Complaint Review: The Consumer Law Center - Coral Springs Florida

**Document Sent to Consumer Law Center regarding services provided**

Ashley Aladin

Account Executive

Consumer Law Center

210 North University Drive, Suite 900

Coral Springs, FL 33071

RE: Account ID 3******9

Dear Ms. Aladin:

I am contacting you with this correspondence in regards to the ill services the Consumer Law Center has provided as of October 12, 2008. In late November of 2007, I was contacted by a representative from the Attorney Network regarding the services offered by the Consumer Law Center in regards to my debt situation. I was mildly familiar with services of debt consolidation services and debt counseling but had not heard of the Consumer Law Center or their form of debt representation based upon the Fair Credit Billing Act. The woman I spoke with at the Attorney Network, naturally, made the services sound risk free by assuring me that if I was not completely satisfied with the services provided I would be entitled to a full 100% refund even if it was after the initial 30 day trial period. I was told that by enrolling in this program (1) my credit score would be improved or at the least not worsened and (2) that the accounts would be placed in review status and therefore would not continue to acquire late fees, interest fees, ect. With this in mind I decided to enroll in the services of the Consumer Law Center in hopes of bettering my debt situation. I received a copy of the contract and reviewed it carefully line by line with my husband. The contract did indeed state (1) during the audit process under the Fair Credit Billing Act my creditors are prohibited from reporting negative information to the credit report agencies and (2) during the audit process the accumulation of interest, late fees and penalties with my creditors should cease. After this review I did feel more confidant in my decision to proceed with the Consumer Law Center. As of today October 12, 2008 my situation is:

1. My credit score has dropped greatly with many negative reports made by creditors despite sending several copies of my credit report to my account executive with such proof.

2. ALL of the accounts have continued to acquire late fees and increased interest rates thus placing many of the accounts over limit. This is extremely discerning since I notified my account executive of this early on and NOTHING was ever done.

3. With the exception of one account, all accounts have been reported as charged-off and sent to collections.

4. I am facing a $7,000 law suit from Chase due to no payment and no contact regarding my account with them. When I notified my account executive of this her only suggestion was that I make the minimum $500 monthly payments to them to prevent arbitrations.

5. I am at a loss from the money I have invested in your worthless services and am now left in a worse debt situation then when I enrolled 10 months ago.

I also must file the complaint that I have received very little contact from the Consumer Law Center in the past ten months. I received a letter shortly after enrollment with a copy of the letter that had supposedly been sent to my creditors informing them of my enrollment in the program however, as I began to receive calls from the creditors regarding missed payments I was notified time and time again that no such document was ever received. When I tried to notify my account executive (a woman named Machelle) I was informed she was no longer with the company and was left for several weeks with no contact or follow up from the company before I was assigned a new executive (Ms. Aladin). Also, I have requested on MANY occasions an update on my account and a current status with my accounts- the answer was always the same It is still early, you have only been with our company for X months, debt reconciliation takes time. It is also upsetting that it takes 2 days to receive a return email and even longer to receive a return phone call when your company is contacted with questions and concerns. This is poor business mannerism and very frustrating when I am paying YOU to represent me and thus answer my questions and concerns. The only other contact/update I have received from the Consumer Law Center is 2 newsletters, one in April and one in July. The April letter stated We are not immediately paying your credit card bills with the money you send us. We take our fees out of the money that you send us and then after we receive our fees we hold the balances for future settlements. However, there are no guarantees that we can settle your debts. As if this statement was not upsetting enough the letter also stated You may be sued by your creditor by participating in our program which sadly and very scary enough is exactly what I am now facing with NO ASSISTANCE WHATSOEVER from this company. These statements are very contradictory of what I was initially promised from the representative with the Attorney Network. Also, let it be known that I contacted my account executive regarding these discerning statements and was reassured this was very unlikely to happen (being sued) and that even though we will be collecting our fees if a creditor wants to settle and the money is not available in the escrow, we will use the money from the fees paid to settle the account. This statement contradicts what was stated in the newsletter. Then in July a second newsletter was received stating Be advised, we have changed your address listed with the creditors from our office back to your original address for all accounts enrolled in the program. This statement not only contradicts the original contract signed between myself and the Consumer Law Center which stated that I was required to change my billing address with ALL accounts enrolled to that of the Law Center and that ALL correspondence with the creditors was to take place between the Law Center and the creditors- not myself. This action also led the creditors to believe I was no longer a part of the program and therefore no longer represented by an attorney group to settle my debts. With this in mind, the creditors then continue to contact me to attempt to settle the account despite the fact that the Consumer Law Center is being paid to represent me and do such negotiating.

After completing in depth research, I have sadly found that I am not the only client to have been ripped off and caught up in your scam of a business. I have also sought legal advise regarding the terms of the original contract between myself and the Consumer Law Center and with the July newsletter as proof, the Consumer Law Center is in breach of contract by changing my mailing address back to my home address and forcing me to negotiate with creditors despite making 10 consecutive monthly payments to the company. In addition you have lost my trust and faith in your company, services, and my investment based on:

A. The Better Business Bureau rating of D based on 96 filed complaints

B. No contact from the company with updates on current account status or settlements.

C. No contact regarding following up on any correspondence with creditors based on my call log that I provided-per contract, or collection notices received.

D. Contradicting what was promised by the Attorney Network regarding the right to cancel at ANY time and receive a full refund.

E. Stating in your newsletter that NO money is going to be escrowed until all service fees are paid despite being told by the Attorney Network that only 25% would be deducted for fees and the rest would be escrowed.

In conclusion, as of today October 13, 2008, I will no longer be accepting representation from the Consumer Law Center, the Attorney Network, and/or any entities related to such organizations. At this time I also revoke the right of Consumer Law Center or entities on their behalf from debiting monthly payments of $239.99 from my bank account and have notified my bank to no longer allow such debits.

I also wish to inform you that I plan to file a compliant with the Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida in regards to this poor business matter. I will also be filing for a refund of my debited fees ($2698.91) minus 25% service fee ($674.73) of the money collected to date due to the inability of the Consumer Law Center to uphold their end of the contract.

Ashley

Toledo, Ohio

U.S.A.