Should I trust this Credit Restoration Company?

[adkinsr27]

I'm posting this on behalf of my girlfriend who is waaay too trustworthy to random people on the phone that "sound nice".

She has about 20k worth of credit card debt.  She is considering filing for chapter 7.  In the meantime, she got a letter in the mail the other day that said how much debt she has and how they can knock off 70% of that debt and have her only paying around 6K by the end of it all.  She received a free consultation and this guy basically said that if she pays them $329 a month for 22 months, she will be debt free at the end of the 22 months.

The company's name is US Enrollment Group.  This is what they offered/guaranteed her:

• No 3rd party fees
• 1 Payment per month
• Avoid constly debt manaagment programs
• Immediate reduction of payments up to 70%
• Credit is restored by avoiding bankruptcy
• Stop cals from creditors and collectors

The  company is NOT accredited by the Better Business Bureau.  They are accredited by the Nationwide Business Bureau, but I don't know how reliable they are.

 

I call the guy she talked to and asked him straight up, "By paying this $329 a month will she be debt free after 22 months?"  He replied with a simple, "Yes."  

 

I looked up the company at usenrollmentgroup.com and read their pitch and I would greatly appreciate someone who has better knowledge of this helping me out.  

 

It seems too good to be true to me and I don't want my girlfriend getting scammed.  Any information would be awesome.  Thank you.

[Clydesmom]

 

The  company is on accredited by the Better Business Bureau.  

 

NO they are not.  According to this BBB page they are not accredited:  http://www.bbb.org/sdoc/business-reviews/credit-and-debt-counseling/us-enrollment-group-in-san-diego-ca-172010367/Complaints#breakdown

 

First and foremost:  this service is NOTHING she cannot do herself and SHOULD do herself.  During the big recession many creditors would work with companies like this but today:  not a chance.  Creditors know they can get more by suing than working with one of these companies who is keeping the majority of the money for their "fee."

 

They cannot guarantee ANY of her creditors will participate.  What they will have her do is default on the payments which will trash her credit immediately.  (if that hasn't already happened)  Credit is NOT restored by participating and avoiding BK.  BK can restore credit much faster in many cases than lower payments and settling for less than owed which is what they are going to attempt.

 

They cannot guarantee she won't be sued and she probably will be.

 

They will charge three times more money than a seasoned BK attorney to file for her if she cannot meet their payments.

 

The amount of her debt will escalate much higher due to two factors:  reduced payments less than the minimum amount due, late fees, and jacked up maximum interest rates.

 

I looked up the company at usenrollmentgroup.com and read their pitch and I would greatly appreciate someone who has better knowledge of this helping me out.  

 

THIS statement from their site concerns me the most:

 

"US Enrollment Group is a third party consumer counseling agency that has been approved with accredited companies to enroll you in the program that best suits your financial situation. We are not partial to any particular organization. Rather, we give you your options based on your financial situation, and we will help you choose what program is the right fit for you."

 

This company is not going to be handling her case themselves.  They are nothing more than a referral point for other credit repair companies and there is NO guarantee they send her to someone trustworthy.  

 

Ask credit dude WHO they referred her to so you can check their reputation.  Odds are good he won't reveal that information which means:  SCAM.

 

I call the guy she talked to and asked him straight up, "By paying this $329 a month will she be debt free after 22 months?"  He replied with a simple, "Yes." 

 

Ask credit dude exactly how much of that $329 goes towards her debt(s) and how much their fee.  Or ANYONE'S fee for this service is related to her case.  

 

Ask what happens if creditors won't agree to work with her/them.

 

Ask what happens if she cannot make the payments and does have to file BK anyway.

 

Ask if the fees are refundable and under what circumstances.

 

Ask for a blank copy of the contract they expect her to sign.

 

It seems too good to be true to me 

 

Ding, ding, ding..... We have a winner.  If it seems to good to be true it probably is.  My guess is when you start pushing with detailed questions they go radio silent.  Then take her to a competent BK attorney and discuss ALL her options and develop a plan.

[willingtocope]

What @Clydesmom said.  ALL "debt fixers" are scams.

[Clydesmom]

From this article: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Debt_Settlement_Companies_Are_They_A_Scam_Or_Do_They_Really_Work.html

 

Warning Sign:

 

If the representative is saying that they will save you over 60-70% of your debt be wary, at first it might sound great but verify what the overall cost is before signing on. Once they add on their fee and include your payback to your creditors it will be a lot less and they never mention this. Make sure to ask the representative if their claim of high savings for you is also including the companies fee.

 

Warning Sign:

 

If a representative from a non-attorney based debt settlement company tells that they can stop the collections calls ask them how and why the collector has to abide by what the debt settlement company claims. By law the collector does not have to deal with them. 

 

(USEG) is a NON-attorney business.

[adkinsr27]

 

 

 

 

NO they are not.  According to this BBB page they are not accredited:  http://www.bbb.org/sdoc/business-reviews/credit-and-debt-counseling/us-enrollment-group-in-san-diego-ca-172010367/Complaints#breakdown

 

@Clydesmom Thanks for catching that.  That was a typo on my part.  Them not being BBB approved was another concern I have.  Thank you for your insight, it's much appreciated!

[adkinsr27]

 

 

 

Ask for a blank copy of the contract they expect her to sign.

 

 

@Clydesmom     While I was at work she signed the contract electronically while on the phone with the guy.  She said he explained everything and that it made sense to her so she signed away.  I came home and saw the contract, but I'm not a lawyer so I didn't fully comprehend what i was reading.  It does say she has 5 days to cancel the contract so that is why I posted this.  I think she should cancel it and avoid a potential disaster, I just wanted the opinions of others who maybe have heard of this company.  Under the Nationwide Business Bureau this company has a bunch of positive reviews, but any Tom, Dick, or Harry can post onto that so I imagine it's not super reliable.

 

 

 

 

[Clydesmom]

It does say she has 5 days to cancel the contract so that is why I posted this.  I think she should cancel it and avoid a potential disaster, 

 

CANCEL it.  I agree she would be avoiding disaster.  Then make sure she understands to never EVER electronically sign a contract over the phone or a contract she has not read.  EVER.

[TomnTex]

Tell her to CANCEL and get proof of cancelation and keep it for a long time, this may come back to haunt her. You need to keep an eye on her and be her keeper. Much to gullible. 

[timbercreektech]

Run Forest Run!

[acorn]

27 minutes ago, Jason Lipphertz said:

Hey.... I am a client of US Enrollment Group and they worked wonders for me.  You all are missing the point- what they do is dispute the debt after it gets to the collection agent.  This invalidates the debt.  Nothing goes to pay your creditors    If they can't invalidate  the debt they give you your money back.  I had a little over 50k on 7 credit cards, they invalidated 6 of them and the 7th one (Discover) sued me.  They gave me my money back, referred me to a Debt Settlement attorney and I got that account settled for 70 cents on the dollar.  I am now in their credit repair phase and I am getting all sorts of letters from the credit bureaus removing stuff, etc.   They came though on everything they said they would. Hope this helps your decision.

Yeah, whatever.  How much did they pay you to resurrect this dead thread with your "testimonial"?  If by chance you are a legit customer of theirs, they are not doing ANYTHING that you can't do yourself WITHOUT paying whatever fees they're charging you.

[stick&rudder]

Howdy, Jason,

 

wow, seems to me that you've been smoking what they've been rolling.  First, They do not "invalidate" the debt.  The standard for one of those debt collectors to validate the debt is ridiculously low.  You said that they dispute the debt.  We all do the same thing.  All they need to provide to "validate" is the most basic and vague information, with very little detail.  Once they provided that very basic and vague information, they can go right on collecting all they want to.  Nothing in that process "invalidates" the debt.  Second, we all send the same letters that you are talking about ourselves.  If I can do this myself, why should I pay you to do it for me?  You are not a law office.  This means that debt collectors are under no obligation to deal with you at all. 

Third, the one and only online record of "Jason Lipphertz" in San Diego is this thread.  So, I gotta ask you, how long have you worked for USEG?  Since you happen to place yourself in the same exact city that USEG is in, right?

US Enrollment Group

8885 Rio San Diego Dr
San Diego , CA 92108

Coincidence, "Jason"?

Wheels up,

Stick

[willingtocope]

Jason is gone...

[shatteredfx718]

I can honestly, say if it sounds to good to be true it is, I know many people have mentioned that and I really did sign up and now I realized from speaking with attorney I may have to file bankruptcy since I was  a victim who got screwed, even though they work with another third party company called XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, and they always kept calling me to stop me from filing but I have to since they really don't help.  I recommend be very wary of them if you are signed up or not.