I just stopped in to check out this website….

1. False advertising is false advertising. There is no government program requiring banks to write-down credit card debt as your company’s commercials claim, if there are please link to them.

2. Citigroup is to responsible lending as etch-a-sketch is to art.

3. Even if you take $250 up front, it takes about $1500 before your companies do anything for the client.

4. If the poor players are gone than this type of notice should never have been sent.

5. At best you market a lousy service and collect unreasonable fees for it. Like my EMT instructor used to say, you tell people they are going to hell but they are going to enjoy the trip.

In the interest of full disclosure, Jacob’s email eminated from a debt settlement company. They are getting nervous that the word will get out, and I’m certain that with great Bankruptcy lawyers like my friend Dan Foster in the Western District, my friend Karen Ware in Maryland , my friend and mentor Jay Fleischman in New York, and lots of other great bankruptcy attorneys in this country that debt settlement companies days are numbered.

Let me politely correct a couple of your assumptions.

The Government has given credit card companies certain tax incentives that allow them to write down debt. This has greatly increased the receptiveness on the part of credit card companies to negotiate or significantly reduce a debt using a debt settlement service, or on your own.

Credit Card companies are vast businesses with a number of investments outside of credit cards. Citigroup for example offers home and Auto loans. Both of which have had the highest default rate in 50 years. Credit card default rates also skyrocketed. At the same time the instruments by which they obtain credit/money to lend to consumers dried up. This is why the Government bailout out this companies. They were going to go under. – Note I do not endorse the bank bailouts, but this is the logic behind why the bailouts occured.

My scummy debt settlement company works only with companies who use attornies to conduct their settlement service. Nearly 70% of all settlment companies have legal backing to provide services. Most states have a requirement to be licesensed to do business in their state, or have an attorney model.

The companies we work with do not require a $2,500 up front fee. There are fees, however they range. More often companies are offering $250 start up fees and a variety of success fees for reducing the debt.

My sneaky web-site states on ever web page that it is NOT a government program. We also state on other pages that this is a negotiation process.

I do not deny there has been plenty of issues with debt settlement and consumers need to be careful. However, the industry has matured, many of the poor players are gone or are going under and what we have left over is a viable service for the right financial situation.

Just my opinion – Regards Jacob