Credit Card Relief

The FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, put the government's very large foot down on the debt settlement industry in the fall of 2010.  This government consumer watchdog agency was finally acting on the tens of thousands of complaints they had received from people who had paid huge up-front enrollment fees and hefty monthly maintenance fees to unscrupulous debt settlement companies who took these fees but did very little if any work for their customers: no customer support, no real attempts at debt negotiations with their customers creditors, and rarely any actual debt settlements. Just go on line and try to find some of these companies - they're gone.

Both federal and state regulators had been trying for years to obtain refunds for the customers of those shady companies, but without much success.  Even threats of criminal penalties by state regulators didn't seem to work. And the few legitimate companies in the industry who actually do what they promise by helping consumers get out of debt in months instead of years suffered because they were tarred by the same brush.

However, on October 27, 2010 the Federal Trade Commission, in the Final Ruling on Debt Settlement Companies, put in place strict enforceable guidelines for our industry that would compel the unscrupulous companies to shut down their operations. However, it would give new life to legitimate companies who are legally compliant, truly customer oriented, and who provide valuable debt mediation services to American consumers.

Among other things, these Rules prohibited the collection of any fees until a customer's debt was actually settled, altered, reduced or cancelled; established a clear, 100%, ninety day refund policy; no monthly "maintenance" fees were allowed; and required that the fees that are allowed have to be fair and equitable.

Your Name:


Your Email Address:


Recipient's Email Address:


Your Message: