Freedom Debt Relief – How good a company is it?

I don't know why you guys are so negative and complaining about Freedom Debt Relief. Everyone I've dealt with there have been extremely professional and helpful. I've just completed their program and they saved me over $26,000 and I was done in 26 months! They literally saved my life and got me back on my feet!

i went into freedom debt relief with the understanding that they would be able to make an agreement with my debtor (i only had one for $20,000) for a lessor amount. i had to mail in payments of almost $400 a month. the first 5 months was for their fee and then the rest went into a "savings" where i was collecting this money so then they'd go back to them after a certain amount was accumulated. however, when the debtor started contacting me....freedom debt relief did nothing. then it went to an attorney and now i'm being hit with a civil law suit. i ended my relationship with fdr and got back about $1000 but i paid out a whole lot more for no help. they said that since they were based in california there was nothing they could do in another state. they could consult me but that's it. i am now looking into bankruptcy. i'm out about $6,000. STAY AWAY FROM FREEDOM DEBT RELIEF

Ok I had to get on here I hear people saying FDR does not work. Well I was in about 73k in debt. We are about to wrap up the program. This company was my last hope. They have been great through the whole process. I just ignored the calls from Creditors they dont give a damn about you. But this company actually does care about the debt and they do a great job. Just because some of you gave in to Credit card company lies and deceitful tactics does not give you the right to call this a fraud.... FDR does a great job.... THANK YOU FDR for your hard work and read the comments that are positive because they are true.

Its funny how so many people are defending this company. Like all of their customers search the internet for their name and find threads like this and feel compelled to post.....bad attempt guys, obviously these customers singing their praises are the same reps of FDR and they all know how the company works internally..lol These guys get on average 3k in fees for something you can do yourself. and they collect the fee upfront because they know only 11% of people actually get help, the rest get robbed for 3k and are deeper in debt than b4 A company of their size, probably makes the owners 4-8 million each a year from charging you fees. Look at one of their houses [removed] I wonder how many of you paid for the pool
SameBox Response from "Vikas":

Can anyone give me an update on this company am thinking about using them but am not sure, thank you

Hey lawn1016. It seems you are slamming a reputable company and trying to promote your own product. Why don't you do some real research. What debt settlement product do you promote? It's obvious you are mud slinging.

Dont go with Freedom Debt. They royaly screwed me & they lie. call your creditors, do it yourself, dont pay them, its not worth it

as an exemployee of one of the largest (unnamed) debt settlement firms, i will tell you that many of the positive posts on here from "happy clients" are actually from paid employees (sorry guys).

debt settlement is a good option, outside of using one of these agencies. check out mariedanielservices.com/industry_chatter.html.

One thing that these debt consolidators do not tell you that you have to pay taxes on the amount forgiven.
Let's use an example ~ you have $ 20,000 in debt settled for $ 10,000. You will owe taxes on this $ 10,000 not paid. The bank, finance company..etc will issue you a 1099-C ~ C=cancellation of debt and send to the IRS.
By the time you pay these fools and taxes ~ YOU DO NOT SAVE ANYTHING and your credit is ruined.
I deal with these individuals all the time.
If you need more information brucetreiter@hotmail.com. I am an accountant and I am more than willing to steer anyone in the right direction free! I fight these bottom feeders all the time.

followup to bruicetreiter: this is true. However, there is a form that is easy to submit that helps you avoid these extra taxes.

Either way, thanks bruce for offering up free help to the forum!!

why are we still talking about this? the desist and refrain is still in effect. attorneys general are still scrutinizing them (several states). they can't even work in several others.

I signed up with Freedom back in January (and I'll be happy to provide anyone a screenshot of my client page for those that I'm sure will say I'm a plant from what I read). Someone I referred to them told me about this page and I can't believe some of the stuff people are writing on here.

My experience so far has been very positive - I got my first settlement from Bank of America two weeks ago for what ended up being 28% of the original balance from when I enrolled.

I read that desist and refrain order, and looked into depth into it. It says they are ordered to desist and refrain from acting as a bill-payer or prorater, which from my research is what consumer credit counselors do, not settlement companies, and therefore they can still operate in a settlement capacity there. I'm a research junkie. When I signed up with them they had an A rating on the BBB. How does a company go from being the best rating to the worst overnight? My bigger concern from reading that is more about how the BBB rates companies than Freedom's credibility.

Do your own research if you want, but for anyone thats interested let me know your email and I'll email you all the links I have found in my research.

I do notice a theme from almost all of the complaints here - they are either plugging another company, or they dropped out of the program before their term was done and blame Freedom even though they didn't give them time to finish settling their accounts. For those that got sued.. I hear that can happen with any settlement company unfortunately.. and after reading all this I am a little nervous about that. They did tell me that was a possibility, although not a high risk for people that are current when they sign up that don't have aggressive creditors. Here's hoping I'm not one of them. If anything changes with my experience I will let you all know here. Good luck all.

Mark2009, glad it's working out for you! in fact, for some, using these companies really can work out. for MANY, they end up hurt. i worked there, know the drill, heard the sob stories and know that the sales reps are very aware of what they are selling. many of them hate it.

would love an update in a year or two.

you do seem strangely knowledgable for an average consumer. i'd take you up on the offer of the screenshot and have it validated, but honestly, not that concerned to put all that effort in it. if you're a real client and it's working, i'm happy for you. if you're an employee fronting as a client, shame...

i wish you well and really hope you're able to stick it all the way through without having to deal with a lawsuit or enduring any harassment. some people just can't take that.

P.S. Do you think you needed them, or any debt settlement company, to get that negotiated settlement with BofA? Hmm.. wonder how much that cost you in fees?

Oh and one other thing. If my memory serves me correctly... THEY DIDN'T HAVE AN A RATING IN JANUARY. They haven't had an A rating in a loooong time.

know this you may have to pay taxes on amount forgiven but its not as much as you think..example you save $10000 that is forgiven credit card debt. you may have to pay on average (15%-most people) $1500 and its clear and gone

i deal with them and so far i have receipts from all the cards that they paid off. i haven't had any problems.

I Hope they are a Reputable company. You guys are saying they have 67 or 69 complaints against them. But this is out of Thousands of clients. You Cannot satisfy everyone, someone will always have a bad experience with something. Freedom debt solution has been in buisness since 2002 one of the longest in buisess I have seen. They told me my credit is going to be effected. But it would be anyway none of the credit card companys would except the $50.00 a month I was sending them. My balances were going up like crazy. I had to do something. I hope and PRAY that it works. I just had a Newborn and I need to get out of debt. There must be some happy people out there using the program. Maybe some graduates of the program could tell thier story. I would fell better hearing some. Well have a GREAT day guys.