Nationwide debt direct - scam or not

This company is deceptive. They are also taking money for services they do not render. They have a misleading contract that leads you to believe you will be paying them a total of $542 for their services, but in reality, you are paying them over $4600 in three years time, more than that if it takes you longer than three years, for their "services". They withheld information from me that they knew would have made me not use them. When I found out that information from an attorney, I cancelled my contract on the fourth month, and was told they were allowed to keep the $1834 they had already taken from my account, which was supposed to be put into an account and saved to be applied towards my debt. Their contract is sneaky, it does not state anywhere on the contract the actual amount you will end up paying them, and when they send the person to your home to collect the paperwork, you cant even ask them questions about the contract because they are "independent contractors" and can't answer questions about it. This company is sneaky, sneaky, sneaky. If you are thinking about this company, be aware that they do not clearly state the amount you are going to be paying them, because it leaves it open for them to make even more money off of you. Very deceptive contract and deceptive business practices.

Excellent advice in this post. I own a debt settlement company and if they can't settle right away I even tell people to do it themselves.

The thing is though, even when doing it on your own, you want to do it fairly quickly. I don't recommend settling your debts if it will take longer than 12 - 24 months. Going beyond that amount of time exposes you to too many dangers.

The other reason is based on your recovery. It generally takes 2 years to acquire new credit again once your delinquent accounts are resolved. If it takes you 2 years to settle you need to add 2 more to recover, so it's a 4 year process.

People generally qualify to buy or refinance a home conventionally 4 years after they discharge from chapter 7 bankruptcy. Or 1 - 2 years via FHA. They also usually acquire new unsecured credit within 2 years after bankruptcy. Bankruptcy isn't as bad as many lead you to believe.

Here is a great article from the NY Times on the subject.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/realestate/mortgages-life-after-bankruptcy.html?_r=0

So, from both a consumer protection standpoint and a recovery standpoint, if you can't settle within 2 years, chapter 7 bankruptcy usually makes more sense.

I would check out www.consumerrecoverynetwork.com and www.zipdebt.com. They will breakdown your finances to see if you can settle within 12 - 24 months. And if you have that financial ability, they offer very low cost training and coaching to help you settle your debts yourself.

If you can't settle within 12 - 24 months, check into a credit counseling company and meet with a bankruptcy attorney. Then compare those two options against each other.

Good luck.

This company is deceptive. They are also taking money for services they do not render. They have a misleading contract that leads you to believe you will be paying them a total of $542 for their services, but in reality, you are paying them over $4600 in three years time, more than that if it takes you longer than three years, for their "services". They withheld information from me that they knew would have made me not use them. When I found out that information from an attorney, I cancelled my contract on the fourth month, and was told they were allowed to keep the $1834 they had already taken from my account, which was supposed to be put into an account and saved to be applied towards my debt. Their contract is sneaky, it does not state anywhere on the contract the actual amount you will end up paying them, and when they send the person to your home to collect the paperwork, you cant even ask them questions about the contract because they are "independent contractors" and can't answer questions about it. This company is sneaky, sneaky, sneaky. If you are thinking about this company, be aware that they do not clearly state the amount you are going to be paying them, because it leaves it open for them to make even more money off of you. Very deceptive contract and deceptive business practices.

Even if they are not a scam outfit, you might run into trouble with your creditors if you go the 3rd party debt settlement/consolidation way. The 60 percent sounds attractive but chances are pretty good that it might not go as low.The better idea would be to negotiate a settlement yourself. It is not a complicated process, just pick up the phone, call your creditor and make them an offer. See where that takes you.

The two earlier post are correct. You can do it yourself. Don't contact the creditor until you have a reasonable amount of money to work with. Contacting them when you don't have money, they will try to put you on a payment plan and it also puts you on their radar. The majority of times you will get settlement offers without doing anything. Plan a budget, calculate how much you owe and start your own savings plan, this way you control your money and not some outside company. But be aware there are some creditors that are very aggressive and will sue. If they are going to sue you, they are going to do it and it doesn't matter if your with a company or not. There is nothing a Settlement company can do. Ask the company that you have been talking with to see how they handle lawsuits. The majority of them will dance around the answer but the end result is you're on your own.

I'll do some math for you. You pay about 15%-22% in fees. The companies will settle for average 40%-50%. Then you get hit by Uncle Sam. Not much saved as you originally thought.

Bottom line is the process takes time and diligence but it can all be done by you without, sending your money to some bank and being hit with 8-10 dollar charge for service fee. All that adds up.

Good Luck and settle on your terms, wait for the settlement offers to be sent to you and be diligent and prepared for the ones that may sue you. Careful planning will save yo a tremendous amount of money.

Good Luck.

Why should you take risks? Try to settle your debts yourself instead of working with a debt relief company. Some creditors prefer to work with debtors directly instead of the the debt relief companies. Some creditors may not even agree to work with the company.

Believe it or not, you can settle debts yourself. Just check out the steps from this page:

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/steps.html

It sounds to good to be true, and probably is..I know nothing about these debt consolidation services,and practices ,,but when they pester you constantly,, and promise a miracle deal,,beware!!!,,,I will cancel my appointment that they have bullied me into,, and try to negotiate with creditors myself..I do not know where to begin,,but I will review options,and websites, and take advice,and research any information, or help from anyone who is a concerned,regular guy like myself; who would offer any advice,,,thank you for the warning ,, morals and integrity,,,marc

Hi Marc,

I recommend you read these three articles I wrote:

How Debt Settlement Works

The Role Credit Counseling Plays in Debt Relief

How to Settle Debt with DIY Debt Settlement

These articles will give you a nice head start with your research. Please feel free to reply with any questions.

this is a shill/plant post as ours isn't the only site that has bad reviews on this dirtbag place.btw bravo throwing your mom under the bus to try and legitimize this scam.you had your say now buh-bye.

My mom told me she was working Nationwide Debt Direct and actually told her to rethink it and we would find a way to help her. I have to say though they worked with her on all of her bills and answered all of her calls (something I wont do!) ha, just glad to not have to support her - was sweating bullets about that one. I didnt know much about debt consolidation but am glad mom didnt have to go through bankruptcy again that was a nightmare 15 years back when she went through that. Before saying bad things I would check out all options. There is no way she could of settled herself and I sure didnt want to have to do that for her.