Debt Relief Industry News

World Law Debt, Global Client Solutions and Others Sued in NC. TRO.

Steve Rhode — Thu, 23 May 2013 19:48:04 +0000

Yesterday the State of North Carolina and the North Carolina State Bar filed suit against Swift Rock Financial, World Law Debt, World Law Group, Orion Processing, World Law Processing, Derin Scott, and Global Client Solutions. This suit is different than many others I’ve seen in that it is a...

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NoteWorld / Meracord Loses Arbitration Agreement With Court

Steve Rhode — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:35:41 +0000

An interesting development in the NoteWorld / Meracord world and a court case involving an arbitration agreement. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case between Amrish Rajagopalan and NoteWorld. Apparently NoteWorld tried to rely on the arbitration agreement the debt settlement company...

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Consumers Defaulting Less on Debt Says New Data

Steve Rhode — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:18:28 +0000

New data out from S*P and Experian says consumers are doing a better job paying their bills. The national composite of consumer defaults hit its post-recession low of 1.42% in April, down from 1.50% in March. The first mortgage default rate moved down to 1.31% in April from 1.41% in March. The auto...

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Mass Joinder Leader Mitchell Stein Found Guilty and Behind Bars for Years

Steve Rhode — Tue, 21 May 2013 02:03:55 +0000

A tipster just let me know that Mitchell Stein, the California attorney who was leading the charge selling consumers access to lawsuits to sue their lenders in a mass joinder action, was taken into custody today in court when he was found guilty on 14 counts in Florida today. Here is what the...

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FTC Catches Bogus Tech Support Scam and Then Finds a Debt Relief Company

Steve Rhode — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:25:00 +0000

The Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement over a bogus tech support service and accidentally found a debt relief company that was violating the Telemarketing Sales Rules in the process. Mikael Marczak, doing business as Virtual PC Solutions, and Sanjay Agarwalla were among the subjects of...

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Sameer Qadri, Connecticut is Calling and Looking for $100K

Steve Rhode — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:37:50 +0000

The Connecticut Department of Banking has issued a cease and desist notice and civil penalty to Sameer Qadri and Accredited Law Group. Qadri has also been associated with Estate Law Group. After a lack of response to many certified letter the State sent Qadri, the State has issued a final cease and...

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Debt Relief Company Options Debt Consolidation Canada Hits Rough Patch

Steve Rhode — Sat, 18 May 2013 13:20:05 +0000

The Vancover Sun is reporting a situation which sounds familiar in the U.S. as well regarding Options Debt Consolidation Canada and Options Credit Canada. Apparently Options Credit was selling agents or franchise owners a magnificent debt relief business opportunity where they would receive...

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EFA Processing and Consumer Law Associates Named in CT Cease & Desist

Steve Rhode — Sat, 11 May 2013 18:03:45 +0000

EFA Processing, a Texas company, and Consumer Law Associates, a Maryland company, were named in a public notice by the State of Connecticut. The State Said: 1. EFA is a Texas limited partnership with its principal place of business at 7668 Warren Parkway, Suite 325, Frisco, Texas. 2. CLA is a...

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The Student Loan Help Center – Review. Are They a Scam?

Steve Rhode — Fri, 10 May 2013 21:25:14 +0000

Company Name The Student Loan Help Center Our Impression of What the Company Offers to Consumers Student loan assistance help for a fee. Address 2634 Cypress Ridge Blvd. Suite 104 Wesley Chapel, FL 33544 Additional Contact Information Phone: 866-945-2201 Company Description “We offer Federal...

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Student Debt Relief studentdebtrelief.us – Review. Are They a Scam?

Steve Rhode — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:06:35 +0000

Company Name Student Debt Relief Our Impression of What the Company Offers to Consumers Advance fee student loan assistance programs. Address 151 NE 5th Ave #401 Delray Beach, FL, 33483 Comes back as an apartment. – Source Additional Contact Information Phone (866) 921-8053 Web...

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U.S. Attorney Plans More Criminal Actions in Debt Relief Industry

Guest Post — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:43:29 +0000

NY officials vow attack on predatory debt-fixing (via The Dispatch) Federal authorities announced a crackdown Tuesday on predatory businesses that cheat “desperate and vulnerable” people harmed by the 2008 financial crisis with phony promises to consolidate their debt. U.S. Attorney...

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The CFPB Civil Action Against Mission Settlement, Levitis, Lupolover, and Others

Steve Rhode — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:02:02 +0000

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took action yesterday in a coordinated effort with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney and took both civil and criminal action against Mission Settlement Agency and others. Named in the civil complaint filed were Mission Settlement Agency, Mission Abstract,...

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AFCC Takes Some Action and Suspends Mission Settlement Agency

Steve Rhode — Wed, 08 May 2013 17:25:12 +0000

Yesterday I wrote an article that was critical of the AFCC for their lack of action against Mission Settlement Agency and Rescue One. I have to give them a pat on the back for doing something this time. The AFCC has taken a little bit of action and suspended Mission Settlement Agency as a member....

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How Debt Settlement Employees Can Avoid Long Jail Time

Steve Rhode — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:13:31 +0000

Yesterday a U.S. Attorney announced criminal charges against debt settlement company owners and employees for fraudulently selling debt relief services to consumers in financial trouble. The Indictment laid out a pattern of activity that many inside debt settlement companies will recognize, if they...

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AFCC Current Member Criminally Charged in Debt Settlement Fraudulent Scheme

Steve Rhode — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:04:27 +0000

In what must certainly be a terrible embarrassment for the American Fair Credit Council, AFCC, one of their members was criminally indicted today by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney. According to documents released today, Mission Settlement Agency, Michael Levitis, and employees Denis Kurlyand, Boris...

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Banks Talk About Easing Lending – May, 2013

Steve Rhode — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:12:27 +0000

The April 2013 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices is just out and here is banks had to say about consumer lending. “Responses from domestic banks indicated that they are somewhat more willing to make consumer installment loans now as opposed to three months ago....

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Scott Law Group Updates Debt Industry Target List

Steve Rhode — Sat, 04 May 2013 14:22:57 +0000

The Scott Law Group has been very active in going after debt relief companies. They have recently updated their debt settlement litigation page by adding some companies and removing others. Added: American Platinum Financial Services, Inc. Consumer Debt Law Firm, Inc. The Mortgage Law Group, LLP...

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Debt Collection Companies Still Think Debt Settlement Offers Are Too Low

Steve Rhode — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:16:18 +0000

A tipster (send in your tips here) pointed out to me an article in insideARM today that talks about why about half of debt collection companies do not yet work with debt settlement companies. “The second most interesting data point to emerge was only one of the top six reasons for not working...

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Jet Debt Settlement. Are You Kidding Me?

Steve Rhode — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:40:51 +0000

A reader and tipster (send in your tips here) sent me a copy of an email they recently received from a company called Jet Debt Settlement. We’ve got some bad news for you. Your debt isn’t going away. In fact, as You read this, it’s getting worse. Fees and Penalties are adding up....

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Reader Not Happy With CuraDebt Advertising

Steve Rhode — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:16:56 +0000

A tipster (send in your tips here) sent in a request to have me look at a site, usadebtrelief.biz and said they felt it “seems very pre tsr to me.” The site consists of a home page as shown below. And that certainly does bring back memories of the days before the Telemarketing Sales...

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Consult America Decides Credit Card Modification is New Name for Debt Settlement

Steve Rhode — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:35:05 +0000

Companies have been scrambling to get away from the term debt settlement in an effort to try and claim the services they offer are nothing like the bad debt settlement companies that charged huge advance fees. Consult America is one such company apparently. A tipster (send in your tips here) sent...

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Debt Settlement in Canada Drying Up Quickly

Steve Rhode — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:16:32 +0000

I was talking with a high ranking source in Canada inside the debt relief industry. They mentioned the number of debt settlement ads on radio and television have disappeared. The days of heavy debt settlement marketing in Canada are gone. They also said their contacts at national creditors in...

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Canada’s Largest Province Working to Ban Advance Fee Debt Settlement

Steve Rhode — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 21:43:58 +0000

Hey Canada, better late than never, eh? Tracy MacCharles, the Minister of Consumer Services, stated today, “Ontario consumers need to have confidence that they’re getting what they pay for when purchasing debt settlement services. We’re going to introduce legislation that would protect some...

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Dear Melissa. The Conflict Between Debt Relief Sales and Consumer Needs

Steve Rhode — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 01:54:03 +0000

Last week a commenter who only would identify themselves as Melissa came into the site and said she worked for a debt relief company and made a number of statements about her role with what appears to be a debt settlement company. Some of those comments included: “I am proud of the work we...

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How Can Debt Validation of America Just Steal My Money? – Shelia

Steve Rhode — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 21:51:29 +0000

“Dear Steve, I started with My Choice Debt Management in 2009, that turned into Debt Validation of America shortly thereafter and later it hired THE FIRM PLLC to do their legal work after they realized they were not operating legally. I paid $1471/month in to an escrow account for 2 years for...

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Debt Validation of America Files Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Steve Rhode — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:39:46 +0000

Debt Validation of America has appeared on this site many times over the years, click here. A reader tipped me off the debt settlement company filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. They filed on February 28, 2013. Their bankruptcy application lists assets of $0 to $5,000 and liabilities of...

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Ward Pleads Guilty to Nationwide Foreclosure Scam and Bankruptcy Fraud

Steve Rhode — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 20:43:30 +0000

A former Los Angeles resident, who fled to Canada and was a federal fugitive for 12 years, pleaded guilty on Monday to aggravated identity theft and bankruptcy fraud in connection with leading a nearly 15-year foreclosure-rescue scam that fraudulently postponed foreclosure sales for more than 800...

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How Can I Find Out if I Can Offer Debt Settlement in the Different States? – Roger

Steve Rhode — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 20:21:27 +0000

Dear Steve, I’ve enjoyed your site for many years. Thank you for your contributions. I do have a question for you that you may be able to help. I’ve had a debt settlement company for about 20 + years. I deal mainly with Commercial, business to business debt and not consumer....

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WV Wins Judgment Against Nonprofit Credit Counseling Agency and a Number of Debt Relief Companies

Steve Rhode — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:14:08 +0000

On March 20, 2013 the State of WV was granted a judgment against James Armstrong, Family Credit Counseling, Debt Solutions Foundation, Top Financial Sales & Marketing, Consumer Financial Marketing, Consumer Debt Management & Education, JRA Property & Land Management, Vegga...

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Is Rescue One Financial Hiring People to Lie to Google?

Steve Rhode — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:46:38 +0000

A tipster (send in your tips here) alerted me to a job posting that pays people to fraudulently report this post, Alleged Former Employee Speaks Out About Rescue One Financial Loan Offers to Google as spam. The job posting, pays people $0.50 to submit a fraudulent spam report about the post about...

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