Question for Hess Kennedy lawyer/employee

I would do my own research to see if the allegations were true before I believe them.

Absolutly, don't make a decision until you know ALL sides. Think about it... you know what it's like when you're not given the benefit of the doubt. Right?

If you feel like you cannot trust Hess Kennedy to help out with your debt then just contact another law firm. There are hundreds out there who are just as good, if not better.

I advise reading the contract see if there is a policy on the time that it takes you to receive a response, if there isnt I would recommend getting a lawyer and calling your bank to make sure they havent debited any money from your account.

It's good to keep copies of all previous bills, just in case the service isn't exactly what were looking for.

I learned quite a bit from this thread.

I need a good debt consolidator, anybody have a reccomendation ?

I need a good debt consolidator, anybody have a reccomendation ?

We cannot advertise or recommend on the boards...call the 800# for a free consutation..they can help.

Hi Shaden,

I have seen postings where HK are scammers, so I dont believe you will receive a phone call so you may need to go ahead and speak with a lawyer.

Guest-Shaden hasnt posted in a year.... :lol:

It is the worst feeling in the world to feel like you have just been ripped off. I really hope they have started working on your case, maybe they are really busy and have'nt had a chance to contact you. Is there anyway way you could stop by and check for yourself to see whats going on

What if I don't live in Florida? Are your services still available nationwide?

Thank you,
AB

I had my doubts about Hess Kennedy & Co. at first. But in the end, I got the results I was looking for.

Can anyone tell me what the BBB's scope of influence is? Is it merely the US, or do they rate & provide ratings for companies outside the US?

I would recommend that you continue trying to contact the lawyer representing you at the firm. If at all possible, bother the secretary enough each day that it behooves her to light a fire under her attorney.

All debt consolidation companies essentially follow the same procedures and regulations. Just find a reputable company and stick with them. They will provide you what you are looking for in the long run.

Is this a credit counseling service or consolidation service? Thanks.

wbw - The BBB is primarily for US businesses, and it think it may include some Canadian businesses as well, but definitely nothing outside of the US and Canada.

KatiMartino - Is what a credit counseling or debt consolidation service? This forum is neither of those things. You have the option to sign up for a free, no-obligation debt consultation with a credit counselor if you register with this site. But other than that, this is a community/forum for people trying to get out of debt.

If you are referring to Hess Kennedy - they are neither a credit counseling or debt consolidation service. I have a few choice names for what they are, though.

Good for you Tiffany! I'm glad it workd out for you as well!

Could you better explain the difference between debt consolidation and debt settlement. I think that I was a little confused as well.

Thank you!
~Sabina

If you are in business of helping people then you should be in business to respond to the people that you represent. Not responding is unacceptable and especially when you are taking money from them people.

right on!

You tell 'em Anthony!!!! :P

Sabby,
To my understanding debt consoildation is consoildating your debts into less monthly payments which are lower than your current payments. Such as taking out a second mortgage or refinancing your first to payoff creditors is one way of debt consoildation.
I understand debt settlement to be negotiating with your current creditors to lower the amount you owe them. In turn making your monthly payments lower.

do they get dirty when you "consoilidate"?

Oh gross!!! Eeewww....What happens to your debt after that?

Hi,

Does anybody know what is the full contact information for Hess Kennedy, such as phone number, fax number and address?

Praveen

I just got a call from a lady named Nina Gillary telling me that because of statute of limitations on bad checks almost being up she needed to collect 300 dollars on a check I supposedly wrote almost two years ago. Then she tells me that It happened in September of 2005.then it went to $290.00? She was going to do something with my drivers license and then I will be in front of the juge trying to explain to him my innocence. She then wanted me to fax something to her before her firm would fax something back to me proving that they were legit. What should I do??

TELL HER THAT

hi shugwhite

In my opinion you should ask Nina Gillary (Im sure its not her real name) to validate the debt. Validation of debt with a cease and desist letter is an effective option against such annoying calls.

Take care
Nelly

Contact the attorney generals office in fl and let them know what hess and kennedy are doing, you will be surprize

Please take my advice and stay away from this company. They will take your money and not help ;you out at all. I've had a time getting an answer when I would call and always got put on hold. I'm out of $516.00 and can't get it back. I stopped my money from being took and settled my accounts myself. I don't need the hassle of Hess Kennedy for sure.I hate the nightmare I went through and hope all will stay away from them. They are not real people. They are fake as Dolly Parton's boops are. They that is a mouth full to say.STAY AWAY AND WORK ON YOUR OWN OR GO TO A LOCAL OFFICE IN YOUR HOMETOWN TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR DEBT.. THAT WAY YOU CAN SEE IN PERSON WHAT IS GOING ON. :(

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."

I signed up with Credit One debt solutions but my contract has HK on it. Credit One has a Maryland address. They have taken one payment so far. I am freaking out after reading all this stuff about HK. I just dont know what to do or who to trust. Help!

Stop payments ASAP. Look for yourself on line. Google their name and see what frauds they are. YOU"VE BEEN WARNED. If this site doesn't change your mind for you to stop payment then I don't know what will.

In Search of Edward T. Kennedy, Florida Lawyer

By Debra Cassens Weiss
Edward T. Kennedy is a New York tax lawyer with a Manhatten firm. He is not the Edward T. Kennedy listed as a partner in an embattled Florida law firm Hess Kennedy.
The New York Kennedy told the Daily Business Review he has no connection to the Coral Springs firm, and that the West Virginia attorney general's office asked him the same question two months ago.
Apparently no one maintains there is a link to the New York Kennedy, not even Hess Kennedy. The Florida debt settlement law firm claims its Edward Kennedy resides in Brussels and is not a made-up name for Edward Cherry, an investor who is not a Florida lawyer. So far, the Florida Kennedy has not surfaced. But Kennedy????????s whereabouts are only part of Hess Kennedy????????s troubles.
Florida ethics regulators have accused Hess Kennedy of running a ???????deceptive debt settlement scheme," the Daily Business Review Reports. The law firm has also faced lawsuits by Chase Bank and the attorneys general of Florida, North Carolina and West Virginia.
The Florida Bar complaint alleges the law firm????????s operation is "designed to extract upfront fees from financially strapped clients whether or not any useful services are performed." Clients "rarely obtain debt settlements ... and end up in a far worse financial position" than before. The complaint also claims name partner Laura Hess is sharing fees with nonlawyers. Hess has denied the allegations.
Cherry is also facing legal problems. A civil suit claims he embezzled at least $600,000 from his previous employer, a charge he denies.