Consumer complaint received 2025-05-05 00:00:00
Product: Debt or credit management — Debt settlement
Issue: Didn't provide services promised — 
Company: Five Lakes Law Group PLLC
State: GA

Complaint narrative:
Formal Complaint Five Lakes Law Group My husband and I enrolled in a debt consolidation program with Five Lakes Law Group, enrolling {$36000.00} in debt. The program included a 27 % service fee, and we were instructed not to contact our creditors while Five Lakes handled settlement negotiations. However, we were never fully informed that they would delay payments to creditors, which led to multiple lawsuits and significant damage to our credit. 

Payments we explicitly authorized for creditor settlements were instead diverted to company fees, leaving our accounts unpaid and XXXX legally unprotected. When we called for clarification, we discovered that essential details were never explained during onboarding. A supervisor even admitted that the information should have been filed. 

Despite multiple calls expressing urgency, settlements were only negotiated after legal threats were received. The companys inaction caused both emotional and financial distress, while they continued to collect fees throughout the process, even in moments of crisis. 

We have since terminated our enrollment and are working directly with creditors to complete our payments. We are formally requesting that the remaining service fee be waived or substantially reduced, given the misleading guidance, unethical conduct, and mishandling of our accounts. We have also submitted a written request for a full, itemized breakdown of all fees collected. 

This complaint is being filed to seek resolution and to ensure greater transparency, so that other families do not endure the same harm. 

Lack of Transparency in Account Access At no point during enrollment were we clearly told that we had access to a client portal. I only became aware of it months later, after calling the company to manually request a consolidated statement. That portal, which houses important details, was not introduced or explained during onboarding. This delay in access prevented us from understanding how our payments were being allocated, and whether they were truly applied toward our debts or redirected to internal fees. 

Further, their contract did not clearly specify when or how service fees would be deducted. Payments were withdrawn under the impression they were going to creditorsyet we later discovered large sums were taken as fees, often without timely communication or acknowledgment. 

XXXX Lawsuit and Mishandled Settlement In XX/XX/year>, I was served a lawsuit from XXXX XXXX, even though I was actively enrolled in the Five Lakes program. Prior to the lawsuit, no settlement progress had been made. Only after legal action was initiated did the company settle the debtwith a resolution completed in less than a week, which clearly could have been done earlier. 

After the settlement, I was told I owed {$4800.00} to cover the full balance. I asked if I could make installment payments leading up to XXXX, and was told nothe full balance had to be paid in a single lump sum by then. I was also told that the payment would be automatically deducted and could not be adjusted or delayed. No alternatives were offered, despite my clearly communicated financial limitations. 

Out of urgency and fear, we paid the full amountonly to later discover that a large portion of the {$4800.00} had been applied to company fees, not the actual debt. The payment breakdown confirms this, and these facts are supported by recorded calls from that time period. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and Fee Diversion This stressful situation prompted us to act quickly on our XXXX XXXX account, fearing another lawsuit. We deposited {$3000.00} into our account to give Five Lakes the necessary funds to begin negotiation. Instead of using that money to settle the debt or make meaningful payments, the company rerouted those funds to its own feesleaving only {$10.00} in actual payments to XXXX XXXX ( split into two {$5.00} transactions ).

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation