The Minnesota Department of Commerce ordered a debt settlement company to shut down (Source, Star Tribune).
Legal Helpers Debt Resolution LLC had done things like take $9,000 from clients without doing anything to help them, and failing to stop garnishments.
The debt settlement company had also used people that weren’t lawyers to do the work of lawyers, and these people, unsurprisingly, made mistakes.
The cease and desist order also named a Minnesota bankruptcy attorney who had been referring the client to the debt settlement company, when a bankruptcy would have been a better financial solution for the client.
What does this mean?
This cease and desist order should be a reminder of why it is good to hire an experienced Minnesota bankruptcy attorney when you have financial problems.
Not only are many debt consolidation companies predatory and hard to deal with, the service they provide is worse than a bankruptcy, and is usually MUCH more expensive and uncertain.
Why is using a debt settlement company often a bad idea?
Debt settlement companies don’t have such strong regulation. I have talked to many people who spent lots of time and money trying to settle their debts (often 5 times the cost of a bankruptcy) and have nothing to show for it.
As there is no legal requirement for creditors to accept your debt settlement company’s proposals, you can still have debts that are not being paid off.
In the end I filed their bankruptcy anyhow, and they would have been better if they had talked to a lawyer first, filed the case, and gotten their fresh financial start years ago.
I also have to follow a strong ethical code that forces me to act in the best interests of my clients. This means that I can’t charge you $9,000 for doing nothing.
Discover more about why Bankruptcy is often better than debt consolidation.
Conclusion
If you come to my office for a free consultation, I will tell you exactly what I can do for you, exactly what it will cost, and exactly how long it will take to fix your debts.
Not only is a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 13 bankruptcy much cheaper, but the court would probably make me return the money if I got paid for nothing, and I could even lose my license to practice law.
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