Consumer complaint received 2020-12-04
Company: FREEDOM FINANCIAL NETWORK
State: VA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Debt settlement
Issue: Confusing or misleading advertising or marketing

Complaint:
I enrolled in debt settlement offered by Freedom Debt relief. They told me to stop making payments to all creditors bc all negotiations moving forward will come from them. They mentioned that they have a great relationship with all of the creditors on my credit and will be able to settle all of my debt and I will be debt free in 3 years. What truly impressed me was they said they do not pay themselves until all the debt has been settled in its entirety and a plan of payment for all of the accounts as a whole has been set up at which time they will pay them from the 9 months of payments I made to them in the amount of {$960.00} monthly. When I missed my first payment to the creditors I received countless calls from them and was able to settle many of the accounts and I relayed the information to them and they said they will reach out to the creditors but advised me that if I could make a list and continue to reach out to certain creditors bc they were not familiar with certain creditors ( which contradicts what they originally told me that they were familiar with all of the creditors on my credit report ) I felt as if I was doing their job for them. They mentioned that they were working around the clock in resolving my problem with the creditors but when I spoke with several of the creditors they said they had not been contacted by Freedom but Freedom was very specific to me about which creditors they had reached out to and or contacted which was a lie when after verifying with the creditors who mentioned it wouldv been notated on my account with them. After months of paying this money I reached a verbal arrangement with one of the creditors on my report and mentioned the particulars to freedom and they approved it and paid themselves almost {$2000.00} of my money for a claim that I settled and I didnt feel it was right so I argued it and they lied and said they were already working on the settlement with the company. At that point I requested not to accept the settlement bc I felt freedom was stealing my money for work they did not perform. Further I asked to have all of my money reimbursed to me and they stated they would not bc their workers worked the settlement. We could not reach an agreement so I told them I couldnt keep paying for services I wasnt receiving and this situation completely ruined my credit. I have over 28 accounts reporting delinquent bc of them and many of the accounts were immediately placed into collections. My bank account was hit wit a garnishment as well as a lien. Ive been sued by numerous of the creditors where the judge ruled in their favor regardless of how misleading and dishonest Freedom Debt Relief was with me which lead to my becoming severely delinquent with the creditors. Had Freedom debt relief been upfront and honest about their ability to settle my debts and if they wouldve honestly performed the work that they promised and advertised to me then I wouldnt be in this situation as I was not delinquent or late on any creditor account when I reached out to Freedom. I reached out to them bc I needed to lower my debt to income so that I could secure a building loan for my nonprofit business that assist hungry and homeless families and according to Freedom this was something they have done for millions of customers successfully before me. I feel that they should be held accountable for the damage they caused to my life and my credit. Because if this ordeal I have lost my home that I purchased 2 years prior, ruin my credit, and am tied into so much legal collections that has caused me severe XXXX and XXXX. Please can you guy help me?

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation