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Debt Settlement America (DSA) DSA Completely Ruined My Life! Dallas, Texas
I must warn you that this is long, but I am so angry with DSA and what they have done to me and I'm sure many other people. I had to get it all out.
SUMMARY: I am still in debt and have ended up paying out more money than if I had just handled everything myself.
***********DO NOT USE DSA WHATEVER YOU DO!!!!!!**************
Well it all started when I took a trip to Europe and being young and naive thought it was ok to "max out" all of my credit cards and spend every penny I had to my name. (I wanted to live it up) When I came back to the States I obviously had many creditors to pay, but absolutely no money to pay them with. This is where DSA enters my life. After researching their services and comparing it to other options I settled on DSA. And why wouldn't I have? Instead of paying my cards whose minimum payments totaled more than $550 I could relax a little and only worry about paying $150 to DSA. What was even better was when I was told to cease all communication with the credit companies. It was great! I could basically pretend the whole thing wasn't happening AND it got my parents off my back. Now don't get me wrong, I knew going into all of this that my credit would be destroyed for a while, but again I was young, naive and didn't realize how much this would impact my future...
Ok so fast forward through the eventual realization of exactly how terrible a situation I had gotten myself into...
**Quick rundown of this program, DSA basically forces you to save money by deciding on a monthly payment that is put into an account through them. When the balance becomes something of significance, they offer it to one of your creditors in hopes they will take the pay off amount and be done with you.***
Two years into my "program," the ramifications of DSA's services are showing their true colors...
A. For starters, I am still in debt. I am in the middle of a job transition, but am finding that because I still have outstanding debt, NO ONE will hire me. AWESOME! Did I mention I'm still in debt? So how is this supposed to work? I'm still in debt, but I cant get a job. If I can't get a job, how am I supposed to get out of debt? Right.
B. My most recent "settlement" finally occurred just as a lawsuit was being filed against me. NICE, except that the settlement was not a lump sum less than my total balance. Instead it was agreed upon that I would pay $150 a month to this creditor until my balance was paid. OK...So lets see... I can't find a job that's worth a d**n, and I have a lot of school loans to pay and I am already locked into $150 with DSA; therefore, adding another $150.18 onto my already extensive list of payments is not really possible. So now I pay $150 to DSA and a few days later that $150 gets taken out to go to the creditor. As a result I am actually only saving $.18 a month!!! Not exactly getting closer to settling my last account whose balance is my next issue...
C. The last credit card to be settled had a credit limit of $4500. As I said, I maxed it out...so $4500 + 2 years of not paying (interest + late fees) brings my balance today to a whopping $7000!!!!! Now DSA cannot guarantee a payoff amount for each account, but they say no less than 30%. Say I get a payoff at 30% off before more time passes and my balance rises to $8000, I will still be paying $4900!!!!!! MORE THAN MY ORIGINAL BALANCE!!! This added onto the $1500 I paid DSA for all of this!!!
D. (I'm sorry that there is a D, but this news I found out tonight and is what prompted me to write this...) Ok so its the beginning of tax season...I'm getting all my forms in and such, when I get an envelope from the two creditors that were completely settled through DSA's program...1099 forms (never heard of them) So I call my dad to find out more...turns out that the difference between my payoff amount and the balance I held (that's the elevated balance after years of interest and late fees) is seen as income and I now have to pay taxes on it!!! WTF income my A**!!!
Needless to say that was the last straw and I am completely furious with DSA. Someone needs to stop this company from doing this to more innocent people. I appreciate anyone who read my whole rant, sorry it was long, but I feel very passionate about what I have experienced and really hope no one else falls into this trap.