The court just recorded an apparent final disposition in the Arete Financial Freedom lawsuit. The parties included under the Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction and Monetary Judgment include Arete Financial Group, Arete Financial Freedom, CBC Conglomerate, 1file.org, Diamond Choice Inc., Interest Rate Solutions, J&L Enterprise, Premier Solutions Servicing, La Casa Bonita Investments, Inc., La Casa … Read more
The closure of American Financial Support Services by the FTC has been going on for a while now. The court-appointed Receiver has just submitted another interim report on activities. Most notably was this section: “The Receiver determined that all of the vehicles in Receivership Entities’ names were leased as opposed to owned. The Court authorized … Read more
American Financial Support Services was shutdown for bad acts by the Federal Trade Commission. They were raided as a result of student loan assistance services they were selling. The allegations made were disturbing but consumers appear to be getting kicked twice. The court-appointed receiver in the case just announced the following: “The Receiver’s office received … Read more
The operators of a student loan debt relief scheme will pay at least $835,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that they charged illegal upfront fees and made false promises to consumers struggling with student loan debt. The settlement resolves FTC litigation against Carey G. Howe, Anna C. Howe, Shunmin Hsu, Ruddy Palacios, and Oliver … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I was enrolled in the Arete Financial program. I’m getting emails from you saying I haven’t paid my November payment. I’m so confused. I’m still making payments to the company. Please inform me as to what is going on. I’m not sure what to do. Thanks, Tamie Answer: Dear Tamie, Arete Financial … Read more
The Receiver in the case involving Arete Financial Freedom and others has posted an FAQ that provides specific information on what consumers should do. But first, in more evidence the Arete settlement clients will remain in limbo, former employees are being escorted to clean out their desks. The Receiver says “Notice to Employees – December … Read more
I received the following comment from a consumer regarding her services with Arete Financial Freedom settlement services. These sorts of issues the consumer states are sometimes difficult to evaluate. It is sometimes hard to distinguish between an unhappy consumer who is stuck in a program being investigated by a regulator and valid complaints. Arete Financial … Read more
The case filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against American Financial Support Services over alleged illegal student loan assistance program issues looks like it has snagged the debt settlement program of Arete Financial Freedom leaving consumers in a very problematic limbo. How This Happened The FTC filed suit against the following: “Defendants American Financial … Read more
While some people can find the biggest conspiracy in the smallest discrepancy, I don’t embrace that approach. Instead, I try to look for verifiable facts that can be supported with outside documents. The recent case against American Financial Support Services, Arete Financial Group, Arete Financial Freedom, CBC Conglomerate, 1file.org, Diamond Choice, Interest Rate Solutions, J&L … Read more
The preliminary report of the court-appointed receiver was made public in the case involving a number of student loan assistance companies including American Financial Support Services. To refresh your memory on the case, read this. In recent days, people named in the case have filed documents saying they should not have been included or had … Read more
Recently I had received a tip that at least one of the companies named in a recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sealed lawsuit had been raided. Subsequently, the case below was unsealed. It appears the FTC filed suit, under seal on November 4, 2019, against American Financial Support Services, Arete Financial Group, Arete Financial Freedom, … Read more
An amazing reader adalton sent in a new debt relief mailer through my I Buy Junk Mail program. The mailer if for an entity identified as Education Loan Network and mailed from postal permit 1297 in Sacramento, CA. The reader who submitted this mailer for review, said: “I noticed a couple red flags on this … Read more