Credit Solutions Lawsuit - Is this company a scam?

Check this out. Credit Solutions of America has the worst reputation in the debt settlement industry and have over 1400 complaints with the BBB. Guess what ? Now they are getting sued . Its about time these scum bags get whats coming to them.

adrforum.com/adr_CaseDetails.aspx?caseid=1071
hagens-berman.com/CSA.htm
debtrights.blogspot.com/2008/05/credit-solutions-csa-under-fire-for-bad.html
consumeraffairs.com/debt_counsel/credit_solutions.html
dockets.justia.com/docket/court-okedce/case_no-6:2008cv00250/case_id-17613/

*Links deactivated as per forum rules - Jason

This is a horrible company. I paid them over $3000 and did not settle one account. They have all been sent to attorneys like Zwicker and Mann Bracken. They won't budge and now I owe more than ever. If there is a class action suit, I want a piece of the pie. Warning! Do not ever use this company. I got screwed.

This company has DESTROYED my financial life for years to come!!! It is a complete scam and they have yet to settle three of my highest accounts. Now they tell me the accounts are in "limbo" and they can't do anything at all. Please do not EVER use this company!

Jeng - just curious, what do they mean by "limbo?"

Will the creditor not budge, is CSA holding off on trying to negotiate, etc...

Credit Solutions jumped the gun and went ahead and closed my accounts anyway, after I extended my contract date to research further the ramifications on my credit. In speaking with an attorney, I can only seek recourse through arbitration, according to the contract, in which I have to pay for, and being told that they are usually already on the company's side. If I didn't have money to pay my bills, then how can I pay for an arbitrator? So I'm left royally screwed with them getting away with it!! They have messed up my life!!!! If anyone has any suggestions........

Credit Solutions Lawsuit:
Credit Solutions is a scam.. They stole our money that could have been used to pay off our creditors... Instead, they offered NO help, answered no questions, would not send us any documentation of our phone calls, etc. Got us further in debt and ultimately ran us in to bankruptcy. Thanks a lot...

yeah i've had problems to. i used to ask them all the time to send proposals to my creditors, they never did. So now my creditors are tacking on fees driving my outstanding balances through the roof. So my balance goes from $1000 all the up to $1500. So now when they want me settle they say they saved me $500 and all i owe is $1000. I'm also getting sued by my creditors and getting summons from the court.

After spending some time on the Credit Solutions website, I viewed what appeared to be hundreds of settlement letters. I saw settlement letters ranging from 5% to 70%, reducing the debt obligations from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per account. There is a letter dated September 24, 2008 from Mann Bracken, a 45% settlement letter saving the consumer $9,186.58 on the account.

creditsolutions.com/bin/settlement/index.php?id=2008_09-14

The other item I looked at was their BBB report. It appears that almost every complaint has been satisfied according to the BBB website. Reputable companies resolve complaints, not seeing the issue on this one. If they did not resolve them then you would have a problem.

In researching the litigation against them it seems to be inherently flawed, the "proposed" class action has nothing to do with debt settlement, but rather an allegation of a CROA violation, the Credit Repair Organizations Act. Doing a google search for "amicus brief and credit solutions" speaks to this fact - the report was an independent brief published on 7/30/08.

I don't dispute that Credit Solutions has got settlements for some people. However, they fail to warn their clients that there accounts will be sent to these law firms quickly after enrolling and that if they don't have enough money to pay them a settlement than they run a high risk of being sued. It is very common for CSA to put people in programs that are 3 to 4 years long. However, no collector is going to wait 3 to 4 years to get their money. It makes no sense. What happens is CSA loads there fees over the first year and a half and than there clients get sued and quit the program. So they get thousands of dollars for virutally doing nothing, but put nice people into a bind which ultimately end in bk 9 times out of 10.

BIll G. - Next time try not to make it so obvious that you work for Credit Solutions.

If you call Credit Solutions this is what you'll hear...

They are JD Power and Associates rated!! (This really means nothing. They simply paid JD Power and Associates to rate their customer service department. The emphasis here is on "customer service". If you go to JD Power and Associates website you'll see that it basically just means that Credit Solutions customer Service department knows how to answer their phones. That rating does not relate at all with their actual program or debt settlement services – only their customer service department)

They have so many complaints on the BBB because they are such a large company!! (The fact that you can watch their complaint count grow almost on a daily basis should be the biggest red flag for any consumer)

They are too large to be a member of TASC!! (I actually think it’s funny that they would try to justify that. Their size does impact the amount of money they would pay towards TASC however any reputable debt settlement company knows and any educated consumer should know that TASC looks out for the debt settlement industry as a whole but also makes sure that consumers are protected from dishonest companies such as Credit Solutions.)


These three "selling points" should be more than enough to scare off any consumer. And if you decide to look into the class action lawsuit, it clearly defines that Credit Solutions intentionally mislead consumers on a number of factors related to their services - read the lawsuit, it's in there!)

You mean more settlements than the top 20 settlement companies combined, is that what you meant to say?

NCO is one of the largest debt collectors in the US, the letter below was settled in 4 years and 5 months - 17% settlement offer paid out over 16 months.

creditsolutions.com/bin/settlement/index.php?id=2008_09-7

Not sure what data you have viewed to make that kind of allegation about BK and their client base, please enlighten us to your source.

EAshliee - Next time try to make is less obvious that you work for a small settlement company.

You may want to research JD Power to learn more about the certification process.

Doing a search for "Sprint PCS" on the BBB website will show you what a large company has for complaints - 31,853 in the last 36 months. The concept is pretty basic, the more clients you have the more complaints you could have. And yes, they increase daily if you really want to know.

Correct, the more clients you have the more your monthly fee will be to become a member of TASC.

See that's called an allegation, you may want to read a little more on how the legal system works in the US. Anyone can sue anybody for anything in this country. Just because you get sued does not mean you are guilty.

Are you guilty of defaming Credit Solutions ???
It sounds like it to me but I'm no lawyer. You never know who is reading this or who could read this

Well Bill G...I do wonder how you and so many other people that work for companies like Credit Solutions sleep at night.

You and the people you work with are all the scum of the earth as far as I and so many others are concerned. These companies STEAL peoples money, give false hope and leave them totally screwed in the end. Why would ANYONE pay thousands of dollars to a company so they can come out oweing almost double what they originally owed, have their credit totally ruined and have lawsuits against them???? Doesn't make much sense to me...and knowing that your wonderful employer does this to people and you help them with the process and you continue to work there says a lot about your character!

You will be judged. Hope that you sleep well at night because the innocent people that you are screwing aren't. They get their wages garnished and judgements against them. NO ONE, I repeat, NO ONE would sign up for any of the debt settlement companies or their programs if they knew the truth of what it does to them. And wouldn't that be great! It would put quite a dent in your commission checks!

Merry Christmas Jerk!

Yes, people like Bill G are evidence that Evil actually exists. I find it hard to fathom that anyone could rationalize that they don't work for crooks, when there is so much evidence that they do.

The following quote seems like an attempt to intimidate or scare people into silence:

Are you guilty of defaming Credit Solutions ???
It sounds like it to me but I'm no lawyer. You never know who is reading this or who could read this.

Working them was the worst decision of my life and nearly ruined me financially.

If Bill G does work for tham, his actions are shameful, if he DOESN'T, they are even worse!

I'd imagine there's a special place in Hell for people who willingly work for a company like Credit Solutions.

Meee,
I think you are either confused or misinformed about the facts, according to the data that can be found on the Internet - debt settlement is one of the most effective, if not "the" most effective way to get out of debt.

ftc.gov/os/comments/debtsettlementworkshop/536796-00014.pdf

consumerfed.org/pdfs/credit_counseling_report.pdf


And the company that you are concerned with has settled more debt than the top 20 debt settlement companies combined. Seriously, do the research - it’s not hard to find.

Scott S,
You bring up a valid point about evidence.
It would be helpful to the general public if you provided some "real" data that supports your argument.

There are some other large settlements companies that have settled near as much as CSA. I doubt they have settled more than the top 20 combined. Provide some facts for that statement! The real deal is debt settlement is an alternative to bankruptcy. debt settlement companies need to be more strict on who they enroll. When the majoerfrity of your clients are current on their accounts with decent credit when they enroll, like csa, the clients are going to run a high risk of getting sued and will damage their credit. However, CSA is a business and they are trying to make money. Consumer's should read the contract's they sign. It says you can get sued and interest/fees will acrue. CSA is a legit company and they do settle debt for a lot of their clients, however, any debt settlement program is risky and takes a great deal of patience and understanding to complete. That is why almost every semi large settlement company has complaints and angry clients. CSA is a very large company with many aggresive sales people, that is why they have a lot of complaints. The BBB says to take into consideration a companies size.