 you posted a web site for Allegro Law Receivership. Is that the correct spelling for allegro on the new web site link? I tried and it didn’t go thru. Should it be http://www.allegrolawreceivership.com?
MaBell,
I was just quoting him but I think he meant allegrolawreceivership.com. As of right now, neither domain works.
Argh.
Steve
Sadly, I add my name to this pitiful choir of honest hard-working people who have been duped by another fly by night sham. I entered the Debt Management Program with Allegro back in January, and they have been great so far. I am actually not as bad off as some of the other people that have posted their stories here. By the way, I am so glad I stumbled upon this site, because I was wondering what was going on with this Allegro Law. I too noticed that Allegro hadn’t debited my account on the 6th of July, so I waited a couple days and then called them. The customer service rep was helpful and pleasant and explained the receivership story. She talked me into keeping my account with them and reassured me that everything would get back on track.
So I waited a week and called back– got another nice rep who again calmed me down and reassured me. My account was debited on the 20th much to my relief! Fast forward to July 30 and I have Chase on the phone wondering where my payment was. I stammered out the above story, and the rep said she would enter it in my account record. Checking my Chase account on line today– no payment yet. Called Allegro customer service number to no avail– sat on hold for an hour! Now here comes August 6th(my regular monthly debit date) and I don’t know what is going to happen. Chase lowered my interest rate to 6% because of Allegro– should I cancel my ACH and pay them myself? Thank you Steve for all your help and information.
Jeffrey,
You have three options.
Please keep me posted.
Steve
started with em 12/4/08 with a deposit of $300 and payments of $124 per month….this to payoff approx $3500 of Credit Card Accounts with 3 banks….HSBC-CAPITAL ONE-CHACE….all on surface appeared OK till they did not take 7/4 payment as planned…..just days later on 7/14 I had learned that they had been shut down and tried to contact them but unsucessful……so I allowed that money to be used for other bills and on July 20 they charged my account the $124 for July…..now I am in additional trouble with my bank account which is used to pay this $124 monthly as well as my AOL account of $9.99 monthly bill….Bank fees of 2 overdrawn anounts $35+$35= $70…..I am 71 years old and my SS check is only $768 per month have wanted to settle these accounts instead of trying to get them written off….each time my creditors contacted me about payments I did what Allegro told me to do and refer them to Allegro….now 7 months later I find myself in a very difficult place in this life…..I plan to close my account at the bank so no more will be sucked out of it….what are my chances if any on the money that Allegro has taken…..they say they have money in an escrow account in my name of just over $500…
I just cannot reach them and get straight answers….should I contact the Attorney General here in Rhode Island
Ray,
I think if you file a complaint in Rhode Island that it will help to prevent others from being caught in a trap like this.
Money held in escrow will probably be returned to you eventually but only after you complete a claim for it and the court approves the disbursement of the funds to you. It will probably take months.
Steve
Well, a little progress on my end. Allegro told me they sent payment to my creditors on 07/20/09 for payment they had withdrawn from me back in late June. I just looked and two of the creditors received payment today. I am still pursuing this whole thing full steam ahead to make sure I will not continue to get burned by this shady operation.
thank you steve for the website
i will check out tomorrow
Steve,
Thanks for your consideration in this matter. It is hard to keep my cool when I, along with everyone else, are getting completely screwed over. So again, please excuse my vulgar language. What I have done so far is file a complaint with the BBB in Alabama. Today I will file a complaint with my Attorney General in California. I wonder if writing letters to the Governor of Alabama, hell even 15,000 letters to the President, could help our situation? I am young and uneducated on these matters, but I know that if a crime is being committed against 15,000 people that involves theft of money and destruction of personal credit, that SOMEONE with the authority SHOULD step in and fix things. The government has been bailing out all of these companies who can’t keep their shit together, and us, the consumers who have been putting thousands of dollars away in an effort to clear our credit and good name, are left empty handed, worse than where we started out. This all happening while the Attorney General is spending money and man power to take down Allegro and the thief’s running it when they could be putting that money towards reimbursements for the victims. Everyone’s priorities are so screwed up these days. My credit was destroyed the day I turned 18 and it’s been a couple of years that I have been paying towards debt settlement because NONE of my creditors would work with me on making payments. They were all asking for full amounts, which left me with no other option than to go with Allegro. My debt was 4,500 originally and now after my accounts have been re-bought and passed around for two years during the debt settlement process it has nearly doubled that. I now owe all of that still, not counting the $4,000 that I lost to Allegro. Terrible thing to happen, since I will probably not be able to pay it off for the next 10 or 15 years, which means my credit is ruined for at least a good portion of the rest of my life. But I won’t jump to conclusions, just list my opinions as of now. I am still praying that I will get at least some of the money back, which is a considerable amount to me due to the fact that I’m a broke college student living on my own in an expensive city with a low paying job. When will the nightmare end?
D,
Seriously, you need to go bankrupt. Please see a bankruptcy attorney near you and get a free consultation. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy is like, but better than debt settlement. It costs half as much, you have legal protection from creditors, all collection and suits stop and the payment is based on what you can afford. When the bankruptcy is over, credit is easy to restore. The negative marks of debt settlement remain on your credit report for the same amount of time as a Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
Writing letters to the governor of Alabama or the President is not going to make a drop of difference. Don’t waste your time.
I would not hold your breath to get any funds you have paid back in fees. And most of the initial year or so of payments was all fees. The only money you will probably get are those funds held in escrow for debt repayment. Americorp can tell you what that account balance is.
Steve
As of today my creditors STILL have not received their July monies (my bank account was debited by Allegro on 7/17). I have not gotten through to Allegro, and sent a fax to Colley’s office asking to have my contract canceled prior to my next auto pay to Allegro (should be 8/5). My bank will allow me a one-time stop payment…for $15.00 fee! Crap I am SOOO frustrated!! How do I get out of this?
are all of your blogs being sent to mr colley and the state of alabama? what is missing is a huge dose of common sense here and everyone is getting pillaged in the process, largely without the help of the state that helped create all this confusion… And what of Americorp.. who the h.. are they.. are they contracted with Allegro? Can’t they be told to do anything, or provide any answers? They say they are just waiting for answers from Colley, but they continue to debit… what the hell is all of this and where does someone grow the balls to make it stop? What is the process for someone that actually gives a crap with authority to help?
Tim,
I have forwarded some of the more troubling comments to Mr. Colley so he was aware of them. I think your only recorse if you are not satisfied with the performance of the court appointed receiver is to complain about his to the Alabama Attorney General office. If enough people expressed concern then maybe some greater intervention would occur.
Again, the only way to get the attention of Americorp is going to be if you file a complaint with your state Attorney General office or office of consumer protection. I think the argument is that the level of service you are getting is harming you as a consumer. We need someone at Americorp to want to avoid the complaints and dedicate the resources necessary to properly service the accounts.
I know that if I was a client in this mess I’d be as anxious and upset as you are. The best cure for those feelings is going to be for you to invest the time to complain and take some action rather than just being labelled as an unfortunate victim.
Steve
Good News!!!
I just heard from Mr. Colley and he tells me the new site for Allegro Law clients and information will be AllegroLawReceivership.com. He said “The web site will be http://www.alegeolawreceivership.com and should be online within a day to a limited extent. It will of course be expanded as we go.”
[Note: I’m quoting Mr. Colley but I think he meant to say allegrolawreceivership.com for the domain name.]
Steve
I got a call from the Alabama Attorney general yesterday regarding my complaint that I filed last week at your suggestion. I mentioned my frustration of the communication that has happened to the customers regarding this s*&t storm and basically was given a line that they couldn’t possibly have contacted all 15000 customers…blah blah. I was given the information to Mr. Colley and was told that he would be handling my account and I said yes, I know all this no thanks to your office.
In the mean time I have contacted my creditors and have started my own negotiations. One of my creditors that they were suppose to negotiate with they didn’t follow through on. I have only been with them since March so have not lost that much except for the upfront 1000.00 that was paid in “retainer” fees. I am disgusted that they have been allowed to take advantange of those that have enough troubles and have only tried to do what they thought was the right thing. Where is our bail out?
Mel,
Thank you so much for the update. I’m disappointed in the answer from the Alabama Attorney General office. Darn.
I guess authorities can not appreciate or understand that when it comes to money problems, the lack of communication and information only exacerbates the problem.
As far as your bailout, it’s called bankruptcy. Unless someone has cash on hand to settle debts right now I’d like to see monthly payment debt settlement made tightly regulated or illegal. It leaves more victims than it helps.
Steve
I have been screwed by Allegro For over $3,000. I’m in the debt settlement program and I just made my final payment of $1500 a day or two after the company was taken over. The weird thing is that the BITCH working there that I talked to after waiting on hold for an hour, aside from all the other scum bag dick heads I talked to previous times, told me that my check was on hold and couldn’t be cashed. Well I went to my bank to put a stop payment on this check and it had already been cashed. Also, they made an unauthorized transaction to one of my old bank accounts that ended up costing me hundreds of dollars in fees. I have contacted Colly’s office by phone and e-mail almost a week ago now and have not received any response. Does anyone have any real information about the whereabouts of all our money? Is it gone? I mean I have given them over three grand but only about 500 of that money was for fees to the best of my knowledge. If anyone has any new information please post it. I don’t know what action to take except to sue whoever I can to get my money back. Still no word on a class action suit? If that happens and there has been a bunch of embezzling going on then none of us will probably see shit ever again. Any ideas for a group effort to get our money back. Who do we go after? Please let me know if anyone has any ideas as I’m new to this whole getting my money stolen from me thing. Pardon my language, but these assholes deserve to burn. Keith Nelms only gets his license taken for three years? BULL SHIT. He should be in prison for the rest of his life getting his ass ran through by every inmate on his tier.
D,
If I was in the same position, I’d be pissed off as well. Let’s look at what reality is as of today.
A court receiver, Mr. Colley, was appointed to take over Allegro Law. It has come to light that darn near all of the servicing was performed by Americorp in New York.
The great tragedy in this takeover is the lack of clear and concise information. I have done my best to provide it to you as I know it but all I get are promises of websites and numbers for you to call for answers. I never get the sites.
I told Mr. Colley that I would gladly host a claims website for free. I told him I could have it up in five minutes. I helped him identify who had control over the allegrolaw.net domain so we could get that back up. I’ve offered to fly, at my expense, to Alabama and provide my expertise for free to help smooth out this transition. Mr. Colley is a nice guy, but I’m coming to believe he is just way over his head on this issue.
I think that if you want to get any definitive, hard and concrete answers at this point that you are going to have to file complaints with your state attorney general against the servicing of your account by Americorp. Americorp has all the information and answers that you want.
The issue here is not a hard one for someone to correct. The problem with this takeover is a total lack of information, communication, and transparency. If these three things were present in the take over of Allegro the stress level of customers would not be escalating to utter frustration.
To make matters worse, Mr. Colley is attempting to continue to run the debt management part of the Allegro business. This leaves two groups of Allegro clients, those closed down and those still running. But with the service levels provide by Americorp, that would be debatable.
If it had been my job to deal with the Allegro mess here is what I would have implemented.
But D, I’m not in charge here and all I can do is continue to report information as I know it, offer support and advice, and help to answer questions.
Steve
The Chase suit is indirectly related in that it seeks to stop Allegro and Americorp from continuing Hess Kennedy. But since Allegro is shut down it’s really a moot point (other than also going after Americorp).
Steve, I am in the debt management end of this Allergo mess. Will we be treated as victims in the same light as the debt settlement victims are, in regards to refunds on monies that were earmarked for monthly fees?
John
Debt management clients appear to be treated as a separate class since the court receiver says he wants to continue that part of the program. Fees that you paid are paid monthly, I assume, and not front loaded so you’ve already received a benefit from those fees and I doubt that you’d get them back. You can always file a complaint with your state attorney general and ask them for assistance.
Steve
Under the Florida settlement, the article says that Capitol One received a 1.8 million dollar settlement. Capitol One filed the lawsuit. Did the other creditors received settlements, too, or was it only Capitol One? For Allegro, Chase filed the lawsuit, will that be on behalf of all the creditors involved in the Allegro case?
Candy,
For some reason Mr. Colley is both a really nice guy but horrible in communicating. I’m frustrated as well. What he has told me is that he is looking to mirror the settlement arrangement made in Florida when Hess Kennedy was closed down.
I believe the Chase suit is actually unrelated to this issue in Alabama.
Steve
I’m in the debt management of Allegro since 08/08, until July they WERE paying my creditors. Now my July payment is ‘somewhere'(supposed to be taken from my acct on the 5th, disbursed to creditors on 12th). It was taken out on 7/17, and according to the consumer debt website that shows all my payments, etc. it was sent to my creditors on 7/24. BUT, neither of my creditors have received funds as of today 7/29. i’m on hold w/ Allegro now to cancel my service due to their breach of contract. buncha a-holes preying on people!!
Dear Steve,
I am another Allegro victim since November 08.. 31K in debt, If I choose Chapter 7, how does this affect my life? I know my credit is shot. But what other aspects of my life will this affect? I appreciate your insight. Is there a document I should be reading? It is difficult to know what/how to trust.
Thank you in advance for your time.
John~
John,
Here is a post about life after bankruptcy. The reality is that bankruptcy is going to be a lot less painful than this debt settlement mess, waiting to get sued by creditors and facing potential legal action.
Go talk to a local bankruptcy attorney and ask all your questions about what bankruptcy would mean for you. Good bankruptcy lawyers gladly provide free consultations and answer questions for people considering bankruptcy. You can talk to a bankruptcy attorney without having to file. The more you can learn about the facts of bankruptcy, the more informed and better decision you will make.
I’m here to help you if I can.
Steve
what about minnesota and who do we contact and is there any hope for continued serves from allegro plus refunds of our monies lotz of minnesota questins thanks for your time and hope for some type of answer for allegro clint no. 779763 again thanks, byron
Byron,
You can always file a complaint with the MN Attorney General to document your issue with Allegro but wait to file a claim with the court appointed receiver. If you are on the Allegro debt management program, call the customer service number to check on your account status.
Steve
My dealings with Allegro are as follows: I had to pay them an up front fee of $1,200 plus they were taking an additional $60 fee out of my monthly payment. I have been a client since January 09 and to my knowledge not one creditor has been paid. During this period, I received notification that I am being sued by one of my creditors and I am supposed to appear in court in the second week of August. Allegro told me they can not represent me in this suit so I was told to appear on my own. To give you further information on my situation, when I first contacted Allegro Law my debt was approximately $70,000. Following Allegro’s procedures in not paying creditors and letting the accounts go to collections, that figure is now substantially higher. I am currently out of work on disability at half pay. My questions are this…..should I immediately contact a bankruptcy lawyer before this August court date? After giving Allegro over $5,000 my financial options are limited.
Mike,
Contact a bankruptcy attorney to put an end to all of this.
Steve
My wife and I have gone ahead and contacted all our creitors and that was less painful than I was expecting. Have also sent Allegro a signed letter, fax and email suspending activity, asking for refund, and withdrawing Power of Attorney. Have sent a couple of emails to the receiver and also a fax. Awaiting some contact with him at this moment.
We were enrolled in debt settlement and are hoping this can work out.
Thanks for keeping us up to date and allowing us to vent our anger and disappointment.
some half decent news.. spoke with the service end of Allegro .. indeed it is americorp.. about 11 am est today.. very pleasent, they said they have very little direction at this point from the court appointee.. they are waiting for directives but aren’t in the position of having any hard facts. They did say we would all be contacted directly by the appointee, I told them at this point i was not allowing a debit to go thru my account until I had a clear understanding of what was to happen. She agreed as a good policy. They were not sure of what was going to happen with last month’s debit collection on the Debt Management program, however she did think that information may be on its way. It was a pleasent and forthright conversation.. no hostilities or rudeness… she said currently Americorp was just acting as an agent and doing business as normal until directed otherwise. I did put a stop payment on everything at my bank, and am going to go thru the uncomfortable process of calling all the creditors… she said she didnt think letting them know would make much difference, but I want to go on record and maybe catch up on some of the bills that are a bit later than others on my own.
Tim,
Letting your creditors know won’t hurt anything, they already know the payment is late. 🙂
Steve
I apologize. I typed in the wrong type of service that we signed up for. We did the debt settlement if that changes the scenario that I mentioned. I apologize. Just overcome by all the information I suppose.
Kristen,
Oh, in that case you should assume you are out the money since that just went to a setup fee or program fees. You can file a claim for a refund, but don’t hold your breath. It is doubtful anyone is going to get fees back. You can read one of my previous comments above for an explanation why.
By this point your credit is already tumbling down the toilet and the quickest way to recover and move forward with your life is probably going to be bankruptcy.
Steve
We have had two payments deducted from our account. The first one was on the date we expected and the second was much later, as has been noted by many others. I contacted the company prior to the second one since it did not come out on time. I was told by Allegro that everything was going exactly as planned and that I would have no problems with my debt management plan and that nothing would change once the new person took over. Therefore, I did not stop payment on the second payment. We were told that the first two payments were Allegro’s fees and then our monthly payment would go to the creditors thereafter. Does this mean that we are simply out the two months of Allegro fees? Does this mean that they have or have not set up a payment plan with my credit card companies or what? I am very confused and do not know what our next step should be.
I have tried to do the right thing, call the right people, check everything out but it obviously hasn’t helped. I just need some straight forward answers and you seem to be the only one giving those out right now–thank you so much for that!
Kristen,
Hum, there might be more to this story than I expected. I thought the Allegro Law debt management plan was a plain vanilla DMP. Apparently it is not. If you or anyone else reading this could scan the Allegro Debt Management contract and upload it for me, I’ll take a look and see if it has some more cluse about what is going on with those.
You can upload files to me through this link.
Steve
I agree… it is miserable, and its not like you have a wealth of knowledge about what should and shouldnt be done when you go into this… funny thing is.. i interviewed at least three firms maybe more, and Allegro (the group I contacted was called “The Achievable”) was by far the most professional. I have had several calls over the months that other than long hold times, were handled fairly satisfactorly.
Now of course I can’t locate “the achievable” company either… I know they were in Melbourne Fla.
so where do I start and who do I contact to switch to a better result that has less stress?
Tim,
Others have commented that they’ve had good initial impressions about moving their debt management program over to Money Management International. Otherwise, click on the debt management link and shop for some new companies.
I’ve never heard of “The Achievable”
Steve
Steve
will you email me the address for the debt settlement accounts when you get from Mr.Colley Thanks for you time, Celina
Celina,
The contact information for the Allegro debt settlement accounts is the same as before. If you look above in the comments you will find the email address to file a claim for a debt settlement claim.
Steve
the access they provide is a quarterly accounting on a print out at the end of each quarter as to who and what amount they pay and on what date.. I just received on that ended of course in may, so the next one covers june july and august if it continues as it has in the past… doesn’t help much in that regard. If they pay july as they were supposed to, even though those funds were debited from me on June 25, (and as of yet they haven’t been received by my creditors) then future debits are ok… however, they still have been sloppy with some of my accounts and missed a few here and there along the way.
Tm,
That level of access and reporting is unacceptable. If you are trusting someone to manage your debts for you then you deserve online access and at the least, monthly reporting.
I suggest you consider this, if you are looking for a higher level of service, there are many debt management companies that would love your business and also welcome your questions and provide you with prompt reporting.
Think about switching to a different debt management company instead of having to deal with the misery.
Steve
Steve,
When I found out about Allegro Law, they postponed my payment withdraw for this month and scheduled it for August 30th but in the mean time just in case they did put it through this month I went to my bank and explained to them about the situation and they had me sign a paper which keeps Allegro from withdrawing any money from my account. I told my bank that they took out on June 26th and it had their name on my bank statement so I told them not to let go anymore funds to that name. Now if they go under Americorp then I am need to tell my bank not to accept anything from them either. I will follow your instructions and call them and cancell my contract since I will be with someone else. I received MMI’s paperwork and they sent me a estimated payoff & savings sheet, a creditor summary sheet, spending assessment sheet and a personal action plan sheet. They said that they could have me paid off with my creditors in 4 years. I believe this will be a good company to do business with and I would recommend them to everybody.
Leslie,
Mr. Colley says that new debits will appear as Allegro – Court Receiver in the future.
I suspect that if what happened last month was an exception to the way the debt management normally ran that probably what happened was Americorp was rolling along servicing accounts and then, SURPRISE, Allegro gets shut down. That threw everything into a big mess and delayed payments until Mr. Colley and Americorp came up with a game plan.
Steve
thanks for your comments steve… what about the debit that they took from me in July that still hasn’t been sent to creditors? this upcoming debit is for my august billings.. so I am already late 1 month.. how do I know this new debit is going anywhere… and will they send two months worth since they owe me one already? How do I get a fix on that?
Tim,
See the comment I just made to Leslie about the timing problem. My gut is telling me that once they get back on schedule they will be back to regular debits but what concerns me greatly is the lack of communication, accountability to clients and reasonable access by pone to Americorp for account information.
Do you have some sort of login over the web to check the payment history on your account?
Steve
I found out all of this mess this saturday when two creditors informed me they hadn’t received their monthly payments.. I eventually found this site. My problem is that being in the debt management program, they are debiting my account on the 25 and that being a saturday, they will probably try to hit my account monday morning and i have no way to stop the debit prior to monday at this point. I transferred most of my funds out of the account, but will probably be upside down when the ach hits. Why, if they were told to subside on June 30th are they still taking peoples funds? and is there any protection from future ach debits or the short term problem I will have monday morning?
Tim,
Mr. Colley, the court appointed receiver has said that the goal is to keep the DMP clients running so as not to impact them. Unfortunately most have been impacted not by him, but it appears by Americorp, the underlying servicer that is handling the accounts.
The primary damage has been done because of a total lack of communication and people not being able to get through on the phone to get some clarification about their accounts.
So the problem is that you still have an active DMP serviced by Americorp in New York with Allegro Law in Alabama that is in receivership.
If you want to get better service and stay with a DMP, see the comment above from Leslie that contacted Money Management International to transfer her DMP to them to continue and service. Otherwise, contact Americorp, cancel your DMP with them and then send your monthly payments to your creditors instead. I would urge you to call your creditors and explain what is going on so they can note it in your account records.
For this particular debit, if you can, put the funds back in and let them debit it. It will give you time to close your account and notify your creditors without getting hit with overdraft fees. Americorp should then disburse the payment to creditors. If not, call Mr. Colley’s office, look for number above in the comments.
Steve
Steve,
I have been on the phone all afternoon talking to my creditors and some I did arrange payment plans and some just asked me to make something untill a plan is put into place so that it will keep my accounts from going to collections. One of my creditors was Chase. The could not help me and they refered me to Money Management International. The have been in business since 1958 and has a A+ rating with the BBB with all their companies. I checked it out my self. I had a long conversation with them and they were able to take all the accounts that I had with Allegro and put them in a program. The lady that I talked to helped with budgeting which Allegro didn’t and gave me very good info to follow. My question is should I call Allegro or should I put it into my statement to Mr. Colley that I want out of the program?
Leslie,
Chase is tight with MMI. They are a large credit counseling group and will efficiently disburse your DMP payment.
You need to call the Allegro customer service number and cancel your ACH debit and account with them. Expect to site for 30-60 minutes on hold.
Steve
Hey Steve,
Like many others, I’ve been trying to get in touch with Allegro Law (I’m in the debt consolidation program), but the wait time is over an hour. And I see their website is non-existant, so today I called The Credit Exchange (who referred me to Allegro), and they transferred me to a woman who is in charge of Allegro at The Credit Exchange. Anyways, she was extremely rude to me, and after explaining that I heard that Allegro was a scam, she became very irritated. Anyways, I asked about my account and she said the creditors would be contacting me if Allegro wasn’t paying them, so obviously they are (she also gave me a false website where she said I could access my account, but it doesn’t exist). Is this true? Or should I get out of the debt consolidation program? What will the creditors do if I go back to paying my credit card payments as I used to?
Rachel,
The Credit Exchange, LOL, what a small world. Is that how you found Allegro Law to begin with, through the Credit Exchange?
If you read up in the comments you will find that I suggest that you either take over making your payments directly to the creditor or transfer to another debt management program. What you don’t wan to happen is have the creditors drop you from the debt management program if it can be avoided if you want to continue making payments to get out of debt that way.
Steve
Steve
We never changed our address to Allegro, however thats not to say they did not do so. I have attempted to contact my creditors but they will no longer talk to me so I have notified Mr. Colley of this problem and waiting on him to reply with exactly how I go about getting them back to me.
Steve,
I was just suggesting that Allegro might have changed your address for you with the POA to cut down on your correspondence. Maybe they didn’t but it is worth checking anyway to confirm.
Steve
I spoke with one of my creditors, it was Capital One but was sold off to an agency. I explained the situation, the guy wanted to settle for X amount and really was not too concerned about the fiscal going on. I told him I was unable to commit to anything at this point and wanted to see how some of this panned out with the receiver and Allegro. I’m sure I’ll get a call back from him soon…
Steve
Not only has the Allegro site been pulled down which I found out was gone on the 20th the sites that used Allegro for the attorney of choice has now removed Allegro’s name from there websites. It’s like they have just dissappeared as if they never even exsisted. We were in the debt settlment program so we screwed for almost 5000.00 out of pocket with no results with the creditors. All of my accounts are over a year old so more than likely have been written off by the original creditors. We have received nothing in the mail or any contact whatsoever from a creditor in over six months. I am not sure what there doing because each time I called Allegro there answer was they were still negotiating with them. Well obviuosly they weren’t if there is no money there to use to pay them. I have nothing in my contract showing they would take there part of the money first before paying the creditors that I could find. They conviently as far as I can tell neglect to tell you about the 16% of your money they take before paying anyone. We have faxed all documents to Mr Colley and are no basically awaiting some feed back from him. Allegro as far as my crditors are concerned still hold my POA so there not willing to talk to us until that is solved with Allegro but I am waiting on answers from Mr Colley on how to proceed to take care of getting this fixed. If anyone has ever emailed Allegro for with any type of questions they should look at the replies because it comes straight from Ammericorp.
Steve,
If you have not done so, I’d contact your creditors on the phone or via the website and change your mailing address back to you. It is important that you actually get the correspondence regarding your account.
And you probably already know this but if an account has charged off you still can be sued for it. So if your address is listed as the Allegro address and notice of pending litigation is sent there, I doubt you’d know about it.
Steve
Eric, I bank with Wells Fargo but not for long. ;-)-[p
Hi Steve, I talked to some of my creditors and they are working out a payment plan but some or just for 6 months and some for 3 months and I have one that before they were taking payments out every 2 weeks and now I have the pay the whole thing in 1. They didn’t work anything out with me even when I explained the situation. Alot of them want me to pay more money then what I did before I went to Allegro Law. I saw in your comment today that you talked to Mr. Colley. One of the statements that you made was the advanced fees. Are those the fees that you paid up front in the being of the process? If so then I am screwed and I would be kissing that hard earned money goodby. To me that is stealing. They should have to pay this back to us if we are going to cancel our contract and they are the ones who screwed up in the first place. Please let me know the answer to that question ASAP.
Leslie
I also have been trying to contact this “law firm” and been on hold for over 30minutes and still no one has answered the phones. Iam getting very annoyed at this situation. I dying to cancel my account because I just don’t want to deal with them anymore. They also debited my account yesterday!!! How can they still be taking peoples money after all of this? I had to put a block on my account as well but the bank did warn me about the overdraft fees. Completely unfair. Iam very disappointed.
Without the Allegro Law website how are we to find where our money is and/or has gone.
Here is the link to the First Consumer Debt Consolidation website by Americorp
https://www.debtaccountonline.com/fcdctcx/
Customer Service, which I do believe to have been Americorp being that they answer the phones @ 8 a.m. EST, informed me that all actions by Allegro Law’s Debt Management Program have resumed as of the 17th of this month…This is why I was unexpectedly debited without regard to the transaction date I agreed to….still mostly BS to me, Guess there’s nothing more I can do but try to explain to the bank and see if they can remove the Overdrafts.
Oh and Mel, who is it that you bank with?
By the way….THANKS Steve for all your follow up and info on this!!!
Mel,
You are very welcome. I consider it an honor and privilege to provide everyone with as much help as I can to people in trouble.
Just as an FYI, I have called and left a message for Mr. Colley to discuss some of the concerns and issues expressed here. I have a list of questions for him but at the top of my list is that we need to get the AllegroLaw.net site back up and have it contain current information about the status and process of accounts and claims.
I fully appreciate that when you are in the middle of money issues and the group handling your situation goes silent, it creates a tremendous amount of stress and anxiousness. I’m trying to do what I can to get information flowing again.
My point of view is that the client must always come first and that all measures must be undertaken to keep the lines of communication open and to develop an orderly process for handling issues. But at the end of the day all I can do is continue to offer my assistance to Mr. Colley for free to help get this train wreck back on the tracks and keep everyone as informed as I can.
I just want you and everyone else to remember, this issues was not created by Mr. Colley, the court appointed receiver, it was created because the activities of Allegro Law were determined to be worth prosecuting by the Alabama Attorney General. Ultimately the responsibility rests with the person, people, or entities that played a part in the commercial offering of Allegro Law debt settlement services to begin with.
It is really hard for me to ask for your patience during these trying times, but until we can get some answers, there is not much to act on other than assumptions and panic. That doesn’t help or serve anyone.
What I would suggest is that every Allegro Law client should call their creditors that would have been expecting a payment from Allegro on their behalf last month, this month, or next. Explain to the creditor what is going on and have the creditor make a note of the situation on your account. While communication is not flowing from Allegro at this moment, that does not mean that you can’t do what you can to proactively inform your creditors of the mess and keep them in the loop.
I’d appreciate it if some that do call their creditors can report back here in the comments and give us an update of what the response was. I think that overall you will find the creditors to be surprisingly accommodating under the circumstances.
Steve
UPDATE:
I just got off the phone with Mr. Colley. We had a long conversation and he answered all of my questions with graciousness and concern.
WEBSITE: He was just as surprised as all of us that the site was taken down. He’s still trying to get his hands around the details of the Allegro Law mess. It appears that most of the operations of Allegro were actually conducted or performed by Americorp in New York but it is currently not clear who has technical control over the domain. I have forwarded to him information that might help track this down.
CLAIM PROCESS: A claim process will be put in place but it will probably be a few weeks he says.
EXPECTED CLAIM RESPONSE TIMES: Claims will be processed in an orderly manner but it may take a month or months for a response to a claim request.
REFUND PROCESS: All funds held by the receiver are frozen at this time. Even funds held in escrow. Funds can’t be released without the permission of the court.
FEES: I’m afraid the worst case scenario is true for advanced fees paid for Allegro Law debt settlement services. It appears that Allegro Law disbursed fees and did not hold those in escrow. Those fees are now gone and will not be part of a claim for a refund of funds in escrow.
SERVICING: All clients are being serviced by Americorp in New York still.
CLAIM WEBSITE: Assurances are being given that the plan is to have a claims website up in three days. a toll-free phone number will follow. As soon as I get the site details I will forward it on here in the comments.
WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW:
Steve
I hear you Eric….I stumbled on this s%^t storm by accident on Saturday. My payment of 846.00 was supposed to come out on the 16th. On Monday, I put a stop payment on the transaction and started paying creditors myself. Well lo and behold the transaction went through that evening and my bank would not honor the stop payment because it went through the same day…Huh?. So I too have overdrafts and could only “file a claim” and tell another uninterested person the story. Sometimes it seems no matter how much you try to do the right thing you get beat up for it. Arrgh.
So my payment was supposed to be made on the 12th, which was a Sunday…Nothing was debited from my account on that day. I chalked up to it not being a business day as to why nothing was debited. The following Monday nothing either, so after that Tuesday, I just figured they weren’t going to take a payment this month.
On the 20th the $269 was debited… much unexpected for me and I had no knowledge of it until the 21st. My account went into the negative. So all of this week, except once, I didn’t use my card. Today is payday, and I find that Overdrafts magically piled up from days before, so basically, I’m still not able to pay other bills because of that transaction date.
I begin to investigate, and find that the Allegro Law website has been pulled down…so now, WTF? I can’t even see where my money has gone or anything else pertaining to the transaction. I’m overwhelmed with stress right now.
Is there any way that I could get my bank to understand my situation and possibly have the Overdrafts refunded?
Steve
I got a notice about a certified letter today but not have picked it up, did Mr. Colley sent lettes to all Allegro clients. Also they took my money and have not paid my creditors yet, I have never been late ever even before this program, is Mr. Colley going to contact all our creditors to explain the situation?
Tim,
Go pick up the letter. Avoiding it is not going to change what it says. Once you get the letter, please let me know if it is about Allegro.
Steve
My wife and I have been with Allegro Law Firm for about 6 months. We have paid in a total of 7141.00. We found out about all of this by calling to check to see how much was in our escrow account. (By the way, it was barely 1000.00) We have only recieved one piece of mail from Alegro and we never did receive their “welcome” package. They claimed they sent it to us 3 times. My question is, what do I do now. Do we stop or do we wait and see what happens. If we stop will we get any of our money back. They haven’t done anything for us at this point. Please help, we’re desperate.
Ron,
Look up in the comments here and you’ll see an email address for Mr. Colley, the court appointed receiver. Email him and ask for answers. I’d be a bit worried also where the other $6,141 went.
Post a comment with an update when you hear something back, please.
Steve
chris
if you call early morning they pick up faster. if this helps
i just wish i can get my $900 so i dont have to deal with them anymore
I have been with allegro for around 10 months @ 432.00 mon.alot of money for nothing done (no settlements). 2 of my crediters are taking me to court. just so happens that i found out about this mess when i tried to go to allegro web site and it no longer existed and further investigation found all this B.S. going on i feel like i have been f’d without a kiss.i have since put a stop payment on my checking acct. but attempts to get a hold of any one at allegro have not been sucsessful hold times of over 30 min. no patience. i stumbled on this site on google and thank you for the useful info. hopefully me and all the other people that have been screwed can somehow get some of our money back (not holding breath though). thanks Chris
Chris,
Wow, I’m stunned that the Allegro Law website at AllegroLaw.net site was taken down. Now that’s going to freak a lot of people out.
It would have been much better to leave the site up to provide an update to clients about what was going on. Right now, today, people are left with almost no way to get information.
Damn, this could have all been handled so much better.
Steve
steve,
what does this mean? will the receiver start releasing the funds?
Minnie,
I don’t think anyone will know until funds start flowing. Stay tuned here. I’m sure someone will update it as soon as a check arrives.
Steve
Steve,
There may some confusion by some regarding “contacting” Allegro Law in re to their accounts. From what I can tell, all the contact info (telephone and mail) looks to be going to Americorp. Mr. Colley is the receiver for Allegro Law. Payments by individuals were sent to “Allegro” at the NY address and ended up at the processor. That is where I would think all the money is and getting at it may be difficult task for the receiver. That is why talking to the “Allegro” service department yields little info.
Side note, the receiver would have been appointed by the local judge, not the AG.
Mr. Colley told me he had moved all the client money into accounts he now controls.
Yes, you are correct, with the help of a judge, the Alabama Attorney General was able to get a receiver appointed.
I agree, it is my belief that when people call Allegro Law asking for help they are actually talking to Americorp in New York.
Steve
i have emailed receivership twice and no reply
i just called allegro’s processing center no updates on refunds as of yet.
the receivership has not released the funds
Steve I called that number for Louis Colley’s office today and they told me to make copies of all the paperwork that Allegro sent me and write a statement and either fax them or mail them to them. I asked what will happen after they receive them and she told me that they will look over them. I am going to call again tomarrow and ask them more questions and see if their information that they told me today changes. I saw in some of the comments that people were given a e-mail address to ask their questions. That is why I am going to call tomarrow. Will keep you posted with the info as soon as I receive it.
Please do keep me posted. You can find the email address above in the comments.
Mr. Colley seems like a nice guy but I think he is going to be very unprepared for the wave of crap he is going to have to deal with on this issue. And when people begin to panic about their payments and money, the gloves come off and it isn’t pretty. I offered to fly down, and look over the situation for free, to help him, help the Allegro Law clients stuck in this mess.
Keep in mind, Mr. Colley is a small town lawyer in a small office that has just been appointed by the Alabama Attorney General to take over the operation of Allegro Law. He has no experience in this arena and no idea about the world of debt management and debt settlement. He’s learning as he goes.
Steve
I know Steve and u r right. I just couldn’t do it…but that is the person I am…I just wish it was like that everywhere…but I know in the real world….it is take what you can and screw whoever gets hurt.
I have been on the phone (hold) with Allegro three times today with a waiting time no less than 30 minutes each time. When I told them I wanted to cancel my contract, they sent me an e-mail stating that I have discontinued by EFT transactions with them. I am now again on hold with them. I was speaking with a lady about needing confirmation of my contract cancellation and needed documented information as such. She told me that it had to have a supervisor approval but not before she read me the riot act of how effectly they have been managing my accounts. I told her I disagreed and what do you know, we suddenly got disconnected. I did file a complaint with the Alabama State Attorney General’s office this morning. I have also contacted a couple of my creditors, and to my surprise, was offered a lower interest/payment rate than Allegro secured for me. I suggest everyone give it a try.
Lori,
They are going to play hardball because they don’t want to lose clients because clients equal income and the folks servicing your account, who I believe are a servicer for Allegro Law, are making money as long as you don’t quit.
Thanks for sharing the information about your experiences with the creditors.
Steve
in your experience when do you i will get the refund?????
Minnie,
As far as how long it takes, you will be one of the first to place your claim. Please let me know what the experience is like.
Steve
the money i am getting is the fees paid
Minnie,
That’s good to know. Hopefully other people had their fees help in an escrow account instead of being taken as income by Allegro Law. In that case the money would still be around to be returned.
Keep me posted on how the claim process goes for you. Lots of people are interested in your experience with this.
Steve
Hi Steve, I was wandering….I was a new client as of June. They new they where in trouble by then right? What is the chance of getting any of my money back? They only contacted one creditor I had. I don’t understand how I could be so stupid. I don’t usually fall for this stuff. Then owe me money and I need to know if I will get any of it back. How could someone, take from people in times like these. I mean they knew we were all in bad times or we wouldn’t have even contacted them…..
Tonya,
You ask how people can be taken advantage of at times like this. Easily. When it comes to financial problems, people are more interested in hearing what they want to hear, rather than accepting the truth. I’ve nearly been spit on by some people that don’t like the truth I have to share with them, only to have them return months or years latter and say they should have listened to me.
Debt relief organizations that promise you miracle cures and magic solutions and simply selling the product that people are asking for. I’m sure somewhere today somebody is parting with hard earned cash for some magic fountain of youth solution as well.
I’m not sure if or how long it will take to get your money back. Email Mr. Colley, the court appointed receiver at law.office@clevelandcolley.com and ask him directly.
It is so unfortunate that you’ve had to live through this pain.
Steve
when i called allegro customer service they said the money was held up in receivership
my stepfather passed and there is some money in his escrow account. the refund is the money from his escrow account.
he was a client since january.
i dont want to give the email address i dont want to get in trouble.
if you call the office she will give you the email address right away.
OK, that makes sense. What I was wondering was if they were refunding fees paid or just money help for disbursement to creditors. All of those funds should be held in the new trust account and available for refunds.
The trickier part is if Allegro Law spent advanced fees for settlement services. In that case, those funds would not be available for refund right now.
Steve
i just called Louis Colley’s office 334-365-1500 and they gave me an email to ask my questions.
I am entitled to a 900 refund and was approved on july 8th.
what is the likelihood i will get this refund anytime soon?
Minnie,
I called and they gave me the email of law.office@clevelandcolley.com as the email address to use for Allegro Law clients to use to contact the receivers office. The fax number is (334) 365-1601.
Is that the same email address they gave you?
Did they say why you were entitled to the refund? Were you a new client, old client, what?
Steve
Look’s like Louis has his work cut out for him in this situation.
Since it looks to be a contiuation of Hess Kennedy with Americorp, maybe he could mirror what the Florida reciever did (only on a smaller scale).
Yes, that’s what he told me that he wanted to do.
Steve
For everyone looking and searching for who to contact on Allegro. What I did was file a complaint on the Alabama Attorney Generals website about Allegro. They in turn called me at the number I provided explained in detail what is going on and what to expect and also gave me the names and numbers of the Reciever to contact. I would suggest everyone concerned do the same. I was told to make sure I called the reciever and ask what info they need and they want all copies of anything everything related to Allegro.
Steve,
I was hoping that Mr. Colley would have gotten back to me sooner with the special website for claims. But since the receiver information is being released by the Alabama Attorney General’s office, here are the details for the receiver of Allegro Law:
Louis Colley
334-365-1500
Steve
Thank you for keeping all of us worried Allegro clients informed. Getting in touch with them at this point is nearly impossible. When I finally got through yesterday to customer service, they informed me that my funds were being released that day to my creditors. I asked them to provide me with some sort of documentation from the “receiver” that I could forward to my creditors as my normally scheduled payments were late. They told me that they did not have any sort of documentation as of yet. My first inclination is to go to my bank immediately before they take out another payment which will be on Friday. I will be calling all of my creditors on the program tomorrow to find out if they are willing to accept the same payment terms. Please keep us informed of the receiver’s information as you get it. So much for trying to do the right thing and try to pay off your debt rather than declaring bankrupcy!!!
Steve –
Fantastic article. I’m a bankruptcy attorney and have clients who paid over $3K to Allegro with no results. I’d like to see if anything can be recovered – do you have a link or info on the receiver? I told them to not get their hopes up, but I’d like to pursue it.
Thanks for the good work.
Jan,
The receiver has not got back to me yet with the claim website or phone number. If I was a betting man I think he’s found himself up to his ass in alligators with his court appointment to take Allegro Law over. Newbies walking into the management of a debt advice company like this have not a clue what they are walking in to.
I emailed him and told him that I’d be happy to come down, for free, and take a look at what needs to be done to clear up this s&%# storm of a mess so consumers can get some relief.
Honestly, I would not hold your breath in hopes of any recovery. This situation is not going to end well at all.
Now that you have left a comment you should get an email notification of any further comments left here. You could also subscribe to comments via email to stay posted on news.
Steve
I think the whole thing stinks. They knew they was in trouble when they took almost 600.00 bucks from me in June. So I just gave them 600.00 bucks for nothing and there should be something that someone should be able to do to get our money back..
I have been with Allegro since Aug. of 2008. In that time I have had one credit card debt settled and another had filed with the local county court for an appearance in court. I contacted that company and settled the account out of court. Now I am learning about all this mess with Allegro. From what I can see they are supposed to stop any further business. Is that correct? I checked my bank statement and they did not take out this months payment until July 20 and it is supposed to be the 7th. I tried to call and for over 20 minutes I just got a recording saying they were busy with other clients. What gives? From what I have seen I intend to contact my bank and stop any further payments to them and work with the creditors or collectors on my own. I just hope they will work with me as I have 5 other cards to pay off and can’t afford much more than I have been paying Allegro.
I am so glad I came across this website. I am dealing with the Allegro mess. I am now planning on canceling my contract with them, and either working with my credit card companies to keep the arrangements I have with them now or going with another debt management program that has been highly recommended and from the research I’ve done, reputable. I am livid about all of this and wonder if their clients will be able to join the class action suit, as Allegro has paid my creditors late and not delivered on their promises.
Darcey,
At this point you’ve already got the benefits of a debt management program from the creditors. You can always contact your creditors, explain the situation, make the payments yourself and save the monthly service charge.
Steve
Steve
What about the company that used Allegro advertising as the law firm of choice in debt management are they getting of free from all of this mess? I am an Allegro customer and tied up in this but I wnet through a different company and not straight to Allegro they were just the firm that this company used.
Steve,
Who did you use to get to Allegro Law for Debt Management?
Steve
I am also in debt management with allegro law
I contacted all of my creditors today and let them know about the situation and they are all going to work with me to keep the same arrangements in place.
I also put a stop payment on my bank account
I called for about 4.5 hours this Am and finally got through to tell them I want out. I was told that today the money was released to our creditors and they should have it in 5-7 business days. Lets see if that happens!!!!
Thanks for all the info
Laurie
Laurie,
You are very welcome. Please keep us all posted here in the comments with any new information you may learn along the way.
Steve
I would like to thank you, Steve, for this posting. If not for you I would have had no idea what was going on with Allegro Law. I called their customer service line this morning and informed them I wanted out of the program. After questioning why I wanted out, I was then informed that my bank account was debited on Friday and I should have it withdrawn today. They then emailed me a letter to sign to remove myself from the Debt Management Program. I was told by their cutomer service rep to either call the bank and stop the payment or they could process a refund. I called the bank and was informed the stop payment would only work for one day as it is an EFT transaction and would continue to try to debit until paid. I then called Allegro back and after another 20 minute hold time I was informed to recieve a refund I would have to let the debit clear and wait for a refund check to arrive in the mail 7-10 days later. I did recieve the email and it has a letter of termination from the program and attached were several questions about why I was opting to leave the program. That is where Im at with the process….I hope this helps someone else dealing with this debt management mess!
After re-reading to comment from “FREE ENTERPRISE” and the comment from my colleague Mr. Jackson, I wanted to add that even clients that “know the risks” can be taken advantage of. With people like Dave Ramsey instilling bankruptcy paranoia in the minds of the public, the “avoid bankruptcy at all costs” mindset is difficult to overcome and easy to take advantage of. Just because a client supposedly knows that risks doesn’t mean the attorney should facilitate bad decisions by offering services of questionable value.
.-= Carl H. Starrett II´s last blog ..I Can’t Open a Bank Account After Bankruptcy…Now What? =-.
Steve,
I just printed out your two page post and 15 to 20 pages of comments. This is what America is all about. Keep up the good work.
For all those feeling sorry for Allegro, keep in mind that most state bars that govern attorneys are very strict. The public is number one. Attorneys can lose their licenses for things that do not raise to the level of this case.
I personally am not in favor of debt settlement because debtors are paying these companies money to be put in jeopardy; subjecting them to collection suits and garnishments. They really provide little assistance to the debtor. The plans do not work until much time has passed and the creditor finally charges off the account as bad debt and sells it for pennies on the dollar to a collection company, at which point a bargain price may be struck.
Many people do not read the fine print if they think something is a good idea. Having recorded answers to the questions, as Allegro did to protect itself, does not mean the debtor understood the implications. Why would they? They thought they were getting help from an attorney.
I admit I have not followed the whole story, but anyone thinking about debt settlement should do a lot of research before they sign any agreement.
Jeff,
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on the post. You point of view as an attorney is greatly appreciated.
Steve
I called Allegra this morning to find out why they hadn’t taken my payment out yet and discovered what was going on. I called my bank to put a stop pay until this is resolved, however they told me that they were trying to process a withdrawal for tonight? I moved all my money into a different account to be on the safeside, but why are they still allowed to withdrawal from peoples accounts if their assets are “frozen” and they are not allowed to pay creditors?
Kara,
The receiver tells me he will resume payments when he gets it all under control. Allegro Law is in a bind either way here. They can either attempt to debit client accounts and start to get past due payments out or not debit accounts and leave everyone with unpaid obligations.
It is a mess, it is going to be a mess, and for most people, including yourself, the best approach is probably to contact your creditors and make your payments directly moving forward to prevent you from losing your debt management terms by getting dropped from the program.
Thanks for the update.
Steve
As a bankruptcy attorney, I am not big fan of debt settlement plans. Ever since I’ve switched over to from doing primarily to creditor work to debtor work in 2005. I’ve meet exactly 1 person that was better off in debt settlement than in bankruptcy. For the rest of my opinions about debt settlement plans, here is my most recently blog entry on the topic.
.-= Carl H. Starrett II´s last blog ..I Can’t Open a Bank Account After Bankruptcy…Now What? =-.
I signed up with Allegro Law at the end of May. I have only paid the inital setup fee and I had noticed that I did not have the EFT amount withdrawn for this months payment. After reading the posts about Allegro being frozen I immediately spoke with my creditors and set up plans for the now 2 month behind payments. I am a debt management client of theirs, but I’m not about to give them anymore money! How should I go about canceling my contract?
Brittany,
The best way to cancel would be to send a letter to them by some delivery signature verification way. Check your client agreement terms and see if there are any other special instructions for terminating.
Steve
Steve, you’re a copy and paste Doofus with no insight beyond the media’s propaganda. Allegro was the MOST COMPLIANT debt settlement company around.
Deceptive Advertising? That doesn’t make sense. Their service agreement outlined every con that could possibly happen by engaging in a debt settlement program.
The debt settlement pitfalls were outlined extensively in the service agreement (clients had to sign and initial like 100 times!) as well as pounded in the client’s head via recorded verification…
A few topics covered in the service agreement and recorded verification were:
Do you understand debt settlement is a best effort basis with no guarantees? CLIENT “YES”.
Do you understand Allegro Law does not represent clients in court and is only licensed to practice law in Alabama? CLIENT “YES”
Do you understand that by withholding payments to your creditors that this could result in derogatory credit reporting? CLIENT “YES”
Do you understand that legal action can be taken against you? CLIENT: “YES” AND SO ON…
This was all done before a client was enrolled. THE CLIENTS KNEW THE RISKS!!!
So there some facts you’re missing in your regurgitated media propaganda…
As far as I am concerned, the Alabama Securities Commission, the Alabama Bar are Bank Puppets that MIMIC those actions of a Nazi or Socialistic Dictatorship.
What happened to free enterprise?
There are a lot WORSE debt settlement service providers out there screwing people far worse… telling people “NO… DEBT SETTLEMENT MAKES YOUR CREDIT SCORE IMPROVE…”
Sean (Free Enterprise),
History is a great place to look for similar examples. I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of a group called AmeriDebt.
AmeriDebt was a large debt management company that also had all of its clients sign agreements and acknowledge all sorts of stuff. I read the agreements, they were clearly laid out and information was disclosed in the agreement that the consumer initialed and signed.
Not only did AmeriDebt get shut down but in the end the head of AmeriDebt, Andris Pukke, not only had to liquidate all of his assets in restitution but he also wound up serving jail time.
Here is the issue that is at the heart of the debt settlement problem. By regulators and litigators, consumers in financial trouble have always been and will always be considered a disadvantaged group of citizens that are often preyed upon by firms that make claims of debt help but don’t deliver as promised.
A document in which a consumer has made all sorts of initials on it does not change the fact that the perception will be that an unsophisticated consumer has been duped or fooled into a course of action by a more sophisticated operator, that is not in their best interest.
In Alabama, Allegro Law was unlucky enough to be made the example of to dissuade other debt settlement companies from engaging in such activities because consumers complained and the Attorney General took action to stop the behavior that was generating the complaints.
When it comes to debt settlement, some key issues are that no debt settlement company, no matter how well run, will be able to overcome are front loaded fees, fees earned before work delivered, advance fees, fees above a specified amount, assertions or promises of a particular range of settlement, the implication that all of a consumers debt will be settled, a belief by the client that credit will not be harmed by debt settlement, the inference that debt settlement will not result in a lawsuit against the client or a judgment or wage garnishment, and that if a consumer believes that any debt settlement company operates with the approval of any creditor at all times, that would be incorrect.
Look Sean, I have provided written testimony to regulators in support of federal regulation of debt assistance organizations. These regulations need to clearly spell out the boundaries of acceptable behavior and make it clear what is or is not an acceptable practice. But that day has not come.
Until that day occurs, all providers of debt assistance where a fee is charged will be playing russian roulette and never know when any regulator, Attorney General or consumer organization will take action to close them down and punish the operators of such companies for screwing people.
This is not an argument of fairness, this is an argument about reality and perception. As long as consumers are perceived to have been duped through complaints to regulators, it does not matter what they signed.
Steve
Hi Steve…thank you for the up date. So does this mean that they are now a straight up company? I just hate to waste more money on something that was getting me no where…
You cant just completely bash on Debt Settlement like it never helps anyone. Its the salesman who’s selling it that deteremines whether or not the program will be of a benefit.
for instance, a person who is current (fico is 700) on 3 Cc’s with an interest of 16% and a total debt of 10,000 making payments of 600 (clearly more than the minimum).
Of course a client like this shouldnt even enroll in a settlement.
But if you are already in collections you might as well settle due to the fact that the collectors work off settling with you as a consumer, most people just dont know how that system works.
Wouldnt you agree?
If you owed one debt, had the lump-sum amount on hand and were keenly aware of the credit score and credit report consequences but wanted to settle the debt anyway, then that would be an acceptable situation for me.
Outside of that I think that in its present form that the debt settlement industry has created a model of high front loaded fees and ineffective negotiations in a solution that takes advantage of unsuspecting consumers with unrealistic promises and incomplete solutions. This isn’t my opinion alone. All you have to do is look at the legal actions being taken against debt settlement companies and lawyers offering debt settlement services by the Attorney General’s of a number of states.
Let’s look at this too frequent example. Jon Q. Public has five accounts that are delinquent and he wants to settle. He is instructed by a typical settlement company to stop making payments, if any to the company or collector. He begins to make monthly payments to the debt settlement company that are taken just to pay the fees of the debt settlement company before any services are rendered to Mr. Public. In the meantime Mr. Public winds up in more aggressive collections, his credit report is further damaged. The day finally comes when one creditor settles, two will not agree to a settlement and one sues Mr. Public and wins a judgment against him that can lead to a wage garnishment.
So, if one creditor settled, has Mr. Public won or come out ahead? My position is that the current debt settlement approach is an incomplete solution since it is extremely rare for a single debtor to have all of their debts resolved with a monthly payment settlement approach, without being sued or further damaging their credit.
My investigation into the success rate of debt settlement plans was an eye opener. If you have not read it yet, you might want to.
Steve
New Allegro Law posting. See I Found Out About the Situation With Allegro Law After Calls From My Creditors. – Maria
Steve
New Allegro Law posting. See I Found Out About the Situation With Allegro Law After Calls From My Creditors. – Maria
Steve
I guess what I would like to know is what does this mean for a trustee? Does this mean they are still taking care of our matters?Does it mean we need to seek other help? I just want to know what direction I need to head. I don’t want to keep going back in debt…I am just worried I thought this would help and now find out this. I just signed up on the program the first of June….and I have one creditor that hasn’t even received there letter, but yet they have my money…
Tonya,
I spoke to the Attorney General’s office and they referred me to the receiver handling the case. I spoke to that office and have submitted my questions for answers. I don’t want to give out their number unless they say it is okay or a very nice lady, named Sandra, will start to get slammed with so many calls that she might quit. 🙂
I’ll update you as more information rolls in.
Steve
I spoke to the receiver appointed to take over Allegro Law and here is what he said:
Debt Management Clients: Business as usual. He hopes to take over accounts and pay them out as agreed.
Debt Settlement Clients: Accounts will be attempted to be settled in mass as was the Hess Kennedy mess in Florida.
A website and dedicated telephone number will be setup in a couple of days for client claim information and updates. He will call me back as soon as that information is available and I will post it here.
Steve
OK, so where should I go now? I don’t know what to do?
Tonya,
As hard as it might be, the best thing for you to do is probably wait to be contacted by the receiver or trustee put in place to wind down Allegro law. I have put in a call to the Alabama Attorney General’s office and asked for additional guidance to give. I’ll post an update in the comments when they call back.
Steve
If we have already gone through the hassle of getting the credit card companies to accept the offered proposal by Allegro Law and now they are being sued for what appears to be illegal activities,where does that leave all of us who now have to deal with the credit card companies all over again?
Jim,
I think you’ll have to wait for correspondence from the court appointed receiver about the status of your accounts, deals, and relationships with your creditors. With Allegro Law to probably be unwound, it leaves you back at square one.
But in a similar case against Hess Kennedy law firm in Florida the banks wound up forgiving the debt of many of the consumers caught in the debt settlement scam because of subsequent negotiations by the receiver and the receipt of proceeds from the legal action. It just took some time.
The best case scenario in the Allegro Law case is a similar outcome.
Steve
I was told by allegro law that they are waiting for a trustee to be assigned to allegro…what does this mean? I have bills that should of been paid that haven’t and I am really scared…
Tonya,
The Attorney General in Alabama said “This preliminary injunction would prevent the defendants from continuing to engage in deceptive trade practices and to operate without a license. On June 30, the Attorney General’s Office and the Alabama Securities Commission obtained a temporary restraining order against the defendants’ that stopped the defendants’ conduct, appointed a receiver, and froze the defendants’ assets. A preliminary injunction would ensure that those consumer protections will remain in place.”
This tells me that Allegro Law is frozen until a court appointed supervisor can get in and take control. Undoubtedly this will screw up the deals, payments and timing of all Allegro clients, unfortunately, including yourself. It will be a huge mess to deal with.
The claim here is that you would never have wound up in this harmed position if it had not been for the alleged illegal activities of Allegro Law and debt settlement attorney Keith Nelms. So what is next, probably a class action lawsuit against Keith Nelms for his Allegro Law activities. This is not the first time this situation has happened with a debt settlement attorney and firm.
If the court appointed trustee or receiver of Allegro has not been in touch with you yet, they will be in due course. I’m sure they’ve got their hands full right now just dealing with the mess.
Steve
Steve
All i got out of your response is that you are trying to avoid the fact that you pick and choose who you advertise for. You can find plenty of other businesses that you don’t bash all over your articles who would like to advertise on a financial site. Also in response to your comment about being suprised that someone would read what you say and then click on the debt settlement ad, what your really saying is that all you want from them is the revenue stream they bring in from the ad? Try finding a “good” source of revenue so you can continue bashing on companies and firms who are really helping people, but get shut down because “BIG BROTHER” doesn’t like the fact that thier friend the credit card companies are losing money on thier unfair business practices.
The REAL get out of debt guy
Kevin
Kevin,
Please go back and read my comment again and the link I provided. As I said, I have no control over the ads that appear. I do not pick or choose advertisers. Additionally, I do not solicit advertisers and refuse individual offers for advertisers on the site.
Steve
P.S. Your posting address curiously appears to trace back to The Credit Exchange, a company that someone had made a negative comment about on my article The Truth About The Failure Rates and Completion Rates of Credit Counseling, Debt Settlement, and Bankruptcy. It’s okay if you are there at The Credit Exchange, please just say so.
i just have a question…..if you don’t like the business practices of “Debt Settlement” companies why the hell are you promoting them all over this site?
Kevin,
Well it is a Catch-22 situation. The reason I can spend so much time providing advice is that the site generates some revenue from ads. Otherwise I would have to charge people for all the time I invest in helping. It’s a lot like a newspaper that writes an article about something and there is an ad for it in the same paper or a television or radio station that broadcasts some story about the very product that advertises there.
I would be very surprised that with all the things I have to say about debt settlement these days that a reader would then immediately go and click on a debt settlement ad. Otherwise we are left with a “debt settlement is bad so I’ll click on a debt settlement ad to use them” situation. That kind of logic I can’t control.
I do disclose and openly talk about the ads in the site terms.
Thanks for asking.
Steve