I was on call recently and received an email at 5:10 AM. The gentleman was understandably upset because his bank account had been frozen. The rest of the story goes like this:
He employed one of those out-of-town debt settlement relief agencies back in 2010. You know, the ones that tell you not to file for bankruptcy. They promise to tell you the secrets your creditors won’t tell you, or that you are entitled to settle your debt, or other misleading phrases.
According to the client, he was told that all of his debts were taken care of. Apparently they were not, as one of the creditors sued him and took all of the money out of his bank account.
You Have Good Intentions
When you or one of our clients contact these debt settlement agencies, you are doing it with the best intent. You want to do all you can to deal with your debt situation.
These companies will say all of the right things to you. In fact, they are scripted: each person who answers the phone and speaks with you knows exactly what they are going to say to entice you to use their debt settlement services. They also have a list of typical questions that you will ask, and they have scripted responses. If you have 10 people who call them with the same amount of debt, say $25,000, they will each have to pay the company the exact same payment.
What these debt settlement companies do not have is empathy, understanding, and your best interests at heart. At Steidl and Steinberg, if 10 people came to us with $25,000 in debt, we may have 10 different answers as to the specific plan needed to take care of business. You may ask, how is that possible? The answer is that we have the knowledge, the experience, and the know how to get to the right answer. And most importantly, we care about you.
Before you try one of the out-of-town debt settlement places, remember our 5:10 AM client who now has no money in the bank. Send your money out-of-town at your peril, or come to a place that cares.