I don’t know the people behind the Federal Debt Assistance Association but it sure seems like they missed the entire debt relief debacle as companies were nabbed for impersonating the federal government in debt relief claims.
I was passed a mailer the company recently and allegedly sent out from their “regulatory” office at 5234 Glen Arm Road, Glen Arm, Maryland.
According to one website, the property is listed as industrial. – Source
It’s hard to even know where to put this effort by the Federal Debt Assistance Association. The history of actions against companies who sent out official looking mailers is pretty strong.
Anyone remember this one? “According to the FTC, Mallett created another fictitious government agency on his website FHA-HomeLoan.info, which featured a picture of the U.S. Capitol building. He called the agency the “U.S. Mortgage Relief Counsel.”
Or how about this one, “Pretending to be “nonprofit” with government ties, they sent mail bearing what looked like an official government seal, and indicated that the recipients might be eligible for a “New 2014 Home Affordable Modification Program” (HAMP 2).”
Maybe this one rings a bell? “The FTC’s complaint targets the operators of two websites that were allegedly full of misrepresentations about the fake program, which they called the “Bill Payment Government Assistance Program.” The sites claimed that the program was governed by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, a government agency formed to oversee projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.”
According to public records, the State of Maryland says Robert Pantoulis is a manager of the LLC and resident agent. The company was registered in Maryland in January of 2016. According to DomainTools.com, the domain name fdaassociation.org was registered on April 7, 2016 and is registered to a Robert Pantoulis.
The website for the FDAA uses a picture of the White House on the home page. The organization describes themselves as “one of the most reputable debt validation companies nationwide.” The site also describes their Federal Debt Assistance Program (FDAP).
The statement at the bottom of the website seems to imply the company is a form filling service. “This website is provided by Federal Debt Assistance Association, a privately held limited liability company herein referred to as FDAA. FDAA prepares documents on your behalf invoking laws and statutes found in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the 2009 Credit Card Act, 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform, The Fair Credit Reporting Act, the 2003 Fair and Accurate Transaction Act, Truth in Lending Act, Fair Bill Credit Act and other consumer protection laws to protect you against fraudulent debt practices and violation of consumers rights. While FDAA’s Federal Debt Assistance Program (FDAP) utilizes all of the federal, state and municipal laws and regulations at its disposal FDAA or its process (FDAP) is NOT affiliated with or endorsed by any governmental agency.”According to information provided by the business in May 2016, Nick Pantoulis is the owner of Clear Solutions Inc. and Federal Debt Assistance Association, LLC.”
I was very surprised to see FDAA refer to their sales mailer as “regulatory notification.” That will catch some attention for sure. Especially in conjunction with the official looking government like seal.
According to the BBB, Nicholas Pantoulis is the “owner”, Eliza Irons is the Director of Client Services, and Anna Marie Diaz is the Accounting Manager. The BBB says, the company “does not provide legal services and is not engaged as a “credit repair” or “debt settlement” entity which is a regulated industry in Maryland.” – Source
I’ll see if I can reach someone at FDAA to respond to this article.
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TOTAL F***ING SCAM
They stolen my money 12,000$
I fell for FDAA’s sales pitch hook, line and sinker. I gave them credit card numbers, security codes and everything they requested. I had 5 days to back out of the deal. The five days started on Jan. 11, 2017 at 8:00 at night. The next day when “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”, hit me I cancelled all credit cards and checking accts. Because it was a long holiday weekend, a lot could not be done until Tuesday the 17th. When it was over and done with, FDAA pulled the used car salesman tactic of involving better sales people to convince me to stay with them. It didn’t work, I wanted out. They managed to pop one credit card for $1,000 which they will keep as a processing fee. I know better than to fall for this stuff, but they sold me a bill of goods. My fault. I am now a $1,000 deeper in debt. They are a $1,000 richer. I know there is no quick fix on credit card debt, but the relief would have been a blessing. I should never have fallen for their line. I feel sorry for any people who get caught up in this who are strapped a lot worse than I am.
You are lucky. I got taken for $12,000. And now have Five credit cards that are overdrawn and I can not afford to pay.Cannot get them to answer any calls or emails.
Do you have an email address that I can get so that I can perhaps help you? I have helped a couple other people that are in a big mess with this company.
I received similar letter, which my husband pointed out as BOGUS!! I do not have a debt!!!! I checked with all three official credit card companies, before I even entertained the idea of calling them. one way they get to you is by saying “can you verify your DOB, your social security number, your phone number, your credit card number!!! Scam letter. Just trashed it. Thank you!
my wife got a letter today from fdaa, word for word like above. just for some additional info, this address was 11615 crossroads circle, st m baltimore,md 21220. also, the addy from glen arm, md is an industrial site. i worked at that building in the 1970s.
Thank you for sharing. Just got a letter yesterday from FDAA. They do a very good job of making things look credible. As with most things if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Thanks again for exposing their deceptive marketing practice.
Agreed — they’re still at it. I just received a mailing dated 12/1/2016 with an expiration date of 01/05/2017. I got pretty excited but after stumbling upon your post, I’m going to trash the letter. Thank you! And thank you for the tip re: how federal government agencies have .gov URLs. That slipped my mind.
Yeah, I just got a phone call with a voice message from them…..
Just received a mailer from this same company dated 11/9/2016.
FDAA is still at it — I just saw a direct mail dated 11/3/16.
They seem to have removed the “Regulatory” wording, but otherwise looks the same.
As a general reminder, any agency that’s part of the federal government will have a .gov URL
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