Vantage Acceptance Verified TRUSTED Business REVIEW: Vantage Acceptance's managers and employees are dedicated, knowledgeable and educated in their practices. For every one person hired, there are approximately 15-20 who were not. Vantage Acceptance rus a tight ship. Which is a good thing.
ABOUT THE RIPOFF REPORT BELOW:
Ripoff Report would like to let readers know that Ripoff Report emailed this customer so the member business could make things right with them. When a business joins the Corporate Advocacy Program, Ripoff Report emails everyone from the past so the member business can make things right with them. Of course, everything within reason. In order to confirm that the complaints were resolved, Ripoff Report is copied on all responses so we can insure that the member business did right by their customer. The author of the Ripoff Report below never responded to our offer to help them.
STATEMENT FROM VANTAGE ACCEPTANCE:
this is from an employee. clearly one can see by just reading a few sentences. once you read it fully, one will ask the question, what is the problem? NOW
TO THE ORIGINAL REPORT THAT WAS FILED
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Vantage Acceptance – An Insider’s Guide to their Deceptive and Misleading Practices
You may have received a yellow card from them saying you are “pre-approved” for debt relief. If you follow soccer, you get a yellow card as a warning, which I consider very appropriate. I worked there for over a year and while they will help you get out of debt, it will cost you a lot more than what they tell you.
The “debt specialists” are script readers, using a format designed to confuse you and make you believe that they can get you out of debt for 30% to 40% of what you currently owe. I call bullshit. Let me break this down for you step by step:
Step 1:
First stage of the script is designed to give you confidence in them, they say they have been in business for over 5 years, have an “A” rating with the BBB and most importantly they are a member of the American Fair Credit Counsel, the AFCC. While they have been in business for 5 years or more, it has not been doing only debt. They started out as a mortgage company in the heyday, and then moved over to debt when the meltdown happened. They closed that down when the new FTC rules in July of 2010 prevented collection of up-front settlement fees. They did a stint as medical billing, and then moved over to loan modifications, then back to debt again about two years ago. Since then they have also tried SEO lead generation, business loans, and now are doing student loan consolidation as well as debt.
As for the “A” rating with the BBB, it is or by now was a complete lie; they have no rating with the BBB. They are a member of the AFCC, but in reality complaints are not really important, they want the money they get paid just like the BBB. If you pay them, you get to be a member; they really have no real enforcement arm, they can only drop you as a member.
The next thing they tell you is that they can settle your debt for less, maybe 30% to 40% of what you currently owe. While they do settle with your creditors for that amount, when you add in their fees, the Debt Pay Gateway fees, the Debtor Advocacy Center fees, and the tax implications you may face, you very easily could up paying MORE than what you currently owe. Let me explain that in detail, sound fair enough?
Instead of paying your creditors directly, you will put your money into a “special purpose escrow account” instead, a debt-pay gateway account. What this means is that you will STOP paying your creditors, go into default, then into collections. You will get a lot of harassing phone calls, collection letters, and it is possible, depending on the amount of the debt and the creditor, sued by the creditor or collection agency. They will tell you that they will contact your creditors, some right away and some within a few months of your enrollment. They say that your creditors will understand you are not just ignoring you obligation, but that you are participating in a supervised savings plan. Bullshit is the best word I can use. Your creditors will not understand anything other than you stopped paying, they don’t recognize the “supervised savings” plan. Vantage Acceptance will not contact your creditors until you have built up money in the account, which could take a year or more!
If you ask them if this will have an affect on your credit, the canned answer you will get is “It may have an effect on your credit, but how is your credit now?” This is a distraction from your original question, as the true answer is it will hurt your credit, and once you complete the program it will be a slow rebuilding process. Now if it is your intent to get out of debt, why do they not simply tell you the truth?
Step 2:
The get you to list your debts, get a total, and then tell you they can settle your debts for less. Let’s say you have $15,000 in total debts. They will tell you they can settle this for anywhere between $3000 and $5000, saving you anywhere from $7,000 to $9000, which is far more manageable, isn’t it? This is extremely deceptive because these figures do not include all of the fees they charge, nor does it include the possible tax implications the creditors can hit you with, a 1099-C for the amount they “saved” you.
They give you an amount of say $295 a month for 43 months or less. They stress the “less” which at this point in time they have absolutely no real idea of whether it will be less, it could very well be longer, much longer in some cases. Do the math and the total you will pay to get out of debt comes to $12,685. If you question this, their rebuttal is to tell you not to look it as a loan, but that this is the worst case, they should be able to get it done is 35 months. Again Bullshit as they have no idea how long the negotiations may take.
As to their fee, it is 35% of the savings. They tell you the more they save you the better. Well let’s do the math:
$15,000 in debt, reduced down to $3,000 = savings of $12,000 X .35 = $4200 fee, plus the $3000 = $7200
$15,000 in debt, reduced down to $5,000 = savings of $10,000 X .35 = $3500 fee, plus the $5000 = $8500
$15,000 in debt, reduced down to $8,000 = savings of $7,000 X .35 = $2450 fee, plus the $8000 = $10450
Now you start to think, wow – they saved me over half in the in the best case scenario, but they still saved me almost $5,000 in the worst case scenario. Well, not quite, we forgot about the Debtor Advocacy Center fees, the Debt Pay Gateway fees, and the possible tax implications. This is where the deception ends and the lies start.
Step 3:
After they get you “sold” including getting your checking account information for the monthly transfer into your escrow account, they hit you with an up sell. Well it is already included in the draft amount so it is an explanation of a “hidden fee” or in reality it is an up-front fee. Remember I said they changed company direction in July of 2010 due to no more up-front fees mandated by the FTC? To get around that, they created the DAC, or Debtor Advocacy Center. They tell you it is a separate company, which technically it is, however it is owned by the same people who own Vantage Acceptance. They tell you the DAC will protect your rights and help you secure your settlements for less, and most importantly, it will provide a buffer between you and your creditors so you will never have to speak to them again. Now you should be really confused as they told you earlier that they would contact your creditors and explain you are not ignoring your obligations, but participating in a supervised savings plan. So why do you need the DAC? If you are sued by your creditors! In the year I was there, I never saw the DAC help anyone settle for less; they provided legal advice if you are sued. They give you a phone number and web address for the DAC, with an address in Calabasas. The address is a virtual office; the DAC is in-house in their office in Woodland Hills. With over 4,000 clients, this translates into at least $200,000 a month in up-front fees!
Let’s look at what the DAC will cost you: It is $199 a months for the first three months only, and then $50 a month thereafter. The math on a 43 month program is: $199 a month x 3 = $597, then $50 a month for 40 months = $2000 for a total of $2597. Oh, and don’t forget the Debt Pay Gateway fee of $9.75 a month for 43 months, an additional $419.25. This comes to a grand total of $3016.25 Add this to the settlements, and fees and the “savings” start to diminish quite a bit. If you add this to the best case scenarion of $7200 plus the $3016 and you pay just $10216.25 on $15,000 in debt, worst case would be $10,450 plus the $3016.25 and you will end up paying $13,466.25 on $15,000 in debt, almost your original debt. While this is still less than what you originally owed and that would be great if that was the end of it, but it is not. If you look at the sample settlements on their website, these are deceptive as they do not include many I saw where the creditor clearly stated that you will be liable for tax on the debt, form 1099-C. I pulled this directly from the IRS website:
Topic 431 - Canceled Debt – Is It Taxable or Not?
A debt includes any indebtedness whether you are personally liable or liable only to the extent of the property securing the debt. Cancellation of all or part of a debt that is secured by property may occur because of a foreclosure, a repossession, a voluntary return of the property to the lender, abandonment of the property, or a principal residence loan modification.
In general, if you are liable for a debt that is canceled, forgiven, or discharged, you will receive a Form 1099-C Cancellation of Debt, and must include the canceled amount in gross income unless you meet an exclusion or exception. If you receive a Form 1099-C but the creditor is continuing to try to collect the debt, the creditor may not have canceled the debt. You should verify with the creditor your specific situation; you might not have cancellation of debt or taxable income.
You must report any taxable amount of a canceled debt for which you are personally liable, as ordinary income from the cancellation of debt, on Form 1040 or Form 1040NR and associated schedules, as advised in Publication 4681, Canceled Debts, Foreclosures, Repossessions, and Abandonments (for Individuals). You must report the taxable amount of a taxable canceled debt whether or not you receive a Form 1099-C.
While I am not a CPA, and not qualified to give tax advice, the way this reads is you very well may have to pay tax on the savings, which means you will have to add the “savings” of $7000 to $12,000 to your gross income. Now there is a form you can file to get this forgiven, but do you qualify? Vantage Acceptance will tell you in a compliance call they do that they do not provide tax advice and you should speak to a tax professional concerning any such matter. Don’t you think you should do this before signing up?