CCCA/Hess Kennedy!!!!

I understand your problem. Some people have already raised this issue in the past. The attorney of HK explained that their new employees are undergoing through some training and a separate dept. will be done for handling customer accounts. You should talk to the supervisor of the company. Perhaps, he is completely unaware about your problem and does not have the updates about his new staff. Maybe, he will see this post and reply back to you.

HOLLIEBERRIE,

At the time you canceled it was too late to stop the electronic transaction. I already was made aware by management your situation and have credited your bank account $336.

If you have any additional questions or need any advise we would be happy to help. Please do not hesitate to call.

Good luck!

We faxed our application 7/28/06 and the creditors are contacting us stating that your law firm has not contacted any of the credit card companies yet. What is going on? How long does this take?

I am in the first phase of working with Hess and learned that it does take time to build your "trust" account" up. Have you established an account for Hess to draw upon and if so, have they begun to remove funds from it? I, too was wanting everything to happen quickly, quickly, quickly. Do you have a person at Hess to speak with? It's difficult be patient, I know, but try to maintain contact with them and I hope you will get some answers. Good Luck. Let me know! p.s. I behgan May 31, and my creditors are still sendintg statements. I don't have any answers, but Hess assures me that things are progressing.

I signed up with ccca in february who immedialtly turned my account over to hess kennedy. As of August 1, not one of my creditors had heard a word from these attorneys. They have been deducting $232.00 a month from my checking account and have done absolutely nothing!! Get out while you can.

I was talking to someone from this company the other
day and I was all set to go with them in handling
my debt, until I checked them out online with the
Better Business Bureau!! According to that report
they are not a BBB member and they consistently fail to answer any complaints. Now I've decided to go T & C.

You don't have to register with the BBB to be a good business. I'm in HK program and I'm to getting things to going to fast. It takes time to build up money in this trust account. You need to remember how many months you signed up for to. You have to stay in touch with the people at HK too. This will help. Take it from someone who knows about debt. You can't just make it go away over night. I too don't sleep, eat much either. I try to make it from day to day. Just stay in touch with them as much as you can. Here is the toll free # to HK in florida. 1-800-760-0585. Call them and talk.

I just signed up today and from what I understand they told me that they will build up my trust account and start with the small accounts and pay each one at a time. It sounds like they do not make monthly payments to them, it sounds like they will be paying one lump sum as to what was negotiated. I was also told that they will correspond to the companies via snail mail. I also called them back and asked about their BBB report and they told me that they have new owners and take in over a thousand (possibly thousands)of clients a month and so comparatively speaking the number of complaints are not bad. The report I saw said that they do respond. I hope I have some good luck!

i went with hess-kennedy in may, i am still getting
calls and bills, they said that no one has contact
them from hess- kenndy.

Any consumer who did not receive any service but did not cancel before the ACH Debit Order went through should contact the help desk: info(at)hesskennedylaw.com.

You are entitled not only to a complete refund, but even though you have not retained our firm, you may take advantage of the Help Desk to answer any question you have free of charge.

CCCOA is a lawyer referral service and does not direct the policy of the Law Firm. Any client that has an issue should contact the law firm and not their Credit Counselor.

My husband and I applied to Hess Kennedy in April. We were told that the first 2 payments were for their fee and the rest would go towards paying our debts. We were also told that they would be contacting our creditors to reach a settlement. It is October and our creditors claim they haven't received anything. My husband emailed HK and was told that the creditors haven't responded to the letters they sent. Who should I believe?

I hope this doesn't get me banned, but it seems that many of the attorneys referred by CCCA are not doing a good job at all, and almost seem to take as much as some of these pdl companies. Now I am new to the site and obviously am ignorant to alot if the inside information the veterans here know, but I honestly do not like what I am reading about these attorneys and ccca.

Can someone explain what is happening here? I honestly do not buy the whole "we have new employess" and then there's "it's company policy" well, which is it?

Again, I am new, and honestly I like this site, I have gained much knowledge in the short time I have been here, but the help starts and stops here, for me anyway.

Hi chagrin, I will be very neutral here. Because I haven't worked with CCCA yet and I don't know the individual issues put here. I will say you have raised a very good question in your post. Actually, there have been some mixed opinions about CCCA and their referring the customers to their companies. Most of these companies do debt settlement, not consolidation. In a debt settlement program, the accounts are needed to be in defaults before the proposals are sent to the creditors. In few cases, people get confused with the program and think that they enrolled for a debt consolidation program and the payments are to be sent immediately to the creditors. The creditors call because they are not getting their money. The settlement company doesn't send the proposals before the creditors are assured that the consumer has no alternatives to pay the debt but to go for a settlement. Sometimes, the negotiations take longer than expected. The creditors don't want to show in front of the customers that they are having talks with their settlement company and may accept their proposals. If they can get the money directly from people, they will prove that the person never had financial problems. All this sounds like you are in a situation when you don't know what will happen next. Settlement company should update the consumers with the file status. In most cases, they do while a few have problems. I don't know how CCCA is dealing with everyone but there are some people who actually get their updates, a few don't. The contract signed with the individuals is also an important issue. That may explain what can be expected during the program. I am hearing negative things about CCCA most of the time, but when their staff responds to some of the queries put here, everything sounds normal to me. I hope that someone from CCCA comes here and takes care of these issues.

That is a very good point, and one I didn't realize, heh. debt settlement IS certainly different from consolidation, indeed. Wow, I feel a little humbled by you bringing that up, thanks :)

the only other concern I still have I guess is that why aren't the folks getting confused getting correct, or clarifying information? the Attorney's office should spell it out right up front that this sort of stuff will happen (automatic debits, calls from creditors, harrasment) but I need to also realize that, when in desperate situations, people will hear what they want.

Thank you for bringing me back down to ground level - seriously :)

Answering to your other concern, I will say nothing more but being an informed consumer. That's it. KWIM

most collection companies are NOT willing to work with companies liek these! unless you sign with a CCS compnay, who pays your bills for you every month DO NOT GO WITH A SETTLEMENT COMPANY! to all the people saying " be paitent and wait" you are in denial, and have been tricked by these companies! the one thing you cant afford to do when it comes to your credit and your personal debt, is wait! why do you think the creditors keep calling, and the balance keeps growing! this is a company that will MAKE money off of you! money you could of just used to pay your bill and render the situation yourself! contact your creditors, tell them you need help, we are here to help you, and since you owe us the money, not a settlemnt company, we are the ones calling the shots!

- a concerned creditor who is sick of seeing people waste their money

When a creditor calls you tell them you are represented by an attorney, not a "Debt Settlmenet Company"

If you are sending momey to a debt settlement company in any state, they are operating illegally, Every state in the union prohibits this activity.

My Credit Counselor and Hess Kennedy both spelled it out to me right up front. I was on the phone with the counselor for about 30 minutes the first night while he told me everything about how the settlement program worked. If anyone enrolled thinking the creditor calls would stop, they obviously didn't pay attention or ask the right questions.

I have been involved with these people since MY 31, 2006.
I am now being "sued" because no-one has responded. I've called Hess and I'm really concerned about the future. Can anyone help me?
Miracle

i receive a call AE Steinberg fromcentral credit service of fl. he lied to me when he called. he said that he was with an attorneys office and was going to sue me if i did not come up with a certain amount of money by jan12,2007, i am working with hess kennedy
i am really concern about this.

$1700.00 to be exact. Will not contact me and give me run around whenever I call. Do not do business with them! They will make your situation worse! Danger!!!

WHAT TO EXPECT

PHASE I. The Original Creditor.

As soon as the attorneys receive your file, they begin requesting documents from your creditors. When we use the word ???????creditor,??????? we are referring to the actual company that issued you a loan check, opened a credit card account in your name, or issued a check to another person or company. This company is also called an ???????original creditor???????.

The ???????documents??????? we are requesting are known as ???????Truth In Lending Act & Regulation Z Disclosures??????? & ???????periodic statements???????.

?????? The Truth in Lending Act & Regulation Z are Federal Laws that protect you the consumer from illegal lending practices. These Federal Laws require a lender to disclose in a ???????clear and conspicuous manner??????? the cost of lending you money.

?????? Periodic statements are the monthly or quarterly billing statements that your creditors are required to provide you with each month. They come in the mail each month and they disclose the previous balance, date of any payments posted to your account, new charges, the annual percentage rate, the daily periodic rate, and any finance charges, late fees, and penalties.

Now, depending upon whether you have entered into a ???????opened loan??????? or ???????close ended loan??????? with a ???????pre-computed interest rate???????, your attorney will challenge certain information.

?????? If you have entered into a open ended loan, such as a line of credit, credit card account, charge card account, or other loan where you can add charges to the loan, and the interest rate can vary, your attorney will identify whether or not the interest rate that you were offered is the same interest rate you are being charged, whether or not you bank is properly ???????posting payments to your account???????, and whether or not basic math calculations can duplicate the amount of money the creditor claims you owe.

Your attorney will send a ???????billing dispute notice??????? in accordance with the ???????Fair Credit Billing Act???????. Once this happens, all of your Federal Rights begin to take effect:

1. A creditor or debt collector cannot contact you in an attempt to collect the amount that is in dispute.
2. A creditor cannot report negative credit information to a third party credit reporting agency.
3. A creditor cannot take any legal action against you in an attempt to collect on a debt that is in dispute.
4. You are allowed to withhold payments.

IF YOU ARE CONTACTED BY A DEBT COLLECTOR YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE TO DO THE FOLLOWING

1. Identify the name of the person calling you, their telephone number, who they represent, the date and time of the call, and what was said on the call.
2. Inform them that you have hired an attorney and that your attorney has instructed you not to communicate with any creditors over the telephone.
3. Inform them that your attorney has sent a billing error notice to customer service and that the Fair Credit Billing Act prohibits collection calls.
4. Tell them you are logging this telephone call and forwarding it to your attorney, and that if they call again, you will give your attorney authorization to immediately file a law suit.
5. Maintain a weekly log of any collection calls and forward this log to your attorney each week.

Remember, a debt collector is a telemarketer that gets paid to collect money from you. They will lie and mislead you in an attempt to convince you to make payments on the account. Do not agree to anything. Follow the instructions of your attorney. Most important, if any debt collector claims that your attorney has not sent them anything contact us immediately with their information.

WE WILL SUE THE INDIVIDUAL CALLING YOU AND THE COMPANY THEY ARE CALLING ON BEHALF OF IF THEY VIOLATE THE LAW

In many instances, when we file a lawsuit, the amount of money we collect is in excess of the amount of money they claim you owe. This is the case because we are entitled to ???????actual damages???????, ???????statutory damages???????, ???????costs??????? and ???????attorneys???????? fees???????.

?????? If you have entered into a close ended loan, such as a personal loan, promissory note, financing agreement, etc., your attorney will challenge the original disclosures and the manner in which your creditor is posting payments to your account.

Your attorney will send a notice that demands production and explanation of the calculation of pre-computed interest, and the dates in which payments are posted to your account. We will send them a Truth in Lending Act dispute notice. Once we do this, the same rules apply with respect to debt collection activity. You must maintain a log and forward it to us on a weekly basis.

PHASE II. The Third Party Debt Collector

There are three variations of Third Party debt collectors, and two are regulated by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

The first involves the Third Party Debt Collector purchasing your information (the account number, your name, and the amount allegedly due).

The second involves a company that purchases the account when it was in default.

The third involves a the Third Party Debt Collector purchasing the actual account that is not in default. When a Third Party Debt Collector purchases your actual account that is not in default, they are regulated by the Fair Credit Billing Act, and those rules apply.

The Fair Debt Collection Practice Act prohibits a Third Party Debt Collector who purchased your information and a Third Party Debt Collector who purchase your account that is in default from certain things:

?????? They cannot contact you once they know or have reason to know you are represented by an attorney.
?????? They cannot contact you if you refuse to pay the debt.
?????? They cannot contact you at an unreasonable time or an inconvenient place.
?????? They must ???????validate??????? a debt upon demand within a specific time period and cannot contact you during the validation period.
?????? They cannot use abusive language or threaten to do something that they cannot legally do.

In the scenario where they purchase your information, they act as the ???????agent??????? of the creditor.

An agent is a person or business entity that is really an extension of a ???????principal???????.

For example, a police officer is an agent of the particular city (principal) he or she works for. Everything he does unlawful, he and the city are responsible for, unless he is acting upon a specific written policy developed by the city. In that instance, if the city????????s policy is illegal, the police officer is ???????immune??????? from a law suit, but the city is ???????liable???????.

The same rules apply with Creditors and their Agent Debt Collectors. If a Debt Collector violates the Fair Credit Billing Act, without having knowledge that he is violating the Fair Credit Billing Act, the creditor is liable, but the debt collector is not. However, if the third party debt collector has knowledge that he is violating the Fair Credit Billing Act, then he and the creditor are liable.

Thus, if an account is in dispute under the Fair Credit Billing Act and the creditor does not resolve the dispute but instead sells your information to a third party debt collector and the third party debt collector violates the Fair Credit Billing Act without knowledge, then the creditor could be sued for violating that act but not the debt collector.

If an account is in dispute under the Fair Credit Billing Act and the creditor does not resolve the dispute but instead sells your information to a third party debt collector and the third party debt collector violates the Fair Credit Billing Act with knowledge, then the creditor and debt collector could be sued for violating that act.

In almost all instances, Third Party Debt Collectors violate both the Fair Credit Billing Act with knowledge, and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

When a third party debt collector purchases your information you have no contractual relationship with them nor any financial obligation with them, unless:
YOU ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM
BY MAKING A PAYMENT OR AGREEMENT TO PAY


IF YOU ARE CONTACTED BY A DEBT COLLECTOR YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE TO DO THE FOLLOWING

6. Identify the name of the person calling you, their telephone number, who they represent, the date and time of the call, and what was said on the call.
7. Inform them that you are recording the telephone call, and that you have hired an attorney and that your attorney has instructed you not to communicate with any creditors over the telephone.
8. Ask them if they have purchased the account while it was in default or if the original creditor is their ???????client??????? and that they have been hired to collect the debt for the creditor.
9. Tell them that the account is in dispute under the Fair Credit Billing Act; that the original creditor has not clarified or corrected the billing dispute; that you refuse to pay the debt; and that they may not contact you at home or at work.
10. Tell them you are logging this telephone call and forwarding it to your attorney, and that if they call again, you will give your attorney authorization to immediately file a law suit. Say goodbye and hang up.
11. Maintain a weekly log of any collection calls and forward this log to your attorney each week.

Remember, a debt collector is a telemarketer that gets paid to collect money from you. They will lie and mislead you in an attempt to convince you to make payments on the account. Do not agree to anything. Follow the instructions of your attorney. Most important, if any debt collector claims that your attorney has not sent them anything contact us immediately with their information.

WE WILL SUE THE INDIVIDUAL CALLING YOU AND THE COMPANY THEY ARE CALLING ON BEHALF OF IF THEY VIOLATE THE LAW


Phase III. Law Breakers

You are going to see that creditors and their collection agencies always violate the law. They will lie, get nasty, and continue to call without caring about the law. They do this because they do not own the company they work for and could care less about the law.
It is vital that you maintain a log of the law breaking. In three weeks time, if the account is not sold multiple times, the law will be broken enough times where we will demand payment of damages and attorneys fees.

In this instance, the accounts will be settled. This can take 5 months, or 2 months depending upon the creditor and/or collection agency.

Phase IV. Credit Bureaus

The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires that credit reporting agencies accurately report the status of accounts. We ensure that creditors and third party debt collectors do not unlawfully report inaccurate data.

dont trust any of these debt settlement companies.. most are just looking to make money off you for settling your debts when you could do it yourself. they lie to you and tell you "things are progressing" when in fact most major credit card companies wont settle accounts that are with debt settlement. your credit wil be trashed and dont believe it will get any better after you complete their program. and i always wondered why they want to be paid first .. dont you normally pay for a service after it is done

Thanks Hess Kennedy for your posting on Feb 27, 2007. I totally understand now and see how it works. Pretty interesting way about paying your debts off. I can see how it can work, as long as people are patient and do their side by logging the calls.

Yes, jo, pretty interesting... What's even more interesting is when the attorney who you have decided to stop using due to unanswered emails, being put on hold for over an hour when you call long distance, and discrepancies in what you've been told, does not refund the money that is in your trust/settlement account.

Any ideas who this law firm may be? Just look at the 2/27 post for a clue....

i received this letter fwd from hess kennedy regarding i complaint i filed.

Quote:

I find all this quite amusing now.... I have a printed agreement and other documents that HK sent me when I first signed up with them, and it says in black and white that I have retained them for debt settlement. It also says that the first payment is used as my retainer fee, and all other payments will be used towards settling my accounts and for legal fees.

Yet, when I filed a complaint, they responded by saying that my credit counselor gave me incorrect information as to their services and fees. Hmmm.....

I have since learned that any legitimate debt settlement company does not take monthly payments from your account. Instead, you set up your own savings account, which you have total control over, and the settlement company checks in with you twice a month.

Just an update on this situation.... I received a refund of the full amount that was in my escrow/settlement account. It is nice to know that this company is finally starting to do the right thing.

I to went thru the phone calls to set up a automated debit from my checking account for services, but then decided to handle it myself. I called them 2 weeks before the debit was to happen and they told me ok they would take care of it. Well they debited my account $398.03 and I never signed a thing with them and canceled well enough ahead of time. I called them and was told that I needed to fax the cancellation which I was not told from their rep. Stay far away from this company. :roll:

I joined Hess Kennedy March 2006. The payments are being deducted out of my account monthly. We keep getting harassing calls and letters from attorneys all over the country. I just want to know what to do about it, Will this type of correspondence stop? When will we know when they will settle? We joined for only Three and a helf years, and supposedly everthing would be over and our credit would be back to "good standing" Is that a joke too.????

Just to let you all know. Hess Kennedy and CCCA are the same company. Yes they are the same company. Yes I did lose money
from them also. A local news station did a story and harrassed them enough to get part of my money back, But they did uncover the fact that they are not registered with BBB and they also have a bad reputation with them. They change their names a lot. People please be leary of these people.

Are you sure they are the same company Robin Myers?

I was contacted by CCCOA after i registered with this site, and they directed me to the law firm. CCCOA is not a law firm.

I followed all the directions of my attorney and i am almost debt free. I have 2 small accounts left with those $#%#@ at HSBC who are not budging over 58% on the dollar.

Did you do everything your lawyer told you to do Robin Myers? They gave you a refund though? They said i would get a refund if they could not settle my HSBC account but I doubt i will ever see it.

I have been with hess kennedy for awhile now and things are not getting better. About every day I am getting calls from debt collectors and they have never heard from Hess nor have they heard of them. Am I giving them money I don't have for nothing? Please someone help me, I need to know is this for real, and can I get my money back or are they going to help me like their contract says?

Wondering Customer:

So, you have been getting telephone calls from debt collectors and you have documented this and sent it to your attorney and they have done nothing

I dont beleive you. Hess Kennedy has over 20 open lawsuits against debt collectors.

Hess Kennedy and Company: does anyone have a report of recent GOOD service and results from company in debt arbitration and payments? A return email address would be nice. Thanks. John

email address removed as per forum rules - Mike

FYI,

CCA, Hess Kennedy, and Hess Kennedy & Company are all owned and operated by Laura Hess and Edward Kennedy. They have over $3500.00 of my money so far and have done absolutely nothing since April of 2006. I have contacted the BBB of Florida and learned that you have to file complaints in each zone where Hess Kennedy has an office. I also am thinking about contacting the Florida State Bar to file complaints against Laura Hess and Edward Kennedy. Maybe then they will return my money since I had to pay my creditors off by myself.

I would definitely do this. I would also suggest filing a complaint with the Florida Attorney General's Office, as I took this action when I was trying to get my money refunded from them.

I havethe same story, I have made monthly payments to this firm. For over a year. The amount they said to pay and settle my account was paid in full early by check in the sum of over 1800.00, no settlements to my creditors has occured and they continue to draft my bank account for $125.00 for over 3 months, one payment was reversed, the rest are outstanding. I should of known better my first payment was posted to anothers account because we have the same name. I was in a car accident, I got bwhind. I want to do the right thing and settle with my creditors. Instead Im shafted by Hess Kennnedy

All of you debtors need to stop complaining and pay your bills. I am a debt collector, and all you do with a Settlement company is prolong the enivitable.

Eventually we settled with Hess Kennedy, but until you have money saved up, there is nothing but time going by. Hess Kennedy forces you to save money.

Cant you do that by yourself?

Scott rothers work for americorp which is partners with mezey and associates, campos law and ofcourse hess kennedy. Rothers is a f.. King thief just like the husband and wife team who owns americorp. He is the superviosr of the settlement department. The settlement people worked their **** off on my account except 2 which could not be negotiated. That loser scott got on the phone and started talking crap in my ears and i said to myself.. What a bullsh..ter.
I did the research on them. The husband
And wife are a bunch of thieves that make there employees believe they are making money with them and that they care about there clients... Bullsh..t. Clients get nothing.. The employees clearly don't get nothing.. I dated one of the guys @ americorp and he put me on to how they steal peoples money. He told me that the achievable is owned by the wife and she is a nasty person who gives business a bad name. He also told me the husband who owns americorp claims to be a church man and f....ing steals from everyone. He doesn't work there thank god! Okay i give up!!! I used to work there too! I never worked with scott.. I heard of him... But i know the owner and the wife and the big fat tub of lard named jerry and this dumb ass named jeanette who they gave supervisor position to. All these people i mentioned are a bunch of thieves and loosers. Speaking to scott.. Proceed with caution.

[color=Red]****Adult term removed - Jason[/color]

I used to work for tim and jeannie those are the ceo of americorp and partners with hess kennedy, campos law and mezey and associates. God knows whatever other mafioso business that got themselves into. It is a family business that is operated by sister, brothers, in laws and family friends that are dating or married to the owners family. All thieves///
Call: 631-940-2400 that is the americorp number
Ask for ext: 2157, 2152. Take your money and run.
Do not let these people take money out of checking account it is not going anywhere.. It is going in there pockets to finance there life style which is the rich lifestyle. The employees are helping them rob people like yourselves. Call scott rothers and you will hear the bullsh..t i have been trying to tell you. He is the golden boy for them. Tim and jeannie will use scott (chew him up and spit him out) wake up scott.. They are laughing at you!!!

Scott rothers is a thief(americorp)
Tim and jeannie are theives(americorp)
They all steal from hess kennedy
Get it in your heads people there are no attorneys

I started the program with Hess and Kennedy in January 2007. There was only two creditors to contact. Today, I received a letter from a law firm in my area that's acting on behalf of one of my creditors. My creditor is suing me. I have 30 days to come up with the money. Has anyone experienced this problem? Right now, I'm really freaked out and scared. :(

Have you spoken with your bank manager concerning unauthorized debit's from your account...this is truly unethical banking practice!

It took time to get into debt and it will take time to get out. Try to be patient!

I have had no problems with this company. I was able to get out of debt with their help in less time than they quoted me.

Remember to keep a copy of all your paperwork when dealing with any law firm or other business that specialize in debt consolidation.

I am thinking about hiring them as well. My debt has gotten overwhelming. Does anyone recommend anyone specific?

I believe people should do research to find the answers they are looking for. That way, there is no confusion.

You need to contact them in writing... try doing so by mail and fax