Debt Termination Scams

More Reasons to Avoid Debt Termination Plans

How about New Leaf Associates?. Have you ever heard of this company based in Port Richey, FL?

Andy

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If you have not already done so, please read Credit Card Termination Scams. Also read this article on Bankrate.com.

If you don’t believe that article, read this thread on the Quatloos forum about New Leaf Associates. Quatloos is a website dedicated to uncovering and reporting on scams.

If you have any lingering hope that this scam will work, please click on the Quatloos link. New Leaf is defunct, but a new company, JONA, has allegedly taken its place. It is alleged that the same people who believed in New Leaf are getting taken once again by its successor.

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From a post dated April 10, 2005:

"Hi again,

You might find this interesting - it is a thread in a forum that was intended to be PRO New Leaf, kind of a support group for NLA clients: http://www.pronewleaf.com.

The particular thread is Complaints filed with BBB:

[Apparently this thread has since been removed.]

This is a 4 page thread, but well worth reading through. What emerges is that quite a few months ago, NLA's (New Leaf Asociates) accounts were frozen. They were supposed to be released near the end of March, but it didn't happen.

They have clients who paid $4,000 to $6,000 each to have their debts "terminated". Some of these clients have been waiting 9 months with no action and NO RESPONSE from NLA!

They are starting to sue.

Hundreds of complaints have been filed with Consumer Protection bureaus in Florida, and now it sounds like these will escalate to the Federal levels.

In the meantime, Jim Patterson & NLA badly needed an infusion of funds, as their accounts were frozen. Jim used a marketing forum of which he was a respected member, to sell services - these were the placement of "paid signups" into the downlines of MLM programs the forum's members were in.

There is some speculation that he was actually enrolling NLA clients into these MLM programs, (possibly without their knowledge) using the monies he was collecting. He was receiving back 80% of the first month's enrollment fees, in the form of "Fast Start" Bonuses from the principal program.

He sold a bunch of these packages, then disappeared for almost 2 months, reappearing briefly only long enough to post about "family & health problems" and to offer to DOUBLE the delivery of signups to those who stuck with him and did not request refunds.

When this all bogged down, purchasers of these services started asking for refunds. A few received them, but as his accounts were not released as expected, refunds have stopped. In the meantime, most of the "signups" people purchased were not delivered, or there were serious problems with them.

Now many of the members of that forum, including myself, are at the point of organizing ourselves to file massive complaints against NLA, largely because of NLA's general (and apparently legendary) unresponsiveness.

Clearly NLA is in a lot of trouble, because the refunds being requested from our forum are not that large - they amount to a few hundred dollars each for most of the members who purchased his services. Yet they are apparently not able to come up with these amounts.

Incidentally, NLA of Port Richey has over 5,000 clients. If they collected an average of $5,000 per client - you do the math. That's a lot of money in those frozen accounts."

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And this from a post dated April 11, 2005:

"I think I can settle this for you guys. I am a New Leaf client...or I was.

I just passed my 256 day mark. They promise to clean up your credit in 180 days. Not only was I sued by several credit card companies, I had to declare bankruptcy just to stop the lawsuits.

I trusted my agent, and waited without interference like I was supposed to, but it was to no avail. No one ever returned my calls, and the person who answered the phone (when it wasn't busy) couldn't tell me anything ever. I am currently waiting on my refund and sitting here with my doubled debt and ruined credit.

I called the BBB in Florida, and they are investigating New Leaf. They are getting terribly huge amounts of complaints about them.

Take it from a real client. They can't do what they promise. Sorry guys. Learn from my mistake."

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As a retired lawyer, who was at one point deep enough in debt and desperate enough to look into these programs, let me lay out some facts.

A) There is nothing in the US Constitution or any Federal or State law that I know of that makes it illegal for banks or credit card companies to lend money

B) The Uniform Commercial Code is one of many laws that regulates transactions between borrowers and lenders. New Leaf Associates and other such companies have not had this law (or any other law), which has been enacted in every State of the Union, overturned in whole or in part.

C) The United States Congress has determined that, as a matter of public policy, certain debts cannot be discharged. They have enacted this in the Bankruptcy Code and New Leaf Associates and other such companies have not made any attempt to have it ruled unconstitutional.

D) The banks and credit card companies have 4 to 6 years to sue you on the unpaid debt and they will.

E) When you get to court, the judge will not listen to the so-called arguments in favor of termination.

F) New Leaf and other such companies will charge you $4000 - $6000 (payable upfront by cashiers check, no less). You will waste that $4000 - $6000 and buy yourself a lot of grief.

G) These companies will not be around when you want a refund.

People must face facts. There is only one legal way to discharge debt – bankruptcy. There are ways to work with lenders to renegotiate debt, but this is a negotiation, you can’t ram your solution down your creditor’s throat.

As the Bankrate articles states: "if you have unknowingly been taken in by one of these schemes -- you should contact the FTC at its Web site, FTC.gov, or by calling 1-877-FTCHELP...

While the FTC can't help you get your money back, the agency may use your information in its law-enforcement efforts against suspicious companies...[also] file a report with your local Better Business Bureau and your state's Attorney General's office."

My advice is to avoid these companies. Use the money you would pay them to pay down your debts.

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