Consumer Legal Services America Inc

CLSA responses in bold
I signed up with CLSA in early April of to assist me w/
settling my outstanding debt over a year period due to financial hardships
The agreement was that they would negotiate my debts for a percentage of what I
owed, while of my accounts
would be set up as a term payment settlementI
went through an application process to find out if the reasoning for my
financial hardship was valid and to ensure all my credit cards were eligible
under this programI was accepted to the program Agreed
, as told all of my credit cards would be contacted about my
enrollment & I began making deposits into an escrow account. No
this is not correct at allTo contact creditors before we have funds available
greatly increases aggressiveness of creditors and greatly decreases the chances
of success in the programWe contact creditors when funds are available or
when we have no other solutions available
A month and a half later, I was still getting contacted from
creditors whom stated they did not get any communication from CLSA or Account
Resolution International (3rd party CLSA works w/ to negotiate debts). Agreed,
Client communicated with creditors which in effect led to program being
sabotaged as described above It led to
rapid lawsuit and aggressiveness of creditor, which is why we do not use this
practice and do not recommend clients do either
I contacted my representative asking for a status & was
told letters had been sent out to all of my creditors and that it takes about a
month to registerHe then was going to send out a 2nd letter to ensure
everyone received communication
Yes we did this as by
this time we had no other choicesClients decisions by then had left us no
choice
I was told to ignore all of the communication I was
receiving
YES ! from start of
program client was told to forward us all communication , not to get into
contact with creditors directlyHere client is admitting both what we told her
and what she did insteadWhy did she then go and do the opposite?
In early June I received a phone call from a Law Firm
representing one of my credit cardsmonths after my sign up, no credit cards
were contact by Account Resolution or CLSAIt was only because I persisted,
that a phone call was made to one of my cards
Agreed client effectively sabotaged program and then insisted we callBy then we had no real choices so
this was our protocol anyhow, as described above
I started looking
deeper into this program only to find out that most of my credit card companies
only work with non-profit organizations and any settlements would require a
1099C issued for the funds saved that I would be responsible to pay taxes on
We have made many
many settlements with *** over the years which we can show proof of if needed
All creditors in fact tell clients “we don’t work with third parties” to get
clients to talk to them so they can be duped, which is effectively what
happened in this case and is why we suggest they let us do the talkingAnd
1099C yes is federal tax law over which no company on Earth has any control
Client was informed of this in compliance call before enrolling into program as well as in signed contract
Recording attached
Both that I was unaware of by CLSAFunds have been taken
out of my Escrow account by CLSA although the FTC restricts any Debt Settlement
company to collect payment until a settlement is agreed and paid uponI also
found out the people negotiating the credit card companies are not from the US
(all have Skype numbers & have an Indian accent)
FTC rulings applly to private companies not to lawfirms Lawfirms
have their own set of regulations to deal with in each stateWork was done prior to client's debts being settled and law firms have every right to charge for work performedSigned contract (attached) details that fees are charged for work performed and also amortizes the legal fees as wellClient here appears to be exhibiting a form of racism as well, with no actual basis for a complaint.
Additional
information/comments:
Client lives in (and
owns) a $400,house with a $
mortgage which she pays on time every monthThis is public recordTo any
creditor therefore client appears to be fairly affluentNote this program is a
for those with a hardshipClient does have high medical bills due to cancer
but to a creditor their perspective would unfortunately be “sell the house” or
“rent the house and get a more affordable place” Sadly we never really were able to get to this
phase of negotiations as client got involved prior to it being wise for anyone
to get involvedThis locked all doors to negotiation with *** ***
Client was only months into a year program with debts and has some very unrealistic expectations about the programHer
situation was a difficult one to start
with and her speaking to her creditors made it an impossible case
unfortunatelyDespite all this we did arrange a payment plan on her *** debt,
which would avoid a garnishment, and judgement.
As such we did our jobsAs we have shown here she was given maximum information and coaching to make her program a success, sadly the coaching/information she was given was disregarded.
We feel it is a very
unfortunate turn of events that has happened to ** *** Our suggestion
would be that she take the offer for *** and continue on in the programFees
can be suspended for some time to help get funds together for other
emergenciesTo leave the program now would likely lead client to disaster as
bankruptcy may not be an optionWe can get past this bump and move on if
client is willingWe also urge client to make financial moves which may free
up funds to help her complete the program more quicklyWhether client fully
understands or not, she was in and she still is in a very difficult predicament
, and we feel that leaving the program now could easily make things worse for
her Having CLSA on her side would
surely at least reduce the difficulty from future creditors
UPDATE: 7/22/
Client has sent several emails further exhibiting that her complaints against CLSA are groundlessSee attached.
Client has refused to continue with the program even with an offered fee suspension .
Client is actively engaging in extortion demanding full refund by Friday or client plans to engage in online slander as "retribution"
Evidence Attached:
1) Signed contract and welcome pack- contract tells about potential tax liabilityWelcome pack shows how to reach servicing company ***) -she then continued to contact marketing agent insteadThese items were signed in person by hand prior to becoming a client
2) Email telling that she contacted marketing affiliate after being an active client, thereby ignoring the instructions on signed materialsEmail also admits talking to creditor .
3) Email sent by client showing that marketing agent advised client to not speak to creditors without coaching
4) Recording of compliance call- this call recommends (again) not speaking to creditors, also advises about tax liability again This call is made before client file is made active.
5) Extortion threat email- client again shows ignorance regarding who regulates lawfirms, also again falsely claims was not told about tax liabilityAlso admits to us doing maximum to settle her first debt despite her every effort prior to unwittingly (?) sabotaging our efforts as described and exhibited here in detail in our Revdex.com response
NOTE: Client falsely believes that when creditors tell her "we only work with non profits" that that is hard truth when in fact it is notAs a lawfirm they will all speak to us under conditionsMoreover, once a debt goes to collections the collectors will also speakWe have settled dozens/hundreds of cases in our history with any creditor you can think ofIf Revdex.com wants evidence of that we can supply it Client has made a series of wrongful assumptions about how laws, regulators , and banks function and then has used these assumptions to form threats against CLSA
6) Note we are happy to show evidence of settlements with any creditor you can list if desiredWould require some digging through data of other clients We have settled with all unsecured creditors that exist within the United StatesIf we couldn't settle with them we would not accept them into the program.
Conclusions
Client has chosen to hire a lawfirm to settle with her creditors then instead of listening to the advice of the firm and its agents she has repeatedly chosen instead to continue to speak to her creditors and to marketing agents, until it was too late for her initial creditor negotiation to go wellClient then placed blame on us even when we went the extra mile to work past the obstacles she had thrown up against her own best interests .
Client is in a very stressed situation and we have attempted everything imaginable to help alleviate this situationHowever as can be clearly seen she has worked continually against her own best wishes and also against our advice and instructions as wellWe feel badly that things have come to this junctureIt is a very unfortunate situation we do not wish on any clients.
We again offer client one last time that she continue the program and no additional legal fees would be charged until at least one more debt has been settled successfullyWe can also work to lower her monthly payment so as to make the first settlement more affordable
We ask that this complaint be dismissed as we have shown sufficient evidence as to what transpired and that clients interpretation of the events is nearly completely inaccuratebesides the initial statements client has made (that she signed up with CLSA) we have shown that all her complaints are invalid

Client is yet again mistaken in her accusations and we again have proof of the same.
Client admitted to talking to creditors on 6/12/Recording enclosed"I spoke to the representative..."Customer service agent also again corrected how we handle contacting creditors "when funds are available" or when legal action is takenAgain client is reminded that talking to creditor can hurt negotiations But by this time it did not matter as the damage had been done.already by client.
The "coached creditor call" client refers to did not occur until 6/after things has disintegrated, as a result of her telling creditors she was in a program, against our advisement.
We have already uploaded emails from client also admitting she had spoken to creditors very early in the program, long before being advised to do soSee her email June 11th that states exactly thisSo we have both a dated recording and a dated email from client showing this fact over a week before the coached call occurred as a desperate attempt to remedy the situation.
We are happy to provide transcripts of notes and afffadavits from employees as to these events and timings as well.
We do not know what more we can possibly provide aside from recordings, signed contracts, dated notes, and clients own emails that all directly contradict her accusationsTHe complaint has no merit in ARI opinionCLient was advised to do one thing several different ways and chose to do anotherWe then did the best we could with the situation and were able to help avoid garnishment, which is some accomplishment given the grim situation we were faced with.
Managing attorney of CLSA has told us he would be in contact with the client this week to give his input/opinion and any options he wishes to offer client

CLSA responses in bold
I signed up with CLSA in early April of 2014 to assist me w/
settling my outstanding debt over a 3 year period due to financial hardships.
The agreement was that they would negotiate my debts for a percentage of what I
owed, while 2 of my accounts would be set up as a term...

payment settlement. I
went through an application process to find out if the reasoning for my
financial hardship was valid and to ensure all my credit cards were eligible
under this program. I was accepted to the program Agreed
, as told all of my credit cards would be contacted about my
enrollment & I began making deposits into an escrow account.  No
this is not correct at all. To contact creditors before we have funds available
greatly increases aggressiveness of creditors and greatly decreases the chances
of success in the program. We contact creditors when funds are available or
when we have no other solutions available.
A month and a half later, I was still getting contacted from
creditors whom stated they did not get any communication from CLSA or Account
Resolution International (3rd party CLSA works w/ to negotiate debts).  Agreed,
Client communicated with creditors which in effect led to program being
sabotaged as described above.  It led to
rapid lawsuit and aggressiveness of creditor, which is why we do not use this
practice and do not recommend clients do either.
I contacted my representative asking for a status & was
told letters had been sent out to all of my creditors and that it takes about a
month to register. He then was going to send out a 2nd letter to ensure
everyone received communication.
Yes we did this as by
this time we had no other choices. Clients decisions by then had left us no
choice.
I was told to ignore all of the communication I was
receiving.
YES ! from start of
program client was told to forward us all communication , not to get into
contact with creditors directly. Here client is admitting both what we told her
and what she did instead. Why did she then go and do the opposite?
In early June I received a phone call from a Law Firm
representing one of my credit cards. 2 months after my sign up, no credit cards
were contact by Account Resolution or CLSA. It was only because I persisted,
that a phone call was made to one of my cards.
Agreed client effectively sabotaged program and then insisted we call. By then we had no real choices so
this was our protocol anyhow, as described above.
 I started looking
deeper into this program only to find out that most of my credit card companies
only work with non-profit organizations and any settlements would require a
1099C issued for the funds saved that I would be responsible to pay taxes on.
We have made many
many settlements with [redacted] over the years which we can show proof of if needed.
All creditors in fact tell clients “we don’t work with third parties” to get
clients to talk to them so they can be duped, which is effectively what
happened in this case and is why we suggest they let us do the talking. And
1099C yes is federal tax law over which no company on Earth has any control.
Client was informed of this in compliance call before enrolling into program as well as in signed contract.
Recording attached.
Both that I was unaware of by CLSA. Funds have been taken
out of my Escrow account by CLSA although the FTC restricts any Debt Settlement
company to collect payment until a settlement is agreed and paid upon. I also
found out the people negotiating the credit card companies are not from the US
(all have Skype numbers & have an Indian accent)
FTC rulings applly to private companies not to lawfirms.  Lawfirms
have their own set of regulations to deal with in each state. Work was done prior to client's debts being settled and law firms have every right to charge for work performed. Signed contract (attached) details that fees are charged for work performed and also amortizes the legal fees as well. Client here appears to be exhibiting a form of racism as well, with no actual basis for a complaint. 
Additional
information/comments:
Client lives in (and
owns) a $400,000 house  with a $3000
mortgage which she pays on time every month. This is public record. To any
creditor therefore client appears to be fairly affluent. Note this program is a
for those with a hardship. Client does have high medical bills due to cancer
but to a creditor their perspective would unfortunately be “sell the house” or
“rent the house and get a more affordable place”.  Sadly we never really were able to get to this
phase of negotiations as client got involved prior to it being wise for anyone
to get involved. This locked all doors to negotiation with [redacted]
Client  was only 3 months into a 3 year program with 5  debts and has some very unrealistic expectations about the program. Her
situation was  a difficult one to start
with and her speaking to her creditors made it an impossible case
unfortunately. Despite all this we did arrange a payment plan on her [redacted] debt,
which would avoid a garnishment, and judgement. 
As such we did our  jobs. As we have shown here she was given maximum information and coaching to make her program a success, sadly the coaching/information she was given was disregarded. 
We feel it is a very
unfortunate turn of events that has happened to [redacted] Our suggestion
would be that she take the offer for [redacted] and continue on in the program. Fees
can be suspended for some time to help get funds together for other
emergencies. To leave the program now would likely lead client to disaster as
bankruptcy may not be an option. We can get past this bump and move on if
client is willing. We also urge client to make financial moves which may free
up funds to help her complete the program more quickly. Whether client fully
understands or not, she was in and she still is in a very difficult predicament
, and we feel that leaving the program now could easily make things worse for
her.  Having CLSA on her side would
surely at least reduce the difficulty from future creditors.
UPDATE:  7/22/2014
Client has sent several emails further exhibiting that her complaints against CLSA are groundless. See attached. 
Client has refused to continue with the program even with an offered fee suspension . 
Client is actively engaging in extortion demanding full refund by Friday or client plans to engage in online slander as "retribution"
Evidence Attached:
1) Signed contract and welcome pack- contract tells about potential tax liability. Welcome pack shows how to reach servicing company [redacted]) -she then continued to contact marketing agent instead. These items were signed in person by hand prior to becoming a client
2) Email telling that she contacted marketing affiliate after being an active client, thereby ignoring the instructions on signed materials. Email also admits talking to creditor . 
3) Email sent by client showing that marketing agent advised client to not speak to creditors without coaching
4) Recording of compliance call- this call recommends (again) not speaking to creditors, also advises about tax liability again . This call is made before client file is made active. 
5) Extortion threat email- client again shows ignorance regarding who regulates lawfirms, also again falsely claims was not told about tax liability. Also admits to us doing maximum to settle her first debt despite her every effort prior to unwittingly (?) sabotaging our efforts as described and exhibited here in detail in our Revdex.com response
NOTE: Client falsely believes that when creditors tell her "we only work with non profits" that that is hard truth when in fact it is not. As a lawfirm they will all speak to us under normal   conditions. Moreover, once a debt goes to collections the collectors will also speak. We have settled dozens/hundreds of cases in our history with any creditor you can think of. If Revdex.com wants evidence of that we can supply it.  Client has made a series of wrongful assumptions about how laws, regulators , and banks function and then has used these assumptions to form threats against CLSA.
 
6) Note we are happy to show evidence of settlements with any creditor you can list if desired. Would require some digging through data of other clients.  We have settled with all unsecured creditors that exist within the United States. If we couldn't settle with them we would not accept them into the program. 
Conclusions
Client has chosen to hire a lawfirm to settle with her creditors then instead of listening to the advice of the firm and its agents she has repeatedly chosen instead to continue to speak to her creditors and to marketing agents, until it was too late for her initial creditor negotiation to go well. Client then placed blame on us even when we went the extra mile to work past the obstacles she had thrown up against her own best interests . 
Client is in a very stressed situation and we have attempted everything imaginable to help alleviate this situation. However as can be clearly seen she has worked continually against her own best wishes and also against our advice and instructions as well. We feel badly that things have come to this juncture. It is a very unfortunate situation we do not wish on any clients. 
We again offer client one last time that she continue the program and no additional legal fees would be charged until at least one more debt has been settled successfully. We can also work to lower her monthly payment so as to make the first settlement more affordable.
We ask that this complaint be dismissed as we have shown sufficient evidence as to what transpired and that clients interpretation of the events is nearly completely inaccurate. besides the initial statements client has made (that she signed up with CLSA) we have shown that all her complaints are invalid.

Client is yet again mistaken in her accusations and we again have proof of the same. 
 
Client admitted to talking to creditors on 6/12/2014. Recording enclosed. "I spoke to the representative...". Customer service agent also again corrected how we handle contacting creditors "when funds are available" or when legal action is taken. Again client is reminded that talking to creditor can hurt negotiations.  But by this time it did not matter as the damage had been done.already by client. 
 
The "coached creditor call" client refers to did not occur until 6/23 after things has disintegrated, as a result of her telling creditors she was in a program, against our advisement. 
 
We have already uploaded emails from client also admitting she had spoken to creditors very early in the program, long before being advised to do so. See her email June 11th that states exactly this. So we have both a dated recording and a dated email from client showing this fact over a week before the coached call occurred as a desperate attempt to remedy the situation. 
 
We are happy to provide transcripts of notes and afffadavits from employees as to these events and timings as well. 
 
We do not know what more we can possibly provide aside from recordings, signed contracts, dated notes, and clients own emails that all directly contradict her accusations. THe complaint has no merit in ARI opinion. CLient was advised to do one thing several different ways and chose to do another. We then did the best we could with the situation and were able to help avoid garnishment, which is some accomplishment given the grim situation we were faced with. 
 
Managing attorney of CLSA has told us he would be in contact with the client this week to give his input/opinion and any options he wishes to offer client.

[redacted] signed a retainer agreement on 10/17/2017 to retain our services. She paid 75.00 towards an already discounted  $425.00 (Normal is $500.00)non-refundable retainer agreement. On good faith we went out of our way to set up two separate consultations with one of our attorneys. She...

missed both appointments. We reached out to her several times after missed set consultation appointments and were unsuccessful in reaching her. [redacted] called our office in January and request a refund of 75.00. She was told at that time that she was not receiving a refund due to her missing both scheduled appointments and she failed to pay the remaining balance of her signed retainer agreement. It was also explained to her that we had to come out of pocket to pay the attorney an additional $25.00 for a total of $100.00 (Two $50.00 missed appointments). She did state she was going to file a complaint with the Revdex.com if she didn't get her money back.. She was also informed at that time that she had an option to still use our services and that she would still need to pay the balance of her signed agreement. She declined. CLSA (Consumer Legal Services America) went out of our normal scope to assist [redacted] and it has cost us additional funds and now more added time addressing this complaint. I have attached a copy of her signed agreement In kind regards, [redacted] CLSA [redacted]@clsalawfirm.com

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[Here CLSA is explaining I sabotaged my account, which is not true.  I followed the instructions given to me from [redacted] and [redacted] [redacted].  I answered a call, unknowingly who it was and explained I was in a resolution program, then handed the little information I received from that call to my representative.  I received a letter threating legal action after and also sent that over to [redacted].  When [redacted] could not speak directly to the law firm because they would only speak with me, I was held on a conference call with [redacted] from [redacted] and the Law Firm at [redacted]'s request.  [redacted] [redacted] stated they would only speak with me or an attorney at that point although I was giving verbal permission for them to speak with [redacted]. 
 We disconnected the call at that point.  [redacted] from [redacted] then stated for me to call back and explain my situation [redacted] [redacted] to negotiate terms and then call her back with the details. She stated not to agree to anything without speaking with her first. I followed [redacted]'s instructions, gave her the proposal and was asked again to do the same thing to ask for a "Stimulus Payment", which I did.  My contact to [redacted] [redacted] was solely done by the instructions given to me by [redacted].   After the second proposal I received, I questioned again my admittance to this program as I was doing the leg work, the proposals were nothing close to what [redacted]/CLSA was stating it would be ([redacted]/CLSA's claim you will pay 40% of the value of your debt & the proposals I was given was for 100% payment of the debt) as well as being told that this was the only creditor they had contacted.  I asked for a Manager to call me and was given a contact by the name of [redacted]. After speaking with [redacted], he stated he would have the "Managing Attorney" contact [redacted] [redacted] since he would be the only one to speak with [redacted] [redacted] directly.  I don't understand why this was not done in the first place.  To date, I have not spoken to CLSA directly, as all contact goes through [redacted]  I left a message on the phone number listed on the Revdex.com for CLSA and have not received a call back.  All of [redacted] uses Skype phone numbers which is questionable for someone conducting financial business.  The below past employment AD below shows that CLSA has their subcontractors work in other countries with no experience with debt settlement. 
[redacted]  This is not racism, these are facts. I have not come to any settlement to date.  I have been left with more debt than I started with.  Out of the $2512.26 I deposited to my escrow account, CLSA is holding $2234.44 for services not provided.  CLSA has taken 90% of the funds leaving me with only $240 in my escrow.  I expect a refund for $2234.44 and hope we this can be settled without going to Small Claims Court and reporting [redacted]/CLSA to the Bar Association. ]
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[Again, as stated in emails to [redacted] and [redacted] my call on 6/11 was a call I picked up from an unknown number, not intentional.  I took the limited information given to be over that call and handed it to [redacted] & then [redacted].  I have spoke with Ira last week directly ( I called him again, he did not call me) stating my issues with this program, the misrepresentation of his subcontractors and again requesting a refund.
  [redacted] response was to offer me a credit with a subcontracting attorney to handle a Bankruptcy case. I declined stating I did not want to deal with anyone CLSA worked with, as this situation was bad enough to continue to do business together. Again, I requested my refund and reiterated no settlements or agreements were made AND I did most of the work myself at Account Resolution International request.  I have emailed [redacted] the details for the phone calls he can pull to prove this. I also pointed out to [redacted] that Account Resolution International has its address listed under another business name-- Crusader Consumer Services, whom [redacted] owns, the same person that is emailing me from Account Resolution International.  I have no idea who I am really doing business with!  In additional, the last documents/recording provided in the last response from CLSA does not black out or beep out my SS# or bank account information.  CLSA has now compromised my personal information. [redacted] also stated the Ban on Upfront Debt Settlement fees does not apply to attorneys.  I will open a claim with the FTC.  ]
Regards,
[redacted]