Unfortunately debt settlement offers only are valid with a lump sum payment. Your husband will likely have to repay the entire amount with accrued interest while making monthly payments.

As you have so shown, none of these protections are complete. We can only hope that more people will share their experiences (both good and bad) with companies that they have done business with so that others can read about their experiences prior to signing a contract with one of these companies. Thank you for providing your story.

I am writing this letter to BBB.org as a consumer. I dealt with a fraudulent debt settlement company (Hess Kennedy) about 5 years ago. I complained about the company on your website. You all did nothing. You closed the complaint in favor of that company, stating I was lucky the company didn’t sue me for breach of contract (although I had insisted THEY had breached). Thousands more consumers were subsequently ripped off. A simple investigation into the company’s history prior to changing names, and directors would have showed that the company shouldn’t have been BBB accredited or approved (Hess Kennedy had a A rating with you all at one point) There was also a story written about the shadiness of the company by a Montana news-reporter, named Jan Falstead.

Consumers who are in debt are in a vulnerable and weak position, and unfortunately make snap decisions about how to resolve their debts. Thorough investigation ( because of time) doesn’t favor a consumer whose home is about to go into foreclosure, whose credit cards are about to charge off, or who is being threatened with a lawsuit/s. This is why consumers entrust the government, organizations like BBB, FTC, FBI, etc. to do what they can to combat fraudulent companies and protect the consumer by providing factual information regarding these companies. Every single entity, however, failed myself and thousands of other consumers.

After doing some investigatory work, I later learned that there are only a few 100 debt settlement companies they are accredited and qualified to actually do the work Hess Kennedy claimed it was going to do. At that time, however, thousands of companies like Hess Kennedy had cropped up preying on naive consumers (like myself). Not a single government entity or non-profit agency (like BBB) did a single thing about it for a LONG time. Although it was not BBB’s responsibility to ensure that the companies the consumers dealt with weren’t fraudulent, BBB should have at least posted information on its website (in lieu of the amount of fraudulent complaints against companies like Hess Kennedy, and the dismal state of the economy) about debt settlement companies. This would have deterred thousands of consumers from dealing with Hess Kennedy, and shut that company and others like it down, long ago. You guys also had resolved a lot of those complaints in favor of those businesses (to give them the benefit of the doubt?), and even gave Hess Kennedy an A rating at one time just because they responded to you all. A lot more consumers checking the BBB for information about Hess Kennedy were fooled by this. What good is the BBB, if consumers cannot rely on honest, and factual information regarding these companies. I most surely hope that this has changed for the better. You all should require more than a simple response back from the company, or the companies’ lies in determining whether the company is okay for BBB accreditation or should have a favorable BBB rating. If this isn’t the purpose of your company, what exactly purpose do you serve then?

Sincerely,
Crystal Stewart

You will want to contact the receiver directly to inquire about your refund. There is a small number (approximately 100) that were supposed to receive refunds but the receiver was unable to contact these clients.

Call 954-510-7840 or visit Hess Kennedy Receiver for more information.