- Report: #880281
Complaint Review: Persels and Associates - Columbia Maryland
Reported By:
TMccarthy -
Weymouth, Massachusetts, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Persels and Associates
PO Box 6369 Columbia, 21045 Maryland, United States of America
Phone:
866-939-7252
Web:
Care One
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good?
Persels and Associates Andrea Collins LLC. Fraud, Deceptive, Costly, Liars Columbia, Maryland
I started off with a total debt of $25,500, BOA (aprox $19,000) and Visa (aprox $6,500). I began my "debt relief" journey 8/2009 with Care One (an affiliate with Persels). In less than one year I paid Care One $7083. They paid out to my creditors $5773- leaving $1310 for their fee's etc. They then recommended that I transfer over to Persels and Associates, thats when I believe things began to become very unclear and very possibly fraudulant.
I started with P&A 5/2010 and ended 4/2012 in this 2 year period I paid them a grand total of $10,119.00 of which $5,918 went to my debt and $3,288 went to P&A. I believe if I continued on paying P&A $500/month they estimated that I have aprox 17 months left to pay off BOA's contract. Visa settled and I was able to pay off that card for over half of what I owed. I believe after contingency and monthly payments I saved under $1000 dollars off of my total debt. BOA settled for aprx 50% of what I owed somehwere in the ball park of $9500.00. I have never missed a monthly payment so I was suprized when I received an e-mail from P&A stating that BOA had cancelled my contract. When I called they stated that this was "normal" and to continue making payments to them and they will try to re-negotiate soon. It appears that they were taking out fairly large sums on money out of my trust for their contingency fees and my monthly payments to BOA were not being sent out. They told me frequently never to call my credit card company and it my jeopardize my chances for settlement. I called BOA to get the story payment info etc. They told me that they never cancelled my contract and that they had not received payments since Feb 2012. They told me to take over payments and so I cancelled my account with P&A. When I called them to inquire why they told me my account was cancelled when in actuality it had not, all they would say was that they saw that my account was cancelled. So basically I believe they were trying to extend my business with P&A for profit.
So essentially between Care One and P&A I paid a grand total of $17,202 towards a debt of $25,500 (which to date my debt since 2009 has not been completed. I will be paying BOA $630.00 for the next year-total of $7500.00 (saving myself a qusetionable $300 from my total debt dating back from 2009). I completly believe I would have been better off both finacially, saved more time and less aggrivation if I decided to go to BOA internal settlements dept. from the beginning. BOA agreed that my debt would have been satisifed by now. If I continued to pay P&A and wait for resettlement who knows how much they would have collected in their bogus "contingency fees". I cannot believe these "lawyers" stay in business. I really regret the trust I placed in these sub-human opportunistic a*s holes.
(((REDACTED))) @gmail.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.
I started with P&A 5/2010 and ended 4/2012 in this 2 year period I paid them a grand total of $10,119.00 of which $5,918 went to my debt and $3,288 went to P&A. I believe if I continued on paying P&A $500/month they estimated that I have aprox 17 months left to pay off BOA's contract. Visa settled and I was able to pay off that card for over half of what I owed. I believe after contingency and monthly payments I saved under $1000 dollars off of my total debt. BOA settled for aprx 50% of what I owed somehwere in the ball park of $9500.00. I have never missed a monthly payment so I was suprized when I received an e-mail from P&A stating that BOA had cancelled my contract. When I called they stated that this was "normal" and to continue making payments to them and they will try to re-negotiate soon. It appears that they were taking out fairly large sums on money out of my trust for their contingency fees and my monthly payments to BOA were not being sent out. They told me frequently never to call my credit card company and it my jeopardize my chances for settlement. I called BOA to get the story payment info etc. They told me that they never cancelled my contract and that they had not received payments since Feb 2012. They told me to take over payments and so I cancelled my account with P&A. When I called them to inquire why they told me my account was cancelled when in actuality it had not, all they would say was that they saw that my account was cancelled. So basically I believe they were trying to extend my business with P&A for profit.
So essentially between Care One and P&A I paid a grand total of $17,202 towards a debt of $25,500 (which to date my debt since 2009 has not been completed. I will be paying BOA $630.00 for the next year-total of $7500.00 (saving myself a qusetionable $300 from my total debt dating back from 2009). I completly believe I would have been better off both finacially, saved more time and less aggrivation if I decided to go to BOA internal settlements dept. from the beginning. BOA agreed that my debt would have been satisifed by now. If I continued to pay P&A and wait for resettlement who knows how much they would have collected in their bogus "contingency fees". I cannot believe these "lawyers" stay in business. I really regret the trust I placed in these sub-human opportunistic a*s holes.
(((REDACTED))) @gmail.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.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
Robert
Irvine,California,
U.S.A.
Settlement...
#2Consumer Comment
Fri, May 18, 2012
First off note that I am not taking the side for or against this other company, in fact I have never heard of them before now. This is really more of a "Heads-Up" so you don't get surprised in the future.
I started with P&A 5/2010 and ended 4/2012 in this 2 year period I paid them a grand total of $10,119.00 of which $5,918 went to my debt and $3,288 went to P&A. I believe if I continued on paying P&A $500/month they estimated that I have aprox 17 months left to pay off
BOA's contract.
- Notice your numbers. $10,119 over 24 months is only $421/mo NOT $500 a month. Also notice that you are now paying just one company $630 a month. I'm just saying to think if you paid them $630/mo for 2 years for just the one account how much more would you have paid the single debt down?
You also didn't mention it so I don't know if you are aware of how settlements actually work. When you settle with BofA(or any company), depending on the amount they will report that to the IRS and you will be responsible to pay taxes as Unearned Income for the amount they settled for.
I am not sure exactly how much you owed when you settled for about 50%, but say you owed $9,500 and settled for $4,500. They will report the $5,000 difference to the IRS and you will receive a 1099-Misc for that amount. If you fail to report and pay taxes on that you would then possibly be subject to IRS penalties and additional interest. Since you will pay taxes based on your Tax rate this is still going to be cheaper than paying the full amount. So again this is more of a "Heads-Up" so you can be prepared if they do in fact report it.
TMccarthy
Weymouth,Massachusetts,
United States of America
Bank of America
#3Author of original report
Fri, May 18, 2012
In your response re: my continued business with Bank of America...
I now pay them directly as they NEVER cancelled my contract.
My advice to anyone that is involved with P&A, do not be afraid to contact your credit card companies directly. In my situation, where I did not have legal action taken against me and was able to make monthly payments at a reduced amount, it was much more cost efficient to pay down my debt on my own. Also review your statements and know exactly where your money is going when you pay these debt management companies. I have to admit it was nice to believe that my money was being managed in my behalf. It was a huge relief to think that someone was advocating for me. Advocate for yourself and first try to negotiate with your credit card companies before committing to any debt consolidation/mgmt programs. If you do enter in to a program still be in contact with the internal settlement departments with the credit card. Follow up to see that they receive payments. The record that they speak with you and I believe it is in your favor to show that you are attempting to rectify your debt.
TMccarthy
Weymouth,Massachusetts,
United States of America
A message for you
#4Author of original report
Fri, May 18, 2012
I will yet again to attempt to contact you. I have been instructed that my attorney is available for aprox 2 hours a day and to call back at those times. Multiple times I tried to call I was put through to her voicemail. The receptionists attempted to go over my account and it is absolutely frustrating. They all say the same thing "keep paying your monthly payments on time" and "it seems that BOA has cancelled your contract". The later being incorrect and once they review further they see that my payments have been paid without flaw. I would be happy to converse with your associates if they were able to offer any meaningful interpretation of what exactly you do to assist with my debt management.
Persels & Associates
Towson,Maryland,
United States of America
Response To Former Client
#5UPDATE Employee
Wed, May 16, 2012
Persels & Associates strives to provide transparency in all aspects of our representation. Please be aware that, as a licensed provider of Debt Relief Services, CareOne does provide some administrative support, but Persels & Associates is your attorney representing you to settle your debts .
Providing superior client service is a priority for Persels & Associates and we hope that you will give us the opportunity to better explain our settlement process and the specifics of your account to you, so that you can understand the actions that were taken on your behalf and correct your belief that Bank of America wanted to extend your business with P&A..
Please call the number on your last statement and ask for an appointment with an attorney shift leader. If after your discussion you still feel that we have not met our contractual obligations, we will do everything in our power to make it right. In order to do so, we need to speak directly with you.
Kindly,
Persels & Associates
Persels & Associates
Towson,Maryland,
United States of America
Respose to Former Client
#6UPDATE Employee
Wed, May 16, 2012
Persels & Associates strives to provide transparency in all aspects of our representation. Please be aware that, as a licensed provider of Debt Relief Services, CareOne does provide some administrative support, but Persels & Associates is your attorney representing you to settle your debts .
Providing superior client service is a priority for Persels & Associates and we hope that you will give us the opportunity to better explain our settlement process and the specifics of your account to you, so that you can understand the actions that were taken on your behalf and correct your belief that Bank of America wanted to extend your business with P&A.
Please call the number on your last statement and ask for an appointment with an attorney shift leader. If after your discussion you still feel that we have not met our contractual obligations, we will do everything in our power to make it right. In order to do so, we need to speak directly with you.
Kindly,
Persels & Associates
