Debt settlement rules from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) help consumers who are struggling with their debt and considering debt negotiation as an option to get out of debt.
When done right, debt settlement can help consumers get out of debt faster by lowering the outstanding balances on their credit card accounts. Unfortunately however, there are a lot of bad apples in the settlement industry that are more interested in making money off of consumers’ financial woes than in helping them resolve their debts. As a result, settlement has been a financial nightmare for many consumers -- not the answer to their prayers -- and many consumers have ended up in worse shape than they were before.
A Government Accounting Office report about the settlement industry identified allegations of fraud, deception and other questionable activities involving hundreds of thousands of consumers.
Given the problems in the settlement industry, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took action to protect consumers by making some important changes to the federal Telemarketing Rule. The changes, known as the FTC Debt Relief Rules, apply to for-profit settlement firms that sell their services by telephone.
Here is an overview of the new debt settlement rules:
Before consumers sign up for their settlement services, debt settlement firms must provide them with the following information:
Settlement firms cannot misrepresent anything about their services -- their success rates, for example.
Although settlement firms can require that consumers deposit into dedicated accounts the fees that the consumers must pay to the firms as well as the money the consumers will use to fund the settlements the firms negotiate for them, they can only impose this requirement on consumers if a dedicated account meet five criteria:
Settlement firms may no longer charge consumers upfront fees for their services and they cannot collect any money until all of the following has happened:
When settlement firms do charge a fee, their fee for settling a single debt for a consumer must be in proportion to the total fee they would charge if the firm settled all of the consumer’s debts. However, if the firm bases its fee on the percentage of what the consumer saves as result of using its settlement services, that percentage must be the same for each of the debts it settles.
Talk to a debt expert, no charge and no pressure! In as little as 15 minutes you can receive actionable feedback to:
-Settle debt for less
-Set up affordable payment plans.
-Understand when to simply do nothing about a debt.
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