Consumer complaint received 2019-11-15
Company: FREEDOM FINANCIAL NETWORK
State: CA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit repair services
Issue: Unexpected or other fees

Complaint:
I'm working with a company called Freedom Debt Relief where I'm paying off creditors. I've been paying for months and I've paid off some of my debts ( Over {$1500.00} roughly so far. ) I still have {$370.00} in the XXXX XXXX account held for one creditor ( XXXX XXXX XXXX  ) that I need to pay off. The pay-off amount is {$390.00}. 


Unfortunately, I XXXX XXXX and my salary has gotten horrific over the past year, to the point where I'm trying to change fields. I'm studying XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX online. Within the next few months I expect to make much more income. 

I told Freedom Debt Relief that I can't make my monthly payment of {$280.00} I live alone in XXXX XXXX, my rent is {$1300.00}, and I make about {$600.00} per week ( before gas expenses ) XXXX  XXXX  40 to 50 hours per week. 

XXXX XXXX said that their policy is : I have to call each month in order to keep them from debiting my bank account for the amount of {$280.00}. 

Whenever I call, they go into a spiel about the importance of paying the full amount. 

I explain to them that unfortunately I don't even have {$280.00} in my bank account, but they keep on talking fast like a used car salesman. 

Important : There is {$370.00} in my Freedom Debt Relief account and I owe XXXX  XXXX XXXX  {$390.00}. 

Freedom Debt Relief could easily pay this debt off ( and I'd be happy to give them the {$15.00} to pay it ), but I have a bigger account with XXXX  XXXX XXXX that needs to be paid : this account is not a part of my agreement with Freedom Debt. 

But Freedom Debt knows about it and wants to make the money from this {$18000.00} debt. 

Anyway, rather than just paying the XXXX  XXXX Debt, they keep lying and saying they can't take less than {$100.00} for the payment because they know the account is VERY close to having enough to pay off XXXX XXXX XXXX, but they want the XXXX XXXX XXXX account, which I have not agreed to pay through Freedom Debt. 

So, I called XXXX XXXX yesterday and sent them 2 emails stating that I do not want them taking the {$280.00} out of my bank account. In the emails, I told them that they are not authorized to take this money out of my account. 

When I called yestereday, a female representative kept talking fast and arguing with me about paying the {$280.00}. 

She kept cutting me off mid-sentence and then placed me on hold for an extended period of time. After I hung up to start studying and then go to work, she never returned my call. 

When I called back today ( XX/XX/2019 at roughly noon ), another female representative told me the following : " Our systems notified us that you purposoley hung up the phone call yesterday. And since you hung up, we couldn't stop the payment from going through. So the {$280.00} will hit your account on XX/XX/2019. '' They knew I was calling to tell them they are not authorized to take money out of my bank account. Instead of calling me back, they allowed the payment to process. 

Also, I sent them 2 emails yesterday and when I asked if they received the emails, ( I've uploaded the email with confirmation that it was sent to them ), they said that they didn't receive the email. I sent one email from my XXXX  account and one through their actual website. 

So their systems can tell them that I hung up a phone call, in which I was on hold for a long period of time ... .but their systems can't tell them that I sent an email twice!!? 

Now, one of two things is going to happen : Either my bank account will go into overdraft on XX/XX/XXXX, or I'll need to borrow money from a family member, thus alerting people about this private financial situation. 

Since they will now be receiving {$280.00} from my bank account, there will be a total of {$650.00} in the XXXX XXXX account. The total payoff for XXXX XXXX XXXX  is {$390.00}. 

So I told XXXX XXXX to pay off the creditor and then return ALL remaining funds to my account. I'd like to end my account with XXXX XXXX. So they will owe me roughly {$250.00}. I want to make sure this gets paid back to me because these people are fast talkers and very decietful. 

Important Note : I informed them that I would be calling the Attorney General to file a complaint and they just sent a response to the email I sent yesterday where I told them that I don't want the funds taken out of my account. 

In XXXX XXXX 's response email, it says that I need to call them within 2 business days if I don't want the money taken out of my account. Yesterday was XX/XX/XXXX, the bill is due XX/XX/XXXX, but they're still taking the money out of my account. -- -- Email attached.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation