Settlement programs the inside story

wrong, I beg to differ. There ar many people here who are in real programs that are getting them out of debt while not going are dealing with any collector....period.
sorry, wrong site for you.



thanks

Gee , I bet that guy who posted this is probably a creditor or bill collector. They hate the fact that settlement exists. People are better educated and now have another choice besides just credit counseling.

Hello... I was just passing by while searching for a way to get a refund from my settlement company.
I just wanted to say... I signed up for Century Negotiations Inc and they didn't do squat for me.
I had 3 credit cards and a loan. I couldn't keep up with the payments and I thought that this was the only way out. This guy I talked to through e-mails got me signed up... he made me think that the settlement company was actually going to help me. I was told that all of my creditors would be contacted and that they would all cooperate. Oh... and that I would have good credit again once the program was completed because it was a law that these companies would have to say "paid as agreed" on my credit reports.
So I sign up... stop paying my bills and send them my first payment. Less than a month later, my bank called me up and said that they were suing me. They said that they do not settle and that they were going to have my wages garnished. I called century negotiations and they said it was a scare tactic. A few days later, I got a letter from my bank's attorney. I called century negotiations again and faxed them the letter. It took them 2 weeks to get back to me about it... all this time, the law office was preparing to take their case to court.
Lucky for me... I went to my bank and told them what was going on and the let up. They said that they would call off their lawyers if I paid off my loan. My husband had to use trust money to pay it off... then they allowed me to pay off my other creditors by taking out another loan. Come to find out (when I was paying everyone)... one of my credit cards was getting ready to sue me as well!
debt settlement companies do more harm than good. The second my creditors found out that I was on a program, they all decided to sue! There wasn't going to be no negotiations... just my wages getting garnished! Beware of these guys! They are bad news!

First of all before you "sign up" with any company you should research as to whether they are reputable. Secondly...there are bad companies all over the place...that does not necessarily mean that the procedure itself is bad. Thirdly, there are many ways of dealing with your debt...you said your husband ended up having to use trust money to pay off the bills. Why didn't you just do that to start out with if you had the means to do so??

Also credit card companies and loans generally sue you as a last resort, this after not being paid for several months..not just a few weeks. I am in a debt management and counseling service that is working very well. I recieved confirmation letters from all my credit card companies and medical offices as soon as the proposal letters went out from the service. I make a monthly payment which includes a very small fee ($25.) and can contact my advisor by email or phone when ever I have a question. I also still recieve statements from my creditors and can see what payments have been made.

Century Negotiations Inc is not really a member of TASC like it claims on their web site. I called TASC and they are a fraud

Morningstarr - I did what I thought was a lot of research on this company. They are a member of the bbb and if I google their name along with "complaint" (and other related searches) I couldn't find anything bad being said about them. I pooled over the decision for over a month and I asked my parents and my coworkers. They all thought that it was a good idea... but they were going off of what the representative told me in our e-mails. This guy promised that the company would do this and do that... but they didn't even bother to inform my creditors that I was on a settlement program with them. I had to tell the creditors myself... repeatedly over the phone because they wouldn't stop calling me. I had one creditor that called every hour, on the hour.
And just so you know... my husband did not have access to the money from his trust fund. It just so happened that after I had enrolled in the program his mom decided that she wanted to transfer his trust fund over to something else so that it was entirely in my husband's name. A check came to him and he put it in his savings account because he was researching different investments. This money was not meant to pay off my loan... it was meant to be reinvested for his retirement fund. His mom has no clue how much debt we have... and we don't plan on telling her. It's embarrassing.

Dave - OMG! Are you serious?! :shock:

I agree, there are as many crooked companies as there are good companies. Do your homework when searching for real help. Perhaps you can ask friends or family if they know of reputable companies, based on experience. You can check with NACA, National Association of Consumer Advocates.

correction : Century Negotiations is a TASC memeber. 1stepdebt and Debt Remedy Advisors are phonies. Sorry for the mix up. I had done alot of research on bad companies and I saw Century Negotiations name on my list to research but was legit . just forgot to mark it off.

Dave, we're only human. I scrutinize all companies when dealing in the credit and collection trade. I don't trust any of them, even the legit ones.

So if this company is so good... then why didn't they do what they said they were going to do?
Like I said... they were supposed to contact my creditors and I was told by this company that my creditors would accept this and allow time for a settlement offer.
Instead, they never contacted my creditors. My creditors only found out that I was on a settlement program because I told them. And this was because they kept calling me and I was under the impression that they were supposed to be calling the settlement company if they wanted money (at least that is what the guy who signed me up said).
So my creditors find out that I'm on a settlement program and they don't waste any time at all. I know for a fact that my bank was going to sue me. I got a letter from their attorney and when I spoke to their attorney over the phone I was told the date that the lawsuit was going to be filed.
So did this company lie to me? Or are my creditors just an exception to "the rule" (them suing me after 1 month of non-payment)?

Rini, it is difficult to conclude what failed you. It could be an isolated incident on the part of these Negotiation people, or a lack of good communication on the part of the original creditor, it will most likely remain a mystery since no one will accept blame. All that I can tell you is to remain strong, and do not allow any creditor or bank intimidate you in anyway. The law is on your side in regards to consumer protection. I personally feel that choosing a reputable company is like playing Russian Roullette.

Rini...I am sorry if I didn't understand the research you had done...have you contacted them and talked to them about the fact that they did not do what they said they would??

Morningstarr - It's okay. I was actually signing up with Freedom debt relief. They are a member of the TASC, the BBB, and whatever that credit rating thing for businesses is. All their links work on their website for those "credentials". Anyway, I googled the heck out of them and they came back clean. So I talked to this guy via e-mail who works for them and he told me all kinds of great things and answered all of my questions.
What was strange, however, was that when he sent me the contracts to sign they all said "Century Negotiations Inc" on them. I looked them up as well and they came back clean as well.
I was confused at first... but then I just shrugged it off as they were the same company.
The guy that I had been talking to said in an e-mail that he looked forward to working with me.
But then when I had a problem with a creditor (my bank) immediately after signing up... he refused to talk to me any more. He said that it wasn't his job and that I needed to call THIS number. The number he gave me was for the CNI service center.

I apologize if I made anyone jump to conclusions with my first post. I left things out because it seemed like it was soooooo long. LOL!

Oops... and oh yes, I will be filing a complaint.

This post is a fine example of why you should stay in school passed the sixth grade. This is one of the poorest written posts I have ever read and on top of that the advice given is to not seek help (i.e. advice). I think I will follow your advice and not seek help from you.

Hey Dave... sorry to bring this up again. But why isn't the logo for TASC an active link on CNI's website? It's an active link on Freedom debt relief's site, and if you'll read my posts you will see I contacted Freedom Debt Relief and got Century Negotiations. I don't see the connection here... are they the same company?

if you go to tascsite.org you can see that they are a active memeber of tasc

Dave, I'm sorry but I don't see Century Negotiations on the TASC website anywhere.

David Leuthold is President and CEO of Century Negotiations, Inc. and also heads up UCAN, the United Consumer Advocacy Network. David is serving his second term as the elected Vice President of TASC. Call tasc or email them and they will confirm

Rini...did you ever get a hold of anyone at the company to explain why they were not doing what they said they would...I find it odd that guy said it wasn't his "job". I am in debt management and I email/call my counselor about every little issue and she has always answered or found an answer for me within a day. I hope you can get this resolved soon...:)

Morningstar, I have not called the company yet to ask for my refund. An attorney advised me to first make sure that they could not receive any more money... so I closed the checking account that they were drawing their payments from. Then I sent them a formal letter via certified mail. I have not received confirmation yet... but when I know that they have received the letter, then I will call them.
If they refuse to acknowledge my concerns... then I'll report them.
They haven't refused to do anything yet... so I guess I cannot jump to conclusions that they are a horrible company. Especially since it seems there are quite a few satisfied customers. I just don't understand why they didn't even inform any of my creditors that I was on a settlement program. I was under the impression that they were going to contact my creditors and let them know what was going on. And then if the creditors "needed" something, then they would call them and not me. It does say in the fine print of the contract that the possibility of being sued is still there and cannot be entirely eliminated... but I feel that their website and the person who signed me up were VERY misleading about how the whole program works. I feel I was lied to... and that's not right.

Well, maybe it is something siple...a glitch...I know when I started with my company I was in constant contact with my couselor and then all of a sudden nothing! I waited a few days and then called to complain,... (this was right at the beginning when everyone was calling and I was waiting for my proposal letters to go out)...I found out the person I was working with had an emergency early delivery of her baby and they were dispersing her clients to other people! The one I finally got 2 days later I even liked better so it all worked out.

That is great morningstarr, who are you with? I am considering something like that for a few other items on a credit report so that we can buy a house next year.

Wow... sounds like you ended up with a great company. The one I signed up with doesn't have people with assigned clients... although I thought they did until I was told by the guy who signed me up to basically leave him alone. Everyone has to call this customer service center and you get a different person each time. Perhaps I jumped the gun a bit... but what else was I supposed to do? I was about to be sued... and no, it was NOT just a threat. They were 100% serious... and the lawsuit was getting ready to be filed. This whole time the company promised that they would have someone call me so that they could help me. It took them 2 weeks to call me back... and then all they had was a stupid letter to the attorney telling them that they wanted to "work something out". Yeah, like that was going to work... the attorney's office told me quite bluntly that they DO NOT settle under any circumstances. So I had to go to my bank and beg for mercy... that's when they told me to get out of the program as soon as I could, otherwise my credit was going to go completely down the toilet (despite the guy who signed me up telling me that my credit would be good again once the program had been completed in 3 years).

In doing research for a way out before I found this site...I found an organization that lists or regulates credit counselors...I looked for the link and unfortunately I can't find it...I must have deleted it. But similar to on here...it links you with qualified places in your area. The place I am working with is out of Indianapolis. I listed my CC debt and my medical with them...and also the 3 ipdls I still owed principle on...the ones I overpaid I help out to fight once I found this site.

Can anyone reccomend a good settlement company, that doesn't charge u a 'arm and a leg' for the program?? I don't have credit debt, just deliquent loans, etc, from the past. Any good suggestions?

I was wondering if anyone out there could recommend a reputable company that settles debt without ripping
you off. I just heard about CNI and I heard that they
have lots of satisfied customers. What do you think?
:wink:

century negotiations or should I say Dave Leuthold, as of 2 years ago, was in debt to his clients trust account close to 750k. You pay into a client trust with this company and your money is available to the owners. I was informed by a very reliable source that Dave Leuthold was in the hole big time to his clients. Do not go with this company.

Morningstar can you tell us who you are using? If need be I will sign in and pm you to find out...I would really appreciate the information...

Really need it badly..

thanks!

I signed up with sifxpert because his company actually gets positive feedback on several forums not just here. His company also does not charge a set up fee and offers a gurantee that you will not settle a debt higher than 55% or their is no fee.

No set up fee, no monthly service fee and a guarantee of no higher than 55% plus in his contract it says if client is sued, and legal representation is necessary, it is provided at no cost to you the client.

Someone asked in a previous post for a referral to a company that wont rip you off. You are guaranteed not to get ripped off by this company since they are paid a 20% fee on the amount you save on a settlement.

He has all his bases covered no question. I will say though that their customer service is not very available but when you take into consideration that their fees are at least half of anyone else I contacted, its not so bad after all. Especially once settlements start which was 4 months for me. I'm enrolled for 10 months now and I am almost done with 60,000.00 in credit cards. I've only paid 8,000.00 so far and only another 4,000.00 more to go. They only take accounts over 50 or 75,000.00 worth of debt though.

Email sifxpert or debtxpert if you call, leave a message. I think there is an answering service now but before you could never get anyone to answer. This scared me at first but they've done an exceptional job.

Rini_K and others like her...

First off...you want to stay out of financial trouble, pay your bills. It's that easy!!!

As to Century Negotiations, I have been in the finance/debt settlement industry for several years. They are reputable, they do work, and they'll obtain results for you. I strongly recommend, however, that you do these 3 things: 1)Research anything thoroughly before making a decision. 2)READ YOUR CONTRACT - so many individuals do NOT read the very contract that they are signing and then simply "cannot understand" why a program or service is not working the way that they thought it would be - Save some on the stupidity level and read the piece of paper you're affixing your John Hancock to. 3)Do not set unrealistic expectations.

Most likely, it took you several years to get into the size of debt that you find yourself in. And the size of this debt can vary from one individual to the other. It can take several months or years to get out of it. Yes, it can seem like you aren't getting anywhere or that the credit card companies are contacting you quite a bit. They are collectors. THAT'S WHAT THEY DO!!! Familiarize yourself with the Fair Debt Collection Protection Act. Then you'll know what the credit card companies and/or collection agencies can and cannot do. A lot of what they state over the phone ARE SCARE TACTICS. Convey those conversations back to your settlement company. Work with them. Don't just assign your debt to them and think that your responsibility towards it is over. Although, also keep in mind that you are under NO obligation to take those calls in the first place. Realize that being in a debt settlement company has NO bearing on your credit card interest rate, what the creditor can/can't do in terms of obtaining satisfaction for a debt, etc. Yes, the creditors can pursue the collection act aggressively. Yes, they can sue you. As I stated, I have been in the debt settlement business for several years. Creditors do NOT sue after several weeks. Typically suit is NOT filed except as a last resort, usually after an account has reached a severely delinquent charge-off period. It costs your original creditors money as well to flie suit as they must retain a legal entity in order to do so. The debt settlement company can still negotiate on that debt for you if suit or arbitration has been filed. Even if a judgment is obtained, most of these companies can still negotiate the debt for you. In my experience, too many clients rely largely on the "assign it and forget it" tactic. You put yourself in the situation in the first place. Step up and take some responsibility towards resolving it. Do not blame the settlement company because you waited until your debt was severely delinquent before attempting to find a solution.

In addition, I strongly urge you to remember that 9 times out of 10 the individual that is signing you up on the program is a SALESPERSON!!! They are not negotiatiors, they are not customer service reps, etc. Most salespeople will promise you the kitchen sink, the moon, and the whole caboodle. It is these individuals who widely give bad names to debt settlement companies because clients joining are so gung-ho about a "quick fix" that they fail to realize that they are going through the sales pitch.

Oh, and if any of the words are too large for you to comprehend, I suggest that you first consult a dictionary and assist yourself. Do not blame the computer for speaking in a language above you...

collector - Total Bull. Quit scaring people unneedlessly. Yes, there are disreputable companies, but if it's unsecured debt you can't lose your assets - that's why it's called UNSECURED.

well the only bad thing that we found out when settling was the tax that you have to pay when you do your taxes for that year.

I should also say that when we tried to do a debt settlement with a agency we did the math and we were better off trying to settle with the company. They didnt tell us that the amount that we did not pay to the Credit card companies we would have to claim on our taxes as income I found that out on my own when went to work for a accoutant. But we only settled with one credit card before we found out that we had to pay taxes on what we did not pay them for.

Legal Eagle- you bring some valid points up, such as checking out any agency. But I need to tell you that personal attacks will not be tolerated on the Forums.

There is no need to put another down, if what you are saying is the truth..

Legal Eagle - Spare us your judgmentalism. People's reasons for getting into financial problems aren't usually issues of moral weakness or integrity, so the "just pay your bills, it's that simple" comment was overly simplistic. If that makes you feel better, I hope you never have a catastrophic medical illness, are out of work through no fault of your own for any length of time, are victims of a scam, go through a divorce, etc., etc. Your remarks at the end were totally innapropriate. Who are you to judge people you know nothing about??

What a hot topic!

We too have gone through debt settlement and like the post before, used Sifxpert and would highly recommend him to anyone. I looked at several companies before deciding to go this route. I liked the fact that he understood that our money couldn't be going to fees--we needed it for settling our accounts. I had one company tell me that they could drag this out for five years. That's not true; we would have been sued for sure had we tried that and I know now that they had to have known that. We are still in the program but are just months from settling tens of thousands of dollars. The relief is enormous.

As far as paying taxes on what was written off: there's more to that than is here. Are you insolvent? Do you have more debt than assets? If you are and fill out the right paperwork to prove it, you won't have to pay taxes. Do the research! It's worth your time.

Hey all...I'm a suit negotiator with a debt settlement company and Legal Eagle makes a very valid point which Brian in Oregon is inccorect about. Even though card card debt (and bank loans, etc) are known as "unsecured debt", your creditors can sue you.

Typically this is a last resort, when the process of "normal collection" has not worked. It is, however, a very serious matter. About 99.9% of the time, your debt settlement company's legal dept can resolve this files for you. It is important to know that if an account goes without any resolution, that several things can occur. Now, these things (enforcements of judgment) are dependent upon which state you reside in. For example, Texas and Florida are "debt friendly" states. It takes quite a lot to enforce a judgment in these states. Other states, such as New York and Ohio, however, are very aggressive about debt collection. If you find yourself having suit filed against you or an arbitration complaint, consult the laws in your state regarding enforcements (wage garnishment, bank levy/attachment, property lien, fifa, etc.) Not all are do-able in all states, but if you find yourself in that situation, do the research!!! You'll save yourself a boat load of worry and anxiety if you research everything up front!!! Feel free to post other questions you may have about the collection/resolution process. I check this forum out periodically and being in the business, I'm happy to pass my knowledge on if it helps another.

Suit Negotiator - thanks for those tips. You sound like you know your stuff. Please contribute more tips for those of us in need :lol:

hi Suit Negotiator. I just signed with Credit One debt solutions. I live in VA and have 8 credit cards all less than 30 days past due. I am doing a settlement and was wondering how the settlement co decides which credit card co gets their money first. What does the cc co thats last to be paid do in the mean time? My plan is for 3 yrss. thanks!

Hi stray cat-if you've just started the debt settlement program, then the funds available are probably limited. Most likely, your settlement co is starting with the smallest 1 first. From there, it could go in many directions. Negotiations and settlements are dependent upon how aggressive your creditors are. For example, Cap One, Bank of America, Disc, HSBC...those are all more aggressive. As your funds accumulate, you'll find that settlements go 1 of 2 ways: 1)How aggressive your creditor is being in wanting their money and/or 2)What is the best deal that your settlement co can get for you. For example, if you have a BOA card around $4500 and your settlement company can settle it for $2000 and the funds are available to do as a lump sum or even in parts, they will take that settlement for you...even if there is a smaller acct on the program.

Let me know if you have other questions and best of luck!! :-)

thanks Suit Negotiator! That info really helps. I actually got my first call since not making cc pymts. It was from HSBC and I told them I was trying to avoid BK and was doing a debt settlement. She immediately offered a 60% settlement. I didnt accept it since I was tld not to accept anything without going through the debt settlement co first. I was very surprised how nice the lady was and how quickly she offered a settlement. :shock:

'[font=Arial][/font][color=Black][/color][size=3][/size]Guest: I am not quite sure where you got your information, but, as a former customer of CNI, your money is put into a kind of "escrow" account. Noteworld holds your money for a $50 monthly fee. Yes, you do pay CNI up front for doing all the work and Noteworld gets their cut too. But did you really expect them to do it for free? They settled two cc''s for me, well under the balance of each but the last CC was unwilling to settle under any terms. In a matter of two years they had 5 different attorneys or collection companies so it made negotiation very difficult. I had to drop out of the program when papers were filed for court. I now have an attorney working on the case. Wish me luck!')

I'm sure there may be a few reputable settlement companies out there, but trying to wade thru all off the scams to find them just doesn't seem worth it.

I got burned by two, which I had thoroughly checked out. I even checked the second company out with their state's AG office, BBB, etc., and they a good record, but still turned out to be just like the rest, and only now are the complaints starting to surface.

Anyway, it is possible to settle debts on your own. I was made to believe that only debt negotiators could successfully accomplish this, but later learned that isn't true. Sure, there may be some creditors who state they will not settle, so you just tell them you are moving on to another creditor who will. They want some money, so they are usually more willing to talk.

I was able to settle 2 of my debts for less than the settlement company quoted me they negotiated settlements for, so I felt really stupid for even wasting my time and money going the settlement route to begin with.

Hi Medusa-
Shame an account went legal - those creditors can be rough. CNI may not have attorneys on staff, but they can negotiate those legal accounts for you. As to the NoteWorld fee - that amount differs dependent upon the company you first signed up with. For example, were you a Pacific Debt client or Federal debt relief client? Those are different companies that "sell" a debt settlement program and then direct their clients to CNI to negotiate the debts. That's where a lot of the miscommunication comes from - because those initial companies only sell you the program. They do none of the actual negotiating or servicing of the account. I've heard a wide range of information that they provide - seems like they try to sell you everything and the kitchen sink to get you to sign up.

Anyways, good luck with everything!

hi everyone,
i signed up with global solution network llc and century negotiations inc almost one year ago. they promised me to pay off my credit cards (i have 2) in two years. i would have to pay $320 every months for two years.
a few weeks ago one of my credit cards started to call trying to collect dept. i told them that i am working with century negotiations inc. so to make my story short, century negotiations had never contacted my credit cards. so i called them to find out what was going on. they told me that they are collecting my payments so when they will have enough then they will contact my creditors to make a deal. honestly, i could do it myself. the representative told me that it, actually, might take more than two years to pay off my cards. and when i read contract more carefully it said that "cni makes no predictions, promises, or representations as to the outcome of fits services.....to reduce or eliminate client's dept... result may vary." however, when we talked they told me that in 2 years my credit cards will be paid off.
meanwhile, this will be the second year i will not see my tax return. i would already pay off my credit card by myself.
i have 3 credit cards (about $7,000 together). i stopped paying them because my daughter was diagnosed with cancer and couldn't handle it.
please help me, anybody! i need an advise. i don't know what to do.

Lily , did you actually read your contracts when you signed them. CNI is a member of TASC and with that being said they have all of the necessary disclosures on the contract written in layman's terms . No offense but is seems you really didn't do any research on debt settlement process. No settlement company can promise exact results and any that does is lying. CNI is one of the best settlement companies in the industry. As a matter of fact you would be surprised how many settlement companies out there that pay CNI to do their negotiations for them.

that is one of my top 10s to ask a company, do you outsource your clients? or are they negotiated from your office. Why should you have to call around to find out whats going on with your accounts? You sign on with a company that is who you should call. This im hearing is happening alot.

But there is such negative things here in this forum about companies. And im sure alot of them are bad or scammers. But there are good legit settlement companies i used one. They flat out told me from the beginning about what could happen.

I almost didnt join because i was so scared to get sued. It took me about a month to finally decide i had no choice. and in the end i got sued by citibank my smallest account. But i wasnt angry. I went into the program knowing the facts knowing what could have happend and was pretty pleased with the results in the end it was almost perfect. Not easy but the results were

Honesty outside of getting sued by citibank it would have been perfect. But at the time they were being a real pain in the butt and no one was getting settlements from them. But im hearing know that they are getting better about it.

Dont loose faith in a company if you feel that is whats best for you. If you know all the facts about settlement and how it works, you can then search a company. And if you know the facts about settlement you will know if they are lieng to you or preparing to scam you and if they are run. Keep this in mind

NO SETTLEMENT COMPANY CAN PROMISE YOU ANYTHING ONLY PROMISE TO DO A GOOD JOB. THEY CANT PROMISE TIME, CANT PROMISE YOU WONT GET SUED, CANT PROMISE THAT THE CALLS WILL COMPLETELY STOP, CANT PROMISE A CERTAIN SETTLEMENT AMOUNT, CANT PROMISE ANYTHING ONLY THAT IT SHOULD BE DONE BY 2 YEARS OR WE WILL TRY TO SETTLE ALL YOUR ACCOUNTS FOR AROUND $$$$. but nothing is written in stone. You cant force a creditor to settle for a certain amount or certain time limit