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Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 10:43 am Subject: Hess Kennedy Fraud

Has anyone else been scammed by this company? I terminated services with them and did not receive a refund. Instead, I Just got a bill for $927 from them! What can I do????

Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 11:03 am Subject:

Try googling them within this site. You will find many posts and experiences regarding this company. I personally, were being scammed by this company would not pay this bill, but instead start filing my complaints, first with your AG's office and with the AG's office in the state in which this company is located.

Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 11:22 am Subject:

Thank you!

elizabeth darragh · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:01 am Subject: hess kennedy has $5000 of mine

Hess Kennedy has not settled any of my debts, made no correspondance with anyone and is refusing to refund my $5000. They say I don't have enough in my account. Is that not enough to pay a $600 bill? I am being sued by several debtors and I'm a single mother of three children, two of whom are disabled. Can anyone help? I'm going to Time and Newsweek. Anyone want to go with me?
Elizabeth Darragh

LOU LOU THE FIRST · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 11:48 am Subject: hess kennedy

Elizabeth,
I can be put in your shoes really fast. They scammed me out of money for nine months and now I can't get a refund either. I'm settling on my own and don't need them and I'm not paying them a bill for "services rendered". Yeah like what keeping me on the phone and not answering my calls, hanging up on me, never return a call. I'm fed up with all the SOB's and I hope they all go under so far they can't swim. No sense in having a place like this because they will tear you apart so fast you don't know what has hit you. Don't send them no more money and settle on your own. Let us know what happens.

JE · Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:21 pm Subject: Smelled a RAT

I singed on with these people(?)but had an uneasy feeling so within 24hrs I sent a notice of cancellation and faxed a voided contract. The rep. told me everything is cancelled. I am still worried that they will say my cancellation was not accepted.

amisquez · Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 4:16 pm Subject: Hess Kennedy

On 6/2006 I retained Hess Kennedy to negoiate my debt to a manageable figure for me. They stated that my first monthly payment will go to Hess Kennedy and the rest will go towards my debt. They did tell me that once my account builds up, they can start paying the smaller debts first. They never paid a penny towards my debt! As of 3/2007 - i was served with a civil action against me from 3 of my creditors - Hess Kennedy ignored my phone calls and gave me the run around. I faxed them all of the paperwork and every thing they would request me to fax. Everytime I called i would make a courtesy call to confirm they received the fax. No one would ever call me back regarding this. I was a wreck! This company did not only put me in more debt, but they managed to place 3 judgments against me and I am in very difficult financial situation. I terminated services with them and demanded my $2000 back. they stated that they are not refunding me anything. i was hung up on. i placed Hess Kennedy to the side for now, since I have a lot reparing to do wtih my debts. I was in tears! Now i am out $2000 and my debt has been ignored for the past year! I am in the process of explaining to my creditros that this company i retained scammed me and trying to start making payments with them. But now that i have 3 jdugements in my name, my credit is ruined! Hess Kennedy did a great job by taking my money and making my financial situation worse! I am looking into pursuing a civil action against them. I also filed a compaint with the BBB.

The Attorney General contacted me in August...They received my complaint and sent me a letter back in February. I then received a package from them a few weeks ago, asking all the details of my issues with Hess, and it appears that the Attorney General in FL has gotten numerous complaints. They couldn't say if they were pursuing action yet, but the fact that they made me mail back all the info of my issues with Hess and have it notarized made me feel hopeful that something will come out of this, like me getting my refund someday! I suggest to anyone being scammed by Hess to write a letter to the Attorney General in your state and Florida.

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CCCOA Fraud · Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 6:46 am Subject: Me too

I was not scammed by hess-kennedy. I was scammed by consumer credit counseling of america. They told me that I was going to be in a consolidation plan not a settlement.

Everything got quiet because the law firm did the
job and placed all my accounts into dispute, no phone calls, no letters and then month 6 i get a call from a debt collector.

hess refunded all my money and they said that they are currently cooperating with the Florida attorney general regarding consumer credit counseling of america who by the way conveniently left the state of Florida.

THE VEZ

YES THEY DID NOTHING BUT SCAM ME OUT OF MY 1200.00 DOLLARS PLUS THEY SCREWED UP MY CREDIT AS I WAS CURRENT WITH ALL OF MY CREDITORS NOW WITH ALL THE LATE CHARGES AND ALL THE NUMBER IS PROBABLY ABOUT 4000.00 PLEASE DO NOT GIVE THEM A CENT I DO NOT SEE HOW THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH DOING THIS TO PEOPLE THEY SHOULD BE PUT IN JAIL HURTING PEOPLE WHEN THEY ARE DOWN ONLY POOR PEOPLE OR PEOPLE THAT HAVE HAD HEALTH PROBLEMS THEY ARE SCAMING

Tom321 · Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 1:27 pm Subject: Fraud

debt settlement Complaints Lead to Search for 'Attorney'

A man named Edward T. Kennedy is listed as a name partner at the embattled Hess Kennedy law firm in Coral Springs, Fla., but no one with that name is licensed to practice law in Florida.
A Florida Bar complaint filed March 13 against Laura Hess, the Hess in Hess Kennedy, notes Florida lawyers are barred from forming partnerships with nonlawyers in a legal practice. The thrust of the complaint is that the law firm is running a "deceptive debt settlement scheme" that is long on fees and short on assistance.

The law firm and related companies are targets of hundreds of consumer complaints nationally, and the Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida gave it a failing grade. No one has estimated the full scope of an alleged debt scheme, but in North Carolina alone, more than 220 residents claimed they paid Hess Kennedy more than $500,000.

State corporate records at various times list addresses for Kennedy in Coral Springs, New York and the Cayman Islands.

New York lawyer Edward T. Kennedy is a taxation attorney and accountant with a law firm in Manhattan. Asked Monday if he had any connection to the Coral Springs firm, Kennedy said, "No, not at all." But he said he was asked the same question by the West Virginia attorney general's office about two months ago.

A Chase Bank lawsuit filed in February against the law firm claims Kennedy may be Edward Cherry, who is listed in state corporate records as a business partner in Hess Kennedy and several affiliated companies.

The Bar joined the attorneys general of Florida, North Carolina and West Virginia, Chase Bank and Cherry's former employer in court against Hess Kennedy, its affiliates or its principals. Hess denied Kennedy and Cherry are the same person in a countersuit filed against the bank March 7, saying: "Edward T. Kennedy is a human being who is not Edward Cherry. Edward Kennedy resides in Brussels." No other information about Kennedy was provided.

But the existence or whereabouts of Kennedy may be the least of the problems facing Hess and Cherry. Hess, a Florida Bar member since 2000, is fighting the 10-count, 119-page complaint in her second run-in with the Bar. She was disciplined with a public reprimand in 2005 for drunken driving convictions. Cherry is a defendant in a pending Broward County civil suit claiming he embezzled at least $600,000 from the company he worked for just prior to joining the Hess Kennedy businesses. His attorney said Cherry committed no wrongdoing. Hess could not be reached for comment despite repeated requests via phone, e-mail, a message left in person at her Coral Springs office and through her attorneys. Cherry could not be reached for comment at the law firm or by phone.

The Florida Bar alleges Hess Kennedy's operation is "designed to extract upfront fees from financially strapped clients whether or not any useful services are performed" for them. Clients "rarely obtain debt settlements ... and end up in a far worse financial position" than before.

The Bar also claims:

Hess and her agents are running an illegal advance-fee scam.
She failed to provide clients with competent representation.
She charged excessive fees for her services and shared fees with nonlawyers.
The firm failed to place customer payments into trust or escrow accounts as promised in advertising and agreements or by sales agents as required by Bar regulations.
In her reply Monday to the Bar complaint, Hess denied operating any scheme and rejected allegations that her firm intentionally preyed upon unsophisticated clients to collect large legal fees. She conceded some of her client agreements specified funds would be placed in client escrow accounts for subsequent payment to creditors but acknowledged no such funds were maintained. In an earlier response to the Bar last October, she said funds collected were for legal fees and not to pay clients' creditors.

Hess attorneys Culver Smith of Fox Rothschild in West Palm Beach and Kevin Tynan of Richardson & Tynan in Tamarac filed for dismissal of the complaint. Palm Beach Circuit Judge Jack Cook has been appointed as the referee to hear the trial. No date has been set.

Tynan told the Bar last October that "Hess and her law firm are engaged in some very cutting-edge litigation in a very technical area of the law that is heavily regulated." While there have been some "growing pains" at the firm, he said there should be no charges against Hess because clients who complained had gotten refunds. The Bar complaint noted Hess Kennedy gave almost no refunds until the professional investigation began.

As for Cherry, he was sued in 2003 by his former employer, Internet Billing of Deerfield Beach, which claims he embezzled at least $600,000 days before he abruptly resigned from the firm.

The suit said Cherry was listed as Internet Billing's "in-house counsel" even though he is not licensed to practice law in Florida. The company claims Cherry revived and had total control over an administratively dissolved Florida company called Esquire Escrow and used his position at Internet Billing, known as iBill, to get fellow employees to funnel company funds to Esquire Escrow.

Three days before quitting iBill in February 2003, Cherry made a $500,000 withdrawal from Esquire Escrow. The withdrawal slip filed as an exhibit in the case said the money was transferred "to personal and children's accounts." Cherry also made tens of thousands of dollars in additional cash withdrawals of Esquire Escrow funds from money machines and from banks during 2001 and 2002, court documents showed.

Bank records included in the court file show Cherry withdrew at least $12,200 from Esquire Escrow accounts at ATM machines in May 2002. A company bank card was used for a $763 purchase at a Sunglass Hut the same month and $3,130 in charges at Fort Lauderdale's upscale Voodoo Lounge the next month.

In an Oct. 30, 2003, deposition, Cherry invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refused to answer any questions about what happened to the money moved from iBill to Esquire Escrow.

Boca Raton solo practitioner Charles Wender, who represents Cherry and who was present at the 2003 deposition, said Cherry's "position is that he is totally innocent and these are just wild allegations that they obviously can't prove."

Internet Billing attorney Anthony Carriuolo of Berger Singerman of Fort Lauderdale, who conducted the deposition, said documents show Cherry "was just siphoning off tons of money."

Tommyboy · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 12:57 pm Subject: hess kennedy

Does anyone know how to get in touch with the Florida states attorney's office? I too have been a victim of wrong doings by hess kennedy. After being with them about a year, I cancelled them after NOTHING had been settled on my account. Not to mention, NONE of my creditor were even notified by hess kennedy. When I kept getting the agonizing phone calls from my creditors and found hess kennedy was doing nothing, I phoned them. Of course, I got the ole song and dance that they were handling my accounts. I have since cancelled them and have contacted my creditors and set up my own plan. Something I was paying hess kennedy to do. If anyone knows of how I can contact the attorney general's office in Florida about this please contact me at hup10@aol.com

Worster · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 5:46 pm Subject: Creditors

So let me get this right. Your "creditors" told you nothing had been done? Yeah, tell the AG that.

Debtor One · Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 4:49 pm Subject: Fraud Company Beats Chase Bank

Hess Kennedy Victorious over Chase Bank USA

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla., May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Hess Kennedy Chartered
announces that it was victorious in defending one of its clients, Grace
Iorio, in an arbitration filed by Chase Bank USA, NA with regards to credit
card debt. In particular, the arbitration forum decided to deny all claims
by Chase Bank and in fact, issued an award in favor of Ms. Iorio for a
monetary recovery against Chase. Hess Kennedy is a law firm that focuses
its practice on protecting consumers against abusive conduct by credit card
companies. Chase has recently sued Hess Kennedy but it is Hess Kennedy's
position that the tactics it utilizes to protect consumers are appropriate
and the Iorio victory is an example of what Hess Kennedy believes supports
its contention that Chase's suit is without merit. Anyone interested in
receiving a copy of the Iorio ruling should feel free to contact Hess
Kennedy or the National Arbitration Forum (File Number MX0712002031443).

Skippy · Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 6:47 am Subject: Hess Kennedy

I work for the Hess kennedy processor. They are all crooks. Look for more to come in the future ...

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