Consumer complaint received 2024-02-08
Product: Debt or credit management — Debt settlement
Issue: Charged upfront or unexpected fees — 
Company: Michel Law, LLC d/b/a Level One Law (MD)

In XX/XX/XXXX I responded to a mail advertisement for loan consolidation under the name XXXX XXXX. When I actually called, they called themselves Level One Law and claimed to be a debt settlement company and not a loan consolidation company. So in XX/XX/XXXX I had enrolled with Level One Law in XX/XX/XXXX. My charged monthly payments to this company were {$830.00} and of that amount, approximately 90 % went to various monthly fees - EACH MONTH they charged a {$530.00} service fee, $ XXXX retainer fee, {$99.00} administration fee, and {$10.00} for a third party fee to XXXX XXXX XXXX for holding my money that was supposed to be used to negotiate my debt. That means that out of the {$3300.00} I have paid to this company between XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, only {$190.00} were in an escrow account to be used to actually negotiate my {$55000.00} debts. This FAR EXCEEDS the FTCs regulations for such debt management companies and is criminal! I received numerous calls from my creditors ( they even called my family! ) so in XX/XX/XXXX, I called Level One Law stating my concerns over the fees and lack of money in my escrow account. She basically gaslit me to try to put me at ease. Still feeling uneasy about the situation, I called again the following week, once more reiterating my concerns and this time mentioning the FTC rules on upfront fees ; once more I was gaslit ( and I am quite certain that both times I spoke with the same womanXXXX XXXX  do not have her name unfortunately ). She assured me that things are being done on their end. It was then that I had requested proof that documents had actually been sent to my creditors, and she obliged and told me Id have the documents emailed to me within a week ; other than a holiday greetings, I have not received a Single email from Lev. XXXX, not even the welcome package that they said I would be emailed during week XXXX of the program, which was to contain signed copies of all the documents which I had signed when their notary came to my house for the final signing. She also told me that someone they would start negotiations with my first creditor in XXXX ( with barely {$200.00} in my escrow acct ) and that someone would also call me in XXXX to give me an update about progress they have made. That call never came. Ive since called them numerous times and every time, despite calling during their normal business hours, I kept getting an automated message stating that their offices are closed. 

After that phone call, I put a Hold on my auto withdraws from them via my bank, and also removed XXXX out of XXXX creditors from the program ( which was another {$25.00} fee, and then they charged another {$25.00} for changing from XXXX to XXXX XXXX in XXXX ). So nothing more has been withdrawn once the last withdrawal on XX/XX/XXXX, except the monthly {$11.00} fee for XXXX XXXX XXXX which is supposedly the escrow company I also tried to call them and left a message but have had no success in stopping their {$11.00} withdraw from my escrow account which has no money coming in ( bc of the stop order ) but still {$11.00} coming out. Ive paid them {$3300.00} so far and my XXXX XXXX  account has about {$170.00} for negotiating. On XX/XX/XXXX I sent a long email to Level One Law outlining all of all of these concerns and demanded proof- once more- of the things they claim to have done for me other than steal my money ( call logs, documents ), gave them a deadline to contact me back, and told them not to withdraw anything more from me and give me a FULL REFUND for all they have taken from me. They still withdrew the money from my account in XXXX, but luckily my bank was able to reverse this transaction This company is a major scam ( they even make you sign documents up front that you wont join a class action lawsuit against them ) and they literally robbed me while ruining my credit. I have now had to call each creditor to resume payments while having incurred $ XXXX in fees, had cards cancelled by the creditors, and damaged my credit because of Level One Law who take no accountability. I realize by now that this is a total scam and in fact I see that there has been a case filed on XX/XX/XXXX by XXXX states and district attorneys against XXXX XXXX XXXX, and I have reason to believe that Level one Law might very well be XXXX of their facade companies. If this is the case, something needs to be done about this because this company needs to be shut down immediately before they destroy more peoples live.