Are Emilio Francisco and Debt Reduction Law Center the same company?

The only thing I could find here on them was some old posts. I personally don't have any experience, or know of them.

Before you go with any company, check them out with the BBB, and your states' attorney general. Also do a Google search and see what you come up with.

You may want to do some searching here and see what options you may have concerning your debt.

Get everything in writing and ask a lot of questions about fees, time limits, do they(your creditors work with them), how long before they get paid and you are through with the program, etc.

Best of luck to you..karen :D

Thank you that is what I have been doing. They seem to be legit but when I check the BBB I get 2 ratings. One is in Irvine CA is F the other is in Oakland where he says they work and is Satisfactory. So I asked him and he gave me some long spill. Anyway I have a freind that is an attorney and looked at everything and she said it looked ok. Thats about all I can find out about them other then the CA Bar number is legit. I am just so scared to make the move, I have been overwhelmed with people telling me all this stuff from these compaines just dont know where to turn. I have to do something due to major loss of income..

I'd be interested in what you decided. I just started talking to them (E Francisco) as well. I got a little better feeling from them verus some of the other companies.
I've search the internet and can't find much information. Good or Bad.
I'm in a similar spot except, I think I have you beat by 15k in debt.
JC

Not sure BBB says F I have not made up my mind yet I cant find much on them either they sound good but you know how that is.

Save your money and call the creditors yourself. Don't be scared to negotiate with your debtors the worst they can say is no. But if they tell you "NO" they will also tell your attorney "NO". If they are seeking a judgment against you, you want to make sure they will appear at hearings and court dates on your behalf.

I too had concerns about their BBB rating until I found out they used to have a AAA rating until the ByDesignFinancial Solutions (Previously the Consumer credit counseling of California) is a board of member Frank Whitney-Board Chair
MidCal Better Business Bureau, President/CEO.

Also the Southland BBB, life time President Mr. Mitchell sat on the Board of Springboard Inc. (consumer credit counseling of Inland Empire)

In 2005 the Bankruptc law was changed to make it more difficult for American to restore their financial well-being, when suffering from a distress time. Legal debt settlements allow consumers to satisfy their debt commitment at a reduce amount. This service has been offered by attorney for many years. If the rich people can hire attorney to have their debt reduce, why can't the rest of do the same -

Consumer credit counseling services are collection agencies for the financial institutions - Read their history. The National Foundation of Credit Counseling was created 5 years before the credit card was introduced - Does it tell you something?

If the Credit Card Companies have a legal team, why can we have the opportunity to have a lawyer represent us to at an affortable price.

If you are going to use BBB - Look at companies like
Universal City Nissan Report - 42 complaints with a B rating
By Design Financial Solutions - 7 compaints - AA Rating
Springboard 9 complaints 9 complaints AA Rating

Have you seen the Documentary by Frontline - The Secret life of Credit Card. -

Still dont know what to do.

The Oakland office of Law Office of Emilio Francisco is not the place to go if you have debt problem. Incompetence and carelessness are their main characteristics. They don't care at all about clients. For mamy years they cannot do anything. They just seat and wait for the customer to do the move. Stay away from this office!

I know Emilio and their staff. and although I work for a competitor and believe ours to be one of the best...I can tell you without hesitation that there are many bad companies out there... granted... however; Emilio Francisco's is one of the better ones. I know.. I've been in the industry for over 10 years. Remember this... getting out of debt comes with risks. The whole thing stinks across the board. But of the options available, if you are going to choose debt settlement as your method of debt resolution, the debt reduction law center/law offices of Emilio Francisco is definately one of your better choices.

Hello! I cannot begin to tell you the trouble that I have had with Emelio Francisco and Frank Kucera who is one of their lawyers. I have just finished writing a check for literally thousands of dollars due to this company NOT following through...it's been incredible. The customer service does not follow through..nothing... I have wrote numerous emails to Frank with no reply. I have been served papers in my front yard from the credit compant and had my wages garnished due to this company not following through. Finally at one point I had to make phone calls myself just to save what credit I had left don't ever, ever use this company!!!!!!!

One of the ways that credit cards get consumers interested in their credit card products is by offering them low interest rates or low interest rate introductory offers. While low interest rates are great for consumers, do your homework so that you???re not surprised with high fees or short term low interest rates that jump sky high after the introductory period is over.

The oakland office of emelio francisco is not the office you would go to.bad customer service,they never return clients call,they put you on hold and never come back to the phone,the manager is always gone for the day,ask to speak to the superviser say they are not here.one of their laywers kelly bresso never reply my e-mail.lack of making payments to my creditors.Don't Ever use this company![color=Black][/color]

warning. do not sign up with them. they told one of my creditors that if they didnt settle for 25% then they wouldnt ever be paid. The creditor sent my file for suit as a refusal to pay. I called them letting them know I had an lawyer and they laughed. It isnt really a law office, it is a debt settlement company that is telling my creditors that i refuse to pay. i had no idea this was going on because I was told to tell my creditors not to call or contact me anymore. this so called law firm didnt let me know i was getting sued and they misrepresented my situation to the creditors. i could have done my own settlements. i was told i could have settled for 50% (which is a good deal). too bad i was never told that offer was on the table. this law office made everything so much worst. I still cant believe they are in business. i would give the name of the person working my account but i believe in karma and he will get his.

I OWED MONEY THEY TOLD ME THAT THEY WORK WITH THE BANKS BUT ALL THEY DID WAS TAKE MY MONEY HOLD IT FOR OVER A YEAR ONE OF MY CREDITORE SUED ME AND NOW THAT I WANT TO CANCEL AND GET MY MOENY BACK THEY WILL ONLY GIVE ME 25% OF IT BACK --DONT WHATEVER YOU DO DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY. EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been letting this Law Firm handle my accounts for just about two years now. The staff that I have dealt with (So. California) have been excellent, and yes (with the exception of 1 or 2 times) -they always return my phone call. I will be ending the program in a few months with just 1 more account to go. I would definately refer this Law Firm to someone that is in debt!

The E. Francisco & associates, Debt Reduction Law Center did a great job for me! Their Irvine location is open, courteous and knowledgeable. As for their Oakland Office thay are also legit and on the ball, except that they always seem to be too busy.

My wife and I just signed up with this law firm about 4 months ago. I did a lot of research and was pleased with the plans they had to offer. Although I am so far pleased with the way things are panning out I thought I would "google the name of the firm" and that is how I found this sight, which is a lil scary for me because some people have posted their horror stories. As for me and my wife, we are happy with the choice we made. By the way no one said anything about the Oceanside office, which is the office that is working with us. I will keep you posted.

I am using them. What I have found is you need to stay on top of them to get your debt paid. I have had several cards just sit in consolidation when there is money in "escrow". One of my credit cards that's in consolidation now shows up on my credit report as a judgement. Consolidating doesn't show up on your credit report. It only shows you are KD which is key derogatory. There is nothing positive that has come out of them working for me. They will take the money and your 10% fee per account you include in the program. If you use them just STAY ON TOP OF YOUR MONEY AND WHERE IT IS GOING. Don't let it just sit there. Tell them to pay your creditors. Call them every other month once you have a balance to settle something even a little credit card. They do nothing for me until I call up and B**ch them out.

Apparently according to other posts I got the wrong office - Oakland CA.

I am a debt purchaser and one of my debtor's is using this Emilio Francisco & Associates. The debtor was very nice and cooperative and expressed her concern about the debt and retained the attorney's office hoping that they would help her get back on track financially. She explained that she has had trouble with them not returning her calls and generally not following through with her, although they did manage to settle a few of her other accounts.

Speaking from the creditors side... they will not return phone calls and people who have authority on the accounts are never available. I finally spoke with the individual responsible for the debtor's account and they informed me that the debtor didn't have enough money to settle at the moment. I explained that if they can't settle now we will put the debtor on a temporary payment arrangement that they can afford until they are in a position to settle. They told me their office doesn't "do payments". I told them that the only option we have then is to sue the debtor for the full balance + legal costs and they literally told me to go ahead and do that.

Outrageous. I've never seen this before. Now, I know for a fact that the debtor would like to make payments to us with the option of settling later rather than getting sued for the whole amount. Unfortunately under collection law, now that she has legal representation I cannot contact the debtor to inform her that her attorney just told me to sue her for the balance.

This poor debtor who wanted to do the right thing and actually has good credit (aside from our account) is now going to have a judgment slapped on her - effectively destroying her credit for 7 years (even if she pays it the day after). Not only that but she will owe 5x more than what I would have settled for.

Heres some free advice from someone who knows how things work on the creditor side. You are wasting your time and money by going through these debt reduction shops. You are paying someone to do something that you can do yourself. If your account is in a post charge-off status (typically you haven't made payments for 6+ months) you can explain your situation to the creditor or collection agency and directly negotiate a settlement with them. If you can't settle, make payment arrangements. ALWAYS be completely honest with them about your situation because I promise you they can smell BS from a mile away - which is why collectors are usually so suspicious and aggressive. If you are honest, cooperative and are willing to take whatever steps are necessary to resolve your obligation, I guarantee you that you can get a good deal and you will forego the hostility that some people experience in dealing with these kinds of situations. Don't try demanding a settlement because the creditor is under no obligation to reduce the amount you owe. Be polite. Collectors are not afraid of attorneys (unless they've done something illegal) so hiring one to negotiate a settlement does not give you any kind of leverage whatsoever and you will not end up with a better deal than what you could get on your own.

At any rate, if you for some reason feel the need to go through a debt reduction company please do yourself a favor and avoid Emilio Francisco & Associates at all costs. If you've had a bad experience with them make certain you make a complaint to the BBB so others won't make the same mistake.

w w w . la . bbb . o r g /BusinessReport.aspx?CompanyID=41000075

okay so I'm speaking with Brice Bowhay and he's seems awesome. But to me it's like too good to be true. I see good and bad comments on this page about them and have no idea whether I should proceed or stop immediately. They are going to cost me 4000.00 to modify my mortgage loan. Good or Bad? I'm not sure. Yikes!

Lets be clear about what we are talking about. this is an attorney based debt settlement company. Is it easy? NO! It does however work for those who need it. This company is very up front about the effects to the credit and the approval process. They do their best with the information provided by the consumer to only represent those in hardship. This is important since only those in hardship should attempt this. Without a plan these clients would experience all the horror stories of bad credit, collection calls, and possible lawsuits anyways. so, it's really not entirely accurate to say that a company caused any problems when the problems were arleady there. for a program like this to work the consumer must understand that this is a process that takes time. It is important to know that under the Fair debt Collections Practices Act that once a consumer has retained the services of a law firm, the creditor must cease communications and talk with the attorney. That is why if one choose to go the debt settlement rout it need to be with a law firm. I love who debt purchasers try and say that you should do this yourself. Why do you think they would say that? The answer is obvious, so they can collect at a higher rate from the consumer and therefore make more money.

I have used this company, and have had wonderful results. Due to my debt, it took a a little longer than two years, but I am debt free.

I am also in the program and found prepaidlegal which is really cheap legal service to help you with debt questions and any other legal issues, and also protects your identity and they will retore your identity for you. Not only do I have the service but you can also be an independent associate and now I am making money from recomending other people and I am paying down my debt quicker then ever. Solicitation not allowed, please read TOS - Jason

what is the web sight were I can check my balance

I'm sorry, please clarify the question. Balance for what? Member of what? This is a forum to help people get out of debt.

The Law Offices of Emilio Francisco & Associates also known as Debt Reduction Center and International Lead Service are horrible. We've worked with them in placing media to drive in calls/ customers. They owe many businesses money ....are they are creating debt not helping to reduce it!!!!!

The Law Offices of Emilio Francisco & Associates has been a nightmare for me for over 2 years. At one point I had enough money to settle my debt for half which is something they advertise. I was told that they negotiate client settlements up to 50% That's a lie. It's been over 2 years & my debt is still not settled. Not only that they are telling me now that I will probably be responsible for the entire debt. I asked them what I needed them for if I end up paying the entire amount. I thought the purpose of hiring them was so that they would negotiate to lower the amount. For the first year and a half I constantly contacted them & left messages which were never returned. When I threatened to cancel their service I finally got one phone call. For the past 6 months I have heard nothing from them at all & in the past 3 days I received 2 phone calls & an email because the settlement conference for my case is coming up. They have done nothing for me. I was told a lein can be put on my house & money can be taken out of my bank account.

File a complaint against them with the Federal Trade Commission.

Even though these are pretty standard complaints against debt settlement companies, there is quite a buzz around the Legislature in regards to regulating these firms, in a manner much like the FDCPA.

Remember, if ANY company misleads you, or you feel you are being ripped off, file a complaint with the FTC.

Does anyone have a contact number for E. Francisco & Associates? As they have a large retainer of mine, has not done any work for me and every number I have of theirs is not working. If anyone have info please let me know.

you can reach them at 888-835-8555 That is Client Services

Handle your own debt. It is important to hire an attorney sometimes when you receive a Summons and Complaint. The key to negotiating is to know how much debt u have and how much money u have to payoff your debt. I am a debt collector I will tell your attorney "No" because they will not disclose a full financial statement. If your attorney calls requesting a settlemet I would have no grouds to base it on. I have been in this profession for years. I have seen on many occasions debt settlement companies to allow their clients to have a judgment entered against them. And in some cases the attorneys accept service on behalf of their client, which cause the client to not have any knowledge of the lawsuit. Don't pay anyone to do what you can yourself. If you have a debt with a company that actual file a lawsuit and you have a job, a house or a bank account you may want to consider trying to resolve the debt immediately. Once the process starts you will end up paying more and if they find your assets you will get no settlement. BE WISE.[samebox:236e083b0e="paulmergel"]you wantpeople to handle it themselves because you think you can buffalo someone who doesn't know there rights.nice try though.[/samebox:236e083b0e]

solicitation removed ---mobile

I wouldn't put much stake in the BBB rating. A company can improve its rating by purschasing a subscription from the BBB, and if a company calls to inquire about a complaint, they will likely have your rating dropped significantly. Probably even the next day.

Solicitation deleted - ND


Please refere to the TOS - ND

i don't know where they got my name from but they keep calling me so if you read this leave me alone i'm not in debt

We were told the amount of settlement would be around 17,000 with their fees. We ended up settling for about 28,000. Plus we had to pay a few thousand in taxes on one of our settlements. Our orginal debt was 32,00. The biggest problem with them is customer service. They don't return calls. We have to continously call them to see how the settlement is going. I don't believe they worked as hard as they could have for our benefit. They did discount their fees a little because of poor outcome, but their fees were not really explained to us in the beginning and they were excessive. Do your research on multiple companines before deciding on one. We used them from 2004 till 2006.

I used to work for the damn company it's a damn scam dont go with a debt settlement company, call a Debt Consultant.

I'm only one month and $600. into this firm...unfortunately, I just found this site. When I searched before signing up, I found very little and it was positive.

My question: How legit are these posts? How do you know who is a competitor; who is somebody who really got screwed and who may be a collector who finds these people to be their biggest nightmare to deal with??? You work all your life; run into some financial problems; and risk ending up financially ruined because of a vampire law firm...Does anyone have anything good to say about this law firm? If so, you don't work for them do you???

I'm only one month and $600. into this firm...unfortunately, I just found this site. When I searched before signing up, I found very little and it was positive.

My question: How legit are these posts? How do you know who is a competitor; who is somebody who really got screwed and who may be a collector who finds these people to be their biggest nightmare to deal with??? You work all your life; run into some financial problems; and risk ending up financially ruined because of a vampire law firm...Does anyone have anything good to say about this law firm? If so, you don't work for them do you???

this company is great!

can i get a number to reach u

I work for a collection agency, and they are one of the easiest to deal with. I recommend them. They are always trying to get the absolute lowest settlement for their clients

I have signed on with Emilio Francisco's office, been sued by two of my creditors, have had only one settlement in two years. I am now negotiating personally with two of the creditors in order to keep wage garnishment from taking place. Think long and hard before doing something like this.......

They gladly accept your monthly payment with little to no negotiating on your debt. Their fees are exceesive and substantially higher than advertised. Homeowners BEWARE!!The Debt Reduction Law Center's Woodland Hills office is now doing loan modifications. This office is run by the same crooks who were affiliated with the Federal Loan Modification Law Centerm, which, in April of 2009 was shut down by the Federal Trade Commission for fraud and misrepresentaion.

I am a collector. "Booooo." I know. Anyway, a representative from Emilio and Fransisco called my office to settle an account for a debtor. The debtor already had a payment plan she was keeping and owed less that $50.00. (You can make small monthly payments on debt.) I did not discuss the account with the representative because he kept asking for the debtor's SSN, social security number. Surely if he represented her he would have this info. I called the debtor and sure enough, she had never heard of them. Be careful.

I used them. My experience was that they drag it out as long as possible which increases your debt and eventually brings in more of a commission for them. The it was nice to hand it over to someone to deal with, as I was unable to do it myself and felt overwhelmed and depressed. I ended up owing the State and IRS a hefty amount for "forgiven debt". Now, two years after complete settlement, I am receiving credit collection letters from one account saying it was not paid off. I think this is a mistake, but they have not returned my phone calls as of yet. In hind sight..I would work with someone locally.

I work in the industry for one of their competitors
I know Emilio and their staff. and although I work for a competitor and believe ours to be one of the best...I can tell you without hesitation that there are many bad companies out there... granted... however; Emilio Francisco's is one of the better ones. I know.. I've been in the industry for over 10 years. Remember this... [URL="http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/getoutofdebt.html"]getting out of debt[/URL] comes with risks. The whole thing stinks across the board. But of the options available, if you are going to choose debt settlement as your method of debt resolution, the debt reduction law center/law offices of Emilio Francisco is definately one of your better choices.

I was going to use this company to help me save my home now Im not sure what to do is this attorney real or a fake

can anyone truly give the answer on these people? im about to sign up with them , they seem legit very professional so far> any advice?

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