- Report: #517306
Complaint Review: CONSUMER LAW ASSOCIATES - Internet Internet
Reported By:
Anonymous in New Jersey -
, New Jersey, USA
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
CONSUMER LAW ASSOCIATES
7668 WARREN PARKWAY, SUITE 315 Internet, 75034 Internet, United States of America
Phone:
8888075037
Web:
WWW.CONSUMERLAWASSOCIATES.COM
Categories:
Business Rating:
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CONSUMER LAW ASSOCIATES CLA THEY DO NOT DO THEIR JOB AND ARE THE BIGGEST FRAUD I HAVE EVER SEEN!! DO NOT USE THEM!! Internet
CLA was given to me by Rise Above Debt Relief and I was told that they are a group of lawyers that will handle all the collection calls and harassment calls that we get from our creditors. Their job was to help us eliminate our debt without claiming bankruptcy and have the money we owe cut in half or more.
I was given several lawyers and each was worse than the first...they kept telling me that they would handle everything and I did everything that they told me to do. They all gave me their home phone numbers and cell phone numbers as contact information. Several creditors (that they claim they have worked with before) sued us and started garnishing my husbands paycheck for triple the amount we originally were paying monthly. In the beginning I specifically asked if there were any companies that I should keep paying and not include in the settlement services and they assured me that there were none. I faxed all paperwork over to them as I received it (EVERYDAY!!!) and they tossed it aside and never worked on it. I was told by one of there lawyers and I quote "We have other jobs besides this and we are not obligated to spend 24 hours a day 7 days a week on your case and everyone elses, we will get to it when we can." In the mean time days and weeks passed and things got worse. I kept sending the money on time and every month and they did nothing any in the end told me "I guess you should claim bankruptcy now, there is nothing more we can do." I was furious and followed the procedures to get a full refund back of the money that I paid to them. The amount they wanted to refund kept changing each time they decided on another fee that they should keep. ALL I wanted was the full refund and I would be happy, but now they will wish they would have done just that.
I have gotten a lawyer (that is not charging me because I now have no money), called EVERY local and out of state tv station in my area and theirs and I have gone to every newpaper as well and told my story. It is just a matter of time before the story breaks and CLA is ruined forever. Again, all I wanted was my full refund and now I am going after alot more!!
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Lysaem6776989902
Ohio,Consumer Legal Advisors - CLA - very shady
#2Consumer Comment
Wed, June 04, 2014
Unfortunately, CLA is still ripping unsuspecting consumers off.
I work in the debt settlement department of a very large payday loan company. We work on over 1500 accounts a month, and offer a generous discount and even accept monthly payments to help the customer resolve their balance.
Consumer Legal Advisors (also called Karger Legal, Hawkins Paralegal, Payday Loan Resolution) is absolutely impossible to work with - truly a nightmare. We're having our legal department look into them and hopefully they will make the decision to not even communicate with them.
They ignore our letters for MONTHS, up to a YEAR in some cases. When they actually do send an offer, it is absurdly unacceptable (for example, a $1200 balance and they offer $168). On top of that, even in a couple of cases where we accepted a very low offer as a way of a test/trial, they still did not make any payments.
The worst part is that the customers ARE paying CLA/Karger the whole time, and thought everything was taken care of. CLA will make up excuses to the customers like the lender has not responded, etc., when in fact we have spoken directly to CLA reps over the phone and gave them an offer and they refused.
This is definitely NOT in the best interest of the consumer. What happens is, the customer thinks everything's fine because they stopped receiving calls. But - CLA is NOT working with the lenders at all, and the lender ends up selling or outsourcing the account to another company who will not be required to follow the same FDCPA guidelines, and will garnish wages, ruin your credit, and tack on extremely exorbitant fees and interest. What was a bad situation has become 10 times worse.
I feel really bad for people who think this company is helping them, and wish there was something that could be done to stop companies like this. Not all debt settlement companies are shady like this one, we work with many, many different companies who stay on top of their clients' accounts, agree to reasonable settlements and pay a monthly payment with the funds they collect from the consumer.
