Consumer complaint received 2024-10-23 00:00:00
Product: Debt or credit management — Debt settlement
Issue: Didn't provide services promised — 
Company: SilverLake Financial LLC
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
I received a mailer from Silverlake Financial stating that I was eligible for a consolidation loan. Having been laid off in XX/XX/XXXX, my credit balances ballooned, and I was able to manage payments until XX/XX/XXXX. However, my income in my new job was not keeping up with payment amounts, so I reached out to them to avoid a late payment. 

I was denied a consolidation loan but was told by my rep XXXX XXXX, that I qualify for a " Debt Modification Program. '' I told him I was not interested in debt settlement and that I want to be able to pay my debt off in full to keep relationships with XXXX and XXXX and the accounts open. I reiterated that I am not interested in debt settlement and do not want any charge-offs, late payments, accounts to settle for less, or other derogatory statements on my credit. 

He told me the following : - Silverlake has great relationships with these companies and will be able to to get repayment agreements in place within 30 to 60 days, and payment history will be backdated to my signature date with them. He noted in an email that " accounts sometimes take 90 to 110 days to get agreements in place. 
- this is a debt modification program for people with decent credit and no late payments on their credit - there is no risk of charge-off and the worst thing that will happen is at the end of the program creditors may choose to close the account and have it shown " closed by consumer or bank '' - we will tell XXXX and XXXX that balances will be payed in full and show the deposit in the escrow account to get agreements in XXXX days - my credit would take a small dip and would be back to normal within 6 months ( my credit has dropped over XXXX points ) - Their partner company XXXX XXXX XXXX handles the program , and although it sounds like debt settlement, my account would be handled differently. On the onboarding call where I had to sign the agreement over a live call, he prepped me before we connected with Clarity by saying " We are going to conference in our partner company that administers the debt modification program on a recorded call. The terms will sound like debt settlement, but this is just a blanket agreement and your account will be handled differently, so don't worry. '' I voiced my concern before and after the call about this but was in such a stressful spot with potentially missing payments I believed him. 

After receiving notifications from both XXXX and XXXX about closed accounts and potential litigation, I called the US based manager for XXXX. She told me this and the reality of the situation is as follows : - this is a debt settlement program, we would not have terms for a program that did not apply to our customers- charge off, closed accounts and extreme drops in credit are possible - there is no guarantee late payments will be erased. That is up to the credit issuer - we do not engage with creditors until we feel we can negotiate balances with them for 50 % of what is owed. Typically 90days + - the supervisor told me " What XXXX told you is absolutely false and misleading, there is no debt modification program with those terms. This is a settlement. 

I have no issue with XXXX XXXX XXXX. They are doing their job as laid out in their terms, but Silverlake grossly misled me so they could get their 5 % fee. There are also multiple accounts of this type of behavior from them on XXXX XXXX and XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation