Debt Scam. How to Spot Debt Settlement Company that Does Debt Scam & Which Lacks Honest Debt Relief Programs
You’ve probably seen the TV or radio ads that claim you can settle your debts for just pennies on the dollar, right? And you might have probably wondered to yourself: are these legitimate honest debt relief programs by a legitimate debt settlement company? Or are these a DEBT SCAM?
Heavily advertised almost everywhere these days by their promoters - on the Internet, the TV, radio, in newspapers and via direct mail, and even by seminars – such fraudulent debt scam programs would usually claim in their constant commercials to eliminate, terminate or cancel debts, especially credit card obligations, altogether, or to have them declared invalid.
Various major government agencies, ranging from the FBI, to the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), have reported finding a prevalence of such debt scam in the credit relief industry, and of finding many a debt settlement company which defraud and prey upon the debt-strapped borrowers. A recent report in April 2010 by the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee which held hearings on the subject, reported the prevalence of “fraudulent, abusive and deceptive” practices in the industry.
And a major online research organization which conducted a comprehensive study of the debt settlement industry operations, found an alarming degree of debt scam in the industry. For example, some 82.5% of the website-based debt relief operations they examined in their test sample (165 out of the 200), ranked in its “Key Evaluation Criteria” at levels so poor and pathetic that those website operations simply have no business at all on the Internet peddling any debt settlement company or relief solutions at all to consumers, and that those websites were clearly what you’d call DEBT SCAM operations - that is, worthless, at best bordering on fraud, and having absolutely no honest debt relief programs so that they should be a complete no-no for any and all wise consumers to hire.
BAD DEBT RELIEF COMPANIES ARE A COMMON FACT OF LIFE TODAY
Looking for a debt company that does debt scam? To be sure, the credit settlement industry is not unlike any other industry that operates anywhere on this earth these days. It has some good and reputable companies, and some bad, dishonest and disreputable ones. Unfortunately, such phony debt scam programs peddled by many a fraudulent debt settlement company, often seem particularly appealing to many gullible debtors who are lured into these plans, particularly those with unsecured obligations, such as credit cards, and often may cause the debtors to lose more money than they originally owed.
BUT THERE ARE SOME HONEST, LEGITIMATE ONES…
Hence, actually the first and MOST IMPORTANT task of any debtor who contemplates using the services of the a debt settlement company to resolve his/her debt problems, is to do his (her) due diligence – a thorough and careful research about the companies that operate in the industry and their records and reputation.
The easiest way to accomplish this? Simply find an honest, OBJECTIVE comparative review study that shall have been carried out on debt settlement companies by a reputable reviewer; look carefully for a review that is seemingly based on hard, tangible evidence and facts and figures, and which are readily verifiable by yourself, and whose conclusions or recommendations are seemingly DOCUMENTED and factual. For one excellent example of such an OBJECTIVE and professional review, please check out this site: http://www.honestdebtreliefreviews.org/
COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DEBT SCAM COMPANIES
Some of the things which these debt scam operations have in common, for example, and which immediately betray them, include the following (among others):
Generally no membership in the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to prove reliability and good track record. Instead, at best, the only things “the best” among them have, are limited only to a registration with Dunn and Bradstreet Co or membership in local Chamber of Commerce that almost any company can get.
Is a relatively new entity, probably joining the debt relief business only within the present period of economic recession, and having little or no track record of real expertise or long experience in the debt relief industry
On the phone, their personnel will promise future and wonderful results, but will send a contract that reflects no guarantee nor promise of any results.
Will cite secret “laws” known only to them as the basis for eradicating financial obligations.
Will allege something like that creditors lack authority to extend credit, lend money or charge interest, and that the contract is illegal.
Will often charge an upfront “membership” fee, “voluntary contribution,” “donation” or service fee, of from several hundred of dollars to thousands of dollars
Will charge you a flat commission on your debts instead of a percentage of what you are saved.
Will likely suggest to you that you sign up for a debt consolidation program and pay back your debts in full with interest.
Will claim to you that they can predict the future and promise you future and wonderful results. (Isn’t it hard enough already even to predict just tomorrow, much less the whole future? How does one, for example, really KNOW that factor – given the reality of constant changes in interest rates, in bank mergers, changes in governments and in policies, in the economy, etc!?)
Will suggest that doing debt consolidation doesn’t appear on your credit report. (It does, and costs you much more than debt settlement).Get you started and then you never hear from them again.
Has a record of doing nothing on your accounts upon your signing up with them., thus actually getting you deeper in debt by not acting timely
But here’s the Good News!
Legitimate Honest Debt Relief Settlement or Consolidation Programs
The good news is that, thank goodness, there are some other plenty of options available, some good and legitimate ones – some honest debt relief programs that are not debt scam. It’s NOT all debt relief scams at all, thank God!
In deed, through an in-depth objective methodology, the same researchers who conducted the major, comprehensive online study of the industry mentioned above, have identified a list of debt settlement companies that are well tested, and proven to be legitimate and reliable, and which have been evaluated, scored and ranked by them. The top 12 companies in the industry which qualify as honest debt relief programs using a set of high evaluation criteria, was then formulated.
Trustworthy, legitimate debt settlement company that’s well experienced and highly skilled at the trade (as opposed to merely a debt scam) can be of great advantage to a debtor, offering him many real great benefits in resolving his debt problems – it can actually negotiate with your creditors and get reduced the amount of debt help that stop collection calls, or reduce the interest rate amount and late and over-limit fees you’d otherwise have to pay. They (such companies) can assist in paying down outstanding debt owed by debtor through repayment programs that would often lessen monthly payments and interest and related fees, even dramatically in many cases by some 50 to 60% or so. (Their work cannot generally repair a debtor’s damaged credit score or remove debts listed as a score-damaging charge-off on a credit report). Such reputable counselors can also help in developing budgets, managing money, using credit wisely and building a savings plan, etc.
TO FIND OR USE LEGITIMATE HONEST DEBT RELIEF PROGRAMS
Wish to find sure-fire legitimate, honest debt relief programs that you can absolutely trust to do your debt settlement for you with no debt scam? Check out this study. Click here, on the result of an excellent study evaluating, grading and picking America’s Number #1 and scam-free debt relief programs.
Benjamin Anosike, Ph.D., has been dubbed by experts and reviewers of his many books, manuals and body of work, which dwell largely on self-help law issues, as “the man who almost literally wrote the book on the use of self-help law methods” by America’s consumers in doing their own routine legal chores – in uncontested divorce, will-making, simple probate, settlement of a dead person’s estate, simple no-asset bankruptcy, etc. A pioneer and intellectual and moral leader of the 1970s-based “you do your own law” movement and a lifelong vehement advocate and veteran of historical battles for the right of the American consumers to perform their own tasks in the area of routine legal matters, Anosike was one of the pioneers who fought and survived (along with many others of courage) the lawyers’ and organized bar’s stiff war of the 1970s and ’80s against American consumers and entrepreneurs who merely sought, then, to use, write, distribute or sell law-related self-help books and kits for non-lawyers to do their own law, upon the lawyers’ claim then that such was bepurportedly “unauthorized practice of law” or “practicing law without a license.”
Anosike holds graduate degrees in labor economics and management and a Ph.D. in jurisprudence. Once characterized by a review of the American Library Association’s Booklist Journal as “probably the most prolific author in the field of legal self-help today,” Dr Anosike is the author of over 26 books and manuals (and countless number of articles) on various topics of American law, including 4 volumes on personal and business bankruptcy filing, in a lifetime of dedication. For more on the subject matter discussed in this article, or on how to get a low-cost, affordable bankruptcy filing, or the author’s other books and manuals, visit this site: http://www.Afford-Bankruptcy.Com
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