Federal Debt Relief Program - Has it been helpful to consumers?

Piz - most of the creditors will not admit they got a letter of dispute. Others will will respond - the major ones - and say that your account was opened so long ago that they no longer have signatures on file. More advice - keep everything you get on file by creditor - you will need it later. By the way, FDRS will not give you a copy of the letter but believe me-they've sent a good one. I got a copy from one of the creditors as we were dealing with court stuff. About judgements - creditors will tell you they can put a judgement on you. They will ask the court to do this only if you don't respond to their legal papers in timely manner. If I were to do this again -which I won't - I would stay out of court by doing as the legal department instructs. Check your e-mail everyday. At one point we didn't check for three weeks and consequently missed an important opportunity to stay out of court. FDRS doesn't tell you all this stuff. Good luck ! and don't let the stress get to you. By the way, do you have a tape recorder attached to your phone? Radio Shack has a good one. Glad to help. I wish I had someone above me who could give some insights!

Who Knows-- Thanks again. You have made me feel so much better. I have a tape recorder but not attached to the phone. I will look into that. Sounds like FDRS has done what they claim they will do---except return phone calls, etc. The client care dept. has also instructed me to check my e-mail. Soon this will be over for yourself and family but I hope you feel you made the right decision because you have. FDRS never said it was going to be easy. I hope I can be there for someone else like you have been for me. I cannot thank you enough!! I will let you know when the creditors respond. It's funny, I haven't gotten any phone calls(3 weeks) from the creditors. The waiting game is killing me.

Okay, people. I am getting out! I have sent a letter requesting stop payment, as my bank informed me I had to do this. It is about time to have a payment taken out of my account, we will see how respectable they are, as I have also asked for a full refund of my money. I don't know about the rest of you, but when I have attorneys from my home state calling ready to file a lawsuit against me, I don't really want to face that alone and if they are all they say they are, they would step-up to the plate and answer calls and correspondence's. I am NOT comfortable giving my money to someone that just tells me not to worry and keep track of everything. I believe if they were really sincere, they would handle this in a more proffessional manner. Do as you will, but I smell SCAM and I never thought I would fall into such a mess....

Action- Been there thought about doing that. Thought about doing that again. Good luck to you but remember - nothing that comes easy is really worth anything. I will take the liberty to ask you to look back at your life and answer honestly to yourself. Do you quit things when they become difficult or when you don't get the response you want or need? Has it worked for you? I don't mean to be disrespectful of you. Please accept my apology. I will add that we didn't really begin learning until we had to go to court. We had attorneys from our home state threatening to sue us and actually suing us. They didn't show up at court. Even if they had -the information the legal department gives you will empower you to the point of anger and most importantly, to the point of taking them on without the jitters - assuming you have good intelligence and can get through the reading and research you will have to do. Don't take this personally. I was just surprised at what they expected the average very stressed joe to read and do. What's the worse that could happen if you go to court? Think about it. I do see where you're coming from. I too would like FDRS to treat us with more respect and curtesy. After all - they do say that our peace of mind is important to them. Like I said - been there.

Action--Don't give up!!!Have the attorneys sent you anything in writing? Have you faxed the info to FDRS? Call the client care dept. and they will get you in touch with the legal dept. It's going to be hard but you can do this. You have to believe in what this all stands for. You are scared and I don't blame you but you have to try and fight back! The attorneys are threatening you and it's more amunition for your case. Have the creditors sent you validation letters??? They have to validate the debt--if theey haven't, the legal dept. will instruct how to handle. You can do this.

I have been contacted by attorneys and they have sent validation letters and all that has been sent to FDRS. I am really concerned about this.

Action - How long were you in? If you decide to stay - we can help. It is very important that you stay calm and don't try to be in control of everything. FDRS is doing what they need to do and sometimes it may be nothing. They won't tell you what they're doing and they won't show you what they've sent. They won't hold your hand and they won't try to ease your anxiety/pain. Accept this. This is how they need to do things. They- of course - haven't communicated this to me but - I believe we have to feel the pain. If we don't - we'll do this again. When creditors call - stay calm - you are in control - don't say much but do tell them that the account is under dispute. They will tell you they haven't received this in writing or they will ask you who you sent it to. Tell them it was sent to the original creditor. They will tell you they don't have access to this. Tell them that's too bad. and hang up - nicely - and don't forget to log the call and send it in. Action - I can't begin to tell you how difficult this whole this was for us. It gets easier if you decide to put it on auto pilot and remind yourself that while there's a lot you cannot control - you can control you. Now - Take care of yourself and do something kind for someone else. :wink:

Who knows- When you said " If I were to do this again -which I won't" Were you referring to using FDRS, or going to court, getting into debt or??

Hey Nej,

Tried to find your board... no luck. Maybe just too early.

Thanks for setting that up.

Who Knows: Thanks for the advice, I have been w/o work for a year due to a disability and things are not going well, but I know there are others in same, if not worse situation. I just pray for the best.

PB&J - All of the above. I have been credit card free now for 14 months (I sound like I'm an alcoholic :? )- and I intend to stay that way. This is one good thing about this process. As for FDRS - this process and especially their lack of communication and care has taken life out of me so I'm not sure I would reccomend them to anyone. I have 4 months to go and I'm still not sure about them. As for court - I believe If I had done what they told me to do in timely manner - I would have stayed out of court. We will work hard to finish this job so we'll just have to see what happens. I'll be glad to post the end results. Maybe it will help someone.

Hello,

FDRS does not operate like a reputable business in my opinion. I would stay away from them. Just reading through the posts below sends chills through my spine. All of you, call an attorney.

I consulted my attorneys and they advice to stay completely away. They are investigating their company and so far, it doesn't sound good. People, you might want to pull out before it's to late....They have scammed alot of our hard earned money. Before ever getting involved in a company of any kind, call your State's Attorney....

Has anyone out there finished thier 18 month program?

who knows--you have made it pretty far with the program. You went to court. What was the outcome? Do you owe the original creditors or debt collectors anything? Is what fdrs is saying true? Has there legal department helped and were you assigned an attorney in your area( state) to help?

Piz - As I said before - we did have to go to court. This was not necessary had we done what we were told. I really believe this. We delayed the process by asking too many questions. We got the summons - delivered by a local officer(very intimidating). We contacted FDRS about this immediately. The legal department responded with an appropriate response for us to send to the attorneys involved - only it was a little more complicated than that - we were instructed to do our own legal research and add to what they sent us state specific legal input- which of course was alien to us to say the least. We were also confused because we were assured that THEY would support us with all of this legal stuff . We had a million questions - which were never answered to our satisfaction. This was all done through e-mails. The legal department takes 24 hours to answer and their answers were often brief and did not answer the questions completely. We got upset and called FDRS - insisting that we have phone contact with the legal department. At that time - we could not talk to anyone at FDRS - had to leave messages for a return call - very frustrating! - given the fact that the clock was ticking with the attorneys and the summons. Ultimately we lost patience and left a very nasty message to FDRS and that's when they stopped returning our calls. We did get a court judgement and we did have to settle with this creditor.New people to the program are very lucky now - they can actually talk to someone at FDRS. The last two times I've called - they've been responsive to my needs and they've even called back. This was not the case a few months ago when were at the peak of stress. Most people would have quit at that point. Hope this helps.

who knows--- thanks again. I did receive one brief validation letter, if it can even ne called that. The letter states that my dispute is not valid based on fcba. I sent it on to fdrs. I am surprised to here you had to settle in court. I have invested time and money, I'm in it for the long haul.

Piz-

If you call FDRS (California) and talk to Eddie or Tim - I will tell them to give you my contact information. There are other things I could share or alert you to that I won't do here. Not sure how you should proceed on this one but I thought I'd give you the option.

Piz - I was told this was not a good idea. Sorry

Who Knows--I spoke to Tim yesterday and he advised. I faxed the paperwork in to them amd it was transferred to the legal dept. I would definitely love to speak with you. I can give you my e-mail address to contact me?? Let me know if you want to get in touch. Another creditor transferred my account to another debt collector. I was surprised. They also sent me another letter to collect and that I have 30 days to dispute. I guess if the collector cannot collect, they transfer or sell it again. I also found out that you may be one of the many clients that are first to be through this program. FDRS used to offer debt settlement programs, now they only offer the eliminination program. this program is very young for FDRS but not the Attorney network. Also found out that the on-line system (where we can log on to the site and view our case, contents, if faxes were received, etc.) will be functional in a few weeks. I was out of town last week and wasn't sure if you received my blog. Thanks again!!

Thanks for the information. They've been telling me this about the on line access since the beginning of our time with them. It would be nice to have. I have a couple of e-mails and would be glad to be a source of support. I know the need well and while I'm ahead of you in this program - its good to talk to someone who's a part of it. This site will not allow personal contact information to go through -for our own security. If you think of a way - let me know. I have other things I could share but they are really not that crucial for you right now.

who knows--When you get time e-mail me at [email]grmarco2@yahoo.com[/email]. We can correspond this way. Thanks

Hey Piz and Who knows - Thanks for all your posts.
I freaked out and got out. After some more research (and looking at other programs) I decided to get back in.

I am in for the duration now.

So far I have had good luck with FDRS. They have been reasonably easy to get ahold of and helpful.

I talked to Joel and Tim both. Tim was very informative. I now understand how this whole process works. He also "confirmed" that the website will be active soon.

Also, I had a casual (over beers) conversation with an attorney about this program.

He confirmed the validation process and the fact the CC companies don't usually keep the necessary files on hand to validate the debt. There are a couple of cout cases out there to set the precedent.

What I gather is, simply sending a "validation letter" will not suffice. There needs to be original signatures that THEY have to produce if they take you to court.

I am not an attorney, so please don't take this for anything more than what I gleened from reading the three cases.

After talking with Tim, and doing my own research, I am confident FDRS can do what they claim.

I don't think this will be an easy road, but I am willing to put the effort into it.

All that said, I am still a little nervous about going to court if I have to. I think it is just more fear of the unknown than anything.

I tried an experiment.. went late by a couple of days on payments with creditors. My interest rates TRIPLED.

To the credit card companies... BITE ME!

My opinion is this...
If they can get rid of my debt LEGALLY, and I believe they can, then I am all for it. Frankly, I am tired of CC companies running roughshod over consumers. "Life takes visa", "for everything else there's mastercard", "go ahead, you deserve it". These ads make me want to puke! Giving credit cards to high school seniors. Talk about predatory lending!

Plus, I figure I have MORE than paid back in interest.

I am D-O-N-E with credit cards. Been a slave too long. If I cant afford it, I don't need it.

There have been posts here that FDRS is anti-American. I personally think the opposite is true.

Sorry about the rant.

I am in it till the end and will keep posting here.

P.S. It will be interesting to see what effect this "economic stimulus" package on the economy. My prediction is, in about four years (maybe less) we will be in worse shape then we are now. Making money and injecting it into the economy will do nothing but devalue the dollar further. THAT scares me.

Good luck all!

PB&J - It sounds like you've done some research. Lets keep in touch. I don't think you'll go to court if you do what the legal department tells you. Even if you do - its really not that bad. They can't hurt you. The worse that could happen is they'll tell you you're in the wrong and you have to pay the creditors. A good friend of mine always says: "You can't get blood out of a turnip." My best advice is to let FDRS do what they have to do - how they have to do it. They won't let you in on their tactics - I believe - because they have to be on guard. They can't be very popular people among the creditors. As you know - I'm not their greatest fan because we went through a very difficult period of time with absolutely no assurances from them. It seems that they've made some changes as of late. I'm glad for you. You are also lucky to have people like myself and Piz who are willing to share experiences and discoveries. Put it on auto pilot but stay alert to your e-mail and fax everything - even if you don't know if they got it. What month are you in?

Who Knows - How long were you in it before you started seeing validation letters and legal notices? I am going into my 4th month and I have already been contacted by a collection agency. I am not worried, but I'd like to know when I can expect the legal entities to invade my life...

Who Know - When did you start seeing the validation letters and legal notices? I am going into my 4th month and I am already getting calls from debt collectors. I am not worried, but I just wanted to know when the legal entities will start invading my life...

Who Knows:

Will definetely keep in touch.

Keeoing the Faith---Do Not Panic!!!! The collectors are going to call. Find out the laws in your state about recording phone calls. Get a recorder and record the calls. Tell them you do not have the money to pay them. If they will not stop harassing you for the money, tell them they will be receiving a dispute notice in regards to the acct. The disputes are sent in the 3-4 month. Hang tight, it's only a phone call.

Who Knows---You haven't e-mailed me, what's up??

Piz - got your e-mail. Will e-mail you tomorrow.
Keeping the Faith - Things got pretty heavy around Thanksgiving and we started in January. Court papers started coming in around August. The legal department said "don't let this ruin your Thanksgiving." - it did. It is now Feb and we're still alive so hang in there and its good that you found us.

Have any of you talked with anyone that has completed this program? Im in my 9th month and have yet found anyone that has completed this..... Im getting kind of worried, but also trying to stay positive about getting out of this credit card mess. I just got my first arbitration letter last month and then another one this week, hopefully everything will work out as planned.

Piz - emailed a couple of times - got it back. Is it gmarco or qmarco?

Who Knows--it is E-mail removed as per forum rules - Jason

Piz - Did you get an e-mail? I sent it to grmarco2

Who Knows--It's there.

Who Knows and Piz - Thanks for the info you have shared so far! I can't wait to hear what happens when you graduate from the program...

Keeping the Faith - live up to your name. Its a long road with lots of curves. Feel free to ask questions. Piz and I will do our best to help. As I've said before here - the most important thing is to stay positive and put it on auto pilot. Also - keep in touch with them. They really like Piz over there. I called to check on his/her enrollment and they said they like it that he/she was proactive.

GET OUT OF THE PROGRAM!!! they are liars! I have a feeling that some of the positive posts about FDRS are from FDRS. I was in the program and posted a few months ago. I was taken to court by one of the creditors and a judgment was put against me (my lawyer has arranged to have it vacated thank God). After I got a warrant in debt and contacted FDRS about it (by the way, they never returned my calls), I stopped all future payments and consulted a lawyer. My lawyer read through their program and affirmed that it was a complete scam. His words were "They put a new twist on an old scam" ...Anyways, pull out of the program - FDRS does not care about you, only your money.

chereenb you are correct. I was a client too and it does seem strange to me that the positive poster is Piz and one of the main people (least I think she is) is named LIZ??? HELLO! I pulled out b/c I mad a couple of payments and they would not tell me jack you-know-what about the attorneys or who mine was or even who the network is. AND THEY NOW HAVE 19 BBB COMPLAINTS! When I was in they had 0 and that was last summer. Not to mention Joel E was my rep! He was posting on here. Well to clear something up though they are not lying on everything but they do not tell you enuff. They say everything is "proprietary" when it should not be.
Oh and the biggest stinker of all of this posting scam on this site?

"I called to check on his/her enrollment and they said they like it that he/she was proactive." Ummmm that is client privelaged info and a company can be sued for that! Scuse my spelling.

Just so everyone knows, I am not working for FDRS. FDRS is doing for me what they claim they were going to do--help me eliminate my unsecured debt and educate me on the way the banks really operate!!!! FDRS never tells there clients that they won't be sued. There is a chance I will be sued. Why is it a scam???
chereennb---Do you pay your attorney to help you settle your debt??? I agree, FDRS wasn't good with answering phone calls BUT that has since changed. I believe in what they stand for and I will say this again, I am in it for the long haul. Everything they have told me and that I am paying for is happening. They always answer my calls. Maybe I should work for them--HA HA!!

Funny how chereennb did not mention any names but Piz (Liz) goes out there to defend herself before I was finished writing and he/she was the one I mentioned. I only say this b/c Piz did not defend against my post, so it is safe to assume it was written before mine was read. "Just so everyone knows?" YOU COULD NOT BE MORE OBVIOUS!!! It is not a scam but they are very hard to deal with- you would be better off finding someone else with more information and customer service so you are good at every step. There are more horror stories out there just google the full company name.

One more for Piz "Jay-Z--called FDRS and there is no Joel E. there." Yes there is and yes he is a manager cuz I just called and asked for him and then hung up.

Joel Edwards aka joel e., is a manager at fdrs, mark e.cella is the owner - piz is actually liz she is the office manager. just as another poster put the owner mark cella is a very short ego maniac, joel is also extremly small in size and has the same issues as a human as does mark cella (i think ITS CALLED lil man syndrom). they treat there employees like a pile of s#!%! they often fire them to for reasons unknown to common working people and good companies. the enviroment is in there is very shoddy, more like a warehouse then a place to do office work and help people, it is loud unprofessional and down rite not a good place to be, for some reason a bullet proof door was constructed, for what reason? only mark cella knows, he seems to have made alot of enemies wether past employees or clients. the customer service is not reliable at all, the reps come and go so much meaning there is a very very high turn over rate

Helpfulone---I am not Liz. Who is Liz?? I will continue to defend myself because what you are saying is not true.

no I am done typing to you because you already exposed yourself. Piz if you were in the program you would more than likely know who Liz as I talked to her all the time. She answered the phone a lot and sometimes handled my calls for me when client care was unavailable.

I have never spoken to a person named Liz at FDRS. If such a person exists, it is not me.

Well, you said you called and asked for Joel and they said he does not work there. That is untrue as he was my rep and is STILL there as a manager right now.
The correspondence between you and whoknows is untrue because that violates their privacy policy and/or privelaged information policy.
You also defended yourself before anyone even mentioned your name.

I forgot to put my name to those. The past 2 posts by guest were me. You know what though? Keep talking. It will keep this ranked at number 2, right below the company site on google and will keep the public aware.

I am done posting.

What I said was true and do NOT enroll with them because they are lying on here just like they lie to you on the phone and there is no such thing as a "debt elimination" program (that is what they call it). I have shared my opinion and there are, for real, employees of the company posting on here. Federal debt relief System is a customer service nightmare and they do not disclose enough information to you. This is your credit, your life, nothing is proprietary. Nothing is.

Ask yourself if you have ever heard an attorney say that to you when you are working with them. Do not fall for their b.s.

Well it is almost 6PM out here and I am going to go have a beer. Time for the weekend.

Piz - Liz is truly a manager at FDRS - a very busy one who is too busy to answer the phone when there is a problem the counselors do not know how to handle. At least that has been my experience with her. I do hear from the legal department, however, that she does her job well.

Piz is not Liz - believe me - but then again - you don't have to.

FDRS was awful about answering phone calls. This has not been my experience as of late. I am still not totally happy with the way they treat their customers but there are reasons why I believe in them which I cannot post. As for the confidentiality part of this - Piz and I both gave the same person permission to verify identity. This is mainly because we have no reason to trust each other and there is a lot to fear out here in this cyber world. I originally went on this site to find someone who has finished the program - have been unable to do so as of yet. Now I thought I could help because I do not believe FDRS gives you all of the information you need to stick with it. As for BBB reports - I believe what you say but I also know that people panic and forget the original reasons they entered the program in the first place. The bottom line - is I ( and I will dare to speak for Piz as well ) are not here to convince anyone that FDRS is or is not for real. We ourselves do not know for sure. Personally, I will find out in a few months. I'll be sure to let you know. Of course - you don't have to believe me and you can always choose to keep paying those B***rds their 23% interest plus fees and fees and f***kng fees! (not really sorry about the ***- I never used to talk that way :evil: )

I settled the debts myself. I hired a lawyer to go against FDRS and to help me get rid of my judgement, not to settle my debt. My lawyer hasn't charged me anything yet.

I'm not trying to bash anyone here, I'm only trying to help. I was in the program from Feb 07 until Nov 07. My rep was Dan Arntd, who like everyone else says "got promoted" like 1 month after I was in the program. They did not assign me a new rep, I was forced to deal with client care, a guy named Tim Roland was the main contact for client care. I did everything I was supposed to do in the program and got screwed. My credit is messed up now and I'm trying to clean it up. I post what happened to me, because I'd hate to see anyone, whether I know them or not, have to go through the same thing. My lawyer specializes in credit and debt law practices - I am definitely inclined to believe him (an expert) when he says that FDRS is running a scam.