Lifeguard Financial - What are the debtors saying?

They last I saw have a B+ with the BBB. Having worked for them I can say that some of the cold calling that they do is quite misleading. I do not like the scare tactics that some of my collegues do on the phone. They do better then me financially but I can sleep at night

My friend got enrolled I think with that company. I know that they are register as a company, the BBB has the licensing number on its website, and they have a good rating. As far as I'm concerned, my friend is getting her debt settled. She was a little scared in the beginning of the program, but then, apparently they started paying her creditors and stuff. I don't know if she's still enrolled with them, but last thing I heard she was doing fine.

I am an employee of lifeguard financial. It pains me to see financial guru's come on here bashing our company when it is obvious that these people did not do the appropriate research. Debt settlement is an OPTION, and with any option before entering into it one should do the appropriate research and especially READ THE CONTRACT. You have no-one to blame but yourself if you feel you got scammed. Lifeguard is not a scam but debt settlement is not an easy process. Yes, the creditors are going to call and threaten all kinds of doom and destruction if you do not pay but, thats just how they and their collection agencies operate. Customers who enroll in the program receive calls from creditors for 90-120 days while our attorneys are negotiating the settlements. Of course they are going to say they dont work with settlement companies, YOU'RE SCREWING THEM OUT OF THEIR PROFIT. After the 90-120 days, the calls stop. I HAVE SEEN IT WORK. Anyone who says their entire payments have gone to fees are LYING. Lifeguard takes a minimal amount out of each monthly payment (usually around $50.00/mo).
Beware when dealing with the NY office. I dont like to bash my own company but I know for a fact that the NY office is shady in how they close deals, due to the fact that they receive bonuses for high sales numbers per month. Bottom line is this: None of my clients have cancelled or had complaints because I disclose everything about how the settlement process works. As for those who say that you can pay the BBB to raise your rating, go find somewhere else to talk crap. Lifeguards rating has recently dropped to a B due to complaints but refunds were given out and the rating will rise back up to an A by the end of the month, watch and see.
If you feel you were scammed by lifeguard, go to our website, look up the corporate number, and call them. We (at least most of us) are here to HELP people, not cause problems.

DONT say anything about lying! the first 3 payments all they do is take out their fees and maintenance fee of 50 dollars. My savings / reserves only have maybe 40 dollars in there.

I have not seen any settlement on the site. and I dont know about the calls cause I had to change all my numbers and now my friends and family have to change their numbers.

I dont know if it is a scam or not, but I signed a contract that I can not break so I have to deal with the decisions I made.

ALSO you may disclose everything but the person I worked with didn't and I did my reading up on these subjects.

Defend your company all you want....I wont agree with anything until I see it working in front of my own eyes

@ Against Employee

Just the NEGOTIATIONS for a settlment take 90-120 days so its (not to be rude) ignorant for you to say that. All our fees are disclosed in the contract and if you had read it, then you would be alot more knowledgeable.
As for being unable to break the contract-also a load of crap. Call customer service (if you dont have the number, it can be found on our website) and they will either answer your questions and put your fears at rest or they will cancel your contract and refund any money that has not been used to settle debts i.e any money that remains in your trust fund.

I have no idea what the second paragraph of your scathing reply even means but there is no reason you should have to change any phone numbers, forget about friends and family changing numbers. Care to elaborate?

I'm not trying to bash you or offend you but I really dont think you did "all your reading on this subject".


Call customer service and stop complaining. Please?

@ Against Employee

Just the NEGOTIANS for a settlment take 90-120 days so its (not to be rude) ignorant for you to say that. All our fees are disclosed in the contract and if you had read it, then you would be alot more knowledgeable.
As for being unable to break the contract; also a load of crap. Call customer service (if you dont have the number, it can be found on our website) and they will either answer your questions and put your fears at rest or they will cancel your contract and refund any money that has not been used to settle debts i.e any money that remains in your trust fund.

I have no idea what the second paragraph of your scathing reply even means but there is no reason you should have to change any numbers. Care to elaborate?

I'm not trying to bash you or offend you but I really dont think you did "all your reading on this subject".


Call customer service and stop complaining. Please?

they had to change their numbers because of creditor harassment. i don't even know this person and i can figure that one out. i worked with a large firm and know how the creditors try to intimidate the clients.

Employee; what does your company do when the client gets sued before you negotiate? please be thorough in your response.

I have read that if you get sued they can do nothing about it. These Settlement firms will not touch your account if you get sued or go to collections before the time they do their negotians.

I have two creditors that turned me into two different law firms. Both are treating to sue so Lifeguard wont be able to settle them cause they already changed hands...Ive called twice and no one has called me back about this matter...

I agree with Against Employee..but also agree with others...We don't know what will fully happen till it does...

Employees there sell it...wait until you may have to use it and see how you feel when it happens to you

If a consumer gets sued it only increases our ability to negotiate a settlement. In order to settle, we HAVE to let your accounts go into collections. this is what so many people do not understand. By entering into a settlement you are asserting that you are sick and tired of paying off the creditors and their high interest rates. Think about it this way, our settlements are negotiated in court and based on certain factors we push for the creditors to accept these settlements. If you get sued, we still push for the settlement, plain and simple. We are stating, on behalf of you (the consumer), that you are willing to settle your debt for a smaller amount (usually the settled amount is an amount equal to your principle debt, minus the interest that has accrued) than what is owed. It makes no difference whether they accept before taking legal action, or they take legal action and then accept the settlement. I hope this answers your question.

So, you are saying...that it's OK to get sued? There will be no consequences? of course, you'll attempt to settle at the point of lawsuit. but, are you saying that the client getting sued DOES NOT have to worry about wage garnishments or losing anything? tread lightly, my friend.

what if the client hasn't accumulated enough to settle?

you and i both know that some creditors are expeding accounts into legal status once they find out clients are working with debt settlement firms.

do you do anything besides attempt to settle? do you appear in court? provide any type of representation or legal advice?

Marie,
Check your local laws to see if the company can garnish wages. Most states do not allow credit card companies to garnish wages or anything of the sort. In the rare event that you DO get sued by a creditor, do you think the creditor wants to spend the money in legal fees to take you and the other millions of consumers that are delinquent to court? They would much rather settle than go to court. The creditors are notified once we start the process that you are working with us and this usually prevents them from suing. Believe it or not, they would much rather you enter into a program like ours, rather then filing for bankruptcy and receiving nothing. I hope this answers your questions. If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me or call us. There is a list of FAQs on our website as well.
http://www.lifeguardfinancial.net

Jtamasi answered that question pretty effectively. We know which creditors are quick to sue and we only take on settlements that consumers can pay off within a short amount of time with those creditors. All other creditors, as Jtamasi said, are hesitant to sue, they would much rather settle.

you dodged the question. the response was to Employee's post about being sued not really being a problem. so i asked very specific questions in response.

But in regard to the recent postings:
"Believe it or not, they would much rather you enter into a program like ours "
Actually, they'd much rather you settle on your own. An increasing number push your accounts to legal once finding out you're with a debt settlement program. And an increasing number are doing this very effectively on the consumer level.
By doing so, the consumer saves themselves the fees as well.
People are led to believe that you can offer them something that they can't do themselves.

Anyway, the post from 7/20 @ 9:27am represented that a lawsuit shouldn't be of any concern. It was a very dangerous statement.

Please understand I am not "bashing" Lifeguard directly. The whole industry needs to be cleaned up.

Here is a post from another thread, which is an all too common occurrence in the industry:

Today I received yet another letter from an attorney demanding payment. This is the THIRD account I signed to FDR that has resulted in my being subpoenaed, have my checking account frozen, wages garnished, and all of the other horrors for which I signed with them in order to avoid!!!!!!

FDR can be replaced by lots of companies names.

Yes, debt settlement does help SOME people. But, the industry shouldn't be allowed to proceed in the matter it currently is at the risk of hurting A LOT of people.

That seems a bit inaccurate. If they see that you are in a debt settlement program, they KNOW they are going to get a portion of the debt owed. My statement was that they would rather you be in a program and deal with the debt , instead of you filing for bankruptcy and receiving nothing. In addition, the only reason they would want you to settle with them on an individual basis is because they KNOW they can get you to settle for a much higher amount than a lawyer or arbitrator would get them to settle for.
I'll touch basis again on the topic of being sued. We take into consideration which creditors you are dealing with, how late you are with the payments, among other factors to avoid a suit as best possible. We reduce the risk of anyone getting "hurt" as much as possible.

Just to address the issue of consumers handling settlements on their own: Yes, you can certainly do that. The reason you would sign with a settlement company is to have representation and to have a legal team take care of it FOR you. If your toilet is broken, you can fix it yourself or you can call a plumber. It all depends on how much effort you want to put into it and how much money you want to spend.
I can only speak for lifeguard when I say that our fees are minimal, especially compared to what you are saving by settling, and compared to what you would pay an attorney to either settle for you, or file bankruptcy. but on the other hand, I know there are settlement companies out there that charge exhorbant upfront fees. Lifeguard is not one of them. As I have said before, settlement is an OPTION, its not something anyone is forced to do. We are here to help consumers get out of debt, if you feel you don't need help, don't sign up. And if you sign up without reading the contract and understanding what you're getting into, I'm sorry but you have no-one to blame but yourself.

addressing jtamasi:

I'm sorry, your statement is false (re: "inaccurate"). I'm not saying that out of spite, but out of knowledge.

Would you put that into a contract with your client? Unless you have evidence and can guarantee your point, again, tread lightly.

Also, you say you reduce risk of anyone getting hurt. But, you have still dodged the questions about when someone does get sued.

I think we could go in circles all day.

Employee: Thank you. Going back to an earlier post (I seriously am interested in your response): You provide representation? Legal advice? Ensure clients do not suffer as a result of a lawsuite, in the event it does happen?

Good luck...to the consumers.