Consumer Alert
Credit card debt relief that wasn’t
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Credit card debt can be stressful. Interest rates can be high, and if you miss or can’t make your full payments, that growing balance can be overwhelming. Enter a group of companies that promised to reduce or eliminate your credit card debt. (For a fee.) But did they?
The FTC’s lawsuit against ACRO Services and related companies says no. Instead, the FTC says they operated a deceptive credit card debt relief scheme: claiming they could, for example, clear up your credit card debt. The price? You’d have to sign up for their program, pay an enrollment fee (usually in the thousands) — plus monthly fees for “credit monitoring” services.
So what could you expect from the program? Not much, says the FTC. Once enrolled, it was often hard to reach anyone. If you did, you might get a form letter to dispute your debts — even when the company knew those debts were legit. Even worse, says the FTC, these companies would tell you to stop making payments and stop communicating with your credit card companies. If you followed these instructions, you’d see increased fees, added interest, lower credit scores, and, sometimes, lawsuits from creditors.
If you're looking for ways to pay off your credit cards more quickly, or get a lower interest rate:
- Don’t pay upfront. It’s illegal for a debt relief company to charge you a fee before they do anything to relieve your debt.
- Talk with your credit card company. For free. Call the customer service number on the back of your credit card. Ask for a payment plan that you’ll be able to afford.
- Consider a reputable credit counselor. They can help you develop a payment plan that works for you.
Spot a company making calls or claims like this? Report them at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Scams
I signed up with Cordoba Legal to reduce my debts. Every month they take $60, supposedly for legal fees and I think towards their fees and $9.95 for monthly fee! I finally reached $1600+ and they finally reached an agreement with one of my credit cards to pay it off in one year. But I was told that they would only pay it in full- a one time payment, but that isn’t what they are doing. I asked why they aren’t paying off the smaller ones that I had paid on thru another company and they said they had to wait until their legal team called them as they had an agreement with the other company that I had before!
In reply to I signed up with Cordoba… by Patricia Carter
Can they be made to pay you back? The same thing has happened to me, but I can't find a law that will make them pay back
We got involved with a company like this. We paid fees and a large lump payment every month. They were supposed to negotiate are debts down. Don’t do it!
We ended up destroying are good credit and having multiple law suits that we had to respond to. Worst mistake we’ve ever made. We we tried to pull out they hadn’t done much of anything on our behalf.
In reply to We got involved with a… by C Bright
i am tring to remove a freeze on my credit report that is decades old
I went to Freedom Debt relief- crooks- I did not have to pay up front but they did take me to the bank, they did TRY to ruin my credit. I had a score of about 800, it dropped all the way down to 500. I was sick, 2 years now and i am back up to 800. I was paying off my debt of 42,000.00 that they got down to 23,000.00. They wanted to have my take a loan, out for the 23,000.00 at 24% interest???? Did they think i was stupid. I had my dad take a loan at 6% interest and i payed off the loan in little over a year. They are just as bad as the credit card companies. Wish i know what i know now. Yes, contact the credit card companies yourself and you can work the same magic they did. lesson learned.
I'm here to say I been waiting for this moment
Dear ftc.gov webmaster, Your posts are always on point.
lpg oakstone....ripping me off