National Debt Relief REVIEW: Commitment to National Debt Relief’s executive team and employees are committed to customer satisfaction. National Debt Relief’s approach to business is focused on providing the highest customer satisfaction in the industry.
The National Debt Relief Group is a sham company based in Brooklyn, NY. They used to be Lifeguard Financial, but closed up due to the all the complaints they were receiving. For a short time, they were SafeTrust Financial(a couple of weeks or so?), and for some reason that didn't work out. Now they're back with a fancy new website, and some worthless accreditations. If you're unfamiliar with Lifeguard Financial, just do a google search on them, and you'll see a myriad of complaints.
As I said earlier, they might call you and boast to you about their "accreditations", which are meaningless. Sorry folks, but not even the BBB is to be trusted. To become an accredited member of the BBB, all you have to do is pay a fee. Don't believe me? Check out these two articles-http://www.thebluesmokeband.com/bbb.php and http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/21/business/fi-lazarus21?pg=1 You might also be told of something called TASC. TASC is not a government run organization, and the owner of the company has his own debt settlement company, while the President of TASC is also the CEO of Debt Settlement America, a company which was subpoenaed by the Attorney General Of New York. Do you really expect these guys to hold one of their own accountable? Besides, to become an "accredited" member of TASC, all you have to is pay a fee.
Lifeguard Financial is now the National Debt Relief Group. Their new headquarters are at 2502 86 Street, Brooklyn NY 11214. There are also additional offices located at 714 3rd Ave, Brooklyn NY, and 263 52 Street, Brooklyn NY. The new website is www.nationalrelief.com They've set up shop not too long ago, and unopened boxes can still be seen at the 86 St location, which was formerly a Sprint office.
I was an employee there until I found that these guys were crooks. Sensitive information was seen lying around the office, such as credit reports. The office located at 263 52 Street Brooklyn, NY is in a shady, run-down building in a desolate area of Brooklyn. The office at 714 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232 isn't much better. The scripts were given out in the office had a name crossed out, and later i found out why. It used to say Lifeguard Financial! How did I know? These guys actually left some Lifeguard Financial manuals lying around the office, and it was from there that I compared the two scripts. That is what also lead me to investigating the company. From there, I found a myriad of complaints about Lifeguard, and people asking, "where did they go?" Well, the answer is clear now, folks. These vampires have moved, and when the heat turns up in a few months, the process will just repeat itself.
The debt settlement industry is very dirty. There is no regulation whatsoever. You have people who are unlicensed giving out financial advice. I've even heard that there are minors working for them at one of their offices, however I cannot prove the validity of that allegation. But what I do know is that you can all of this on your own. When we were trained, one of the rebuttals was that if someone asks why they should use NDRG instead of doing it themselves, was that the creditors won't work with individuals, or that because NDRG brings the creditors so much business, that they'll give the NDRG the best rates. This is a lie! I've spoken with many people who told me they saved 40-50% by working directly with the creditors. All you would have to do is use the same methods the same debt settlement companies use, which is falling behind your payments and telling your creditors that you're undergoing severe financial hardship. This works best once the account goes into collections, which is between 120 and 180(or 210) days. So many people have defaulted on their cards, and these guys are worried, and will gladly take something instead of nothing, with the something being anywhere from 30-60%. There are also several websites out there with information that can you assist you on how to settle your debts on your own.
There will probably be a few people who will come here and say that the two companies are not the same, but do a google maps search RIGHT NOW.As of December 9, 2009, when you do a Google Maps search of 263 52nd Street, Brooklyn NY, and you will see that it STILL says lifeguard financial under businesses listed. The same goes for 714 3rd Ave, Brooklyn NY. These guys are also affiliated with a law firm, FBL Associates, located in Fort Lauderdale. I don't know how long their partnership has been, but I've heard that they're taking care of all matters related to Lifeguard Financial.
How long will this be tolerated? When will someone take action? The entire debt settlement industry is unregulated, which allows scumbags like these to run wild.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
TheTruth
United States of AmericaTom Leydiker, Daniel Tilpman and the rest of the geniuses at National Debt Relief
#6Consumer Comment
Thu, February 18, 2010
This company is a total joke. They are not in the business of helping anyone. Don't even use this company unless you want to get ripped off. They do not provide the service advertised, they do not pay their employees and they will rip off anyone and everyone they can, including any other companies trying to do business with them.
DO NOT ASSOCIATE WITH NATIONAL DEBT RELIEF FOR ANY REASON.
BeAlert
USABut I thought you had NOTHING to do with Lifeguard?
#6Author of original report
Sat, December 12, 2009
I never said that you didn't pay people. I just said the checks were short, which makes you guys cheaters. You can argue this all you want, but online it just ends up looking like "he say, she say" business. The other things I have posted however, are undisputable
You guys have more than one script. I posted the script that was in the training module as of November 2009, but there is another one floating around the offices. I don't have a copy of that, but it's nearly identical to the Lifeguard script, since you still had those lying around the office.
You guys are now in control of Safetrust and Lifeguard's former offices? So as I said, you admit to having scammers under you? If you guys are really so ethical, and truly cared about your image, why would you even associate with such people? And, why do the checks say Lifeguard, and why is the Safetrust name listed in the training module, which is posted here for everyone to see. Any lame excuses trying to explain this one?
Who advises against working directly with creditors? Can you come up with JUST ONE reliable website that advises against working with creditors, that is not affiliated with the debt settlement industry? I will post two links that advise AGAINST working with debt settlement companies.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/28265471
www.NYDebtHelp.com/debt_settlement_companies.html
You weren't one of the companies that were subpoenaed because you weren't doing anything at the time. Debt Settlement America was one of the companies that was subpoenaed, and they are also a part of TASC, so what does that say about them? Those companies all had myriads of complaints, and that's the reason why they were investigated. You guys also forgot to mention that Attorney General Cuomo called debt settlement a "rogue industry"
TASC means nothing. USOBA means nothing. They're not goverment-run organizations, so they cannot be trusted. And if USOBA is so great, why did Lifeguard rip so many people off? The same goes for TASC, and Debt Settlement America. I mentioned this in my last post. The SEC needs to get involved ASAP, because this is ridiculous.
Again, you mention the BBB, but they aren't even reliable. This was addressed in the first post. So many of the things you have said have already been addressed. Just read my posts, and check out the links/documents that I provided, which speak for themselves. I have posted links/documents with all of my claims, from unbiased references, while you haven't been able to do the same. All you've provided is slick corporate lingo.
Nationalrelief.com
Brooklyn,Nationwide,
United States of America
Answering Questions with FACTS -
#6REBUTTAL Owner of company
Thu, December 10, 2009
I will proceed to address your statements one by one with facts, as you requested, so that you yourself can make the next posting correcting yourself and retracting your statements. It is truly my goal to make you a believer in debt settlement and our company, because if our biggest adversary will become our advocate, there is no better accomplishment.
If you look at tascsite.org you will find how much debt is being settled for consumers by debt settlement companies, it is staggering. Debt Settlement is really helping peoples lives. Debt is a very serious matter, and should not be left for consumers to deal with on their own. That's how they get in trouble in the first place. Its always better to let professionals do what they do best. Why don't you read this article, where a person is suing a debt collector because her husband died of heart failure due to the collection calls.We do not say we are affiliated with Experian. Experian markets very limited data, which companies use to market or telemarketer to prospective consumers various products and or services. Only people that are not on the DNC will possibly receive these calls. Consumers that wish not to receive these phone calls, place themselves on the DNC list with the National Do Not Call Registry at www.donotcall.gov, customers that ask us to take them off the list, not only get taken of our list right away, but we ask the customer if they would like us to help them add themselves to the National list, and we do that for them. Whenever we are asked what we have to do with Experian, the customer is explained exactly that. I think like you say most reasonable people would agree "that there is no fraud in that at all. Majority of our business is referrals from past clients and inbound calls from our promotion and public relations. A lot of our clients email us, our website is very helpful and is full of useful tools and information that people read and learn from- www.nationalrelief.com -
I never meant to insult you, and it would be my pleasure to apologize to you if you were to attempt to take off the inaccurate statements you made. David Leuthold is the founder of TASC, and the fact that he has his own debt settlement company is true. But he does not make any regulations as you seem to think. The regulations are made by various government bodies, and TASC is NOT the government. They are the Association of Settlement Companies. TASC ensures that its members comply with best practices in the industry and comply with federal regulations that are in place. TASC has no power to make or enforce federal regulations, just its own. And to become a member of TASC, which we are proud to be, we needed to comply with their disclosure requirements and numerous other matters. They check us regularly and so does USOBA. You say USOBA means nothing; you cannot become a member by simply paying a fee. If your contract with the consumer does not have proper disclosures, you will never be allowed to become a member. Furthermore all of our debt specialists get shopped to make sure that the contract and the disclosures are always properly explained to the customer over the phone. Both TASC and USOBA do shops, which mean they call pretending to be a customer to test us. That is another reason why we are proud to be a member of TASC and USOBA.
With respect to Debt Settlement America, with whom we have no relationship and the fact that the AG subpoenaed them and 13 other companies in NY means nothing. Our opinion, and that of many different qualified and respectable attorneys in field, is that this is nothing more than a fact finding expedition. The AGs office has the following statement: Our mission is clear: to hold unscrupulous businesses accountable". Our position is that we do support the AGs office and that any business, regardless of industry, should be held responsible for unethical and unscrupulous business practices. We are NOT one of those companies.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/12/10/debt.collector.lawsuit/index.html
Being a member of the BBB means that your complaints will be posted and monitored, your office is checked and you cannot be working from any undisclosed locations. All the principles and licenses are transparent. It tells you how long the company has been in business, its very important to have a BBB rating, but I know excellent companies that do not bother with the BBB. So even though we are a member and we work with companies that have excellent ratings on the BBB being a member in good standing is not necessary. However if you are bad company you will not be able to have a good rating, period.
These two offices used to enroll clients to Lifeguard, now they are working with us. But we are a totally different company. The scripts are different, the procedures are different and so are the policies and guidelines.The two locations that you mention are not debt settlement companies; they are sales offices, origination and enrollment centers. Lifeguard and SafeTrust did not close up shop, they were purchased by a law firm, and they are settling millions and millions of dollars of debt per month.
Employee turnover is the same as any other company or industry, we offer people the opportunity for employment, if they find that the industry is not for them, or they lack the skills or the knowhow, they don't stay. We either fire them or they quit. Employees always get paid; we have never had a complaint. Its a false statement that "we cheat people out of money", and we do the same to employees. Its simply a lie. Everyone works here to put food on their families table, and to help other people in debt manage their budget and pay for their necessities. Its not fair to make these false statements. If you worked for an affiliate of ours, and you did not report some kind of issue to corporate, and you feel that you are owed money please contact us at
info@nationalrelief.com
We protect and help consumers against the debt collection industry that is obviously out of control.The Debt Settlement industry does have regulations. The FTC (Federal Trade Commission), the Attorney General's Office and state/federal laws. It is not recommended for consumers to do debt settlement on their own. People do attempt to but it's like going to court to with representation from an attorney. Can you do it yourself? Yes. Is it a good idea? - NO! You won't get the professional advice, you wont get the consumer advocacy network's advice on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and you will have to deal with creditors harassing calls and letters yourself. Large debt settlement companies do settlements all the time with all the same creditors, they know how the process works much better than the individual consumer, plus creditors have negotiators assigned to deal specifically with debt settlement companies. These are just the facts
check out this reference article below.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/12/10/debt.collector.lawsuit/index.html
The FTC said it receives more complaints about debt collectors than any other industry. Complaints are also filed directly with attorneys general in all 50 states, which can open state investigations. Of the 45,000 complaints received by the FTC in 2009, the agency opened one investigation.
"Scare tactics work. They've worked for years. That's how the mafia made so much money. That's how these mafia-like tactics result in so much money. People are scared," he said.
Howard says one of his other clients had this message waiting on the answering machine:
"You're a piece of s---. That's why you turned your phone off. Mother f-----.
"You haven't heard the last of me. But if it takes me a year or takes me two, believe me, I will find you. You better move. But if you move, you better move to California, 'cause I do travel. And I like traveling. Goodbye."
And then there was this one:
"When I see you. I'm gonna f--- you up. I want my money, and I want it now. I hate people who lie to me and abuse my company. ... If you bring my money back, you don't have to worry about me, just disregard my message."
That's who you need to worry about. This is a real problem, that's why debt settlement professionals protect, help and educate the consumers. .
I hope you now understand that it's not really a good idea to do it yourself, and that we are an ethical and legitimate company that brings value to consumers and never had an unhappy customer. - visit us at www.nationalrelief.com or email us at info@nationalrelief.com
If there would be a complaint in the future with anything regarding our company please email it to info@nationalrelief.com and I assure you it will always be addressed and resolved immediately.
BeAlert
USADoes not address any points
#6Author of original report
Thu, December 10, 2009
How am I an employee of another debt settlement company, if I gave consumers tips on how they can settle debts on their own? Why do you guys claim to be affiliated with Experian? Why don't you mention that the leads are bought from them? Most reasonable people would agree that this is known as FRAUD
Nationalrelief.com
Brooklyn,Nationwide,
United States of America
National Debt Relief Group
#6REBUTTAL Owner of company
Wed, December 09, 2009
It is the statement of National Debt Relief Group that the report posted here by what looks like a disgruntle ex-employee is a complete hoax. I am not sure why someone would post all these inaccurate accusations, and false statements. Who ever did this posting please contact us, so we can understand the reason for such slander and libel. We are a member of the BBB, and an Active Member of TASC and USOBA. A few debt settlement companies are accredited with even one of these leading Associations, and even fewer are accredited by both which we are. To become a member of either TASC or USOBA a very thorough review has to been passed. Our company gets shopped and audited regularly and compliance is mandated and regulated on an ongoing basis. We are proud to be members in excellent standing.
(((Redacted)))We are also Accredited with IAPDA, International Association of Professional Debt Arbitrator. Our back office has been in business over 10 years, and has tens of thousands of satisfied clients and proven results.
National Debt Relief Group has nothing to do with Lifeguard Financial or Safetrust financial. It is clear that the ex-employee that made this posting does not know what he is talking about, or is with another company just trying to talk bad about the competition. We have thousands of clients that can testify to the results and the help that we provided. We are one of the most reputable companies in the business with full accredited and licensed and professional staff. We are backed Attorney's in addition to all the above accreditations, so we welcome any inquired with respect to the integrity and success of our business practices.
Given the fact that the report posted is a complete HOAX, we call upton the Author to contact us with proof.
We are very proud of what we do !
We can be visited on www.Nationalrelief.com
CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.