Focus Financial Reviews (%countItem)
Focus Financial Rating
Address: 7780 49th St N # 430, Pinellas Park, Florida, United States, 33781-3440
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On 3/25/20 I signed a contract that was to assist & resolve my debt and hardship due to high interest rates. To date, they have collected $1095.64.
As of this writing, FFI has not made a single payment to one creditor, let alone a minimum payment, resulting in my credit score dropping about 200 points in over four months. I have contacted each creditor and been told they have not heard anything from Focus Financial. I made minimum payments and closed most of the accounts if they would let me without having to pay hundreds of dollars in back payments. Tonight I called once again and asked what they are doing with the money, and was told they are still in negotiations with all my creditors and have not reached agreement with them to do anything to help my credit. Thus, I have not been able to refinance my mortgage and take advantage of the lowered interested rate in history. I retired in 2018 and my income was reduced to 1/3rd of what I was earning thus my hardship to work with this company. Every month I have called to see what the status is and given the run around. They are electronic transferring $273.91 per month plus a monthly service charge of $9.95 for 48 months, and will collect a fee towards the end when all debt is settled and paid off of about $3,416.64. They state I will have saved $4,647.36 and my credit score will not reflect a hardship allowing me to obtain new credit as needed. This has not been the case, and my mortgage lender advised to to request they make minimum payments, before all the debt is charged off which generally occurs if no payments are made or attempt to work with the creditors. As of this date, all they are doing is earning interest on my money and not doing a thing to settle my debt. Is there anything I can do?
I was resolution to my debt settlement as promised, not "they are still in negoiations with the credit card companies give months later.
We would like to provide the following response.
You enrolled into our no advanced fee debt settlement program. Your program was scheduled for 48 months to resolve your debt of which you are currently in your fifth month.
To date, we have not charged or collected any money from you. Our program does not require the payment of a fee from you until we are able to negotiate and reach a settlement with your creditor. Given the short amount of time you have been enrolled, we have been unable to reach a favorable settlement with your creditor. We are working hard to reach your first settlement on your accounts.
Our program is a debt settlement program, where we negotiate offers with your creditors to reach settlements on your enrolled accounts. When a settlement is reached, we will make payments to your creditors on the settlement agreement. It is important to understand that we are not a debt consolidation company.
The four payments you have made into your program are in your dedicated account that is in your name and under your control. To date only your monthly banking service fees have been charged to your account from your dedicated account provider, not from our company.
After your enrollment, we reached out to your creditors and sent notification to let them know of our involvement on your behalf.
Our agreement advises you that:
"Effects of Participating in a Debt Resolution Program: Failing to make your minimum monthly payments to your creditors (a) will likely adversely affect your creditworthiness, (b) may result in "unpaid", "late", "uncollected", or "charged-off" entries on your credit report(s),......"
In addition to our agreement, you took part in a detailed program compliance call in which you agreed to the following statements:
Did your debt analyst explain to you that the debt resolution program may have a negative effect on your credit? Answered: YES
Our customer service manager spoke to you about your complaint and went over the program with you. We also offered to write a letter that could help you to refinance your mortgage. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at 888-964-6599.