A few points have been brought to my attention in regards to new enrollments  that have been submitted in the last month or so.  To ensure that we are all on the same page, I would like to cover a few subjects that may be unclear.

It i  It is important when enrolling people into Debt Settlement that certain disclaimers are made clear to the client before their file arrives in our office. A list of disclaimers have been attached to this email – please ensure that you and your sales reps are informing the client of these points and that they understand them. Some of the more common misconceptions are the following:

We will be contacting the client’s creditors right away - FALSE

2. Creditor calls will stop - FALSE

We will be making monthly payments to the client’s creditors (debt consolidation) - FALSE

The first two points have been and always will be one of the more difficult disclaimers to explain to the client, as the majority of them “just want the calls to stop”. The best way to handle this with the client is to get them to a point where they feel that they can, if only slightly, be in control of the calls…. And the best way to do that is to educate them on their rights as a consumer (Fair Debt Collection Laws). This makes them more aware of what the creditor can and can’t do, and many times will consequently handle the client’s concern. Other suggestions can also be made, such as changing their phone number (most effective) or just taking a look at the caller ID, recognizing who’s calling, and just not picking up.

If you or your sales reps have any questions in regards to this disclaimers, please email me back and I’ll assist you.

At Debt Free Partners LLC, we strive to set a good example in this industry by only servicing clients that truly are experiencing a hardship. Clients that do not have a hardship and can actually pay their creditors are not eligible for the program – in fact, these clients generally cancel early on when this is the case. So please, if the client has a serious hardship, please provide all the information you can in regards to this. “Client wants to pay less per month” is not a hardship. “Client got divorced, took on all debt, and can no longer afford monthly payments on their own” is definitely a hardship. You get the idea.

We are still not accepting any CitiFinancial or American General accounts. American General will not settle and CitiFinancial consistently sues within the first 30-60 days of delinquency. Any program sent over with these creditors included will be sent back.