Thanks to an awesome reader who received this recent debt relief mailer, I can share it with you. Just when you thought the debt settlement industry had cleaned up their act and was flying right, or at least a lot more level, comes this mailer. Again we have the standard deceptive mailer that appears to pretend to be an official ... Read More »

On July 15, 2014 a West Virginia court came down hard on the Morgan Drexen business model. You may recall that Morgan Drexen was a big player in the national debt settlement business but felt they could charge advanced fees for services since it was really lawyers delivering services and thus exempt from many laws or regulations. According to the ... Read More »

Back in 2010 a bunch of debt settlement employees filed suit against ABC Debt Relief, The Debt Answer, Lloyd Ward, Lloyd Ward & Associates, and Lloyd Regner for wages owed. You can read more about that suit and its X-rated allegations, here. According to files just sent to me by a tipster (send in your tips here), the case has ... Read More »

In a story I’ve been working on for a bit, United Credit Consultants in Minnesota had said something in a press release that caught the attention of readers who brought it to my attention. It seems United Credit Consultants was saying they had FICO certified negotiators who could provide debt settlement service. But not only did UCC wind up with ... Read More »

A reader wrote in and wanted to know more about a debt relief company, Cornerstone Legal Group. I am not familiar with the company at cornerstone-legal.com so I’d love to hear from anyone who has used this company in the comments below. If we look at the ownership of the domain name it does not help to solve the mystery, ... Read More »

In 2012 there was a stinker of a class action settlement offered to consumers in a Florida class action case. An agreement was reached in that settlement where the attorneys got paid, cash awards were made to charities and the 125,000 harmed consumers got nothing. Consumer organizations objected as unfair. You can read about that case, here. Thanks to an ... Read More »

While the flood of lawsuits against debt settlement companies has slowed considerably yet one more class action has been added against Meracord, Noteworld, and Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland. This time in Arizona. The complaint provides a very long description of the alleged actions and conspiracy between the debt settlement escrow company and the companies they elected to work ... Read More »

In Ontario a bill passed recently which significantly impacts the delivery of debt settlement services there. First, I owe a big hat tip to a good friend up there in the great white north for alerting me to this. This new bill impacts both debt settlement companies and credit counselors. Bill 55, the Stronger Protection for Ontario Consumers Act 2013, ... Read More »

The other day I published the debt settlement recommendation report from The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), click here. As vocal as critics have been in attacking this site and myself for being outspoken about consumer unfriendly debt relief practices I felt certain people would have comments to offer about the CRL recommendations. But silence, except for one commenter. Some ... Read More »

The Center for Responsible Lending just released a paper on debt settlement. Take a look at the information they published and add your comment below if you think their research is on the mark or way off base. It appears CRL relied upon data published by the American Fair Credit Council in making their determinations on effectiveness. CRL even thanks ... Read More »

Well it looks like possibly misleading debt reduction mailers are still being sent out by that old postal permit 1297 in Sacramento, California. This one is for something that looks like a government check when you glance at it from the outside. The mailer is really for something called The National Consumer Hardship Program. And the fake check even goes ... Read More »

Previously the somewhat debt settlement, social media, call center, software developing, reputation defending company Morgan Drexen in California sued the CFPB and challenged its constitutionality. I’ve written about that here, here, and here. On October 17th the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued an opinion in the case. In the 29 page opinion, Judge Kollar-Kotelly had ... Read More »

Yesterday the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced an action and settlement against Meracord, previously known as NoteWorld. Meracord was one of the two primary players assisting debt relief companies to collect money from consumers and then pass it on to debt relief companies. Global Client Solutions is the second. What makes this current episode all seem so silly was the ... Read More »

The Scott Law Group, the Spokane law firm that has seemingly specialized in pursuing many debt relief companies has added a new company to their list. Debt Care USA has been added after a September 27, 2013 class certification in Spokane County Superior Court. Case documents can be accessed here. As of today the companies listed in play with The ... Read More »

I just received a submission from my I Buy Junk Mail program that serves as an example of the continued marketing that is going on to consumers with money troubles. In just a week or so, one consumer received the three irritatingly deceptive mailers you see below. I’ve reported before on mailers sent bearing the same postal permit numbers, (Santa ... Read More »