Consumer complaint received 2020-11-19
Company: FREEDOM FINANCIAL NETWORK
State: MD
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit repair services
Issue: Excessive fees

Complaint:
I am current under an agreement with Freedom Debt Relief. I currently pay {$1000.00} a month to my dedicated account. As of XX/XX/XXXX I have {$6800.00}. in my account. 

I currently have 4 agreements in place : XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX - Current balance {$8700.00}. Monthly payment {$870.00} - Last payment is expected to be made in XX/XX/XXXX. 

XXXX - Current balance {$1000.00}. Monthly payment {$350.00}. - Last payment is expected to be made XX/XX/XXXX. 

XXXX - Current balance {$770.00} - Last payment is expected to be made XX/XX/XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX - Current balance {$1000.00} - Last payment is expected to be made XX/XX/XXXX. 

I have deposited over {$42000.00} since I began the program in XXXX and paid thousands of dollars in settlement and monthly fees. In currently pay {$45.00} in fees monthly. 

I have called at least 4 times in the last several months regarding the way my account is being handled and in my opinion, mismanaged. I have asked that the three smaller accounts be paid in full ( Total of {$2800.00} ) to allow me to focus on the one remaining account. I have the funding available. That would save me in fees to include canceling the {$12.00} per month for litigation support since all of my accounts are in agreement and /or paid. During the last 3 calls I have been told various things. The last call i was told that a request had been sent to my creditors regarding the current agreements and to request approval to pay each off. The FDR representative stated I had to be patient as it takes time for them to hear back. I was also told that sometimes creditors don't agree to a pay off. ( As if XXXX or XXXX would prefer the {$5.00} per month for two years instead of a single pay off amount. Ridiculous ). Today, XX/XX/XXXX, I called to check the status of the request. This time I was told that unless i can pay off all 4 accounts at once, FDR can not do anything with my account. I was told if I deposited an extra $ 5K+ in my account they would be able to possibly pay off all of the accounts at once, which is a requirement. This is 100 percent opposite of what i have been told the last several times. I asked for a supervisor or someone who could assist and none were available. I was told this information was confirmed with her supervisor XXXX XXXX ( a gentleman ) though. 

I feel my account since I am near the end of the plan is being mismanaged. I feel I am deliberately being held in the program longer than required so FDR can collect additional fees from me. In all honesty the XXXX account was barely reduced from my original debt and the fees I was charged from FDR certainly made any savings on that debt minimal at best. At that time i had over 9K in my account where if XXXX had reduced my debt by the percentage alluded to by FDR, I would be out of the program even sooner. I feel this negotiation was purposely mislead and not handled in a manner that was most beneficial to me, the client. 

I have only asked for my three outstanding agreements to be paid off so my monthly fees are reduced and i will continue paying a monthly amount which will cover the XXXX costs. ( This would give me the opportunity to reduce my monthly payment to {$900.00} ). I would also like any of my remaining funds i have paid in after the 3 accounts have been paid, returned to me ( estimated minimum of $ XXXX ). 

I have never missed a payment to FDR and have stretched my monthly budget very thin to get out of debt. 

I am being mislead and my money is being mismanaged. 

I truly would appreciate any advice, guidance, and support you can give me in this matter. 

XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation