Debt Settlement America

Debt Settlement America is a debt negotiation company and has got a "F" rating from BBB. The rating is very poor. You can look up at the BBB report here.

Debt Settlement America is an member of The Association of Settlement Companies or TASC. The BBB pretty much started poorly rating almost all debt settlement companies because they don't like the industry. The few debt settlement companies that have good ratings are because they paid the BBB memeber ship dues and that specific BBB franchise chose to ignore the universal BBB rating in order to collect more memeber ship dues. Here is a link to the article from TASC. Its a letter from Christopher Kesterson, CEO of Debt Settlement America, written on behalf of TASC to the BBB. The BBB is a business that basically operates like the MOB. Pay for our memebership or else get a bad rating. Ripoffreport.com has an interesting article exposing the BBB scam. I used to think highly of the BBB until they recently tried to extort my company out of BBB membership dues. The BBB is still a useful tool to see if they is an unusual pattern of complaints but I would ignore the Letter rating because its biased.

Mobile, that's an eye opener. I would be a bit cautious about the BBB rating in the future. So, what do you think should be the parameters of judging a debt settlement company? I mean, what are the things one should see before selecting a settlement company?

Even though I now think the Better Business Bureau sucks I still suggest checking a company out with the BBB to making sure they don't have an unusual amount of complaints with the BBB. Take into account how long the company has been in business. Also make sure that any and all of the complaints with the BBB we resolved. Just ignore the letter rating. I also check to make sure they are members of TASC " The Association of Settlement Companies." Just because a settlement company is not a member of TASC doesn't necessarily discredit them but being a member is a pretty good indicator of a legit settlement company. If they are not a member of TASC at least see if they are a member if USOBA " United States Organizations for Bankruptcy Alternatives". I would also suggest calling the Attorney General's office in the state the settlement company is located in to see if they have any issues with that company or any pattern of complaints.

Thanks for the information Mobile. That is definitely an eye-opener. I also found a good article written by Jason in DebtCC blog on: -

Best Debt Settlement Companies - How to choose the best out of the lot?

Thanks for the help my friend. Proud to be your friend and a part of this great community. :D

I asked Debt settlement America to help me settle some medical bills I had. DSA told me that they could reduce my debt by 40-60%. After I was six months into the deal with them they told me medical bills don't typically settle for the same amounts as other types of debt. It was a disaster. I ended up settling for about 90%. DSA is not an honest company. They were not honest with me from the very beginning. I have complained to them many times to no avail. The BBB gives this company an F rating for a good reason. They have earned it.

the main thing in looking at the bbb for help is to disregaurd the rating and be sure that all complaints are resolved. If they are resolved than they did as promised. We have all pretty much agreed here on this forum that the bbb, has not acted properly in informing people but it can still be used as a tool, if you disregaurd the rating.