TEHY RECORDED MY VOICE
Complaint
robert
Country: United States
I got a call on my cell phone regarding credit card debt relief. . I was transferred to nakisha, asked if I wanted to continue, they asked for $600 or $60.00 to send me the paperwork and for the consultation. When I asked them what it was for she said they would deduct from my first payment but would not tell me what the money was for FINALLY SHE said yes.
THE FIRST TIME THEY TOLD ME IT WOULD APPLY TO MY CREDITORS BUT WHEN THEY CONVINCED ME TO RECORD MY VOICE THAN THEY SAID IT WAS ONLY A FEE FOR THE CONSULTATION!!!
. No fees should be sent to anyone for additional information requested on a company or program
she has been harrasing me telling that i have to pay this amount or else! and that they can take me to court becaues they have my voice accepting!! ! unfortunally i gave many personal information!!
what happends now??
i never signed anything!!!!
THE FIRST TIME THEY TOLD ME IT WOULD APPLY TO MY CREDITORS BUT WHEN THEY CONVINCED ME TO RECORD MY VOICE THAN THEY SAID IT WAS ONLY A FEE FOR THE CONSULTATION!!!
. No fees should be sent to anyone for additional information requested on a company or program
she has been harrasing me telling that i have to pay this amount or else! and that they can take me to court becaues they have my voice accepting!! ! unfortunally i gave many personal information!!
what happends now??
i never signed anything!!!!
Comments
[October 06, 2010]
Boca debt relief firm accused of illegally collecting fees
Oct 06, 2010 (Sun Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A Boca Raton company has been slapped with a lawsuit that alleges it illegally collected money from North Carolina residents seeking help with their debts.
Filed last Friday by the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division in North Carolina, the suit seeks to bar The Consumer Law Group P.A. from collecting money for debt settlement.
The suit, which alleges the Boca Raton company collected more than $2.6 million from thousands of North Carolina customers, is demanding it issue refunds, cancel all contracts, pay civil penalties and have its assets frozen.
"Taking advantage of consumers who are trying to pay off their bills is wrong, and it's also against the law," North Carolina's Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a statement Monday. "Never agree to pay an upfront fee to anyone who promises to help get you out of debt," he said.
It's illegal to charge an upfront fee for help with debt adjustment or debt settlement under North Carolina law. The state does allow qualified credit counselors to charge limited fees to help someone set up a debt management plan to make timely payments.
According to Florida's division of corporations, the Consumer Law Group is located at 23123 U.S. 441. Company president Michael L. Metzner is named as a defendant in the case along with Ran David Barnea, Daniel T. Post and an affiliated company, American Debt Negotiators Inc., according to the suit.
Cooper's suit contends that the Consumer Law Group deceived consumers by promising to reduce their debts by half and leave them debt-free without bankruptcy, but in reality settlements were rarely achieved.
The Boca Raton business is said to have collected more than $1.6 million from more than 650 North Carolina customers, but only $202,000 had been used to pay consumer debts. The majority of consumers who paid the company for assistance have received little or no help, the suit alleged.
Another $1 million-plus in fees was collected from roughly 2,500 North Carolina consumers for enrollment in debt management plans even though these fees exceeded the state's legal allowance.
The complaint contends Metzner's company advertises its services online, through telemarketing calls, the radio and local telephone book listings. In the Raleigh phone book, 13 listings are linked to the Consumer Law Group under "Consumer Credit Counseling." And although the listings are Raleigh numbers, the calls are routed to telemarketers in the Boca Raton office, the complaint said.
The suit also alleges that the company claims its debt settlement services are performed by attorneys, but in fact are not.
In an affidavit filed in the suit, a retired Raleigh couple on a fixed income turned to the Boca Raton business for help with credit card debt after hearing about its services on a local Christian radio station. The ad touted its services as "part of the government's debt relief plan," but the couple said they had not received help with their debts after paying nearly $3,000 over 10 months.
Although Metzner is a Florida attorney, he is not licensed to practice in North Carolina and the company isn't a law firm, the suit said. It also mostly uses telemarketers to pitch its services, not lawyers, the suit alleged.
In an e-mail Tuesday, Metzner said he couldn't comment on the lawsuit because he hadn't seen it.
The Consumer Law Group has a D+ rating with the Better Business Bureau in West Palm Beach, which has received 140 complaints on the company in the last three years.