Unapproved withdrawals from a bank account.Exorbitant fees for their debt settlement negotiation services.Difficulty terminating an agreement with Freedom Debt Relief and obtaining saved money.Despite their positive rating with BBB, customer complaints indicate a history of repetitive problems, including: How do prior customers feel about Freedom Debt Relief?Īs of 2022, Freedom Debt Relief currently has an A+ Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating, with 373 complaints in the past three years. However, the time may vary depending on the client’s ability to make monthly payments and the total value of their debt. They estimate that most customers will be in the program for two to four years before they settle their debts. The program continues until every debt included in the client’s portfolio is paid off or settled.Ĭurrently, Freedom Debt Relief does not provide the average discount they are able to obtain from creditors. If they go forward with the payment, the creditor closes the account and no additional amount is due. Through negotiation, they seek to get the creditor to agree to accept a reduced payoff to close the account and stop collection activities.Įach time a creditor agrees to accept a reduced amount, the customer decides whether to make the settlement. Once Freedom Debt Relief believes there are enough funds to settle an account, they’ll contact one of the client’s creditors and begin a negotiation process. The company creates an individual bank account for each client and saves the balance until the customer has enough money to settle an account. When new customers sign up for the program, they list all the debts they want to settle and their account information.īased on the value of their outstanding debt, Freedom Debt Relief requires customers to make a monthly payment to them. In the last few years, Freedom Debt Relief has been the subject of two major lawsuits alleging that the company did not act in its clients’ best interests.įreedom Debt Relief is a debt settlement agency that works on behalf of its clients to negotiate an agreement with their creditors to pay off their obligations. You can use SoloSettle to avoid working with traditional debt settlement companies and reach a debt settlement on your own terms.ĭo you feel misled by Freedom Debt Relief? Did you sign up for their debt settlement services only to find yourself in a worse position than before? You are not alone. The CFPB and NY Attorney General’s office have recently filed lawsuits against Freedom Debt Relief due to harmful debt settlement practices. This settlement is subject to approval by the court.Summary: Freedom Debt Relief is generally a good debt settlement company, but it has a history of violating consumer rights. The Bureau will remit $493,500 of the $5 million civil penalty it assessed in light of the penalty that the company was ordered to pay the FDIC. The company has also agreed to a consent order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC). Today’s settlement enjoins Freedom Debt Relief from engaging in this conduct in the future.
The Bureau also alleged that Freedom Debt Relief violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 by charging consumers without settling their debts as promised, charging consumers after having them negotiate their own settlements with creditors, and misleading consumers about the company’s fees and its ability to negotiate directly with all of a consumer’s creditors. The Bureau’s lawsuit alleged that Freedom Debt Relief violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule by charging advance fees and failing to inform consumers of their rights to funds they deposited with the company.
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