TASC and USOBA do Great Work don't they?

An Emperor who cares for nothing but his wardrobe (Debt Settlement Companies) hires two weavers (TASC and USOBA) who promise him the finest suit of clothes from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position or “just hopelessly stupid”. The Emperor cannot see the cloth himself, but pretends that he can for fear of appearing unfit for his position or stupid; his ministers do the same. When the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they dress him in mime and the Emperor then marches in procession before his subjects. A child in the crowd calls out that the Emperor is wearing nothing at all and the cry is taken up by others. The Emperor cringes, suspecting the assertion is true, but holds himself up proudly and continues the procession. 

There could not be an old tale that more perfectly describes exactly what TASC and USOBA is doing to the debt settlement industry and consumers alike, as this one by Hans Christian Andersen.   

If you are a new reader to this blog, you will need to read some of my previous articles dealing with TASC and USOBA to understand that even though they purport to be industry regulators and consumer protectors, in reality, they are nothing more than well funded trade associations interested in keeping the status quo.  The “status quo” being the continuation of front loaded fee structures that line their pockets and do little if anything to help consumers.  Unless you consider an expensive lesson to be a consumer benefit. 

I could literally write a book on the actions taken by both TASC and USOBA over the years to continuously block and attempt to derail any form of meaningful regulation to protect consumers.  However, a consumer needs to look no further than their current reactions to the new FTC rule that would ban these ludicrous front loaded fee structures, utilized by most of the members of TASC and USOBA, to understand where their true motivations lie. 

There is plenty of information on this blog and also over at GetOutOfDebt.org to make an open and shut case that TASC and USOBA are at odds with what consumers need.  So I am not going to get into those details in this article. At this point, I consider it a given that TASC and USOBA are against consumers if it affects the bottom lines of their member companies and my analysis in this article will reflect that view. 

What I want to cover is how TASC and USOBA, if allowed to continue their shenanigans will do nothing but limit viable debt relief options for consumers and cause further confusion in the market place.  

TASC, USOBA and most of their member companies continue to advance this ridiculous notion that charging consumers all of their fees before a majority of the work is performed is in the consumers’ best interests.  This self serving assumption is so ridiculous on its face that I can’t believe I actually have had to spend time writing articles to explain to them why it is devoid of any facts or basic logic. 

For awhile I figured TASC and USOBA would at some point realize that regulators and consumers alike have long ago figured out that the Emperor has no clothes and would stop pushing obnoxious assertions to the contrary.  Sadly, I have now concluded, that they are married to this ideology and are not going to back down until they are out of business or the regulators put the entire industry out of business.   

There is no arguing that a debt settlement strategy has its place in the debt relief quiver of arrows and that there are a few good settlement programs out there that provide legitimate help to struggling consumers under the right circumstances.  However, if TASC and USOBA continue pushing back against all meaningful regulation, they will leave regulators no choice but to continue to push for more regulation that in all likelihood will put all settlement companies out of business. That will certainly not be beneficial for consumers.  I believe the current rules passed by the FTC are enough to rid the industry of almost all of the bad players in the market place with just enough wiggle room for legitimate companies to still operate a viable and profitable business.   

However, if regulators feel that the industry didn’t get the message with the new FTC law and they continue to hear about all the ways TASC and USOBA are trying to figure out how to get around the new laws to continue ripping off consumers, they are going to come in with more regulations. Including potentially capping fees so low that a legitimate company might not even be able to remain viable and be forced to close the doors to the detriment of consumers seeking honest assistance. 

With TASC and USOBA committed to this argument that front loaded fees are the only way a settlement company can operate, it is clear to me that in order to protect consumers, TASC and USOBA must be put out of business.  They seem so far detached from reality that I don’t really see another way.   

TASC and USOBA are funded directly through debt settlement company membership dues.  Settlement companies that are members of these associations often pay thousands of dollars a month and that money is used directly by TASC and USOBA to block efforts to curb the consumer abuse in the industry and ironically to also convince the public that TASC and USOBA members are the good guys and really looking out for them. 

So to protect consumers I am calling for an immediate boycott of all TASC and USOBA member companies, and I will give you 4 good reasons why: 

Consumer Boycott of TASC and USOBA members

1. USOBA has already admitted to the FTC that if an upfront fee ban was passed that 85% of their members would go out of business. This alone is a good enough reason never to enroll with a member of TASC and USOBA.  That law has now passed and will be in effect by October 27th.  According to USOBA many of their members aren’t likely to be around very long now.  As a consumer, are you willing to take the gamble knowing that there is an 85% chance the company you are paying fees to every month will not be around to help you next year?   

If you are currently enrolled in a settlement program who is a member of TASC or USOBA or any settlement company that front loaded their fees, this should send a bit of a chill up your spine.  You might want to rethink whether or not it makes good financial sense to continue sending your monthly payments into a program that is likely to be out of business because they can no longer charge fees upfront.   

2. TASC and USOBA members use your money to pay the dues to these two trade organizations to go out and fight against consumer protection regulation.  Every time you do business with and send money to a TASC or USOBA member company, you are paying for these guys to go out and try to prevent all meaningful efforts to keep consumers from getting ripped off. 

3. TASC and USOBA members are guilty of false and deceptive advertising.  They claim that membership in either TASC or USOBA means that they have somehow been vetted or are approved by some industry regulator.  However what they don’t disclose is that this so called regulator is just a trade organization that they pay monthly dues to.  Somehow that strikes me as a bit of a conflict of interest. Unfortunately though, it does the job of helping to convince unknowing consumers that they can trust that program with their family’s financial future. 

4. If TASC and USOBA are not put out of business, I believe that their actions will eventually cause regulations that are so strict, that most consumers will be unable to find legitimate help if a debt settlement strategy would be beneficial to them.

There really is no question in my mind that it is absolutely in the consumers’ best interest to have TASC and USOBA discontinue the actions that they are taking to thwart meaningful and necessary consumer protections, and the only way that consumers can accomplish this is to immediately stop sending your money to their members who turn around and send it to them. The FTC gave TASC and USOBA years to lead the charge for meaningful change and they did nothing but fight against it. 

Now let me talk directly to TASC and USOBA members.  Does TASC and USOBA represent what you stand for?  If so, than good luck.  If TASC and USOBA does not represent what you stand for, than get out of these associations now and stop funding them.  I have heard debt settlement companies claim that membership in TASC or USOBA is the only way they can show credibility to potential clients.  Excuse my language, but WTF??? The only way you can show credibility is to run a con on consumers and tell them that TASC and USOBA is looking out for them and since you are a member then you are a good company? Have you ever heard the phrase “guilty by association?”  If I was a debt settlement company, the last thing I would want on my website is some TASC or USOBA badge telling consumers that I also believe it is a major tragedy that I can’t charge them all of the fees before I provide the promised service.   

You want credibility? How about not front loading all of your fees for a start?  How about charging consumers when you get them a great deal and do what you say you are going to do?  How about making sure that a large number of your clients actually get the results that your sales people are promising them?  How about that for credibility instead of some stupid badge on your website?  Give me a freaking break. 

Members of TASC and USOBA need to now make a choice. 

Chose Education or Deception

It is clear what TASC and USOBA stand for.  Do you stand with them or do you stand with consumers?  You must chose, you cannot play both sides any longer.  You cannot flip flop and issue press releases about how you are excited about the new FTC rules and how you have been looking forward to this regulation because it is so great for consumers and then turn around and send thousands of dollars a month to organizations that are fighting tooth and nail against these laws that you are now a supposed champion of. 

I have recently seen several press releases from New Era Debt Solutions claiming to be the first company in compliance with these new FTC laws and how they are excited to see this regulation because it will protect so many consumers.

New Era Debt Solutions is a pretty large debt settlement company and also a long time accredited member of TASC.  I don’t know the exact amount of the membership dues that New Era pays TASC every month, but any company that has more than 10,000 active clients pays in a little over $10,000 a month.  My guess is that New Era pays somewhere close to that but I don’t know how many active clients they have.  However, that or anything near that is a whole lot of money for a company to be shelling out.  

I am not sure how they can have these views, applauding the FTC for taking this action and still send TASC around $10,000 per month to fund the fight against these new laws.  TASC has been openly fighting these regulations for a long time and yet New Era as an “accredited member” of TASC still continued the funding.  Why? 

I have no idea but wouldn’t it be great if New Era and other TASC and USOBA members would redirect those hundreds of thousands of dollars a month and rather than funding associations that openly fight these needed regulations, instead use the money to issue press releases and other educational material to warn consumers about the dangers of the settlement programs that TASC and USOBA represent? 

I don’t have $10,000 per month available to spend to counter act the public deception machine (as I call it) that TASC and USOBA puts out, but New Era does.  Are they willing to use this money they are collecting from their clients to further public education or simply continue funding the public deception that TASC and USOBA represent?  Only time will tell.

I may have started as a lone voice in the street but now consumers, regulators and even the Emperor himself is starting to figure out that  “The Emperor definitely has no clothes on.” Do you feel a draft?

Related posts:

1. Free Advice to Usoba and Tasc members, get out or you will be put out on your ass
2. USOBA and TASC Set Industry Standard – Don’t Trip Over The Bar
3. TASC Throws USOBA on the Sword, Runs to Next Industry to Plunder
4. Credit Answers canned by TASC-Runs to USOBA-We Need some Stinking Badges!
5. TASC Fails to Protect Consumers, Regulators Take Notice

Dan Smith and New Era Debt Solutions Pals (Photo from Hollywood Weekly)

I am now proud to announce that I have just seen the second official “we hate Damon Day review”.  Ironically I believe the second review was also written by Dan Smith – President of New Era Debt Solutions. (pictured above on the left, in a photo spread for Hollywood Weekly) Mr. Smith also holds the dubious honor of writing the first review I believe.  Of course I don’t know for sure because whoever is writing these reviews is afraid to stand up and claim ownership of them.

This Latest review claims to be a consumer warning and is supposedly issued by “Consumer advocates, business owners, TASC members and debt professionals.”

Wow, is this a group effort?  It sounds like a whole bunch of people are really concerned about what I am sharing with consumers.  I would love to know who all of these consumer advocates and debt professionals are.  Maybe Dan Smith will enlighten me in the comments section below.

The reality is that this review was likely written by Dan Smith or someone else over at New Era Debt Solutions that is unhappy that I exposed them for deceiving consumers, at least in my humble opinion.  I guess if we have learned anything from politicians, it would be that when you can’t articulate a coherent argument on the substance of an issue, you can only resort to personal attacks.

This website first appeared back in February.  Ironically, the very same day that Dan Smith threatened to write a review about me if I didn’t “correct” the review I did about his company, New Era Debt Solutions.  If you haven’t read it yet, it is a good read.  If you have about an hour to kill, you should look at all of the comments from Dan Smith as well.

When I first saw this attack I wrote about it on my blog in an article titled Debt Settlement Company Attacks Me for Exposing Their Deception.  I was pretty sure that Dan Smith was behind it, but of course he never admitted it.  A few days after I wrote the article about the first attack, it mysteriously disappeared from the net.  I assumed that Dan realized that by attacking me he was actually drawing more attention to my review of his company and decided it wasn’t a good move.

I figured that would be the end of it, but today I went back to his website and found the “we hate Damon Day review part 2.

This review site lists 12 FACTS about me as “they” see them.  Who are “they”?

Supposed Fact 1.  DD&A is a company run out of Damon Day’s home instead of a legitimate commercial location. Their web site gives the impression of a legitimate company. This company does not qualify for membership in TASC. As such DD&A goes to extraordinary efforts on their web site to slander the good name of TASC and TASC members.

My response: I am very open with my clients about the fact that I work from home, so there is no revelation there.  “Legitimate commercial location?”  What does that even mean?  I am a consultant, is there something wrong with consulting with consumers from a home office?

TASC’s good name? Seriously? TASC is nothing but a trade organization that lobbies on behalf of debt settlement companies.  TASC masquerades as a consumer protection organization which is laughable at best.  As much as Dan Smith claims that I am, I am not a debt settlement company, therefore even if I thought TASC was actually a good thing for consumers, I certainly would not be a member, nor pay dues to an association who’s main function is to lobby for debt settlement companies. Please do a search for TASC on my website and you will get an idea of what TASC actually does.  What I do is go to extraordinary efforts to inform consumers to not be lulled into thinking that TASC is an organization that is looking out for consumers.  It is an association of Settlement Companies, looking out for the best interests of its own member companies.  My question for Dan Smith is what does he actually get for the $10,000 dollars per month that he likely pays TASC in monthly dues?  What do they do for you to justify that kind of expense?

TASC Update 4/15/10 – I was over at GetOutOfDebt.org today, where I often go for great information on what is going on in the “debt help” industry, and I came across a post by Steve Rhode that I found very enlightening for consumers.  It appears that TASC is busy trying to figure out ways to get around the FTC’s proposed advance fee ban.

So let me ask you Dan, is this what you are supporting when you pay thousands of dollars a month to TASC?  The presentation suggests that debt settlement companies should locate their operations offshore to avoid these laws and then they will be able to continue to charge huge upfront fees to consumers.

The presentation suggests that TASC member programs can set up their operations similarly to online gambling sites offshore.  Wow, this just screams consumer protection to me. Don’t you agree Dan?  Aren’t you proud to be a member?

Please read the post TASC explores option of members going offshore so they can avoid FTC regulation

Dan is this the organization that you are using to show that I must not be legitimate because I don’t belong to it?  From my side of the fence, I would say you might want to rethink sending all that money every month over to TASC because this is the kind of stuff that you are funding.  Is that what New Era Stands for?  Do you support TASC’s suggestions of moving operations offshore and not using traditional phone lines so settlement companies can get around proposed FTC regulations to protect consumers?  If you don’t support this, I assume you will be discontinuing your monthly dues payments to TASC shortly.

Supposed Fact 2.  Knowing that the Better Business Bureau gives an F rating to all debt settlement companies, DD&A goes to great lengths to hide the fact that they are a debt settlement company. If DD&A can trick the BBB into believing they are a consulting firm and not a settlement company, then they hope to avoid an F rating. DD&A does not want an F rating because this would put them on a level playing field with the rest of the debt settlement industry. Damon Day states in his web site that he is not a debt settlement company and that he does not do debt settlement. He mistakenly contradicts himself in his Debt Settlement Video where he makes statements such as “OUR clients pay back 50%” and “OUR clients complete in 2 years or less”. Oops! You will also hear him say the words “MY clients” and other phrases that confirm the fact that DD&A is a debt settlement company and they do provide debt settlement services.

My Response: Dan, I am really at a loss here.  I am not sure why you simply can’t grasp the concept that I am not a debt settlement company.  I do have clients yes.  I have clients with all different financial challenges.  Some hire me to coach them on a monthly basis, some ask for referrals for Bankruptcy, or credit counseling or debt settlement.  Once I help a client figure out the proper strategy, I can explain what they need to do to achieve success or I can refer my clients to organizations that offer what they need.

Dan, let me explain it to you like this.  Think of me as a quarterback of a two man team.  My team consists of my client and myself.  My job is to read the defense and call the right plays to get my client into the end zone.  Sometimes we need a running play, sometimes we need a quick pass, sometimes we need a Hail Mary and sometimes we are even forced to punt.

For instance, when debt settlement sales people tell a consumer that they should sign up into a debt settlement program.  It is my job to look at the consumers financial circumstances and let them know if that is the right play.  Let me give you a good example that happened today as a matter of fact. I was on a consultation with a client that ironically spoke to one of your sales people among others a few days before.  Wouldn’t you know it, every single debt settlement sales person suggested that their debt settlement program was the best way to go. (funny how that always seems to be the case)  However, with just a few simple questions I was able to determine that they currently didn’t have the proper cash flow to likely be successful in a debt settlement program.

The debt settlement sales people, yours included, called for a run up the middle while we were facing a blitz.  Bad move.  I called for an option play and suggested that we wait and see if the income improves for a few months before making any decisions.  If not, then Bankruptcy would likely be the best option.  Funny, I don’t often hear about debt settlement sales people telling consumers that they should wait a bit before making any decisions.  Why is that I wonder?

Supposed Fact 3.  Damon Day refers to himself as a financial analyst and a financial consultant yet he has not been licensed by either the Securities Exchange Commission, the Department of Insurance, the Department of Corporations, or the Department of Real Estate. Damon Day says he is qualified because he survived his own personal financial troubles and went to the school of hard knocks.We are pleased that Damon Day has survived his financial troubles, but that surely does not qualify him to be a financial consultant. A lot of additional training and testing would be required for Damon Day to become an officially licensed and qualified financial consultant.

My Response: I don’t claim to hold any state license.  I have a degree in business/finance and a heck of a lot of experience helping people resolve debt issues.  Is there something wrong with providing advice about a subject that I have a large amount of education and experience in?  In fact, I leave it up to all my clients to decide for themselves how valuable my consultation was for them by making my fee voluntary and not payable until after the consultation.  I even leave it up to my clients to determine the amount they want to pay me.  I have consulted with numerous CFP’s, Attorney’s, CPA’s and other professionals about their own personal financial situations.  The most common feedback I get from them, is that they didn’t learn what I shared with them in school or on the state exams.

In fact, Dan, weren’t you the one that made a comment  when you were attacking me last month saying that experience and book smarts are two different things?  Why yes you did, when you made a comment on my blog pretending to be someone else and claimed that I didn’t know anything about business and until I had the experience I didn’t know what I was talking about.  Now you claim that regardless of my experience, if I didn’t take a test then I can’t know what I am talking about.  It seems your opinion conveniently changes in order to fit your arguments.

What I would like to know is what financial education or licenses the telemarketing sales people have that are giving out financial advice every day over at New Era Debt Solutions? Am I to assume that all of your debt settlement sales people have finance degrees and have taken the CFP exams?  I certainly expect that to be the case since your sales reps are out there operating as financial consultants and telling people that your debt settlement program is the solution to their debt troubles.

Supposed Fact 4. Throughout the DD&A web site there is an onslaught of words such as honest, ethical, straightforward, knowledgeable, unbiased, integrity, advocate, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.  We have learned from our experience that companies that feel they need to make numerous claims like these should probably be avoided. In most instances these companies are the exact opposite of what they claim and you will usually find a lot of smoke and mirrors.

My Response: I thought these were supposed to be Facts?  I am not sure how to respond to this other than I will let consumers decide whether or not these things are true after speaking with me.

Supposed Fact 5.  Damon Day’s methods of making money and getting new business are very sly and cunning, yet rate a zero when it comes to integrity. One method he uses is to offer a free contract review. He urges people that are contemplating debt settlement to send in their contracts of the company they are considering. He says he will review the contract and give his honest assessment. Do you think he will ever give two thumbs up to that company? Not going to happen. What he will do is tell you that this company is a bad choice, but lucky for you, he has a recommendation for you. Of course Damon Day’s recommendation means money for DD&A. Since their method of making money is by taking a client of one company and pointing them in the direction of DD&A, the chances of getting a true “unbiased” opinion are pretty slim.

My Response: Dan, why are you so afraid I will show consumers options other than your program?  I thought your program was the best? Do you think a consumer is not smart enough to realize that having options is better than no options.  You are right, if a consumer shows me a contract that I think is not a good deal for a consumer, I will suggest they research some other programs that they might not know about and compare all of the options.  Why do you think this is such a bad thing?  Unless of course you realize that your program will not likely be the preferred choice for consumers since you charge a very high fee.  If you don’t like it, then perhaps you should change your program so that consumers will select New Era in a side by side comparison with other programs out there.  I simply show consumers all of their options.

Supposed Fact 6.  Another method Damon Days uses to build his business is to berate and ridicule all of his competitors. We think that whenever anybody has to resort to making them selves look good by trying to make everybody else look bad, they are using bad judgment and bad business practices.

For example Damon Day has written a review on one of the best debt settlement companies he could find, New Era Debt Solutions. New Era is a leader in the debt settlement industry with a great reputation for doing things right. But to DD&A they are considered competition and a prime target to try to steal customers from. You will notice that reputable and legitimate companies like New Era Debt Solutions don’t resort to slandering the competition to build credibility, but instead stand on their own laurels.

My Response: Dan, perhaps you don’t understand the concept of a consumer advocate and what they do.  My job is to identify things that are harmful to consumers in my opinion and share that information.  I am not a debt settlement company and you are not my competition.  Please show me one instance where I berate and ridicule you?  All I did was call attention to the fact that in my opinion, it appeared you were deceiving consumers and you attacked me for it.

You claim that New Era was one of the best debt settlement companies I could find.  What makes you think that?  I guess you will have to ask my clients whether they felt that I am stealing them or rescuing them.  I will “notice that reputable and legitimate companies like New Era Debt Solutions don’t resort to slandering the competition to build credibility, but instead stand on their own laurels?” Dan, have you read your comments to me in my review on your company and what exactly do you call this attack against me personally?  Is that what you consider standing on your own laurels?  Oh wait, this is an anonymous website that is attacking me. It isn’t anyone at New Era, right Dan?

Supposed Fact 7. Damon Day’s reviews are written with one goal in mind and that is to steal clients so DD&A can make money.  Damon Day has written reviews on companies that have great reputations and are leaders in the debt settlement industry with the sole intent of stealing their clients. His reviews are full of untruths and bad assumptions with the intent to mislead people.

My Response: I will let my reviews speak for themselves.  Please visit my New Era Review so you can see all of the supposed untruths and bad assumptions I made to mislead people. Even though Dan Smith had an open forum and made about 12 to 15 comments he was never able to actually point to one inaccurate fact in the review.

Supposed fact 8. Imagine a guy who wrote a scathing review about the Ford Mustang in Car & Driver magazine. Then imagine that you discovered that not only had this critic never even taken the time to actually drive a Ford Mustang, but that he also worked for Chevrolet, a major competitor. This is Damon Day. Damon Day’s reviews are not honest and they lack credibility because he is writing about his own competition, and he wants their customers. Damon Day has been invited to visit the competition, and to drive the car so to speak, and to no surprise Damon Day has declined the offers. He couldn’t possibly write an honest review about his competition.

My Response: I am not sure what to make of this supposed fact.  Scathing review?  Perhaps Dan didn’t actually read my review.  I said his fees where too high, which they are, and I was disturbed to see evidence of potential deception, but if they would fix those two things, they would be a company worth consideration.  I invite anyone to read the comments Dan left on my review of New Era and come to their own conclusion about why I didn’t get a warm fuzzy feeling when he invited me to come visit their offices.  He basically threatened to sue me, had his attorney call me twice, told me that not taking the review down was the worst decision I could make, and created a bogus review about me out of spite. Then when that didn’t work, he turns around and invites me to come to his office so I can see what a nice guy he is.  Huh?   The final words of Julius Caesar were echoing in the back hollows of my mind.

Supposed Fact 9. Damon Day says he can provide his debt settlement services for lower fees than others because he doesn’t carry the expenses of legitimate companies, expenses like advertising and promotion. We don’t know where he received his business education, but everybody knows that advertising and promotion are critical components of a business plan and are necessary for the success of any business. That is of course unless your business plan is to steal clients from reputable companies that have already paid for advertising and promotion.

My Response: Am I really spending my time responding to this?  I don’t provide debt settlement services.  Please show me where I said I provide them for lower fees?  Dan do you ever read my answers to your questions? What you are referring to is my discussion on revenue allocation.  Are you taking my words out of context on purpose?  Or did you not understand what I was explaining to you?  I am sure any consumer that reads our back and forth in the comments under my review of New Era will have no trouble understanding the fact that some companies spend a lot of money advertising and not very much on servicing their clients, and other companies spend less on advertising and more on servicing clients.

Supposed Fact 10.  A simple search of public records will show that Damon Day is in trouble with the IRS, has tax liens against him, and has a history of law suits against him. We have absolutely no issues with the fact that Damon Day has had money problems. Many people do and times are tough. We do take issue with the fact the Damon Day throws stones at other people and writes negative and untrue reviews to make him and his company look good in an attempt to steal their customers. On top of that it doesn’t make a lot of sense for most people to take financial advice from someone who can’t seem to get their own financial house in order.

My Response: Ah the old attack the messenger when you can’t attack the message.  I already responded to Dan’s ground breaking discovery about my history with lawsuits and the IRS when he attacked me the first time.  You can read about it here. Notice Dan doesn’t tell you that the very same public records search also shows that I successfully defended myself against the lawsuits including a 20,000 dollar suit that I took to the appellate court and won when I was in my mid twenties.  I guess that doesn’t fit Dan’s narrative that I don’t have the experience or the education to help consumers.  Is it me or do all of these facts essentially say the same thing?  Throwing stones, negative and untrue reviews, stealing customers etc.

Supposed Fact 11. We’ve got to give credit where credit is due. Damon Day can create an impressive web site. The little Wii Mii character is very cool. Perhaps he should drop the ideas of doing financial consulting and debt settlement, and pursue an honest career in building web sites. In today’s internet world consumers need to be very aware of the fact that a company can look very impressive based on the look of their web site, but what is hiding behind that web site is what really counts.

My Response: Dan as much as you would like me to stop educating consumers about the realities of your industry, I think all of my clients would agree that I provide a very valuable and needed service.  Hiding behind a website?  Dan my ugly mug and name is all over my website.  My website is straightforward and tells consumers exactly what I do and what they will learn on a consultation with me.  You are the one creating this supposedly anonymous website to attack me.  Is that Irony really lost on you?  I am simply baffled by how you can look at my website and claim I am hiding behind it, when you don’t even have the Chutzpah to admit that you or someone in your organization is responsible for these attacks on me. Dan you should give consumers a little more credit to know BS when they see it.

Supposed Fact 12. There is a huge divide between debt settlement companies. There are those that charge their fees up front before any settlements are made, and there are those that have a performance based fee structure where the bulk of fees aren’t charged until the settlements are done. There are only a handful of companies with a performance based fee structure with New Era Debt Solutions being one of them. Both Damon Day and New Era believe that it is wrong to charge most of the fees up front before the work is done. Here again we are giving credit where credit is due.

My Response: Huh? You bash me with the first 11 supposed facts and then use the 12th one to plug your program?  Are you kidding me?  You just spent 5 pages trying to convince people that I don’t know what I am talking about and then you use me as a source to endorse how great your fee structure supposedly is?  According to you, I am not qualified to even know what I am talking about.  Is anyone else reading this and trying to figure out what the heck is going on, or is it just me? I thought this was a consumer warning that was issued by consumer advocates, business owners, tasc members, and debt professionals?  I thought what I was doing was causing serious damage to consumers, according to Mr. Smith?  So if I am to understand this, if I agree with Dan Smith, I get credit, if I don’t, then I am an uneducated, unqualified menace to consumers and I don’t know anything other than how to make a website.  Is that about right Dan?

Now that the supposed facts are out of the way.  My favorite part of Dan’s review is his summary.  Dan actually compares me to an illegal construction worker with a rented truck and stolen tools, that is just there to undercut the legitimate contractor.  Dan, I realize you don’t understand my business and therefore are struggling to figure out how to try and attack me.  I don’t even understand your comparison to a rented truck and stolen tools.  Perhaps you can explain it in the comments.

What I do is very simple.  If a consumer is in financial trouble they can call me.  I will analyze their situation and make recommendations based on my education and my experience.  The consumer is perfectly free to take my recommendations or not.  I simply offer options and provide consumers with important insights to an industry that is fraught with frauds, rip offs and con men.  I understand why you feel threatened and have this need to try and discredit me.

However, in the ultimate irony, perhaps you don’t realize this, but the more money you spend trying to tell people what a bad and evil person you think I am, the more curious they will become as to what it is that I do.  I am sure people will be very interested to find out what I could possibly have to say from my little home office that has the President and CEO of a Multi Million Dollar corporation like New Era Debt Solutions, so spooked that you would actually take a large amount of time and money to try and discredit me and “warn” consumers to stay away from me.

So let me thank you for your efforts to help me spread the word to consumers that debt settlement companies for the most part are in the business of selling debt settlement to consumers.  Just because you can make a monthly payment does not mean you should be in a debt settlement program.  Unlike you Dan, I give consumers a lot of credit.  Consumers know when they are being sold a line of BS and when someone is telling them the truth.

In all of your bloviating here, you didn’t manage to provide one fact that showed how I was supposedly hurting consumers?  Anyone reading this, clearly understands that you don’t want people to learn what I will teach them, but please explain how I am harming consumers by providing options?  I will await your response with bated breath.

Next you try to accurately predict my response to your “Consumer Warning”.  Consumer Warning?  Really, are we still going to call it that?  I think by now everyone reading this pretty much knows it is just Dan Smith upset at Damon Day for exposing potential deception and trying to figure out how to get back at him.  Of course you know how I am going to respond because you learned how I would respond the first time you attacked me.  I thought you realized that attacking me personally to cover up the fact that you could not debate me on the substance of your issues with me, was not a good move.  Now that you have written this second review I see that I must have given you too much credit.

Since you are the only one who has asked me to meet you in person, I would say the cat is now out of the bag so to speak and we can all stop pretending that you didn’t write this review about me.  I just have one question for you.  Why are you so afraid to put your name on this review and let everyone know you are the one writing it?

You can Read Dan Smith’s personal attack on me in its entirety here

As a Reader what do you think of Dan Smith’s Tactics?  Do you feel they are helping or hurting him in the eyes of consumers?  Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Be sure not to miss out on any of my future articles, where I frequently expose rip off programs and provide insightful financial tips to consumers. You can get them delivered directly to your inbox the moment I publish them.

Please help other consumers and share my article via Twitter, Facebook, or your Favorite social network by clicking one of the icons below.

Related posts:

1. Debt Settlement Company Attacks Me for Exposing Their Deception
2. New Era Debt Solutions Review
3. Credit Solutions of America sends me a Cease and Desist Letter
4. Legacy Debt Solutions vs Credit Solutions – Who Can Bankrupt a Client Faster?
5. Credit Solutions of America – Sued by Florida Attorney General

Since they cannot attack my factual content, they must try and discredit me in order to distract consumers from the actual substance of my message, which is, that a majority of debt settlement programs are nothing but a vehicle to separate consumers from their money.  I was surfing the Internet today and came across this little gem written of course by an unknown person afraid to stand behind their claims.  They even borrowed my website header for their website, which I found a bit odd.

Here is a link to the actual attack website. Debt Settlement Company Attacks me Personally

When I saw this review it really brought a smile to my face.  A smile because the anonymous author doesn’t seem to understand that consumers are smart enough to tell the difference between a factually accurate review and a smear tactic.  Notice that there is no name on this review, and whoever created this domain has it set to private.  This site was created simply to smear me personally.  This is the only page on the domain. There are no links or any other information other than this rant about me.  It makes me feel very important and special. Someone is very afraid of what I am educating consumers about, and that tells me I am doing a great job.

If I was stealing clients and ridiculing competitors, then why isn’t this author proud enough of his company to announce who he is and what his company does?  Are they afraid that an honest debate on the substance of what they do will not stand the light of day?  All my reviews are done out in the open with my name on them. I stand by my reviews and never make baseless allegations. Anyone can make anonymous posts on the Internet.

Now since the author of this review would rather remain behind a cloak of anonymity and there is good reason for them to do so, I can only assume that the person that created this is from a company that I have written a review about. They are clearly upset that I have reviewed their contract and exposed what they are doing to consumers. The funny thing is, I have only done two public contract reviews so far, so there are not very many possibilities as to the author of this “anonymous” review.

The writing style is certainly very similar to the the style used by Dan Smith – President of New Era Debt solutions.  And coincidentally enough, this page just happened to get created the same day that Dan Smith threatened to write a bad review about me and post it everywhere.  Now I cannot say for sure that Dan Smith is behind this, but I find it peculiar that he would not own it if he was really behind this attack.

If you would like to know why Dan Smith might feel the need to attack me personally, you should read my review of New Era Debt Solutions.  If you have an hour to kill be sure to read the comments.

The unknown author starts off his rant by claiming my website is “nothing but a tool to make money for Damon Day.”  They claim I lure consumers to me by offering a free review of Debt Settlement company contracts and then I will tell you what a horrible program it is and recommend a better one.

Oh my, I have been caught.  Yes I must confess it is true.  If a consumer sends me a contract for a program that is a complete rip off, I am afraid I will tell a consumer that.  And for good measure I will spend the time to speak with the consumer about their situation and help them understand all of their options.  Not just the one being sold to them by the telemarketer sales rep. Then, I might recommend better programs that are available for the consumer to research and compare to the current one.  I earn a living helping clients make educated financial decisions and avoid rip off programs, which will typically save them from paying thousands of dollars in unnecessary fees.

Next they claim that I steal clients from other companies and point them in my direction so I can get paid.  The funny thing is, I am paid directly by my clients after I do the consultation with them.  If they don’t think I provided value they don’t pay me, it is that simple.  As far as stealing clients, I think all of my clients would agree that it was more like an urgent rescue mission.

If you are a consumer that called me for help and showed me a contract for a program that was clearly ripping you off, and I explained how they were ripping you off and why, then suggested you look at some other options and explained why they made more financial sense for your situation, would you consider that a good or a bad thing to have more choices?   Good for the consumer, clearly upsetting for the rip off settlement program.  They lose a big commission after all.

Now the attack gets personal.  When a debt settlement company is caught ripping consumers off and lying to them, they have to resort to attacking the person that is exposing their fraud.  So here is what this unknown person has found:

They claim that I do not have an SEC, Insurance or Real Estate license so I am not a financial consultant.  What is laughable about this is that I don’t claim to hold any state license.  I have a degree in business/finance and a heck of a lot of experience helping people resolve debt issues.   There is nothing illegal about providing advice about a subject that I have a large amount of education and experience in.  In fact, I leave it up to all my clients to decide for themselves how valuable my consultation was for them by making my fee voluntary and not payable until after the consultation.  I even leave it up to my clients to determine the amount they want to pay me.

What I would like to know is what financial education or licenses the telemarketing sales people posses in this anonymous organization that is attacking me?  After all you claim it might be illegal, so am I to assume that all of your debt settlement sales people are CFP’s?  Again, there is a reason why this attack is anonymous.

The rant then continues by searching public records for me.  They claim I am being sued by multiple creditors, collection agencies and the IRS.  That is of course false.  I am not involved with any active lawsuits with creditors.  I was many years ago and I openly talk about that on my website.  I was in over my head with credit cards when I was in college and was unable to pay them.  This was the start of my eye opening and first hand experience with creditors and collections, and I have used that experience coupled with my financial education to help consumers ever since.

I was actually sued on 3 credit cards that I could not pay. I represented myself in court on all three cases. On the first case I caught the attorney in a bold face lie and he was forced to dismiss the case.  On the second case I settled because it was a ridiculous 1300 dollar lawsuit.

However, the 3rd case is very interesting.  I was being sued for about 20,000 by a third party debt collector with absolutely no evidence against me.  I fought the case for 3 years and was confident going into trial that I would have a slam dunk case as the Plaintiff would be unable to meet its burden of proof.  The burden of proof in a civil case is by the preponderance of evidence. Since the attorney had no evidence, how could I lose?  However, the judge ruled against me and I received a judgment for about 20,000.

Not willing to take the unlawful ruling by the judge, I appealed the case myself and won.  The appellate court agreed with my position and the judgment was overturned.  Didn’t the author see that in the public records search? Perhaps, me defeating the creditors on appeal while representing myself didn’t fit into their narrative that “I didn’t know what I was talking about, therefore didn’t really help consumers.”  Oops.

The reason I am so passionate about warning consumers about rip off settlement programs is because most of them will absolutely get consumers sued.  I know most consumers would not prefer to defend themselves in a lawsuit as I was forced to do many years ago.  I expose these rip off settlement programs that convince consumers to sign up into 4 and 5 year settlement plans that will very likely lead to the inside of a court room.

Now on a more serious note, yes, I do owe back taxes to the IRS.  As any small business owner knows, the IRS is not very forgiving and you are always guilty until proven innocent. There were numerous circumstances that led to back taxes being owed to the IRS, the biggest one is that I am unwilling to sell out and put profit above people.  My passion is to help consumers.  I use my knowledge, skill and experience to help consumers get out of debt and avoid getting ripped off by blood sucking companies along the way.

When you start a business from scratch and focus on helping people first and getting paid second, sometimes cash flow can get very tight. Especially when the programs that I am warning consumers about spend 10’s of 1000’s of dollars a month in advertising to peddle their BS programs to unsuspecting consumers.  It can be very expensive to reach consumers with so many programs flooding the market place, ripping off consumers, and then using the excess money to drive up advertising rates. There were times over the years that I literally had to choose between formula for my baby boy, gas in the car or the quarterly payment to the IRS. Any parent would know the option that I chose.

When the chips where down, I stuck to my principles.  It would have been very easy for me to give up on helping consumers.   With my knowledge and skill set I could easily make several hundred thousand dollars a year by selling consumers into rip off debt settlement programs.  I know many people that do it.  Or I could make millions by starting my own rip off program. Again, I also know many people that do that as well.  More and more of them pop up every day.

However I chose to do the hard thing and continue to provide consumers with the one thing that is so difficult for them to find. Honest, unbiased, education and help to create a realistic strategy to get out of debt given their specific set of circumstances.  I am very glad that I stuck with my “little company that could” even when it seemed that it would be financial suicide to do so.  I am now being rewarded for my efforts and my business grows every day with referrals from existing clients and professionals that are aware of the help I provide consumers. Even more than that, I go to bed at night with the satisfaction of knowing that I helped a few more families from being led down the path of financial ruin by rescuing them from companies that put profits above people.

Next the author attempts to cast suspicion because my assistant lives in Tennessee and I do not.  That is true.  I don’t hide this fact from anyone.  I tell all my clients that I work from my home office.  Lower overhead means I don’t have to charge as much money for my services.  No commute means that I can spend more time with my family. Why in the heck would I want an office?  Now, I don’t particularly like the taste of beer, but yes, many times I help people with their finances while I am wearing my pajamas and drinking a Pepsi.  If I put one of my suits on before walking to my office, would that make me more “legitimate” in this authors eyes?

Most Debt Settlement companies make millions of dollars by ripping off people that can least afford it.  I represent a threat to their bottom line and these attacks are expected.  This is the first one I have seen but I know it certainly won’t be the last.  If these blood sucking companies weren’t attacking me, I would fear I wasn’t doing a good enough job looking out for consumers.

If you are a consumer in debt looking for real help, and are curious to know why the education I share is such a threat to these multi million dollar debt settlement companies, feel free to call my assistant in Tennessee to schedule a phone consultation with me in California, and I will don my pajama pants, crack open a Pepsi and tell you what debt settlement salespeople are afraid of you finding out.

Here is a link to the actual attack website. Debt Settlement Company Attacks me Personally

As always, if you would like to contribute your thoughts, and have something to add to the article, please do so by commenting below.

Be sure not to miss out on any of my future articles, where I frequently expose rip off programs and provide insightful financial tips to consumers. You can get them delivered directly to your inbox the moment I publish them.

Please help other consumers and share my article via Twitter, Facebook, or your Favorite social network by clicking one of the icons below.

Related posts:

1. President of New Era Debt Solutions Attacks Me, It’s Just Par for the Course
2. How to find the Best Debt Settlement Company for you.
3. Debt Settlement USA – A Not So Glowing Review
4. New Era Debt Solutions Review
5. Mass Exodus in Debt Settlement Industry, Take Heed or BE TRAMPLED

In the last few years I have done several consultations with consumers that were considering enrolling into New Era Debt Solutions for assistance in negotiating their debts with creditors. One thing that I have noticed pretty consistently is that consumers are confused as to the amount of fees that New Era Debt Solutions actually charges their clients.

Part of this confusion comes from the fact that sometime toward the end of 2008 or the beginning of 2009 New Era changed their settlement fee from 33% of the amount that they saved their clients to 15% of the total debt enrolled. (high fee, typical of most companies in the industry)

Another reason for the confusion is that even though New Era charges their fee on total debt, it is charged at the time the accounts are settled as opposed to upfront and before settlements are reached. Charging fees at the time of negotiations as opposed to upfront like most settlement programs is a much better situation for consumers. However, because the fees are charged at the time of savings, many consumers mistakenly believe that the fee is 15% of what is saved as opposed to 15% of total debt. Considering that this fact could double what a client believes the actual fees are, it is imperative that clients understand this difference.

HERE ARE THE FACTS IN THE CONTRACT

1.  They charge a retainer fee of 3% of a clients total Debt.  This is paid out as 1% of clients debt per month for the first 3 months of enrollment.

2.  They charge a maintenance fee of 29 dollars a month starting the 4th month in the program.

3.  They charge a settlement fee of 15% of a clients total debt. This fee is charged on each account at the time of settlement.

4.  If a client completes the program within 180 days, half of the 3% retainer will be refunded.  Completion of the program after 180 days entitles client to 1/3 of the retainer fee refunded.

5.  If a client completes the program, the total overall fee paid by client to New Era Debt Solutions will be 16.5% of total debt if completed within 6 months or 17% of total debt if completed after 6 months. Plus a 29 dollar a month administration fee starting on the 4th month and continuing until the completion of the program.

6.  In addition, New Era Debt Solutions requires clients to set up a third party escrow account that also carries a $9.50 monthly fee and a $15.00 fee whenever settlement funds are dispersed.

HERE ARE A FEW THINGS  I FOUND ON THE WEB

1.  25 complaints with the BBB (not a very large amount considering the size of the company)

2.  They are currently under investigation by the New York State Attorney General.
3.  New Era Debt Solutions also goes by the name DTS Financial
4.  A review site misrepresenting New Era’s Settlement fee as 15% of savings as opposed to 15% of total debt.

My thoughts on New Era Debt Solutions

Overall New Era Debt Solutions is not as bad as a typical debt settlement program that charges all of their fees over the first half of a program.  I was not able to find a large number of complaints on the Internet which leads me to believe that they likely have a good customer service department that supports their clients and delivers the promised service.  However, I am unable to recommend them at this time for 2 specific reasons.

1.  Even though they charge a majority of their fees at the time a clients account is settled which is great, they charge what I would consider to be an exorbitant fee of 16.5% – 17% of a clients total debt plus a monthly fee of 38.50. (when you include the fee for their trust account)  That monthly fee might not seem like a big deal, but it will easily add 1,000 to 2,000 dollars in fees over the life of the program.

Most debt settlement companies will charge a client 15% of their total debt as a fee. My personal opinion is that 15% of debt is much too high for a consumer to pay for this service. So the fact that New Era charges even more than most companies is a huge red flag for me.  The more a client pays in fees, the less they have available to settle their debts with creditors and the longer a program must be stretched out in order to fund settlements.  So these high fees put consumers at a greater risk for an account to go into litigation.

2.  Clients seemed to be misinformed of the actual cost of the program. Explaining the pros and cons of debt settlement, and telling the client the specific costs of a program are one of the most important things that must be done. Clients are unable to make educated financial decisions for themselves if they are misinformed and not clear on the facts.

Had I only spoken to 1 or 2 consumers that had confusion over the fee structure of New Era Debt Solutions, I would have figured one of their representatives just wasn’t doing a good job.  However, when I read a copy of the contract that New Era sends out, I could see how a client might easily assume the 15% settlement fee is based on the savings. If they were given this impression over the phone by a sales rep, the contract does not do a good job of correcting the misunderstanding.

As a final note about the confusion, I was very disturbed to come across a debt settlement review site that was praising New Era Debt Solutions for only charging a fee of 15% of what they saved a client. The entire review was based on the false assumption that New Era charged half of what the average settlement company charges, even though in reality they charge much more than most programs.

Now, these review sites are a dime a dozen and I normally would not have paid attention, however, the very first comment of the review was someone claiming to be Dan Smith – the president of New Era Debt Solutions.  He came on praising the reviewer for such a great and ACCURATE review, even though the review was clearly a misrepresentation.  Here is a copy of the actual review, the comment supposedly left by Dan Smith, and a reply comment from me.
*************************************************************************************************************************************

Setup Fee: 3%
Monthly Fee: $29
Settlement Fee: 15%

TASC Members: Yes
BBB Complaints: 0 (39 as DTS Financial)

In Business Since: 9/2000

New Era Debt Solutions, formerly known as DTS Financial, has a much different program structure than most debt settlement companies. They have a small setup fee (3% of your total debt amount) and a settlement fee of 15%. They also charge you $29/month after the first 90 days. Lets take a look at their fee structure compared to most other settlement companies:

With 15k of total debt, you would pay an average debt settlement company $2250 plus monthly fees. With New Era, if they settle your accounts for 50% (industry average), they are going to make $1125 from the settlement fee. This means that not only will you pay less in fees, you won’t pay them any fees until after they have done the work. This gives their company a real incentive to save you as much money as possible.

New Era Debt Solutions is an accredited member of TASC. They are one of only 12 companies nationwide to be Elite BSI certified by TASC. They also offer a money back guarantee is you are unhappy with their services.

1 Comment »

1. Comment by Dan Smith

 

I love the idea of a web site like Debt Settlement Reviews that honestly reviews and rates Debt Settlement companies with accurate information. I, as president of New Era Debt Solutions, would love the opportunity to speak with the owner of this web site.
Thank you! Dan Smith

• ·  Comment by Damon Day

I am a bit perplexed by the review on this site as it is incorrect. You state that New Era only charges a fee of 15% of the savings. That is not correct. They charge a fee based on 15% of the total debt. This is a critical fact, since the point of your review is to say that they charge half of what most debt settlement companies charge. I am reading their contract and this is the line that states clearly their fee is 15% of the total debt.

“c. Settlement Fee: A fee charged each time CLIENT agrees to and/or enters into a settlement with a creditor that has been submitted by CLIENT to NEW ERA for negotiation. The fee is an amount equal to fifteen percent (15%) of the amount of each account when entered into the program (”Account Balance”).”

I understand your error because I have spoken to many consumers that have been mislead by New Era sales people to also believe that the fee is only half of what it is.

I thought it was only prudent that I bring it to your attention as I know you want to keep the integrity of your reviews.

However, what I am the most perplexed by is that Dan Smith would come on and praise the review with such a clear and significant error.

Clearly the president of New Era Debt Solutions must have noticed that this review mistakenly misrepresented the fees and claimed that their fees were half of what most companies charge. Not only does he not correct the error but he claims the review is accurate. I find that to be the most telling part of the review as it pertains to New Era.   – source

*************************************************************************************************************************************

To be fair, I do not know for sure if the person who left the comment was actually Dan Smith, and I sure hope it wasn’t.  However, it is clear that the reviewer was also confused about the actual fees that New Era Debt Solutions charges their clients.

Update: Dan Smith Acknowledged that he did write the comment and gives the following explanation for doing so:

The statement is true. I do love the idea of an honest and accurate review. I was not stating that this review was either honest or accurate. It was far from being honest and accurate. I did not know where this review came from nor did I know who wrote it. Notice that I said I would love the opportunity to speak to the owner, just like I’m speaking to you now. I was asking the reviewer for a chance to speak with him so that I could give him honest and accurate information about New Era.

To read further Clarification by Dan Smith, be sure to read the comments below.

In sum, while New Era Debt Solutions is on the right track by not charging a majority of their fees until they are able to settle an account for their clients, in my humble opinion, they completely missed the boat by turning around and charging even higher fees  than most settlement programs that already charge too much.  If New Era would cut their fees down and quickly take steps to clarify their fee structure in both their client presentation and their contracts, I think they could be a company worth consideration.

As always, if you would like to contribute your thoughts, and have something to add to the article, please do so by commenting HERE

Be sure not to miss out on any of my future articles, where I frequently expose ripoff programs and provide insightful financial tips to consumers. You can get them delivered directly to your inbox the moment I publish them.

Please help other consumers and share my article via Twitter, Facebook or your favorite social network by clicking one of the icons below.

Related posts:

1. President of New Era Debt Solutions Attacks Me, It’s Just Par for the Course
2. Debt Settlement USA – A Not So Glowing Review
3. Credit Solutions of America sends me a Cease and Desist Letter
4. Debt Settlement Company Attacks Me for Exposing Their Deception
5. Legacy Debt Solutions vs Credit Solutions – Who Can Bankrupt a Client Faster?

Cuomo has recently issued Subpoenas and launched investigations into 15 Debt Settlement companies. The complaints where initiated mainly because of consumer complaints that Cuomo has received from New York residents about these firms over the last several years.

The following firms all received Subpoenas from Cuomo’s office:

1.  American Debt Foundation Inc.
2.  American Financial Service
3.  Consumer Debt Solutions
4.  Credit Answers L.L.C.
5.  Debt Remedy Solutions L.L.C.
6.  Debt Settlement America
7.  Debt Settlement USA
8.  Debtmerica Relief
9.  DMB Financial L.L.C.
10. Freedom Debt Relief
11. New Era Debt Solutions
12. New Horizons Debt Relief Inc.
13. Preferred Financial Services Inc.
14. U.S. Financial Management Inc. (operating as My Debt Negotiation)
15. Allegro Law.

Keep in mind the Attorney Generals office has issued subpoena’s to these companies in an attempt to learn the fee structure, number of clients and whether or not these companies are providing the advertised benefits.  At this point Mr. Cuomo has not filed suits against these companies.  When the results of the investigation are determined, a decision to move forward with a lawsuit or not will then be made.

Today over 2,000 debt settlement companies operate in the United States, up from just a few dozen 10 years ago.  Unfortunately most of the 2,000 companies do not help consumers at all, but rather siphon large amounts of fees upfront and leave consumers worse off than they were before.  Make sure to thoroughly research and investigate any company before signing a contract. You should also seek the advice of a qualified financial professional to help you to first determine the best financial strategy for your situation.  Just because a debt settlement salesman can make something sound good, doesn’t mean it is the right strategy for you.

Have you had any experience with any of these Debt Settlement Companies?  If so, please share your thoughts HERE

Related posts:

1. Debt Settlement USA – A Not So Glowing Review
2. Debt Settlement – FTC could put 84% of Companies out of Business!
3. Why are There 1000’s of Debt Settlement Companies All of the Sudden?
4. Top 5 myths told by Debt Settlement Companies
5. Debt Settlement Companies – Top 5 ways they can Screw you!