After listening to and reading about countless stories from unhappy former clients of Legal Helpers Debt Resolution, reviewing their contract myself, and observing the process they put their clients through, I have formed a personal opinion about the business model of Legal Helpers Debt Resolution and in past articles I have not been shy about my complaints.
Judging from the news of late, some regulators and Attorneys General seem to share my opinion of the Legal Helpers Business Plan as it pertains to Debt Settlement.
Legal Helpers Debt Resolution Review
They say a picture is worth a 1,000 words, so rather than bore you with the details, let me tell you in 4,000 words, what I believe to be, a common client experience for those that hire Legal Helpers Debt Resolution.
Month 1 – Client is all Smiles and Feels a False Sense of Relief
Month 6 – Client Senses Trouble but Holds On, Not Aware of Better Alternatives
Month 12 – Client Knows They are in Trouble But Doesn’t Want to Lose 1,000’s in Fees Already Paid
Month 18 – Client has Paid All Fees and is Now in a Very Compromising Position
What does Legal Helpers Debt Resolution have to say?
If any former or current Legal Helpers clients would like to weigh in on whether or not this Visual Metaphor bares (pun intended) a resemblance to their experiences, please feel free to comment.
Also please note that this is not an actual “secret business plan” that I obtained from Legal Helpers Debt Resolution. Consumers are free to call one of their Sales Affiliates (There are 100’s of them out there now hoping Legal Helpers can shelter them from the Advance Fee Ban) for a Debt Settlement Sales Pitch and judge the program for themselves.
During the phone sales pitch they will tell you someone will come over to your house to provide a financial consultation, go over your options and educate you on the Legal Helpers Debt Resolution process.
However, typically what they do is send over a local Paralegal or Notary who knows nothing about your circumstances or the Legal Helpers program, but is only told to have you watch a video and get the documents signed. You might ask yourself… why send someone over to sign the paperwork and not just fax the forms back?
Great question, please reference the 4,000 words above for the answer. Caveat Emptor.
Listen to what the Illinois Attorney General has to say about their program in the video below.
Please Help a fellow consumer today by clicking any of the social media sharing buttons below.
So concerned that I am re-posting my comment from GetOutOfDebt site. Almost wish you did not publish the above joke so I would have not looked into what seems to be going on:
Legal Helpers and Legal Helpers Debt Resolution. Doing just a little work [inspired by your comical criticism above], I have put together the following speculation of a theory. Both have the same main partners. Tom Macey, Jeff Alemen, and Jeff Hyslip seem to be the main players based on the firms’ information. If what I am speculating is even close to right, then I would hope someone in positions of responsibility would take action to protect the consumer. Better yet, I hope that I am wrong.
Legal Helpers says it is the largest consumer bankruptcy law firm in the United States. Considering how many times I am seeing their TV commercials, I would not argue with them on their size. However, they are constantly advertising in the same commercials that consumers should not consider debt settlement because those programs fail. Yet, they are also selling debt settlement through their Legal Helpers Debt Settlement law firm.
My guess, speculation or theory is that both companies are just one giant source for taking fees from financial troubled consumers. Speculating, that once they have a consumer in their debt settlement product and that program fails, they just move them over to their bankruptcy product. In fact, based on what their bankruptcy commercials say, it is like they are ensuring a constant flow of new bankruptcy clients whose financial condition was worsened by the debt settle process [Legal Helpers words about debt settlement programs fail, not mine]. If you really wanted to believe that a potential massive fraud was being committed, you would further your speculation to include: A consumer who contacts Legal Helpers bankruptcy and decides after hearing about bankruptcy that they do not want to move forward, is then put in contact with Legal Helpers Debt Settlement as another option. Of course, based on Legal Helpers [bankruptcy] opinion of debt settlement, that consumer should be ready to become a bankruptcy client once their already unstable financial condition is worsened by the debt settlement process being contract by Legal Helpers Debt Settlement. If this theoretical situation was about people getting rich on the backs of the financially troubled, it would be an incredible business model. Have a gigantic advertising machine generating new potential clients covering all bases of debt settlement and consumer bankruptcy. Sign up the new clients and them move them from one business to another, constantly take whatever fees you can get away with. The thought that this could be happening is very troubling.
Keefer
Hello Keefer,
I appreciate you taking the time to come over to my site and participate. I could use all of the help that I can get on educating consumers about what the sales affiliates of Legal Helpers Debt Resolution are out there doing.
From all the evidence that I see, this is just about making money for them, that’s it and that’s all. No rational person, who understands how the banks operate to settle debts with certain consumers could ever defend the program that Legal Helpers Debt Resolution has put together.
Straight up, it is just a bad deal for the consumer and the bank, and an awesome deal for Legal Helpers Debt Resolution, the sales person pushing the program, and the servicing company who gets a bulk of the fees for doing basically nothing but make the consumers debt situation worse.
This company is nothing but a bunch of crooks. I paid then $1,300.00 in $100 installments. My situation got better and I elected NOT to file bankruptcy so I asked for my money back, minus any fees of course. I felt as though I owed them some money for the VERY LITTLE time they spent making my portfolio and then collecting interest on my payments. After 6 weeks, I received a check for $169.00 meaning they charged me more then $1,100.00 to collect interest on my payments!
Nothing but a bunch of cons and scam artists.
Unfortunately you have discovered why debt settlement companies who collect their fees upfront are such a scam in my opinion. This is exactly the reason why the FTC has outlawed this practice.
Sales people have every incentive to sign up as many people as they can because even if you drop out a few months later they keep your money. They are paid regardless of what success or lack thereof their clients have.
Legal Helpers has thumbed their noses at the FTC and consumers and has continued to charge their fees upfront.
If the FTC has outlawed this practice, then they took my money illegally??? Unfortunatley, I believe that thay are too shrewed to leave themselves open for something like that and I’m sure they covered themselves in one of the many TINY little legalese sentences that I was supposed to read (and didn’t) before signing. I’m sure that there was something i there about me being able to contest the charges within a 45 day period because they were adamant about giving me my money back on the 45th day after I requested it and not a day earlier. I think a class action law suit might be in order, any ethical lawyer out there want to help us??
Hello ljm,
Well, what they will say is that since they are a “law firm” it gives them a Legal Loop Hole around the law. Of course this is going to be dealt with in the courts fairly soon. They have already been sued by the Attorney General in their home state of Illinois for their practices and I have a hunch that the AG will prevail in that action and other states will follow suit.
However, the legality of the Loop Hole aside, they certainly could never make a plausible argument that their practice of continuing to charge upfront fees regardless of the outcome for their client is even remotely in their clients best interest.
So as far as I am concerned, by continuing to structure their program in this way, even when all allegations by regulators, point to the fact that most consumers pay for services and don’t receive the promised benefits, Legal Helpers seems to send a clear message that they couldn’t care less about their clients as long as they are getting paid.
I don’t know how else to interpret their actions. If someone from Legal Helpers would like to chime in and share with everyone why their fee structure is good for their clients, we would be more than happy to hear it.
ljm, you should follow up and pursue a larger refund if you feel that you should be entitled to one. If you don’t receive it, there are several options from that point to at least share your experience with other consumers. Also sharing your complaint with the AG of Illinois who is actively pursuing Legal Helpers Debt Resolution could be helpful as well.
Please keep me posted on how things play out.
same here, 10,000 of my money and nothing has stopped the law suits from coming from the credit card companies. and now they refuse to represent me vs the suing attorney.
Hey Don,
I am sorry to hear about your situation. What is the reason they are giving for refusing to represent you against the law suits?
Damon it sound more like you want to take over their business and i quote “I work directly for my clients, showing them who the good guys are and negotiating steep fee discounts on their behalf. Consumers who speak with me first, come out far ahead of those who don’t, every single time. Guaranteed” why you don’t say the truth if you are the good guy? Let people know they can do it at their very own pace saving money on a regular savings account and its completely free to them instead of paying crooks like you and “financial advisers” Creditors will negotiate with anyone with cash at hand so no need for “clients” People do it yourself negotiate at half of amount you own and do save money learn your lesson don’t get more than what you can really afford!
Hello American Consumer,
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment. It sounds like you have a little bit of a misunderstanding of exactly how I help my clients.
I look at my clients’ situations from all angles and I always tell them that they can negotiate with creditors themselves. It is a personal preference. Assuming they are in a situation where a settlement makes sense, I will tell my client who I think the good settlement companies are for them to research if they want to hire someone, or I will tell them what they need to know if they would like to negotiate directly with their creditors.
You see, as you quoted, I am paid directly by my clients. I am paid the same amount for my time whether my client would like to hire a company or have me explain what they need to do to negotiate with their creditors directly.
What makes my service sort of an enigma in the debt relief world is I am paid by my clients to look out for them and tell them the truth about what they should be doing to get out of their situation, rather than offering a free sales pitch for some “one sized doesn’t fit all debt relief program.”
I certainly take issue with you calling me a crook. I charge a fee to tell consumers the truth when all they typically can find are free sales pitches for programs that usually are not the correct solution and cost thousands of dollars.
I would appreciate it if you would first do some investigating and see if you can find 1 single client that was unhappy after speaking with me, or didn’t think that the information I gave them saved them thousands of dollars.
Until such time, I think you might be a bit out of line calling me a crook, and I would question your motivations for doing so.
I offer a 110% money back guarantee on my consults and to date, no client has ever asked for a refund.
Further, it is a bad idea to send a consumer off to negotiate with a creditor without first preparing them for what they will be facing and what to expect.
It would be a complete injustice for me to not first have a personal conversation with a consumer to assess their situation, identify their financial challenges, lay out and explain all of the feasible options to them, and then educate them on the different strategies for successfully executing their best option.
If a client has thousands of dollars in debt, do you think it isn’t worth $147 bucks to make sure they are taking on the creditors with the right attitude and information?
Further how many consumers would want to negotiate with their creditors directly with absolutely no experience or information on what to expect? If you ask me, that would be criminal and simply throwing a consumer to the wolves. A consumer will certainly save more money by having a conversation with me and picking my brain for an hour.
If you have anything else to add or perhaps some information you can point to to justify calling me a crook for protecting consumers, I would love for you to come back on and share it.
Good use of media to tell a story that is brilliantly illustrated with pictures. It is a shame that Legal Helpers Debt Resolution takes advantage of consumers who are financially strapped and looking for help. I commend you for taking the time to warn consumers about what Legal Helpers Debt Resolution is out there doing to people.
Hey JD,
Thanks for taking the time to drop a comment. I am glad the story worked. It was something that just popped into my head when I saw those pictures while surfing the net.
I thought to myself, this is what it feels like to be a client of Legal Helpers Debt Resolution, based on all of the stories that I have heard. I decided it would be a funny illustrative way to get the point across that I have been shouting at consumers for a long time.
LHDR has a lot of sales affiliates, that are paid to pitch a horrible debt solution program that typically does not perform as they claim it does.
If consumers were aware of all of the better alternatives available, LHDR would quickly go out of business because their entire model hinges on the fact that consumers don’t become informed about how horrible the program really is.
So I guess when Legal Helpers Debt Resolution says, “Trust us. We have a lawyer in our other office,” it’s time to get a lawyer of your own, just in case…
Hello Sonny,
Yes, or of course, it would be easier and cheaper to just not enroll into the Legal Helpers Debt Resolution program in the first place. 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to comment. Glad you enjoyed the article.
With the many bad reviews from their old clients, it would be a better choice for you to find a more competent lawyer to make sure that what you have paid for is worth it.
Hello Marcus,
Yes all a consumer needs to do is google Legal Helpers Debt Resolution and just the entries on the first page would be enough to convince them that there are better alternatives out there for debt relief assistance.
I almost signed up with Legal Helpers Debt Resolution to settle my credit card debt. Thank goodness I found your website and several others showing what they were doing and how they were charging all of these fees in the front. Now that I am aware of other options, what these guys are doing seems criminal. How can they get away with this?
Hello Sara,
I am glad you were able to learn from other consumers mistakes before making a decision about Legal Helpers Debt Resolution.
In my opinion, they are not going to be able to get away with what they are doing for long. Unfortunately the wheels of justice turn slow and Legal Helpers Debt Resolution has millions of dollars that they have collected upfront from all of their unfortunate clients. So they are going to spend a lot of money to defend their “consumer trap cash cow.”
In the end though, between the state AG suits and the FTC, I think good will prevail and they will get shut down.
In the meantime I hope to educate as many consumers as I possibly can because if or when LHDR gets severely fined and likely shut down, any unfortunate consumers who did not do a Google search before signing the contract might find themselves out thousands of dollars in fees that LHDR required from them upfront, and simply be left with nothing.
Hahaha, Sonny, great comment! I guess that would be the smartest decision.
Anyway, I would not trust a company that sends someone just to show me a video. I’ll go to the movies if I want to see one.
Great post and thanks for trying to warn people. We sure need more blogs like this.
Hello Ray,
Thanks for stopping by and I am glad you enjoyed the article. I know people are busy these days and don’t always have time to read a long article with specific details. The aim of this article was to show someone in 5 seconds that they better look at Legal Helpers Debt Resolution a little more closely if they are thinking of enrolling into their program.
Damon,
This is so great. The pictures are very funny but unfortunately true. Many people feel they will be better represented by a “so called” attorney model or legal model when we all know in reality most cases in general, let alone in debt settlement, most cases are SETTLED out of any courts.
Consumers are being FOOLED into thinking that a legal model is a better option when in reality these models are only taking money up-front due to a loophole in the law.
If you read most of the agreements that the legal models offer, they do not ever represent the consumers in a legal matter if the client gets sued.
We have an 11 year track record of proving that you do not have to be a legal model and that you can be charging based on results and still remain in business delivering great results for the consumers.
None of us would pay a house painter in advance before they completed the job, why do it with our money?
Alex
Hello Alex,
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. I know programs like Legal Helpers and other Loop Holers like them are making it very difficult for legitimate programs, who are focusing on helping consumers and working within the law to continue working.
It is my aim to do everything I can to call consumer attention to these rip off programs, that are likely and hopefully going to be shut down by the FTC sometime soon.
Legal Helpers Debt Resolution and other so called “attorney debt settlement” models, ask consumers to pay for all the fees in the beginning of their programs. Not only is this horrible for the consumer on so many different levels, if they do get shut down by the FTC for violating the law, then all of that money their clients have spent will be gone, and the client will absolutely be in a horrible position.
So the lesson for consumers is, do not even take a chance. If they are charging you most or all of their fees over the first 12 to 24 months in their program, then just hang up the phone. You don’t need to know anything else about them.
They are a total rip off and if any sales person or company owner that sells one of these types of programs would like to try to publicly prove me wrong, then please step up and let me know.
I would love to have a public conversation and let someone attempt to explain to me why a front loaded debt settlement program is a good idea for consumers. I have been asking to have this debate for several years. Has anyone stepped up for the free publicity and to prove me wrong? Nope, not a single one. Why? Because it is a scam.
Hi Damon,
I don’t know anything about the company you’re exposing here (pun intended), but the pictures tell the story very well.
It’s wonderful that you have a blog to share solid information and reveal scams aimed at those trying to get themselves out of a bad situation, not deeper into one.
I plan to keep an eye on your blog and pass along relevant information. I’m glad to see you’ve got CommentLuv installed because as you visit other bloggers, you gain opportunities to put the word out that many consumers need to hear. 🙂
Hello Vernessa,
I appreciate you taking the time to visit the site and share your thoughts. Yes, I could certainly use as much help as possible to get the word out to consumers that not everything out there offering financial help is what it appears to be.
Most of these organizations spend huge amounts of money on advertising and sales to make them appear to be something that they are not, and the only thing I have on my side is my ability to network and get the word out because I certainly can’t compete with their advertising budgets. Especially when they will charge people 10,000 dollars to pretend to do what I can teach someone how to do for themselves in 1 or 2 phone calls, or show them an honest program that will do a great job for much less money.
So if you see anything interesting getting published, please feel free to retweet or plus 1 it and help get it out into the blogosphere. Thanks again for stopping by.
This article was featured over at Debt Collection Answers.
I won a judgement against LHDR (a.k.a. American Platinum Financial Services) about 45 days ago and STILL have yet to receive my money back, just as the contract stated. Do NOT do business with these people. They can talk the BS, but cannot provide any results. They have had my money for almost 2 years now, and I have yet to be offered a home loan modification.
Hello Brian,
What is the judgment for? Was Legal Helpers Debt Resolution the one that was supposed to be providing the modification service or did they just sell you a service provided by American Platinum Financial?
Who did you receive the judgment against?
We had a contract with American Platinum…which was supposed to provide a home loan modification. American Platinum was “absorbed” by LHDR. I filed suit against both companies…and won. I also got my Writ of Execution as well. My next step is to purchase an indemnity bond, and then have the Constable serve the business with papers.
If things go as planned, I will either get my money next week, or shut down the Scottsdale branch of this business.
Hey Brian,
Do you have an update on your situation? How did things go with the Constable?
how can I also sue The Mortgage Law Group?
I do have an update…
As previously mentioned, my next step was to get a constable to serve papers at the Scottsdale offices of APFS & LHDR. Both operate side-by-side in a strip mall. The constable requires an indemnity bond before serving, this was news to us. I guess it was to protect the Constable in the event he would accidentally take a possession that belonged to an individual rather than the company.
I applied for two separate indemnity bonds, and was denied on both. One was denied because of my credit score (probably right at 600) and the second was denied as well…their reason for the denial was “because no lawyers were involved in the judgement in the small claims court”.
I was in a rock and a hard place when all of the sudden, we get a call from APFS stating that a check was coming. We did receive (and cash) a check for the full amount we “invested” into APFS. The court judgement states we get that plus interest (the judgement was won 4 months ago), court costs, plus any costs needed for collection of the debt. I could probably push the issue and collect another $200-$400…but it isn’t worth the stress.
My ordeal with APFS started Nov 1 2009. We signed a contract with a money-back guarantee in it…and it took getting a judgement to get that money back. I am closing this chapter in my life.
Oh – and a great side note – my wife took over our attempts with B of A concerning our home loan modification. APFS never got anywhere on tis…never got one offer. So my wife starts making call after call…Believe it, she negotiated with B of A, and we just made of first modified trail payment. It’s about 18% lower than what we had…not fantastic, but we just may stay in our home.
Hope my story helps. Thanks for your blog!
Hey Brian,
What a real hassle you had to go through to enforce the money back guarantee.
I am glad you were able to recover the funds though.
That is great news to hear about your wife having the ability to lower your mortgage payment.
I appreciate you taking the time to share your story with my readers and wish you success moving forward.
@Charles,
What are you wanting to sue the Mortgage Law Group for specifically?
I am a former employee of Legal Helpers Debt Resolution/The Mortgage Law Group, from 1/17/11 until 8/1/2011. I can share first hand information about how these people running the show do business. They are spearheaded by a fellow named Steve Vanderhoof, (see The Credit Exchange, Move My Net Worth)a man who does an excellent job of spinning his B.S. to his employees to keep them believing they are doin the right thing and to keep hammering those phones for more sales. When I first started there, I bought the hype. I believed despite all the negative press about debt settlement, that I had finally found a firm that was doing it the right way. A few weeks in, I did some research on Vanderhoof and was no too pleased about what I was reading. The guy is a first class, white collar criminal if there ever was one, and I have no doubts he will eventually end up in federal prison. But the way I saw it, him and his cronies were brought in BY the law firm to build out LHDR, so I didn’t really need to trust him or his boys, just the law firm itself, so I stayed.
One of their key hooks was to tell us that they were aiming to fill their call center with 120 people (they actually have half a floor of office space in the Sears Tower), and that they were going to need managers. But as the months went by, and we saw the team grow from 8 to 15 to 20 to 30, up to about 50, no new managers were hired, yet the carrot was still waved every day. Needless to say, the last couple months I was there, it was clear this place was not going to be able to keep quality people, and eventually, the **** was going to hit the fan when some of these clients realized they had signed up for a service that was not going to help them.
Speaking of that service, in short, it was exactly what Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said it was; a front for a scavenger industry. The process was simple, you pitch a client, get them to give you their info, including bank and routing information, recite a bunch of legal jargon to make them feel safe, and then set them up for a meeting with one of the network attorneys or a paralegal. The attorneys, I believe, only take time out of their day for these clients because they are likely considering them for bankruptcy later on down the line. But once you meet with that attorney or paralegal and sign the paperwork, they are done with you. Despite the sales pitch we were required to give them stated that they would have legal representation throughout the whole process, and that they could contact “a member of our legal team” anytime they had a question…..which basically meant us as the sales people. The actual work was contracted out to some debt settlement company in Florida who never returned client calls either. So after several months of building up this pipeline of clients, you can guess what happened…..half our days were spent pacifying current clients who hadn’t heard from anyone since signing the paperwork and they are now getting court summons and things of that nature. After a few days like this, I knew my days there were numbered. I couldn’t go to a place that I knew full well was hurting people instead of helping.
Another product they had was called credit counseling/debt management. Basically helping consumers get the interest on their credit card payments lowered to help them get out of debt sooner and protect their credit score in the process. Same scheme, it was a hard sell, they wanted a one call close every time, and just like the debt settlement product, the info was collected, and shipped off to another company in Florida. As a matter of fact, all the companies they contract their work out to are in Florida….which leads me to believe that’s their next stop once they are kicked out of Illinois. But here is the kicker, sad but true, the company that was supposed to be helping the debt management clients….the ones who already had good credit and wanted to protect it, NEVER MADE A PAYMENT FOR A CLIENT despite having collected the first and sometimes second months payment. No letters were sent to the creditors as required, and no agreements were ever actually done. We are talking about EASILY 300 or more people who had good credit and wanted to protect it, are now sitting with a black mark on their credit because of LHDR and the people they contracted the work to.
I can honestly say, for the last couple months I was there, I didn’t close but maybe 10-15 deals because I could not, and would not, enroll anyone into something if I knew it wouldn’t help them. I actually talked people out of signing up by giving them options they could do on their own.
In May, the powers that be decided they weren’t happy with the amount of money coming in from the debt products so they decided to transition everyone to The Mortgage Law Group. The compensation package in relation to the fees being charged was nothing short of a joke. That’s when most of us with a functioning brain and independent thought decided to throw in the towel and begin searching elsewhere for work.
As of August 2 I believe, LHDR received a cease and desist order from the state and they can no longer take on clients in Illinois. Steve Vanderhoof has defaulted on a judgement in relation to the shutdown of his The Credit Exchange out in California and Arizona, and rumor has it, that entire LHDR/TMLG entity will be gone from this state anyway, by Christmas time. As of right now, they are still there, still taking on mortgage clients to modify their mortgages, and to their credit, people are actually getting results. Apparently the company they are contracting this work out to, The Mortgage Relief Center, is actually pretty good at what they do. Funny note, if you look at The Mortgage Law Group’s website and then The Mortgage Relief Center’s website, their are practically identical. Not because they are the same company because they are not, and I can attest to that, but Vanderhoof flat-out didn’t want to bother paying for an original logo because….well…he probably doesn’t plan on running this too long either.
So that is my straight forward, un-edited summary of what this company is like on the inside. At this point, most if not all of the true professionals have left that company either on their own or they were fired for catching on to the bullsh*t. The ones there now, in my opinion, know what the real deal is and they don’t care as long as they are making money.
Because of everything my eyes were opened to at this “law firm” I personally no longer believe ANYONE should ever pay a company to do any form of debt settlement. If your credit is already shot, just start saving money to settle these debts out yourself. In the event you get sued, get yourself a pro-bono attorney to fight it for you, or just let them get a default judgement and pay that off instead. If you are in a non-garnishable state, you are even better off because then you can pay the debts off on your own and even if you are sued, your paycheck is never touched.
Just my two cents….
Hello Emmanuel,
Thank you for taking the time to step forward and share your story of what your experience was like working there. I know it will go a long way towards helping consumers make an informed decision about what direction they should go in to resolve their debt situation.
I really appreciate it.
Hi Damon,
I have been “helped” by LHDR for a year and a half now. I’ve given them over $3000 of my money and NONE of my debt has been paid down whatsoever, even though I have faxed them countless settlement offers that were mailed to me. I was just told I only have $800 in my “savings” account with them. I am deeply disturbed and saddened, knowing that I could have paid down almost all of my debt by now if I had given that money to the creditors rather than these crooks. I’m embarrassed at my lack of research before I signed their paperwork, I feel sick when I think of all the money I’ll never see again and that I may have to start over with my debt resolution process. I am not sure what my options are at this point. Any advice is greatly appreciated on what my next step should be!
Hello Claudia,
I am very sorry for the delay in responding. It has been a very busy few months, and I haven’t kept a close enough eye on my blog comments lately.
Can you give me an update on where things stand now? Unfortunately as your debts get further and further behind, the chances of you receiving a lawsuit from one or multiple creditors is going to escalate. With Legal Helpers Debt Resolution taking the bulk of your money in fees, that will leave you with little available to negotiate and avoid a judgement.
What I usually tell consumers in this situation is that we have no choice but to cut losses and put together a plan that actually has a chance at working. However without knowing the details of your situation I can’t tell you specifically what I would do moving forward.
I know it is terrible to think that you will never see that few thousand dollars that Legal Helpers collected, (you could ask for a refund, but the chances of receiving one are not good) but we just have to realize that it is what it is unfortunately.
Think of it like a losing stock. You don’t want to sell because you hope that things will turn around, however, the longer you hold it the more money you lose. Sort of like the expression, good money chasing after bad. When we take the emotion out of it, we can see that a better decision is to sell, take the loss, and invest the money we have left on a stock that is rising.
Send me an email through my contact form and let me know more about your situation and I will see what we need to do to start getting you out of this mess.
I gave them my Money and they have done nothing to earn it. Now the ignore my calls and e-mails. I have been sued by numerous companies and now they are taking my money out of payroll.
I donot know what to do.
Hey Steve,
I am very sorry to hear about this all to common situation when it involves Legal Helpers Debt Resolution. Unfortunately there is not much you can do at this point. If you have some assets available that you can use to actually do the negotiation that you hired Legal Helpers to do, you might be able to work something out about the garnishment.
It is a lot harder to find a resolution once you get to the point that Legal Helpers has gotten you into and I really wish I had better news.
Since I don’t know the details about your situation, I can’t offer specific advice, but it would certainly be prudent to contact a bankruptcy attorney and explore that option.
If you tell me what city you live in, I will see if I know of a good bankruptcy attorney there, you could contact for advice.
My ex-wife signed us up for legal helpers when we were married. I told her I didn’t think it was a good idea. Well guess what. In the divorce decree I was “awarded” the payments to Legal Helpers. After paying them $9000 and them not making one payment on my wifes debt I had all I could take. I stopped making the payments, contacted the Indiana Attorney General. Now since I stopped making the payments, the court is trying to get me for contempt. Could it get any worse??
Wow Ron,
This is a very unusual situation. Is the 900 payment for a chapter 13 bankruptcy or for their debt settlement plan?
If it is for debt settlement, there is certainly plenty of evidence to present to the court and to your wife that their settlement plan is not likely to resolve your debt and there are definitely better uses of that 900 dollars to come to a quicker or more effective resolution with your creditors than continuing to pay it to Legal Helpers Debt Resolution in fees.
If this is a payment for a chapter 13 bankruptcy though, that is a different story. Which one is it?
Legal Helpers got me to. Same story as others. Who do I contact to sue the socks off these guys for fraud? Thanks.
Hey Steve, I am sorry to say that I haven’t seen many stories of consumer successes when going after Legal Helpers. Short of asking them for your money back and getting them to give it to you, you are going to have a tough time. The problem is that they have a contract and they are going to waive that around. The way the legal system works unfortunately is that you will have to bear the financial burden to go after these guys and they have much more resources than their clients. By definition, their clients are struggling financially already. If I get a heads up on some class actions I will be sure to update the website.
You can also go my my friend Steve Rhode’s website. He stays up on the day to day happenings in the debt relief industry much more than I do. If anything big happens, he usually knows before it happens and I find out through him. His website is How To Get Out Of Debt.
If you go to his site and subscribe to his debt relief feed, you will be updated via email with anything going on and can keep an eye out for anything related to Legal Helpers, now known as Macy Bankruptcy.
How much did you pay them in fees and what happened once you signed up?
They hooked me for over 30K. My initial debt was 120K. I resolved the minor debt myself to 90K. I am being sued but not a whole lot they can do since it was sold off to a collection company. Other then dinging my credit. I probably could have cleared the rest with the money the stole from me. In my humble opinion.
I was told this was a fund for this getting me debt relief. Liars. They never represented me in anyway or showed up for any court hearings.
Fraud is hard to recover with all the ambiguous laws our government has concerning these matters. Back in the old days, we would have simply gone to the guys house, taken anything of value, and distribute it among the employees, customers, and creditors.
Thanks.
I too have been through the ringer with LDHR I want to get out but im afraid if i do they will notify my creditors and i will be sued even more I have already been sued twice and have had to hire an att here in ohio to represent me and am real close to chapter 7 but dont want to please tell me how to get out and possibly get some of my fees back they have already gotten over 2500.00 in fees I currently have 1000 saved up in my acct with them if i cancel will i loose it?
Hey Jack,
I am sorry to hear about your situation. I don’t know enough information about your situation though to offer any meaningful opinion. Perhaps at this point filing a chapter 7 although not preferable to you, might be the best option. How much debt do you still owe? What is the defense the lawyer is presenting on the lawsuits? It is likely those are going to be settled as well.
Other than the 1,000 do you have any additional money available to use toward settlements?
I’m worried now. I should have researched this website before committing your program. Please prove me wrong.
I joined in April 2011.
Hello Nancy,
Please keep us posted on how it works out for you. It has been a year, have they settled some of your debts yet?
Love it. You make the point really well. Love the pictures.