Stratton and Feinstein Debt Settlement

YOU NEVER WANT TO DO "DEBT SETTLEMENT". YOU ARE PAYING A COMPANY TO DO SOMETHIG FOR YOU THATS IS A FREE SERVICE. ALL CREDITORS OFFER SETTLEMENTS AND DO THEM FOR FREE. YOU MAY NOT BE ELIGIBLE RIGHT AWAY FOR A SETTLMENT BUT IT IS ALWAYS AN OPTION. THE CREDITOR MAY FORWARD YOUR ACCOUNTS TO THERE LEGAL DEPT'S AND HAVETHE ATTORNEY'S DEAL WITH THEM BUT KEEP IN MIND THERE TERMS ARE NOT FLEXIBLE AND THEY CAN GARNISH WAGES AND PLACE LIENS ON PROPERTY AT THAT POINT. "DEBT MANAGEMENT" IS VERY DIFFERENT IT IS CREDIT COUNSELING THAT WILL WORK WITH ALL CREDITORS TO REDUCE MINIMUM MONTHLY PAYMENTS AND APR'S TO SOMETHING YOU CAN AFFORD TO BE FREE OF DEBT IN 7 YEARS OR LESS (DEPENDING ON THE SITUTAION) TYPICALLY 5 YEARS OR LESS THOUGH. I WORK FOR A BANK AS A CUSTOMER ADVOCATE AND I DEAL WITH CUSTOMERS WHO CALL ME EVERYDAY BEGGING AND PLEADING TO TAKE THERE ACCOUNTS BACK AFTER THEY HAVE ENTERED INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH A SETTLEMENT AGENCY BECAUSE THEY WERE EITHER TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF OR THE CUSTOMER CANNOT AFFORD TO DO WHAT THE ATTORNEY IS ASKING AND THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. BEFORE WORKING WITH ANY 3RD PARTY YOU SHOULD ALWAYS CONTACT THE CREDITOR ND TRY TO WORK INTERNALLY. IF THAT IS NOT AN OPTION YOU SHOULD TRY DEBT MANAGEMENT, SETTLE WITH COMPANY INTERNALLY, AND LAST OPTION SHOULD BE BKO. I HOPE THIS INFO HELPS ANYONE AND EVERYONE! SETTLEMENT COMPANIES DO NOT HAVE THE CUSTOMER'S BEST INTEREST AT HAND...FOR INSTANCE YOU MAYHAVE 10k IN DEBT THE AGENCY WILL SAY WE CAN "REDUCE" YOUR BALANCES TO 6k. YOU PAY THEM THE 6k + FEES AND THEY HAVE ACTUALLY WAITED UNTIL YOUR ACCOUNTS HAVE BEEN SOLD TO A COLLECTION AGENCY AND SETTLE THE ACTUAL DEBT FOR 3.5k AND POCKET THE REST OF YOUR MONEY. IF YOU CAN PAY A 3RD PARTY YOU CAN MOST LIKELY PAY A REDUCED MMP TO HAVE YOU DEBT PAID OFF OVERTIME WHILE ALSO REBUILDING YOUR CREDIT. AGAIN I HOPE THIS HELPS.

Im sorry i used some bank terms, if not sure what bko is it is bankruptcy.

And mmp is mininmum monthly payment. Also just so that you are aware settlements remain on your credit report for 7-10 years. It is almost as bad as foreclosure. What it shows creditors is that you were extended a certain amount of money and you were not willing to pay it back in full and that may cause future creditors to not want to extend you any crdit for what ever reason..refi, car loan, cell phone etc. Anything that involves credit basically. I am going to sign up on this site so if anyone has questions i would be glad to answer.

They need to be reported to the FTC,BBB, or Consumer affairs for fraud.

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Bunch of bologna!!! You take people's money and dont do anything for them.

i have been with Stratton & Feinstein PA for 2 months now i am kinda worried its a scam. I have creditors call me. I am just worried about it! Can someone help

the miami office is flooded with all these complaints. if you cannot reach someone you must keep trying. the real stratton and feinstein is a victim of an unscrupulous company just as all the clients are. if your look at your bank statements you will see that your money was being pulled out of your account by a different company - the one pretending to be stratton & feinstein. the law firm appears to be willing to help those that need the help, but, understandably, it will require some patience.

i would still no matter what file complaints with every agency there is. we need to stop the scammers so that real people quit getting ripped off. obviously your finances are not the best as it is let alone getting all you have left stolen

[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]i had been trying to reach someone by phone for nearly three weeks when i said enough is enough. i live in south florida so I actually went to their office in miami beach. I was pissed as hell and i was not planning on leaving until they gave me back every penny i paid AT LEAST. with all thats happened and all of this "scam" and when i get there i cant believe a real law firm with real people. 3 minutes after talking to one of the attorneys i just bursted into tears. i knew - i mean i KNEW - that the firm's name was being dragged through the mud and the firm was not the one that did this to me. once i got it together they actually explained to me the process. the real process. not the lies i was fed by the people pretending to be them. they actually took the time to explain to me how a modification works and what was going to happen with my foreclosure because this whole thing has pushed me in foreclosure. i understand that i may not qualify for a loan modification because I don’t have a job. but at least they will be helping me in the foreclosure defense so that i have time to try and get a job or figure out my next move. i also understood why it had taken me so long to call in. the whole time i was there (over an hour) the phones never stopped ringing. i cant believe that this is happening to me. i dont know how i did not see the signs sooner that the people i was dealing with was a scam. anytime i called the west palm office i was never allowed to talk to an attorney. they even told me not to call the miami office because the miami office would not have information on me. come on! and the money that was taken from my account by those crooks… lost forever. Atleast the real firm is not asking me for any more money. Honestly I just don’t have it. Looking back the signs were there. it makes so much sense now. the thieves did not even sign the contract. and never gave me the name of an attorney or supervisor to contact. i feel bad for this law firm. someone really screwed their business. dont get me wrong. i NEED a house for me kids. And I am going to really be on them to make sure they are actually working for me. but after actually going to thier office my faith has been somewhat restored. i hope they can deliver. i suppose i will report if my feeling changes.[/FONT][/COLOR]

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I've been with Stratton and Feinstein for six months now. I'm being sued by a creditor and they're not doing a thing about it!

I took over my modification from this quack of an attorney's office. I'm am now closing on my modification. Don't pay them another dime , do it yourself!

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How long were you with them? I'm trying to figure out if I should also do the same as you. Can you give some advice?

I was with them fr 3 mos. When all communcation from them stopped. It was hard to communicate with them mos 1-3 but no communication after that. I closed my credit card they were using and figured I need to save my home so I called my banks workout divsion and told them I'm taking over my modification. Thank god I did because the bank didn't have all the info it needed to complete thd modification. Don't trust these people they are total fraud. Give ur bank the info yourself and do this yourself. To ward off foreclosure I only stayed behind on my payments b 2 mos. It was a struggle but they worked with me.
Good luck!

I wa with for 3 months when it dawned on me that these people dont care if i loose my home. They dont communicate; by calls or email. I called my bank home retention department and told them i was talking over the modification and a month and a half i had my modification. Do it yourelf because these people are true frauds!!!

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What happens to my taxes the following year after I settle with my creditors? Do I have to claim the unpaid balances on my tax return?

They took my money and did nothing ,but put me further behind on my bills. I wanted a refund for the 3 months they said they were helping me. They told me no way.I filed with the Attorney general's office. I will fight them all the way. Do not trust this company. You will be very sorry.

I can see there are a variety of opinions on this company. I can personally say that I have not been very impressed with them. First they sub-contracted out to First Universal Lending who for over 4 months did absolutely nothing, but take my money. Then they fired them right before my house was to go to forclosure sale. I had to take my retirement out early, which was not much, just to get my house caught up. Since December I have been bounced from one representative to another. Never get return phone calls as promised. Now I can not even get an answer at the office. I have been given a summons from one of my CC's, but have not gotten them to respond. I don't have much of a choice right now, so I am going to keep on going with them. If things get better I will let everyone know. Right now I would advise people to be weary of them. Don't pay until you get something........

I have been leaving messages for my refund. Have paid 6 months into the debt settlement program. Cannot pay anymore. Have a call into their :" Retention dept." Awaiting a call back to get 100% refund. hoping I will get all of it. Was only quoted 15% fees. Hope this is the truth or they are indeed a fraudulent company. Nothing in their stuff quotes any fee amounts. Best to complain to Attorney General of your state and any other states, and also to Fed Trade Commission as these are the best. who can shut down the company or investigate all the complaints on www.ripoff .com or complaints. See google with their name for complaints on this company. Here is hoping for a refund.

I hope you have better luck than I have. It's been a nightmare from the start and pray they will be able to take corrective action to resolve all the miscommunication. They had my wrong phone # to start, they asssigned me a rep twice, claim never received my mail with statements after my rep confirmed he received. Have sent 5 emails and all they show is that I've faxed over 1 document. They've working to resolve this, however if I don't see improvements within a month, I'm going to escalate and advise others. I'll keep you posted.

Do not have any dealings with Stratton and Feinstein!!!! They have been court appointed to fix a rip off problem that happened with one of thie off shoot companies. No one called me to tell me this and a lady named Mary from their office told me repeatedlt that they are not getting paid for any of the work. Then an attorney named Ms. Roman said that I could get back my $1500.oo that I paid with proof. No one answers phone calls or certified mail and I live from pay check to etc. I am still going to loose my home!!

Opened account in october 2009, very dissapointed with results. Ask fof money back in my acconnt and they will not call me back?
Also as of 3/12/10 ask them not take any more draws from my bank and they still took
money on the 13th?

I am a collection agent. Of all of the debt settlement companies i work with every day, this one is one of the better ones... But dont be fooled they are still a dsa.
Here's the deal... No creditor will offer a dsa anything lower than what they will offer directly to you. So if you want a 40% settlement call your creditor or collection agency and make the offer!!! Dont pay a company 15 or more % to do the work for you. If you dont have the money to pay your bills how can you pay someone else to do it???? Also, most will send out cease and desist letters to your creditors, so yes... You will stop recieving so many calls, but you also will have no idea when your case goes into "pre-legal" or even worse "legal" status! The calls are actually a good thing! And about the creditor calls being harrassing? So are all of you saying that if a person owed you a large sum of money you wouldnt bother to call them everyday???
The reality is that you can do all this yourself, for free. If you look any dsa up on google you will find hundreds and thousands of unhappy customers, most of who cannot get their money back after they failed to settle any of the customers debt!
Good luck!!!

they are crooks

With any settlement company weather it is a law firm, company or "attorney based program" there is a major concern that you need to address and that is if any of your creditors come after which they can, and dont think that your the exception cause your not. Then will the specific company you are talking to represent you in court and stand side-by-side with you in front of the judge and defend you. for over 95% of the companies out there the answer is no. A bonus you get when going with a company that truly gives you an attorney on retainer is that if the creditors are not following the rules set forth by collectors then they will actually file a lawsuit on your behalf and make it even cheaper for you if that is the case. HMMM! so all in all better protection and better service

My wife and I entered their program thirteen months ago. Eleven months into the program one of their attorneys asked us to put up an additional amount of money (over $3,000.00).
We were told that if we did they would "lower" our monthly payment. This was a lie. When I called the attorney to ask when the monthly payment was going to be lowered and by how much, she said she had "mispoke" and that instead the length of the program would be shortened. She told me to call their New England office for specifics. I did and was told a "manager" would get back to me. I waited several weeks and received no call back. Then I called back and was told "nothing could be done" about shortening the program or reducing the monthly payment. Finally I called one of the senior partners and did receive a call from the manager. He told me that he would send me an email with a lower monthly payment, which he did but it didn't equal the $3,000. I would NOT advise getting mixed up with this outfit. For the first six months we were in the program they didn't settle ANY of the debts. And two of our creditors filed suit against us. A totally bad experience. I am sure there are legitimate debt settlement companies out there but we are very unhappy with Stratton and Feinstein. It is good news that debt settlement companies are being investigated by the Federal Government. Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.V.), ordered a GAO investigation and I think I will send a letter to Sen. Rockefeller to alert him about Stratton and Feinstein.

QUOTE=Anonymous;447592]Has anybody used this debt settlement firm before, or know anything about them?[/QUOTE]

Stay away from this bunch. They misrepresent.

Brett Feinstein has several bar complaints for making false statements and fraud. He is the joke of all the attorneys in Miami.

worked there, total scam... you can do everything they do by yourself

I had $16,000 in debt. It took them about a year to get it done, but they got most of my debt cleared up. I am not sure why a couple of accounts were missed, but I am satisfied with the results thus far. They are slow mind you, and I had a different rep about once a month which worried me. But like I said theyhelped me take care of $14000 worth of debt. That is not to say it was written off, dont get that Idea, you have to make payments or a lump sum payment which is what we did. That was a mistake because then Uncle Sam said, oh you took money out of your savings, we dont care why, you owe us 60% so dont do that. Go with the payment route if you can.

Its funny when you see bad things posted about good people. I have known mr stratton and mr feinstein for over 20 years. My family and i are clients of the firm and i am personal friend of mr stratton's. These people are honorable and provide results in many areas of law. Both mr stratton and mr feinstein are licensed florida attorneys and have long standing relationships and grassroots in the south florida community. Are they a charity? By no means, however, i will attest that they have been with me in the good times and in the bad. Everyones has a right to an opinion. I know the facts regarding these guys and their staff. Douglas, brett, bonnie and the staff make a great team. They are kind of extended family. Thank you for being there in the past and present. I know they will be there for me in the future. Regards, joe debesa

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S&F NO LONGER EXISTS. they were bought out by Legal Helpers. If they have taken your money and you have not seen any results you need to demand money back and tell them you will call the attorney general's office. the real guys in charge are a bunch of guido wall street crooks, and brett feinstein is either a complete moron or plays the part very well... suck a fat one crooks.

all the people talking good about this fraudulent law firm are their employees. They are a bunch of clowns and thieves.

Brett Feinstein will do anything to take your money.

Well shucks,

Just my two cents here.
If you choose to hire a ds company, please do your research.
Otherwise the damage you incur may be severe.

I almost signed on the dotted line but after reading the itty bitty fine print, did not.
And I am very glad that I did not.
Please be careful.

Por ejemplo:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/loan-modification/stratton-feinstein-p/stratton-feinstein-p-a-pl-c8868.htm

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/stratton-amp-feinstein-c287982.html

So, in closing read the fine print.
And just remember that you can do the debt settlement yourself.

Regards,
King "Kash" Jabba Labba

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Stratton & Feinstein is a total rip-off. They promise you the moon, take huge fees every month, then "sell" their business to another law firm. Stay away. High fees, bait and switch.

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owner john lembo has a napolean complex and a teeny tiny dick. dwarfed only by owner mark mancino's testicles =)

[COLOR=#000000]call 866-833-6398 they can get it settled for 20-30 cents on the dollar. [/COLOR]

Call Ron Alina 888-362-1401 ext 136

settling credit card debt at 50 cents on the dollar is way to high. I would call 866-833-6398 they settled my account at around 23 cents on the dollar.

stratton and feinstein (now legal belpers) is going out of business. The owner is already starting his new business up.. stay away trust me

According to the Florida Bar: Brett Feinstein and Douglas D Stratton are both prohibited from accepting new business and their license suspension is pending. Rumor has it that they are cooperating with authorities.

Stratton - 1 month - until mid February
Feinstein - 6 months

IMHO and I have dealt with them for months, crooks does not do them justice.