Freedom Debt Relief – How good a company is it?

As usual FDR's client service person ran away. These guys all employ the same tactics. It's predictable and shameful the way these companies operate. Never really answering any questions just spitting propaganda.

Does this site really strike a blow to their bottom line that they have to come here and lie??????????????????

We can only hope so

Ok I contacted Freedom Debt relief about my Card Balances @ $53,000. They advised me 35 months @ $900 month. Now I was made aware of the 15% (10% service, 5% retainer) fee that was included in my settlement and aslo advised that the 1st 4 months would be about $670 going to them and the next 15 months after $350 gooint to them. This total is over $8000. being curious and simple math told me they have $23000 to settle the debts. Now I stopped paying my creditors and the number have inflated from interest, late payments, etc. their was not much accumulation during these 19 months. I acumulated $7000 over that period. Now heres the catch. I was sued by 2 companies and got summons for court and everything, went to court(waste of time) well with one of them they gave lump sum of $2500 and $200 month to debt paid off..they will renegotiate later, 2nd company was settled for 70%..best freedom can do..now to settle I have to come up with an additional $2225 plus my funds in account to settle. they advised to equal payments of $1112.50..well they havent taken 1 out yet, i assume they are waiting to be contacted by Bank of America reps. Now be aware that you may have to come up with mor additional funds to settle quickly. lucky i was able to come up with it. But consider that it all boils down to what they can settle for. Everything Ive read states 35-40% settlement on blances..also note balances are inflated since you started.

A small number of accounts do go to legal status and FDR is fortunate to have an internal team to work and negotiate these accounts. If you have questions please contact FDR customer service.

A class action was filed against Freedom Debt Relief, LLC, and Freedom Financial Network, LLC, on Feb 27, 2009, on behalf of hundreds of Washington families, claiming that these California companies illegally charged excessive fees and misrepresented their ability to help Washington families who were experiencing financial difficulties.

Freedom Debt Relief and Freedom Financial Network, according to the Complaint, deceptively represent that they can leave families debt free in 12-36 months, and reduce their debts to as little as 50% of that owed. Defendants also violate Washington statutes designed to protect indebted individuals, according to the Complaint, by, among other things, charging indebted families excessive fees, while doing little or nothing to assist families in meeting their debt obligations.

The suit seeks reimbursement of all fees paid to the defendants, as well as punitive damages for violation of Washington’s Consumer Protection laws. This suit also seeks a court injunction prohibiting the defendants from engaging in wrongful business practices.

To find out more about this class action or to speak with an attorney about illegal debt adjustment practices, visit our website www.thescottlawgroup.com.

However by doing enchanced research for my problem i found Deleted - ND to work out very good in my favor. If you have substantial debt and need releif I would recommend you over to this company. go to Deleted - ND


Solicitation Deleted - ND

Just wanted to say that I am amazed at all the people who have not had luck with this program. I was on it for 3 years and the company did just what they said ~ negotiated debt down drastically. As for the calls from bill collectors, I just turned the ringer off on my phone and turned the volume down on the answering machine to avoid any more unwanted stress while working towards getting back on my feet. I hope more people who have had success in becoming debt-free will post comments of encouragement, because it is such a weight off your shoulders to be rid of debt that would take a life-time to pay off in the normal manner.
Good luck to everyone ~ if I can do it with a debt relief program, anyone who is willing to buckle down and make some sacrifices can do it,too! It is well worth it. Taught me a valuable lesson as far as using credit cards wisely!

Well at least you registered....still don't believe you....shame on you for lying....but at least you registered.....what's your position at FDR? Bent over like the rest of their victims?

My wife and I, this is hard to swallow, have $130K in credit card debt and we are barely surviving as you would imagine. We have a house in Redondo Beach that's value is decline and we have 3 kids under 4 with another on the way in January. I just got off the phone with FDR and hey said they could do 46 months with a monthly payment of $1,700. That would help out temendously, but I was told at the end of the conversation to stop making payments to our 17 creditors and start accruing late payments as she said the 40% would be no problem considering our financial situation. Can someone guide us with this is give reputable company.

I just finished the program last month, short story shorter, I filed for bankruptcy. Yeah stay away.

Whoever posted this is an idiot. Anyone that can read moreover comprehend what they read knows that in California state law a “pro-rater” or “bill payer” is referring to Consumer Credit Counseling, that is not what debt settlement is. That is what the dispute with California is all about. Fools like you should not have access to a computer to spread you ignorance. I pity people like you that have no idea on what is going on around you, maybe you should go back to elementary and finish what you started. Sorry you didn’t get that last sentence, I wouldn’t expect you to. MORON.

Guest,

Thats a rather abusive post. Anyway...

The pro-rater law is not just specifically directed at CCCS companies and does affect the settlement industry. CA, through its enforcement of this law a few years ago, had a huge impact on the industry. It was this action, more than anything else in my opinion, that gave a ton of market share to Boulder and Noteworld.

Interpreting your post to imply that there is remaining grey area on this topic, where a target of enforcement action could find a defensible position, would be accurate.


Mileage may vary

My accounts have been with FDR for 19 months now..I have 5 creditors to pay and 2 have taken me to court and one has settled for $4850 on $12000 debt a 60% reduction..however my credit has sagged but I am more concerned about getting out of debt. Yes i know that this forgiven income can be taxed..but in the long run it is probably better anyway. the 2 that have taken me to court on a summons.1 is being paid on full amount and the other was negotiated to 70%. This was to avoid having leins or wage garnishments

I've been with them for about 8 months. I have 5 credit cards with about $25k in debt. one account was settled for about 40%. one company filed suit and took me to court. i had to fill out an "Answer" to the court. I was put in touch with FDR's legal resolution team. they couldn't help me "officially" because they are not lawyers. I lost the case and now I'm being garnished 30% of my take home pay. I can't even pay my mortgage now. my credit is ruined, and i can't file bankruptcy because they say i make too much money - even though i dont have a dime to spare.

I went with Freedom Debt for the last 5 years and they settled my $50,000 debt for about $24,000 including their fees. I am for the most part happy with their service, and finally finished, debt free. There are some things that people who enter this program should know, and if you read their documents it is disclosed.
1. You stop making payments to your creditors.
2. Your credit is destroyed for a few years, but it was a great way to force us to spend only what we could afford.
3. after a few months, the creditors write off your debt and sell it to debt collection companies for pennies on the dollar.
4. The collectors start calling you all the time, so you refer them to freedom debt and then stop taking their calls.
5. You will get summonses in the mail, 95 percent of them are fake, FDR will advise you what to do about them. With 16 debts, 3 out of about 20 of the summonses were real and my attorney filed answers to them, after my attorney filed them, 2 of them sold the debts to another collection company. One played hardball, Cohen & Slamowitz for Discover Card - we paid them off the full balance separate of FDR, they would not deal with FDR.
6. When your draft account accumulates enough cash, FDR will make an offer to one of the creditors to settle - anywhere from 25 to 40%, if they accept, it is paid and the debt settled, if not they make them wait a few more months then they usually settle for less.
7. You need to check out the collectors that call or mail demands to you - I use BuddHibbs-dot-com. Most of them are bluffing when they threaten legal action and will sell your debt the instant you put up the slightest of a fight - DON'T LET THEM INTIMIDATE YOU. A lot of them violate the Fair Credit Collection laws and will stop bugging you real quick when you tell them you are recording all of your phone calls.
8. You will spend a little on attorney filing fees, I was lucky and work for an attorney, so I got it for free.
9. You need to keep in constant contact with FDR. We had a real good settlement for our final debt, and accumulated enough to pay it off, then found out that the creditor never finished the deal and sold the debt. FDR was busy and neglected to inform me. When I made the final payment, I called them and they said it was not settled. FDR worked with me and I insisted they play hardball with the creditor, and the creditor finally caved and settled for slightly more than the original deal, 12,000 debt settled for 33%. I just had to dig up $500 because they the deal was that I had to pay that day instead of stretching out over a couple months. The woman who forgot to inform me that the original deal fell through called me several times to apologize and went out of her way to facilitate the final settlement. FDR people all seem to mean well, the just get very busy at times.

My impression over 5 years is that they are an honest company, but they just get swamped with work occasionally.

If I hadn't used them, I would be still making minimum payments and maybe knocked 5% or less off the debt over 5 years.

Hello,
I am very familiar with Freedom Debt Relief and I can tell you that this is a very good company and they will settle your debt as low as possible and also provide excellent customer service. I've graduated from their program and saved over 50K and I am very pleased with this company. This is a big company and any big company will have some complaints no matter how good they are. I have also referred my family and friends to this company and their experience have also been extremely positive! There are many shady companies out there and trust me...I've done plenty of research. Freedom Debt Relief is the best of the best!!! Good luck!