Is credit solutions affiliated with debtxs?

The key factor is the negotiation with your credit companies. If you want to try the debt settlement company as well as a private attorney, get their fair quotes before you finally make your decisions. The creditors will like to get their money back before you refuse to pay them anything in legal terms. When you go for a debt settlement program, the total amount of debt can be reduced by 40% to 60%. You need to compare if your attorney will be able to get the favorable deals.

definitely drop credit solutions like a bad habit... sadly, the form you signed did specifically say that whatever you've paid them to this point is theirs, so you're kinda screwed in that respect.

i dropped CS recently myself, to go with a lawyer, and as soon as they were "fired" they took their next payment out of my bank account, despite my written DEauthorization.

I am a current client of Mezey & Associates. Although their customer service leaves alot to be desired, by hiring them you sign off the Power of Attorney to them for the accounts you want negotiated. Now even though the Creditors will try to contact you, Mezey & Associates will protect you from being sued or having a judgement filed against you. They are trained lawyers and not some college kid in a call center pretending to be helping you. Also, they are straight forward and tell you they ARE NOT a non-profit organization. You are going to pay them for their help, but you are protected.

Sincerely,
Zen

I agree with Zen. I too am a client of Mezey & Associates. Their customer service (NDS, LLC) is horrible. I can't say for sure about their abilities though. I've been a client since June, and I just recieved a summons from one of my creditor sueing me for the balance. They supplied me with the necessary paperwork to "reply" to the summons. I sent my paperwork today via certified mail with return receipt. I expect to hear from someone in the next week or two. Believe me when I say, if they can't negotiate something for me on this one, I'll be posting here again. I of course am hoping for the best. I'll be watching this post for anyone else that may be dealing with Mezey.

Jeff

I have just contacted Mezey and accociates about their service, and it does sound much better than credit soultions. I will post again after I retain them.

I was thinking of signing up with Mezey. I live in California and when I called the California bar association that regulates lawyers, they never heard of them. Just because they are in New York that should only mean that they can help people in NY.

and about to be shutdown by regulators.

What's the latest on Mezey. I am very concerned about the previous 2 posts. I am just entering their program and live in Maryland

In response to your inquiry regarding Mezy & Associates, this company is horrible!! I have been utilizing their services for the past 6 months and they have done nothing for me. I am now in the 7th month and have just pulled my account from their company as I am now receiving Law Firms contacting me on behalf of my creditors threatening to garnish my wages! It should have never escalated to that degree when going though a debt program such as the above mentioned. I am now forced to file for bankruptcy and at this time I have no idea what I am entitled to as far as a refund. I do plan on possibly suing the company and I am currently in the works of submitting compliant letters to every company affiliated with the Better Business Beauro!

They are HORRIBLE!!!! Please take my advice and don't utilize this companies services!!

Anyone else have any experience with Mezey? I started with them in October of last year. I thought things were going bad until they explained to me that once my service fee was paid in full then things would move along quicker. The creditors have become very quiet lately, which gives me some hope that something is going on. So has anyone actually gone beyond paying there fees? I'm frustrated and after reading the last post...loosing faith very quickly.

I signed with NDS, a sub company of Mezey as it was explained to me, almost a year now. The customer service is a bit slow, usually about 20-30 minutes on hold before you talk to someone. I received a summons, they helped me reply. A judgement was sent to me, not them, so I called. The lady I talked to that time then told me that that account would "probably not be able to be negotiated." Because if the card co. was seeking a judgemnt, they probably have a plan in mind of how to obtain the money from you through legal means in my state. ie paycheck garnishment, or maybe lean on my home. My thought was then "I have given you close to $6000 and what the hell have you done for me." I asked if they had contacted the card companies. They replied they sent them info that they had POA but until there was sufficiant funds in my account they didn't start talks with them. I would be looking at another year of payment before I would be in a situation to MAYBE make a settlement offer.

Im thinking of bankruptcy now.

A possible class action against Mezey might be something to look into as well.

I signed up with Mezey last June - what a huge mistake. I've paid them more than $6,000, and I've been served with papers from the lawyers of 2 of my creditors. I really don't think they're a reputable organization. I have since closed my bank account to prevent any additional withdrawls (based on this happening to someone else that posted - this happened to them. As soon as they told their settlement company to stop, they initiated another payment). I don't know if that would have happened with Mezey, but I wasn't going to wait and find out.

Well, I'm in the process of filing Chapter 13. The thing that promted me to take such drastic measures was the impending lawsuit from a creditor. They would no doubt get the judgement because the debt is valid. If I'm going to have to pay them, let them take less through the court system. That's what it's there for - our protection.

If I can give anyone some clear advice it's this. Stay clear from Mezey and Associates - they're crooked as a question mark. They encourage you to sign up as much debt as you can because they base their fee on that amount, and don't do a thing for you until they get all their money. I showed the Cease and Desist letters they sent me to send to my creditors to the lawyer I went to see, and he said they weren't real documents. Don't trust them, and find a way out if you're already a client.

If anyone has actually had a good experience with them, I sure would like to know.

Jeff

This past Friday I went to talk to a lawyer about filing Ch 7 and what possible course of action could be taken to recoup some of my money from Mezey. I told him of there advice and guidence they offered concerning my summons. He laughed. Really. The papers they told me to submit and letters they outlined for me to write and send in as well were in his words "really f...... wrong." As for stopping any future payments to them, my bank said they will stop any payments, for a fee. I believe it is about $25.

FYI
I would very much like to hear from any/everyone concerning the loss of money to Mezey. I am very interested in looking into a group or possibly a class action against them. I have a tentative meeting with a lawyer later this week to discuss the matter.

Mcdarga, I'm all for joining forces with you on this. I'd love to hear what your lawyer says. I live in Michigan, and am in the process of filing chapter 13. I have almost all of my paperwork in to my lawyer. When I take the remainder of my paperwork in this week, I'll see what he says about a class action suit. I wish there was a way to alert the media about this group. They're so crooked.

Be careful about attempting to stop the payment. I read in this very thread some time back I believe that someone called to have the settlement company stop taking payments, and they initiated a payment immediately to get "one more payment" from the person. Fortunately for me, I needed to close this particular account for different reasons, so when they try to take their next withdrawl, the account won't be there. Of course with your bank stopping the withdrawl, this may not be an issue. I'm just sad that if there's no way to get my money back, that I threw away over $6k. No sense throwing good money after bad though. If nothing can be done, I'll just pick up the pieces of my shattered credit rating and move foward.

Take care. I'll be watching this post for your reply.

Jeff

I'll gladly join a class action suit. I'm in for 8K and learned that nothing has or will be done. Arbitration claims, offers of sttlement and summons have been ignored. Now I face a summons and don't know what to do?

Bill, it was my summons that pushed me to contact a lawyer. I didn't really want to take the route of bankruptcy. That's why I contacted Mezey in the first place. I found out that if I filed Chapter 13, it would put a stop to the lawsuit, and allow the court system to put together a structured repayment plan over 3-5 years. This I could live with. Yeah it'll put a bad mark on my record, but my credit rating is in the crapper anyway because of the non-payment because of paying Mezey to try to settle the debts.

I'll keep this forum posted as I go through this.

Tricam ---- that's where I am today. I have a lawyer, I'm going to do a Chapter 7, becausde of my situation. I just can't stand the idea that Mezey + is getting away with our $. I sure want to take some action to recoup some money.
Bill

I'm also a client of Mezey and Associates, and I am in for around $10K now, also with nothing to show for it. Customer service just disconnects me whenever I challenge them, and it seems not a single one of my creditors has been properly contacted or paid. It disgusts me that I could fall prey to such a scam. They blantantly lied to me, telling me before I signed up that all I needed to do was wait three months and then they'd start negotiating. After I signed the papers and find they did no such thing, they tell me I owe them their full fee of $10,000 + an additional amount. I don't know if there is no legal protection for me against a verbal agreement (I only wish I recorded the phone conversation), but someone needs to protect people against crooks like this.

I am going to be looking further into what action I can take, but by all means, we should form a class action suit if at all possible. We deserve our money back, and if we can't have that, we need to protect others from falling prey to these thieves. I had enough money problems before, but it seems that Mezey has amplified them tenfold.

Please everyone do keep in touch here, as will I.

I spoke with someone from Mezey just after posting here and was fascinated at what I was told. Once again, I wish I had recorded the conversation, but the guy actually said, "Why would you sign a contract that says there is no guaranteed outcome?" He was clearly insinuating that I was the one at fault for signing up with them. He also told me how they only negotiate with one creditor at a time, only after you pay them their total fee plus half of each account. For most people, this would take years. It would be amusing if not for the fact that he showed blatant disregard for doing honest business. "There must have been a disconnect between what you were told and what you signed." Of course, this wasn't intentional at all...

Surely there must be a law to protect the consumer against people like this?

I have been on this program for about 10 months and they haven't did squat for me. Tonight, I contacted all of my creditors and settle on my own. Don't use this firm if you don't want to get sued and play an enormous fee for worthless legal services. Creditors and their collectors are not going what 24 to 36 months to collect their monies. They will sue.

If anyone can put a class action suit together, I will gladly sign on.

Under no circumstances retain Mezey as an attorney. I have been in this money pit for five months now. I recieved a letter from a lawyer representing my creditor. They wish to sue. I called Mezey and was told that they would negotiate a deal with the creditor but this deal would come out of my pocket on top of what I am sending into them which is a nice car payment every month. You can not get Mezey's phone number from the customer service center either. You will only speak to a rep and never an attorney!

I closed my bank account after giving them $6k, and after only 1 day, my account login shows my account is closed. I think all they do is take our money, and when we realize it, they just close our accounts and laugh all the way to the bank.

If there is a lawyer in this forum, all of us who've been duped by Mezey would appreciate some honest legal advise as to the possibility of sueing these crooks.

Anyone reading this should IMMEDIATELY stop paying Mezey, inform them in writing and on the phone that they are no longer authorized to take your money, and try to recall at least the most recent payment to them. I was very lucky, and I expect this is rare, to be able to recall my last two payments to these crooks, making my financial loss much less than it could have been.

Which of course means that I have even more money to pay an honest lawyer who wishes to take these people down.

I spoke to a lawyer for one of my creditors today who told me that almost every one of these "debt relief experts" do nothing but rip off their clients. It totally disgusts me that such actions can be legal... or are they? As I find out, I'll post here.

Izgoblin,

I'm interested in how to go about recalling a payment to them. Is it something that I do through my bank (credit union)? I've paid them too much, and if there's a way to get some of that back, I want to try.

Keep us up to date as you go through this, I'm definetly interested.

I would recommend going to naca . net to see if there are attorneys who would be willing to take on this type of case. Naca is an organization of attorneys that handle consumer debt cases against predatory lenders consumer finance companies, including collection agencies. It's possible they may be interested in this case, or could refer you to another legal firm that would handle it.

Help we just signed up with Mezey in Jan. 2007. After reading all of the other posts I am very concerned and wonder if we should not continue with them. The CC companies have offered us hardship programs to close the accounts and make a payment to them with low interest. Has anyone done this?
If anyone has any positive or negative experience with Mezey please contace us.
Thanks! Amy

I have read the postings here, and am awaiting a contract from Mezey & Co. There are some good, but a great deal of bad here. They have already advised me to stop paying on this month's Credit Cards, as I would be "just putting fire to my money"... I have not yet received the contract yet, but should today. Please help me out here folks, I must have read these today for a reason, but is there anyone out there who is having any luck with this company?
HELP!
hr d

Mezey has helped me quite a bit. You just have to hang in there and let the program work for you. It took a year or so, but now my creditors are being paid very fast.

Nelly

Mezey & Assoc has helped me. I am in their program now and half my credit cards have been paid off. I do agree with Nelly, it does take a while, but when it starts, it keeps getting better.
JR

every thing must have changed. I am with them several months now excellent customer service, prompt response & prompt action any time i have had a question or request.

When i started I was told they had revamped their customer service systems because they had outgrown what was in place previously.

Much better idea than filing bk, which damages you for 10 years.

Tom

JR How long have you been a member with Mezey? We have only been a member for one month. Should we hang in there? Have you been served any summons? When did the collection calls stop? Please let me know any advice you or Nelly have on the beginning stages of this company. Thanks! Amy

To Robert23ee...You don't have a clue as to what your talking about. Your probably one of their competitors taking cheap shots, for whatever reason.

I am just starting with Mezey and I still have creditors calling me. I was told by Paula that my creditors would be contacted with Power of Attorney over my accounts within 72 hours after my first payment was taken went through, and the calls would stop. BUT... I am still getting calls from my creditors saying no one has contacted them with anything... they also said that Mezey would not make any payments to them until there are enough funds to pay off the settled debt... Also, I had one creditor tell me that they cannot call Mezey to settle my sebt, and that they do not settle with any third parties, only me... so, you can imagine my confusion with all this crap... I thought I was on my way to paying off my debt and start fresh... I only made one payment of $400 so far, and I am seriously thinking about filing Chapter 7, so I can really start fresh because I recently became a single mother of two, and I just cannot afford to pay out $400 per month and be toyed with... What do you all think? Should I withdraw??? Please advise... I really appreciate any advice.

Wow! I didn't even know this site existed. i misplaced Mezeys phone number and was looking online for it. Mezeys program was recommened by a co-worker who was very happy with the results she was getting. My co-worker has been in this program for three years now and almost has her debt completely eleminated. I was deep in debt and was happy to hear of something that could help me. I researched debt settlement programs thoroughly before I got in. i knew this program was not perfect, but i was desperate and took a chance. I did not want to file bankruptcy. I have been in this program with Mezey for 1/1/2 years now, and although there were some bumps in the process, i stuck with it and now have had several of my accounts paid off. i can see the end in the near future. I don't know why these other people had such difficulty, but this program saved my life. I am very happy I decided to do it.

Teresa

Before signing on with any company, always check them out with the BBB!..Karen

Stay away from debt consolidation. It's a trap. You will pay back everything you owe plus their fee over many years. Citibank and other major creditors have pulled out of these programs. debt settlement is the only program that works and saves you 50-75%. I am so happy I went with Mezey & Associates. So far, I have averaged a 60% reduction from what I owed when they paid off my creditors.

Me and my husband have been involved with mezey & associates since Jan/2006. You have to pay thier fee first before they can help you. Then the money each month goes into an account. As your money grows they will start settling your debts. They do not talk to a credit card company until you have enough money to talk about a settlement with them. They have settled accounts for us and are still working on some. Yes it is scary I and my husband have both had civil summons and been to court and have judgements out against us but the judgements will come off when they are settled. We have a lot of debt and we know it will take time to get rid of it. They have a new customer service now and I have had nothing but good responses from them. :D :D

I joined Mezey in April of 06. I have paid them over $3,000 to settle my debts. I recieved 2 summons and when I notified Mezey they sent me some generic forms to type up and submit to the courts, and none of them were accepted. I had to figure out how to put them into Pleating format before the court accepted them. I now have 2 judgements against me. The Customer service rep told me that when the judgements were made that NDS would lower my monthly payment and I would have to settle these judgements by myself.
Yes, their customer service has improved as far as answering the phone in a few minutes instead of the 16 to 25 mintutes it took before, but other than that I have seen no improvement. I have been trying for weeks to close my case and get my money back, that is harder than I imagined. I now am trying to raise the funds to file bankruptcy. I wish I would have known about their less than honest pratices before I started down this road.
I am going to make it my mission to tell everyone about this company. I am going to start a letter writing campaign to network news trouble shooters, BBB, and to whom ever will listen.
I am glad to hear there are some people who have had a good experience, but you seem to be in the minority. There are too many of us who feel robbed and conned. I hope someone listens and learns from our mistakes.

Watch out for these guys, they are very misleading about what they are able to do for you. You can negotiate with creditors on your own much quicker once you start getting offers to settle, and you'll have more money to settle with since you're not paying an enormous fee to Mezey. Their site leads you to belive that creditors will stop calling you directly, which is far from the truth. Once you sign up and start paying them they tell you that when creditors call you to give them Mezey's contact info. The truth is that creditors do not care about this if you have not filed for bankruptcy and you will continue to receive calls. Their customer service is horrible - I can't think of any other company that I would pay thousands of $$ to and get service this bad. Run while you can.

I have submitted all my papers to my lawyer and will be filing Ch7 within the week. Once that is over with I will be putting my attention on Mezey.

I just read the past dozen postings and I want to give my opinion.

1. The customer service has gotten better in the past month or so. That is due to what I believe to be they are using a debt cutomer service company. I am sure I heard other firm names being used by other people in the background on my last few calls.

2. For people just starting with them. STOP If you feel you can manage it yourself, I would if I could go back with the knowledge I have now, and do what they say they will do on your own. Stop paying the card companies. Put 400 - 500 dollars into an account each month for a year. Deal with the hastle of the calls and letters. Then when you have about 50% of the debt, make a settlement offer of your own.
Take the ball and make your own play.

3. I was sent a direct letter telling me to be patient, that I was expecting a quick fix. By no means. But I contacted all my creditors the other day and the only contact from NDS Mezey they had received was the POA and seice letters. The POA letter I sent them. So I would like to hear more detail on the cases they did work. In mine.... I just don't see it.

I mailed, faxed, and phoned Mezey informing them that my relation with them and there services were no longer needed, as stated in out contract. I also demanded an itemized bill and copy of work done to warrent the charges, and finally a refund of funds not used. I also informed them that any further attempts on my bank account would be viewed as fraud. You can file a fraud claim with your bank and they will conduct an investigation. It might allow someone to recoup a payment. I was told an investigation can take up to as much a 3-4 months.

For those who read this and have had a good experience with Mezey, more power to ya. It has been 13 months I have payed them. There retainer is covered. I am a week away from judgement. I have another wanting an arbitration meeting next month. Another debt purchased by some very rude SOBs that say a repo man will come and take things. I am at about 9 months of payments away before my settlement account is at 50% of debt for my smallest debt. Ch7 is my last chance. I will not loose my house. I will not work 70-80 hr work weeks anymore just to pay the bills and have no time or money to do anything, I want to see my children.

It is something I'm not proud of. I have never...NEVER walked away from a responsability. I did not come to this lightly.

More after I file.

I jsut notice an ad at the top of my page.
yourdebtlawyer.com
Thats NDS Mezey and Ass.
I find it commical to click about the site

Stay way from mezey...deal with the creditors yourself.the money that you pay in fee's just hold off and save it for working out your settlements yourself.......mezey has cause me more sleepless nights then the creditors....... :?

My initial contact told me that the first three
payments would go to the fee, then bills would
start to be paid. But the customer service people
told me that all the fee had to be paid first, which
will take a year. After paying for 6 months I feel
that i will have to ride it out.

I am making it my mission to let everyone and anyone know about Mezey and Assoc. I found a site called whollycarp.com and I have put in my complaint! I am writing up letters to a couple "trouble shooters" at news stations. I am also filing a complait with NACA and BBB! Does anyone else have any ideas as to where or to whom I can contact? I was suppose to have recieved the refund of my reserve account, having already paid their fees, but still nothing! Mezey assures me it was mailed over a week ago! I have recieved mail from London quicker? Am I ever going to get it? They refused to refund me any part of their fee, even with the overwhelming evidence of their incompetence and breech of contract!
I feel like a fool for falling for their promises!
I am so angry!!

I think these complainers just don't understand how all these types of companies operate similiarly.
When I signed with them 18 months ago I took notes
on the instructions they gave such as not to get
into protracted conversations with collections
people. You are supposed to say i have retained
legal services,here is the name and phone number
and hang up. Collections people are money motivated,
they get compensated 25% of whatever they scare you
into paying. Come up with $4,000 he earns $1,000.
They will say anything true or false to get to this end.In the hear and a half I am with Mezey & Associates i have followed this rule. 3 out of 7 of
my accounts already settled. As they build up my
funds in the attorney trust account, when there is sufficient there to make a payment they make an acceptable settlement. I have heard these message boards are sponsored by Mezey competitors. You
clients are just scared babies playing into their
hands. Instead of running scared, you need to hang tough
From what i am reading in these posts

I will comment on what Jz posted. We are not a competitor of Mezey.What we are is a discussion board for people with debt problems.As I state in every post dealing with Debt cons/settlement,check out the company using our board search,the better business bureau,and the attorney general of that companies state. If they are a law firm,check out there record with the state bar association.Only thing I will add is these posts will always be here until all of the companies learn to address the needs of their customers.

These Mezey cry babies are being done a dis service by you because, you don't comment on each posting.
From what i am seeing on this board is these people are expecting over night fixes.
I have not seen one posting from someone who went the complete length of his or her program that was not satisfied.
These complaints all seem to me to be from people who dug themselves in to serious credit situations and think they should be fixed with in a few months.
the moderator should be suggesting that they have not given it enough time to work instead you are letting these people steam each other up.
After you read a Mezey contract and see how clearly all the terms are, one would wonder what the complaints are or what grounds a lawyer could find for a class action. Mine clearly states if you drop out the fee is still due. It also says to clearly investigate the attorney with the NY bar association
in New York which I did.

Jz,
You come up with some good points. I do not know each individual's problem.As a moderator,I simply must ensure our board rules are followed. Since I have never been in the unique situation of needing these type of services,I can hardly tell posters where to go for this type of program. Since we are a public board,we allow any comments if it follows rules of the board. Normally I will research a company if requested using my Pacer and Lexis-Nexis accounts. Before you ask,I am not a lawyer. I consider myself an advocate and try to assist where ever I can on this board.

Dude! You really need to get a life!!!