Freedom Debt Relief is one of the largest debt settlement companies in the United States. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit against the company. The agency claims that Freedom Debt has engaged in deceptive and unethical practices that have harmed consumers. CFPB seeks monetary and civil sanctions against Freedom Debt.
The CFPB asserts that Freedom Debt Relief has not informed consumers about their rights to withdraw and receive a full refund. Additionally, it says that the company misled customers about the savings they would achieve from their debts. It also says that the company did not inform consumers that their money was held in an account that was theirs.
Freedom Debt Relief was charged with violating several consumer protection laws. This includes the Telemarketing Sales Rule. In addition to these charges, the company is accused of committing fraudulent activities and engaging in high-pressure sales tactics. The CFPB is seeking monetary and injunctive relief.
Freedom Debt Relief is also being sued by the New York State Attorney General's Office. The company is accused of failing to inform clients about their rights to withdraw and causing harm to many consumers. Freedom is also accused of making false statements regarding the company's ability negotiate with creditors.
The complaint also states that Freedom has not been transparent about the billing and payment process. Freedom had no access to the customer's account. Once the customer has enrolled in the program, they can negotiate with their creditors for a reduction of the debt. Freedom collects the entire fee from the creditor if they refuse to negotiate. And this does not always happen.
One complaint against Freedom Debt Relief is that it charged upfront fees to the client even if the debt was not settled. The company claimed it could not charge the client until the debt was settled. As a result, many of the clients enrolled in the program ended up losing money they saved. The company could have advised clients to withdraw from the program in order to receive a refund. This would have helped prevent some fraud.
Another complaint against Freedom Debt Relief is that they are operating under different ownership. Andrew Housser is the co-founder of the company and the co-CEO. He continues to supervise the company's operations. This includes the approval of its policies. He was also reported to have known that Freedom's creditors weren't willing negotiate with him. Thus, he may have known that Freedom was taking payments from consumers while not negotiating with the creditor.
Regardless of the reason for the lawsuit, consumers should be aware of Freedom's deceptive and unethical practices. Anyone who has had similar issues with Freedom should consult a lawyer for more information about their rights. A lawyer can help with the development of a strategy or gathering evidence that will support your case.
FAQ
What are the most profitable side hustles in 2022?
You can make money by creating value for someone else. If you do this well, the money will follow.
While you might not know it, your contribution to the world has been there since day one. When you were a baby, you sucked your mommy's breast milk and she gave you life. The best place to live was the one you created when you learned to walk.
As long as you continue to give value to those around you, you'll keep making more. In fact, the more value you give, then the more you will get.
Without even realizing it, value creation is a powerful force everyone uses every day. It doesn't matter if you're cooking dinner or driving your kids to school.
In actuality, Earth is home to nearly 7 billion people right now. That's almost 7 billion people on Earth right now. This means that each person creates a remarkable amount of value every single day. Even if your hourly value is $1, you could create $7 million annually.
If you could find ten more ways to make someone's week better, that's $700,000. This is a lot more than what you earn working full-time.
Now let's pretend you wanted that to be doubled. Let's say you found 20 ways to add $200 to someone's life per month. Not only would you make an additional $14.4million dollars per year, but you'd also become extremely wealthy.
Every day there are millions of opportunities for creating value. This includes selling information, products and services.
Even though we focus a lot on careers, income streams, and jobs, these are only tools that can help us achieve our goals. The real goal is to help other people achieve their goals.
You can get ahead if you focus on creating value. Use my guide How to create value and get paid for it.
Why is personal finance important?
Personal financial management is an essential skill for anyone who wants to succeed. We live in a world that is fraught with money and often face difficult decisions regarding how we spend our hard-earned money.
Why do we delay saving money? Is it not better to use our time or energy on something else?
Both yes and no. Yes because most people feel guilty about saving money. You can't, as the more money that you earn, you have more investment opportunities.
As long as you keep yourself focused on the bigger picture, you'll always be able to justify spending your money wisely.
It is important to learn how to control your emotions if you want to become financially successful. Negative thoughts will keep you from having positive thoughts.
Your expectations regarding how much money you'll eventually accumulate may be unrealistic. This is because you haven't learned how to manage your finances properly.
Once you have mastered these skills you will be ready for the next step, learning how budgeting works.
Budgeting refers to the practice of setting aside a portion each month for future expenses. Planning will help you avoid unnecessary purchases and make sure you have enough money to pay your bills.
Now that you understand how to best allocate your resources, it is possible to start looking forward to a better financial future.
What is the difference between passive income and active income?
Passive income is when you make money without having to do any work. Active income is earned through hard work and effort.
Your active income comes from creating value for someone else. If you provide a service or product that someone is interested in, you can earn money. You could sell products online, write an ebook, create a website or advertise your business.
Passive income can be a great option because you can put your efforts into more important things and still make money. Many people aren’t interested in working for their own money. Therefore, they opt to earn passive income by putting their efforts and time into it.
Passive income doesn't last forever, which is the problem. You might run out of money if you don't generate passive income in the right time.
You also run the risk of burning out if you spend too much time trying to generate passive income. It's better to get started now than later. You will miss opportunities to maximize your earnings potential if you put off building passive income.
There are 3 types of passive income streams.
-
There are several options available for business owners: you can start a company, buy a franchise and become a freelancer. Or rent out your property.
-
These include stocks and bonds and mutual funds. ETFs are also investments.
-
Real estate - This includes buying and flipping homes, renting properties, and investing in commercial real property.
How can a beginner earn passive income?
Start with the basics, learn how to create value for yourself, and then find ways to make money from that value.
You might have some ideas. If you do, great! If not, you should start to think about how you could add value to others and what you could do to make those thoughts a reality.
Online earning money is easy if you are looking for opportunities that match your interests and skills.
If you are passionate about creating apps and websites, you can find many opportunities to generate revenue while you're sleeping.
Writing is your passion, so you might like to review products. Or if you're creative, you might consider designing logos or artwork for clients.
Whatever your focus, choose something you are passionate about. If you enjoy it, you will stick with the decision for the long-term.
Once you've identified a product/service which you would enjoy helping others to buy, you will need to determine how to monetize that product or service.
There are two main approaches to this. You could charge a flat rate (like a freelancer), or per project (like an agencies).
In each case, once your rates have been set, you will need to promote them. You can share them on social media, email your list, post flyers, and so forth.
To increase your chances of success, keep these three tips in mind when promoting your business:
-
You are a professional. When you work in marketing, act like one. It is impossible to predict who might be reading your content.
-
Know what you're talking about - make sure you know everything about your topic before you talk about it. Fake experts are not appreciated.
-
Spam is not a good idea. You should avoid emailing anyone in your address list unless they have asked specifically for it. For a recommendation, email it to the person who asked.
-
Use an email service provider that is reliable and free - Yahoo Mail and Gmail both offer easy and free access.
-
Monitor your results. You can track who opens your messages, clicks links, or signs up for your mail lists.
-
Measuring your ROI is a way to determine which campaigns have the highest conversions.
-
Ask for feedback: Get feedback from friends and family about your services.
-
To find out which strategy works best, you can test different strategies.
-
Keep learning - continue to grow as a marketer so you stay relevant.
How much debt can you take on?
It is vital to realize that you can never have too much money. You will eventually run out money if you spend more than your income. Because savings take time to grow, it is best to limit your spending. Spend less if you're running low on cash.
But how much can you afford? While there is no one right answer, the general rule of thumb is to live within 10% your income. This will ensure that you don't go bankrupt even after years of saving.
If you earn $10,000 per year, this means you should not spend more than $1,000 per month. Spend less than $2,000 per monthly if you earn $20,000 a year. And if you make $50,000, you shouldn't spend more than $5,000 per month.
Paying off your debts quickly is the key. This includes student loans, credit card debts, car payments, and credit card bill. Once these are paid off, you'll still have some money left to save.
It's best to think about whether you are going to invest any of the surplus income. If you choose to invest your money in bonds or stocks, you may lose it if the stock exchange falls. However, if you put your money into a savings account you can expect to see interest compound over time.
Let's suppose, for instance, that you put aside $100 every week to save. It would add up towards $500 over five-years. At the end of six years, you'd have $1,000 saved. You'd have almost $3,000 in savings by the end of eight years. You'd have close to $13,000 saved by the time you hit ten years.
You'll have almost $40,000 sitting in your savings account at the end of fifteen years. This is quite remarkable. But if you had put the same amount into the stock market over the same time period, you would have earned interest. Instead of $40,000, your net worth would be more than $57,000.
You need to be able to manage your finances well. Otherwise, you might wind up with far more money than you planned.
What is the fastest way you can make money in a side job?
You can't just create a product that solves someone's problem to make quick money if you want to really make it happen.
It is also important to establish yourself as an authority in the niches you choose. This means that you need to build a reputation both online and offline.
Helping other people solve their problems is the best way for a person to earn a good reputation. You need to think about how you can add value to your community.
After answering that question, it's easy to identify the areas in which you are most qualified to work. Online earning money is possible in many ways. However, these opportunities are often highly competitive.
However, if you look closely you'll see two major side hustles. One type involves selling products and services directly to customers, while the other involves offering consulting services.
There are pros and cons to each approach. Selling products or services gives you instant satisfaction because you get paid immediately after you have shipped your product.
You might not be able to achieve the success you want if you don't spend enough time building relationships with potential clients. In addition, the competition for these kinds of gigs is fierce.
Consulting allows you to grow your business without worrying about shipping products or providing services. But, it takes longer to become an expert in your chosen field.
It is essential to know how to identify the right clientele in order to succeed in each of these options. This requires a little bit of trial and error. It pays off in the end.
Statistics
- 4 in 5 Americans (80%) say they put off financial decisions, and 35% of those delaying those decisions say it's because they feel overwhelmed at the thought of them. (nerdwallet.com)
- These websites say they will pay you up to 92% of the card's value. (nerdwallet.com)
- U.S. stocks could rally another 25% now that Fed no longer has ‘back against the wall' in inflation fight (marketwatch.com)
- According to the company's website, people often earn $25 to $45 daily. (nerdwallet.com)
- As mortgage rates dip below 7%, ‘millennials should jump at a 6% mortgage like bears grabbing for honey' New homeowners and renters bear the brunt of October inflation — they're cutting back on eating out, entertainment and vacations to beat rising costs (marketwatch.com)
External Links
How To
How to make money online with no experience
There are many options for making money online. While some people like to use computers for work, others prefer to be outside and interact with others.
There is always room to improve, no matter who you are. We will be looking at simple ways you can improve your life.
Since its inception, blogging has seen a tremendous growth. Anyone with a computer can now start a blog to make money.
A blog can be set up in minutes and is very affordable. It doesn't matter if your knowledge is limited to hosting and domain names.
Selling photos online can be one of the most lucrative ways to make an online income. It doesn’t matter how skilled you are with a camera.
Only two things are required: a good digital camera and an image editing software such as Adobe Photoshop Elements. Once you have those items, you are able to upload your images to Fotolia, where millions of people visit every day to download high-quality photographs.
If you have skills in something, then why not sell them? No matter if you're an expert at writing articles, or can speak multiple languages fluently there are plenty online that will sell your knowledge.
Elance, a website that connects freelancers to businesses looking for their services, is one example. Post projects and let freelancers bid. The project is awarded to the highest bidder.
-
Create An Ebook And Sell It On Amazon
Amazon is the most popular e-commerce site on the Internet. They offer a marketplace through which people can sell or buy products.
This can be done by creating an ebook that you sell through Amazon. This option is great because you are paid per sale and not per page.
Teaching abroad is another way to earn extra cash without leaving your home country. Teachers Pay Teachers is a site that connects teachers and students looking for English lessons.
You can teach any subject, including math, science, history, geography, art, music, or 5. even Use foreign Google languages.
-
Google Write Adsense Pages is an alternative method of advertising your website. You place small ads on your website when someone visits it. These ads are displayed whenever visitors view any given webpage.
You will earn more revenue the more traffic you get.
It is possible to also sell your artwork digitally. You can also sell your artwork digitally through sites such as Etsy.
Etsy makes it easy to create virtual shops that look just like real ones.
-
You can become a freelancer
College graduates are starting to embrace freelancing. As the economy continues its upward trend, more companies outsource their jobs to independent contractors.
It's a win-win situation for both employers and employees. Employers are able to save money as they don't have to pay any benefits or payroll taxes. Employees benefit from having flexibility in their schedules while earning additional income.