Consumer complaint received 2026-05-20 00:00:00
Product: Debt or credit management — Debt settlement
Issue: Charged upfront or unexpected fees — 
Company: NATIONAL DEBT RELIEF LLC
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
I hired XXXX late 2024 to consolidate and solve my debt, I provided XXXX with all of my debt as requested by them, I was initially told that my monthly payment would be {$380.00} but once I started the program they increased the amount to {$400.00}. I was under the assumption that XXXX was handling everything pertaining to negotiations and payments. Last month I received a court date as I was being sued by one of the creditors for non payment in over a year and a half. Once I brought this to their attention, I started to question why I had paid over {$7200.00} to the program and only {$2600.00} had been paid to creditors. Once I dug deeper to go into the details of each payment, I was told that XXXX had paid themselves a fee of {$2800.00} up front for negotiations. Breakdown given was : I paid XXXX {$7200.00} to date XXXX kept : {$2800.00} Paid creditors : {$2600.00} Sitting in account : {$970.00} Total cost : {$6400.00} Once I did the math, I questioned a discrepancy of {$730.00} from my account. The representative wasnt sure and had to go and check for me. When they came back, the representative said that I was being charged a XXXX fee and a legal fee as well each month. ( I was unaware of separate fees ). Then the representative went on to say that I had received an advance which I still dont even understand what that means. They claimed that I didnt have enough money in my account even though I had been paying {$400.00} per month for several months already and keeping in mind that only {$2600.00} has been paid to all of my creditors to date. Their practice has been very misleading and stressful causing me horrible anxiety and panic. This has turned into a nightmare and a slew of hidden fees. I am on XXXX and a fixed income. I was made an offer to settle the account that was taking me to court but was told I would have to pay {$170.00} extra per month for XXXX which would bring my payments to {$570.00} per month. That amount is far more than the initial quote of {$380.00} when they initially quoted me. They again denied the settlement because I do not have an extra {$170.00} to pay, I even requested that they pay the creditor to settle the debt from the almost {$3000.00} they paid themselves up front. They refused because I dont have the {$170.00} extra per month. Last month I did not send a payment until they explained to me exactly where over {$7200.00} of my money went, I am still left feeling like I was misled. From the information I was given, they intend on taking more of my money to pay themselves when they settle any of the debts. They pay themselves thousands which adds tremendous debt to the debt I thought they would he helpful in resolving. Why is a debt company allowed to do this to vulnerable clients like myself? I was also told that it I exit the plan now that my debt would default to the original debt amounts leaving me to feel stuck and wondering what happens to the {$7.00}, XXXX I paid. I was left to believe that I would just lose out on that money. No way I would have agreed to adding thousands more in debt when I qualify for filing for bankruptcy. National Debt Relief is unrealistic in their terms. I feel scammed.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation