Signed up with Care One, feeling good

Congratulations! Its the best thing you couldve done.

Hi,
What is the fee for the Persels & associates? and may I ask which state? thanks!

I wish you the best.

I'm not sure what your fee would be. They charge a percentage of your total debt. The website is careonecredit.com The lady I spoke to for my consultation was super nice and answered every one of my questions.

Thanks Unclewulf. I know its really going to be hard and we are definitely going to have to cut back. Since I can't work (too pregnant!) I am working online at home and earning about an extra $100 a week. Anything is better than nothing. I just want the debts gone and to stop worrying about the collectors calling me and my family. I just want to be able to have my baby in peace.

I think they are fradulent, I have them for 5 months and now I'm being sued. You're better off negotiating the debts yourself. check out the BBB.

I had them for 5 months now, and I think its best you cancel your account, as now I'm being sued.

what are the top 10 credit card debt consolidation companies

Kara ,Are you referring to a debt settlement or credit counseling company ? Both types are forms of consolidation. Either way the answer to your question would be a matter of opinion. I suggest you research the company you are considering doing business with. When researching a debt management company I would first and foremost check them out with the BBB and make sure they are either members of at least have a good track record. I would also see if they are members of TASC or USOBA.

As far as checking out a credibility of a credit counseling company also check them out with the BBB. I also suggest you make sure they are a 501(c) 3 Non profit Company and ISO Certified. In order for a credit counseling company to receive benefits such as reduced interest rates, waiving late fees, etc from the creditors, the agency must have its 501(c) 3 Non profit business license and be ISO certified. Typically if a company does not have this license, they are unable to receive the benefits for their clients. It also would be a good idea to see if they are a member of American Association of debt management Organizations.

There are good companies ou there. I researched many companies and found that they all want up front fees. I found Clear Choice debt relief and they charge their fees over the entire duration of the program. Letting you save money to settle much quicker in my opinion. They even offered a money back guarantee if they didnt settle in the first year. Wouldnt hurt to check em out. Just my opinion. Oh and they are members of TASC.

Clear Choice debt relief " aka Clear Choice Credit & Counsulting LLC "

1750 Blankenship Road, Suite 430
West Linn, OR 97068

I could not find the report for them on the BBB at all so I assume they are a brand new company so they really haven`t been around long enough to have a good or bad track record. The fact they are members of TASC is good but that would not be the only deciding factor when choosing a debt settlement company. It has happened in the past where settlement companies have joined TASC to look more credible to sell their program , only to get kicked out later for not following the TASC Bylaws. I am not saying they are good or bad. I am just saying that they have not been around long enough to develop a good or bad reputation.

well there is one thing very clear, collection companies will sue you and they will get thier money make no mistake about that.just as soon as you realize this the sooner you can negoziate a deal with your creditors but do not pay more than you can afford the bottom line.careone can settle some accouts, but more than likely you will have court dates coming,

I was with Care One Credit, at first i tried to negotiate lower payments. However, Care One later referred me to Persels and Associates Rhutherford and Associates are a similar company that is affiliated with Care one. After being with them for 6 months i was sued by 2 of my 4 creditors. I have civil judgments against me and was forced to go bankrupt. i stuck with them through the suits and was on a settlement plan with for a little over a year; but things became too troublesome legally and i was in a good bit of trouble as was my property, etc due to the judgments. I canceled my account with Persels. Unfortunately, off the money i paid to Persels, which was a little over $4000 , i only received $450 back, when I quit the program. It was my fault for not reading the fine print of the contract, however, I also look at them as person who take advantage of a person already in a dire financial situation.

In short, PERSELS and Associates was an expensive waste of money, about $3800 wasted to be exact!

Beware of this company, you can do the same thing on your own, just buy a book about debt settlement.

The legal representation they send you are fill in the blank letters that you forward to the lawyers suing you.

Hi JJ Sanders,

Did you end up settling the accounts on your own? If so, were you successful?

what is ISO, 501(c), TASC, USOBA?

for those who were with persels & associates and got sued, if you don't mind me asking, how much did you owe total? i just enrolled with them through careone but reading these reviews, im kind of worried now.

Every single settlement company that has operated for at least a year or more has had clients get sued. No settlement company can promise to you that you won't, and if they do than they are lying. They have a C- rating with the BBB which is about as high as a settlement company can get without paying their BBB membership dues. TASC has a nice long article about this.

Quote:

I have been working with this company for four months now and they have done nothing for me except get me deeper into a hole!! I finally called Chase, one of my creditors, myself just a bit ago after reading all of the comments on the internet to ask them if they had any information regarding this program I have been in. The woman I spoke with was super nice, even though I am very , very behind on payments and owe so much. By the end of the conversation Chase negotiated with me themselves, out of 12,000 I am going to pay back 6,000 at a 6% interest rate. The woman said that she had never heard of Persels and Associates but she had received phone calls from other customers who had dealt with other settlement companies who were not honest!! Persels and Associates should be ashamed of themselves and sooner or later they will reap what they sew!!! :roll:

They are a effin rip off.... I am actually on hold with them right now. When I signed up I was told that there was a 5% legal fee that I would be charged it turns out that I have been paying way more than that I have been paying them $262 a month for 5 months now and I olny have $180 in my account. Not to metion the only thing that they have done with my creditors in the past five months is send them one letting telling them to direct all phone calls to them. Thats it so all of the things I had left that were not in collection are now in collections. Presels is nothing but a rip off do NOT ever have them represent you!!!

They also do dmp programs i am with them and the dmp program is wonderful! The debt settlement is terrible from what i here. Debt settlement does not mean you will not be sued, more than likely you will be, and that is the bottom line.
I would never go with a settlement program of any kind if you are going to do that might as well save the money yourself, save the attorney fees and take your chances to me it is the same thing and you save yourself a bucket of money!
Just my opinion!

I was referred to Persels & Associates through Care One Credit in Feb 2009. Long story short, I was with Care One for almost 1 year and doing really well on their program. Things got tight around the holidays, my hours at work became less and I contacted Care One to let them know I could not make the next payment, as my rent took priority.

Care One was great and understanding, then thought I'd do better working with Persels... After going through my finances with me they were able to knock down my monthly payments from the $293/month ( which I was paying to Care One) down to $111.60/month!

Sounds great right! To good to be true, as I thought that money Persels was taking out of my account each month was going to the 4 creditors on my new plan... That was not the case as I found out 90 days later when all 4 creditors were calling me everyday, 3-5 times a day!

All saying the same thing, that they had not received a payment since January 2009 (my last payment with Care One).
During this time Persels tells me don't worry, we have sent out Cease and Desist orders and they (creditors) should stop calling you.. Persels wanted me to tell the creditors to contact them if they started asking me to make a payment...

So here I am, going around and around with HSBC and Capital One, telling them that Persels has taken 3 payments of $111.60 and they are the ones making my payments... Seems no one was updating my credit report showing that payments were being made... I later did some research, and found many post saying the same thing about Persels...

I decided to call Persels and cancel my plan with them... of the 3 payments they took out, I was refunded $32.00. Persels took their share for helping me get further into debt! I was at least making my monthly minimum before, never late...

Thanks for NOTHING!

the program works. its that simple. persels if you LISTENED WHEN CARE ONE AND PERSELS SPOKE TO YOU. They do not make payments until they negotiate a settlement with your creditor. I have been on the program for 3 months and my lawyer has already negotiated settlements with two accounts. Its a law firm you dopes. They tell you that there is always the possibility to get sued. Listening is key. They also tell you that if you get sued you will be ok. They will help you with your defense. Life is all about making decisions that fit you best. If you aren't going to listen to what people tell you then maybe you need a hearing aid. In time if you stick with the program your creditors will work out a settlement with persels.

some creditors will push your accounts into legal status FASTER when they find out you're working with an agency. it's much better to attempt settlement on your own. plus, you'll save SO much money.

nortonsfury: Quote:

I'm a debt collector that has heard much of CareOne and Persels and Associates LLC. They are just an example of how all of these Settlement companies and Consolodation company's are jumping on the economy bandwagon. After the initial 60-90 days after you breach your contract and your account gets closed by the credit grantor. There will be hardship options for lower interest repayment, and the same "settlements" they get, you can yourself. Average pre charge off for cc's is 70%. Right now, Offer 50% let them counter, don't tell them you have assets, just say your looking into things. We get paid to call you, don't waste your money with these fraudulant companies. Always check the BBB!!

I want to make this clear for everyone no settlement company can do a better job than you can do for yourself, but some people just do not feel comfortable or for whatever reason cannot do this themselves. either way you can get sued period. my personal situation i used a company and yes i did get sued by 1 card. out of allot of accounts so i didnt seem to think that is too bad considering the amount of debt i had and that card would not settle at all period. not even a little. not even after the judgement some just do not negotiate at all they want what they want period but then again that was 5 years ago the economy is different and i havent been on the forum that much this summer to see how negotiations are goin for people. If you are unsure as to how to go about settling these accounts there are some great posts on doin it yourself here. good luck!

While they negotiate with one card company the other 8-10 continue to be tagged with 30% interest and late fees. Then you get sued multiple times and have to assume bankruptcy. Care One and Persels is a ripoff. The attorney general needs to investigate.

The only way the Attorney General is likely to take an interest in these companies is if the people having trouble with them complain.

Persels does for you what their contract says they'll do. Nothing. However, prior to that, you have fairly positive experiences with Care One. They refer you to the Silver tongue salesman at Persels who promises you the moon. When you ask questions, he/she tells you what you want to hear. When you receive the contract it is long and wordy. If you ask questions, they say, "Well, that is just to protect us if...but that probably won't happen." "Here's what happens on our plan." "Now sign on the dotted line." If you would go with Persels after all you've read, I've got some oceanview property in AZ to sell you as well.

Quote:

I am also on DSP with Persels.. I started Jan. 10, and just last Friday received a confirmation for my 4th settled account. Yes, I pay them fees that I can save by doing it myself but honestly, I'm willing to pay someone to deal with that heart ache. Now that I'm laid off, I may have the time to do it myself but until I get going, I have to state that I have been VERY happy with Persels.

I've been with Persels for nearly 2 years. My attorney is great and they've done everything they've promised to do. Yes, they do take their fees our upfront for the first 18 months, but they explained that to me before I committed. So far, they have settled two of my five credit card balances for 30-40% of the original balance. Overall, even with the fees paid to Persels, I'm come out of this mess in 5 years having paid less than I would have if I tried to keep up with the individual credit card payments.


I think the success of Persels might depend on the state in which you love. I live in Oregon and my attorney has been fantastic! And the relief of having someone else deal with the the credit card companies has been worth the money.

Oops! Should be state in which you "live" not "love". typo.

I have been with Persels for over 2 years and frankly I'm not happy with what they've accomplished in that time. They have taken $3,111 in fees and paid off two smaller credit cards. I've just discovered that they paid them off at the full balance, hence saving me NOTHING! I was sued by one of the other credit card companies this summer.....had to go to court alone twice and judgement was for the credit card company for nearly $1,000 more than my initial balance with them. I have 3 other cards that they are supposed to be working on, but the credit card companies have not heard a word from them....no negotiating has been done at all. I am going to cancel my agreement and get my over $2,100 that is sitting in my account back and deal with the credit card companies my self. Thanks for nothing persels.....you just cost me a boat load more!!!:mad:

I had two cases go to court while with Persels. One was for $9000 and one was for $15,000. Persels kept wanting me to find ways to prolong the cases, which is very stressful. They were not able to settle the accounts because I only had ~$600 built up in my Persels account.

They told me If I did not file a motion to dismiss and prolong the case that the only options were to either pay the full amount over 36 months (if the creditor accepts that) or for the case to go to court and get my wages garnished. I called the creditor myself and settled the smaller debt for $5000 and had to cash in my retirement and take an early withdrawal.

The larger case is going to court in two weeks. If they allow them to garnish my wages 25% (which is the maximum amount) I will have to file bankruptcy.

I'm not sure what to do at this point and I definitely don't think that Persels cares either way what happens to me or my paycheck.

It seems silly now, but I really thought they would supply me with an attorney, not just a phone call with an attorney.

I used Persels & Associates for 8 months. I thought I was doing great by taking control of my debt. I began paying them $647 a month with $545 going to them for their fees. After two months on their "plan" a man came to my door and served me court papers saying that I was being sued by Citi Bank...I signed and the guy said "have a nice day". I called Persels and one of their "people" said they would connect me to the lawyer that was assigned to my case. I talked with the attorney and he told me how to go about with an "answer" to the suit. I did this and waited and went through the process. In the end, I got a judgement against me, then the garnishments began. So, I talked to the attorney again and he actually recommended Bankruptcy because that's the only way I could receive protection against my wages being garnished and the possiblity of being sued by another creditor...which I did get sued by another. So, I ended up canceling with Persels...received only $816 back that was in my escrow. Now I going through the Bankruptcy process with a local attorney. I will be contacting the Attorney General. These companies are fraudulant and should be ILLEGAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall, the company is not a scam, they are simply expensive. You first pay them, monthly. After you finish paying them off (a few months) Then you start putting money,monthly into a savings account. Once they feel like youve put enough money into the account, they start calling the creditor and start negotiating with them to see if they would settle for a lesser amount. I owed $12,000 on a credit card, and Persels had it settled for $3,000. Ridiculously low right? It was a great feeling once I knew i was no longer in dept, after making so many $150 payments a month ( $150 was all I could afford). HOWEVER... I would not go to this kind of company again,only because I know now that I can negotiate my settlement myself. I can just call any company i owe money to and tell them I dont have it all and that I want to settle it for a smaller amount. But oh well... lesson learned. thanx persels and associates:)