I am new to the site, I just filed for Chapter 13. I would like people to know my story and hopefully never be pulled into the mess we are in. My husband lost his job 3 years ago, there were political issues with his losing the job, and it ended up in court where a judgment was filed against us for all the wages he had earned while working - they said he had been illegally hired. It went thru District and then Circuit Courts where they upheld the judgment - we filed in the State Appeals Court. In the meantime this judgment appeared on our credit report and EVERY credit card we had immediatley raised our interest rates to the highest usery allowed and closed us out. After 20+ years of paying - on time - as agreed - we were shut out. I contacted them, most said to contact them when the judgment was resolved. The Court of Appeals overturned the judgment mid 2005 - almost 2 years after it started - low and behold - we do NOT have to pay back any judgment. But the damage has been done. 13 months ago he got sick, had two surgeries and came down with depression and severe anxiety attacks, he cannot work, only odd jobs. Doctors say to keep the anxiety away from him as he is in treatment. That puts the world on my shoulders. I have a good paying job with benefits. But our income has been cut in half now for 3 years. I struggled with those larger credit card payments - and contacted eachcompany after the judgment was over turned - would any of them reduce the interest - even when provided with proof - NO I contacted a debt negotiation company, who had a real slick salesman - had to sign up within the hour because they could only take XX amount of people on............. You can be really duped when you are stressed out and pressured..................... don't make your payments and let them take care of it is their moto------this company ( National Legal Debt Centers - beware) collected over $5000 from me to negotiate these debts......... in the meantime I started to receive inquires at my work from attorney firms, arbitration forms, summons etc. I had my job in jeopardy! I would contact them, and they said I had to handle all these myself, they sent me sample forms to use - which are all useless, they are no good in arbitration etc. Finally I consulted with an attorney, we talked, I returned with my husband after a long talk and filed Chapter 13 ( because of my job I cannot qualify for Chapter 7) National Legal Debt Centers then sends ME a bill for another $1600, said it was a retainer that had to be paid and NO, they would refund nothing back to me because I violated their contract agreement. No one can withstand the pressures of these debt negotiation programs - before anything can be negoatiated, you will be bombarded with attorneys and threats, to put leins on your home, garnish your wages etc. I am at peace now with our decision to file, and we will be able to start to rebuild. I had a sit down talk with my employers to be up front, and they are understanding. Everything is in the open now and I don't have to worry about being sued. Please people, stay away from debt negotiation firms, they are scams. Contact me if you need any more details. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get a refund from these people? I have filed complaints with the FTC and BBB. Suggestions are really welcome!!
Sue the debt negotiation company. And file a complaint with the FTC about them. Many of these firms are also under investigation, some have already been taken to court. If you sue, you may well get some money back from them.
I know this thread is old, but i just wanted to say i went through the same thing. Got roped into a debt negotiation scam (Best Debt Solutions was the name) and before i knew it was getting 10 letters a day and 50 phone calls a day from creditors saying we were about to go to court. I reported them to the BBB and eventually they refunded me my money. But i totally understand the nightmare you went through. I had a lot of sleepless nights over it myself.
