Oak View Law Group, APC

Note: Ms*** has been in contact with our office and the matter was address and handled internally on the same day as the Revdex.com complaint (May 23, 2017). Our response is as followed:Ms*** enrolled for Debt Settlement program on July 5, with CreditorsFew of her
creditor accounts were already in collections when she enrolled in the programShe deposited $in July, $in August and then increased her monthly deposits to $from September, Ms*** forwarded us a copy of the court summons she received from one of her enrolled creditors Gateway Regional on July 28, Our office immediately contacted with the creditor’s law firm handling the case and negotiated for an out side court settlementThe total outstanding balance on this account was $and we got an offer to pay $in lump sumThe settlement offer had been emailed to Ms*** and we advised her to deposit extra amount to pay off the account (As she did not have enough funds in her trust account)Ms*** requested us to remove this account as she was unable to come up with any extra fundsSo she wanted to deal with them directlyDuring August Ms*** did multiple follow up with her case manager regarding negotiation and settlement statusShe had been advised of the work being performed and how the settlements were negotiatedOur office can not negotiate a settlement without adequate funds in the trust account for settlementWe offered her the second settlement with Springleaf Financial in September Springleaf was settled on September 13, for $A Savings of $to Ms***This settlement is currently underway and $is being paid each month on this accountDue to the settlement of Springleaf, her deposit of $left only $75/ month to negotiate with other creditorsMs*** has an account at Credit ControlWe have negotiated a settlement with this creditor for the bulk of the client's accountsHowever, when the case manage discussed the proposal with the Ms***, she had declined the offer since she was under the assumption she had personally settled the accountUpon further review and explanation, Ms*** realized they maintains multiple accounts at this creditor and only of over accounts were settled by the herAt OVLG, clients come firstWhen Ms*** reported her dissatisfaction on the case progress, our senior manager personally stepped in to discuss the situation with the her, reassigned the case to a senior case manager, and is personally reviewing the progress being made for client's other creditor accountsMs*** received another court summons from One main financial in the month of May She wanted to workout a settlement with them, but the creditor’s law firm was not interested to offer any settlements at allHence, Ms*** decided to deal with them directlyWe advised Ms*** we maintain a 100% 'No results refund guarantee' and that all funds in the trust account balance, inclusive of the monthly consultancy set-aside are refundable. As she decided to deal with the remaining creditors on her own and wanted to cancel the program, we refunded all her money after adjusting success fee for the account (Springleaf financial) we settledMs*** agreed to the refund we offered and the refund is credited in her account

We apologize for the inconvenience caused due to the delay in processing the refundHowever, the refund was already released from our end and it should be credited in Mr***'s bank account by nowOur refund policy is very much transparent and generally it takes about business days to
process any refund requestsIn this case, the refund was delayed due to a miscommunication on our end followed by a technical errorWe were unable to confirm the payment received by our bank in time

Note: *** has been in contact with our office and the matter has been resolved independentlyOur response is as followed: Our client, *** Carpenter, contacted our office on October 29, to rejoin the debt settlement program he originally enrolled in during May When rejoining, he added three creditor accounts that were not in collection status when added*** claimed that we only settled account--This is factually false -Our office settled creditor accounts (*** * ** and *** ***) out of the three he addedBoth the settled creditors were secured loans that had collateral attached -*** * ** was complete via a settlement agreement -*** *** was settled via a payment arrangement*** ***: -Our office successfully garnered a payment arrangement with *** *** in which $120/month would need to be paid-Our office commenced payments via check by mail (Bill Pay) as of January 2016.-In March 2016, the payment was released on March 9th and confirmed by our financial institution as being dispatched, however, the creditor claimed they had not received the check payment.-Our finance team inquired with the bank, it was showing a deduction of $from our checking account and they sent us a proof as well that we sent to the creditor and *** both- In the meantime, *** paid $with a fee of $to *** *** directly.-To date, the amount is shown as withdrawn from our client’s trust account and the check number for the transaction is listed-Our office provided a refund to *** in the amount of $($payment and $fee) he had incurred due to the missing checkSince *** provided a payment to *** ***, *** *** asserted that they will not work with our office and advised they will only accept payments from *** Therefore, *** requested *** to pay *** *** directly and advised that the $he was paying to *** *** would NOT need to be deposited into his trust account at OVLG*** was also advised he would only need to be $on a monthly basis as described in the settlement/payment arrangement documentation Oak View received from negotiating with *** ***Our office also adjusted the schedule auto-deposits our client authorized to his trust account by the $In his complaint *** mentioned "I have a recorded telephone conversation he made to me on March 29, in regards to my request for assistance with *** *** and he told me since he is not able to work with them he will drop them from the programI clearly asked about success fees and he said I would not be affected and my monthly payment would be reduced." Our office maintains a copy of the recorded conversation dated March 29th, and is available upon requestIt appears there is a misunderstanding between *** and the client as *** never explicitly expressed that Oak View would waive off the success fee for *** ***However, Oak View did offer to work with the Client on reducing the fee given the unusual circumstances-- *** also raised a question on the monthly set asidesThere were no such issues at all as *** already confirmed that any monthly set-aside/fees would be adjusted with the settlement feesAdditionally, *** also noted that any excess set-aside will be refundedOn a telephone conversation dated 10-12-2016, *** gave him a breakup of the amount he deposited to date, and confirmed the refund amountA copy of the recording is available upon request -- *** had requested the success fee for *** *** to be waived*** offered a discount of 50%However, *** had adamantly requested no fee be applied to the work performed by Oak View on *** *** ***: Our office possesses written communications (i.eletter and/or emails) from the creditor in which they mentioned the current outstanding balance and settlement offerIt is not possible for Oak View Law Group to manipulate the outstanding amount as alleged in consideration that the creditors are the only parties able to provide documented proof of balancesA copy of the email in question is available if so requestedAdditional Notes: ***s father was hospitalized and subsequently passed away on October 13, Due to his sudden onset of illness and loss of his father, *** has been out of the office since October 13th*** had informed *** about the death of his father two days before *** filed the complaint with Revdex.com*** is requesting a refund of $from us, however, as per Oak View’s calculation, the refund amount should be $without any success fee for *** ***, nor providing any of the remaining two installments of $each to *** * **We cannot provide a ‘paid in full’ or ‘settled as agreed’ notice for *** * **This is due to the fact that there are two more payments of $required to be disbursed for full settlement*** would need to decide if OVLG should pay this amount (and if so, this will be deducted from the trust account), or if he wishes to pay the remaining balance on his own

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my concern, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me

Statements made by client are completely false. 1. Client claims she has been trying to reach OVLG and has left many messages and emails.    - We checked our voice servers and found client to have called us on July 27th around 1 pm PST - and left NO messages.    - She...

then called us on August 22nd with intent to cancel her account and spoke to a representative, who assured her that her account will be cancelled. Not sure exactly unhappy of what, client went onto file this complaint.    - Client also did not leave any emails to his client relationship manager, nor did she raised any support ticket via her secure client area.2. They keep drafting fees and I have tried to stop but to no avail.We are not quite sure the reason for client’s complaint. She called on the same date the payment was scheduled on. In the ACH form, client was clearly informed to notify us few days in advance to make any payment changes. By the time client called us on 6/27, payment would have been released anyways. Thereafter, no payments have been withdrawn from client account. However, client now on 8/22 is filing this complaint that we have been drafting her account.Since client has questioned the credentials of OVLG and wants the Revdex.com to retract their trust, we would request the client to forward us either (A) any email that she has sent regarding cancellation and was not replied or (B) her bank statement that proves the payment was withdrawn from her account after June 27, 2016.In event of customer failing to provide any of these evidences, we request the Revdex.com to remove this complaint as it is a false complaint.

Image1 is a screen shot of the companies refund policy confirming I am eligible for a refund after discontinuing service due to dissatisfaction. This can be accessed by the public on the company’s web sites main page. Email1 is when I first inquired about fees and money missing from my trust...

account. This was never resolved or followed up on by the business. Also note the amount I owe [redacted] is correct and confirmed by the business. Also the initial issue that made me contact the business was because I was making payments to [redacted] in the amount of $120 per month before starting the program. Oak View wasn’t able to make a settlement and basically agreed to make payments to them on the existing loan agreement with the original terms from my funds in the trust account because No settlement or lesser payment arrangement would ever be met.  The audio file dated March 29 was the business calling me to inform me they would be dropping [redacted] from my list of debs since they are not able to work with them. Therefore I do not agree to pay them a success fee for not successfully making any arrangement with this company. In all reality I went into collection status with them and ended up paying late fees which the company would not reimbursement. Late fee was caused by Oak View not sending them the payment due in March. Email 2 3 and 4 were chopped into individual screen shots because I wasn’t able to capture the entire conversation thread, but that is when I contacted the company for a status update as I had not heard anything from them in months and the time required for completion of the program had been reached and sufficient funds had been paid into the trust account. Once I found out I had money missing and the company wanted an additional year of payments and I was being charged fees I followed the companies’ instructions on discontinuing the program and sent the necessary fax. I was so upset to see the amount they wanted to pay [redacted] was significantly higher than what I originally owed, which was confirmed by the company in a previous email. As you can imagine this is why I was dissatisfied with the program. The mid section of Email4 is [redacted] contacting me after they received my fax requesting to cancel the program and request a refund. I attached the phone call I made to him. Email5 went unanswered Email6 was me attempting to follow up. No response Email7 was the last I heard from Oak View and it has still gone unresolved I hope you understand that the program was unsuccessful and see they are not wanting to return money owed to me. Please contact me for any clarification or more information, as I understand this message may seem confusing. Thank You

Our debt relief agent is [redacted].... And I'm very happy to have him on our side fighting to get our debts taken care of ....and help to get our credit and lives back on track. Everything he said to me in the beginning ( before I decided on a debt relief company to go with ) has been true. [redacted] is patient, kind and respectful , I have no doubt that he will and is doing everything he can to make this tough time in our lives go as smoothly as possible.
After first talking to [redacted] .... I was sure I didn't want to try any other debt relief company ... I was sure I wanted OAK VIEW LAW GROUP.... And I have not been sorry at all... They are making an unpleasant situation ( getting rid of debts so much better then I ever thought it would be!
Thank you very much... [redacted]

The entire staff at Oakview Law Group exceeded my expectations. They are professional, knowledgeable, efficient, friendly, and helpful. My Client Relationship Manager Pierson Silver is an excellent debt negotiator. He saved me about 70% with my debt settlement. As a result, I was able to pay off all of my debt within 18 months. I still cannot believe how fast I got out of debt. Pierson Silver and the OVLG staff are the best and I highly recommend them to family and friends. Give them a call and get out of debt fast with lots of savings. Thankyou Pearson and OVLG for your help and support.

Review: For several months I have been making payments of $250 a month to this company to pay off past debt. When I log into the website, I cannot see who the payments are being made to anymore. They claim that it is a technical issue, but this problem has been going on for months. They are not providing their customers with information as to where their money is going. This practice appears to be a shady manner. I have asked several times for them to provide information about who my payments are being made to and they ignore my request so I told them to close my account and they stated that they would put my account on hold. That is not what I requested I no longer want an account with this company.Desired Settlement: Completely close my account and provide information about where my payments have been sent to and the current balances that I owe. Also provide information so that I can contact people that I need to call to pay off the accounts on my own. They have continued to practice shady business habits by refusing to complete any of my request.

Business

Response:

Timeline of events:

Since Dec’11 till Sep’14:

Client enrolled in December 2011 with a debt of close to $10,000 and made his first payment in January 2012. We started contacting his creditors after receiving his first payment. The next few weeks involved some negotiations with his creditors and sending them the representation documents. We got his first account settled in May 2012. Since, we have settled eight of his creditors and were making payments on other three with just three more left as unsettled.

September 19, 2014:

Client sends us a support request stating that though he is able to see that a creditor payment is made, but he is unable to see which creditor it was made to. We informed him that we have forwarded his concern to the technical team and until it is addressed he can send us his queries and we can update him.

September 21, 2014:

Client sends us another support request stating that he wants to know which creditors were paid since 8/23/2014 till present , the amount of each payment and the remaining balances on those accounts.

We have settlement letters we receive from creditors, uploaded in client account. Since each settlement agreement has a different fixed monthly payment amount, one can easily open the settlement letter and match up with the transaction page to verify and find out (a) the payments made (b) to which creditor it was made (c) how many are made till date (d) payments remaining on the account. For further queries/doubts, clients can always get in touch with us and we send the update to clients.

In this client case, we tried contacting him over the phone to answer his queries and even more importantly since his file was transferred over to a new manager on 9/17, to have an introduction with the new case manager. Since he was not available, we replied to his support request requesting him to call us or to let us know the best time to reach him.

However, instead of getting a return call, we received another support request from client requesting to cancel his account. We informed him that we have suspended his payments and placed his account on hold and requested him to re-think his decision as cancelling can void the existing agreement we had with creditors as we are in payments with them. We also advised him to continue paying as low as $50 if he has any financial difficulties and to call us so that we can find out the exact reason behind his cancellation.

September 26, 2014:

Client sends us an email stating that he does not want his account to be placed on hold and wants to completely close his account and if his request is not completed, he will file a Revdex.com complaint. Since the email was sent after working hours, an immediate response was sent to client the next day acknowledging that his account is closed and that we just wanted to know the reason for his cancellation and if there is anything we could have done to stop him from cancelling. Client was informed in the email that we have closed his account with us and he must sign and send us the POA Revocation letter attached with the email. We also provided him information on which company he must contact and the amount he must pay so that the existing settlements with his creditors do not get void and he can carry on making payments on his own in addition to settling with the remaining three creditors which is updated in the client area.

September 29, 2014:

Even after receiving the response, client still chooses to file Revdex.com complaint two days after we acknowledged his account will be closed on September 27, 2014.

Review: They took to long to submit notice to my debt companies that I owe money to. I asked for a refund due to dissatisfaction. OakView refuses to refund.

I called this company days after joining them for there services in debt consolidation. I told them that I was dissatisfied and would like a refund. They argued with me for moments and then later agreed to send me paperwork that I was to sign and send back with what they stated is going to be a refund soon after getting there paperwork back. They sent this message in a email. I think it was sent in early april... 2003. I talked to a guy with Oakview Law group today around 2:30 pm June, 22 2003. The man told me that he wasnt going to give me a refund because I dropped them. Acutally the truth is I said I don't want your services anymore and would like a refund... He's trying to scam me into thinking.. that I quit them so I don't deserve any money back. thats a bunch of bull.. I can't believe that a company would refuse me a 50 refund cause dissatisfaction. They need to wake up and realize that nobody is perfect on this planet and companies make mistakes... I did not get angry tell I realized they lied to me. I would like to form a complaint against OakViewLaw Group for financial neglect, stress and their refusal to help me out. There website states under any reason you can getting a refund. He admitted it on the phone today but still uses that same lamb duck that I dropped them... please help a fellow American with disabilities on SSDI not get walked on. thank you very much for your time Desired Settlement: I want them to send me a check in the mail for the $50 dollars plus I want them to write me a letter stating a sincere apologee.

Business

Response:

Business' Initial Response

The consumer joined OVLG on 03/27/2013 and we received his first payment of $50 on 04/03/2013. As per the company policy, we sent a copy of the consumer's signed Power Of Attorney to all the creditors that he enrolled in the program, on the same day.

The consumer called us back on 04/05/2013 and requested to cancel the program, whereon we asked him the reason for this decision; if there were any particular reasons of his dissatisfaction. We were informed that one of his creditors has debited money from his bank account, the same account that he receives his paycheck from. We had sent him the Revocation of Power Of Attorney that the consumer required to sign and send us back in order for us to complete the account cancellation procedure. We received the signed document on 05/13/2013.

The 100% Money Back Guarantee promised in our website at https://www.ovlg.com/money-back-guarantee/ states clearly that we would not retain any Monthly Consultancy Fees or the consumer's Trust Account balance if he expresses reasons for his dissatisfaction with Oak View Law Group. He can simply send a fax to the President of the Organization at 800.637.6854 mentioning his dissatisfaction and request for a full refund of the savings in his escrow account, including any fees that we owe to him. Upon receiving the fax request, it might take a maximum of 30 days to complete the refund process. We had not received any such fax requests from the client.

Nevertheless, in an attempt to resolve the consumer's plight, [redacted] the representative who was handling the consumer's file, spoke to him on 06/21/2013 and once again inquired him if we could do anything to better the situation or assist him with his case. The consumer still wanted to receive a refund of his first payment of $50. Within the next 30 minutes, [redacted] had sent an email to the consumer confirming that he has already forwarded a request to the Finance Department to process a refund of $50 that would be credited in the same bank account that the client had earlier confirmed with us. It was also mentioned in the email that [redacted] got an approval to issue the refund and that the funds would be credited in his bank account within the next 25-30 days.

A copy of the email sent to the consumer has been forwarded to Revdex.com as Revdex.com's reference.

Oak View Law Group did not lie to the consumer about the refund; we had replied to his query with the confirmation of the refund within 10 minutes of the phone conversation held on 06/21/2013. We had tried to assist him over the phone both times that we spoke with the consumer, however the consumer insisted on canceling the program rather than taking help through us.

Oak View Law Group is a Law Firm Registered with the California State Bar. We are also a member of the California Chamber Of Commerce, and are an organization operating in the US since May 2007. OVLG is one of the very few companies in its domain that boasts of its transparency with the clients; we also promise our clients 100% unconditional Money Bank Guarantee that we have kept up to. We have testimonials provided by our clients where they have admitted that OVLG had kept their word.

As mentioned earlier, the consumer's refund is already in process; we would be more than happy to cooperate with him in the same regard or resolve any similar queries that he might require our assistance in. We request the consumer to please write to me directly at [redacted]@oakviewlaw.com or call my direct number at [redacted]

Thanks and Regards.

I have been working with OVLG for almost 3 years now, I have read the complaints and will tell you that it takes time to get things going but once you are in the debt settlement program they do amazing work. I had $13500. in payday loans and they negotiated them down to $5350. Here's my suggestion, follow their directions, listen carefully, take notes and login to your account often, then call or email your questions.

Review: I cancelled my contract with the company and requested a refund several weeks ago. They have failed to honor my request.

I had an agreement with OVLG on 11/14/13. I originally spoke with a [redacted] who made a bunch of false promises regarding debt settlement for a credit card. Once all of the documents were signed , I deposited $50 in the trust account, he transferred me to Mark [redacted]I was told that he would begin to work on my account immediately. When I did not hear from him I contacted the law firm that is trying to file a lawsuit against me only to be told that they never heard from Mr. [redacted] until it was time to make another payment to their company. I refused and placed a stop payment for the automatic deduction.Desired Settlement: I am requested that my initial deposit of $50 be refunded to me as promised with their money back guarantee.

Business

Response:

Client signed up for the services on 11/14/13 and made a $50 payment

into her trust account on 11/15/13 to get the services started.

We

sent the POA letters to her creditors asking them to divert all

communication to OVLG within 24 hours of receiving the client payment.

Review: I am [redacted] complaining against Oak View Law Group. Seven months ago I enrolled for a Debt Consolidation Company which which is Oak View Law Group. Seven months ago I enrolled for Debt Consilidation Company which is Oak View Law Group and they told me that will take care all my creditors and my stress to all creditors calling me. They promise as well that they will help me to answer all my summons or legal things if it happens along the way during their service. So I trusted them and I gave all my information including my checking account. We have an agreement that every 15th of the month they will deducted my monthly payment to them all my creditors that they negotiate. Unfortunately, 4 weeks ago one of my creditors garnishing me and I called Sandra to ask her why this happened. And she said she will check with the creditor who garnished me. And 2 weeks past nothing happens and I called the creditors and they said they never communicate my debt consolidation so that why it happen the garnishing to my paycheck. But Sandra told me that don't believe to all my creditors. And I emailed Sandra telling that I don't want their service anymore because they don't take care of it and she agreed with that but they continue taking money on my checking account. When I email her she is saying that I owed them $900++++ for their job that they save me $000+++ for negotiation for my creditors. When my attorney pulls out my credits still all the same nothing changes some of my creditors they sell it to another company and they claiming that they solve it. But in reality they just move it from another company.The only company that they working out is Koster loan but they don't even finish.Desired Settlement: I am asking them to refund all my money that they took it from my checking account. I work hard for that and they just doing this to me. I trusted them to help me to pay all my debts. I didn't expect this will happen. Please help me to get this issue resolve. Only my concern is to give all my money back that they took it from my checking account total of $2,434.00.

Thank you so much.

Business

Response:

We received the same complaint from Ms. [redacted] last week and we tried our best to explain her how we worked on her case, the details of settlements and payments we made to the creditors and offered her a refund of the available trust account balance. It seems she was not happy with that and she had chosen to file a complaint at Revdex.com rather than sending us a reply.

In her complaint, Ms. [redacted] mentioned about several issues she had with the debt settlement program and/or with Oak View Law Group aka [redacted]. We sent her a reply in details last week with the settlements and creditor payments data, but it seems either she did not check the email or she just ignored that completely. Hence, here we are trying again to address each of the issues she mentioned.

Ms. [redacted] said “They promise as well that they will help me to answer all my summons or legal things if it happens along the way during their service.”

We never promise to answer summons or represent our clients to the court, but we promise to negotiate for an outside court settlement. As per the ‘letter of acknowledgement’ point# 7 (that Ms. [redacted] agreed and accepted at the time of program enrollment), “[redacted] will not represent any client in the court; however we will try to negotiate with your creditors and settle the balance, provided you agreed to come up with the necessary funds required towards your trust account”. The same point is also elaborately mentioned in the “Debt Settlement Representation Agreement” under the heading of LAWSUITS that says “In the event that a lawsuit is filed against client, [redacted] will attempt to negotiate a settlement and/or payment arrangement acceptable to Client, and if that is not possible, then [redacted] will explain the other options available to Client. Client is not hiring [redacted] to represent him/her in any lawsuit, file or prepare any documents for him/her to file in court, or attend any court hearings. If Client wants [redacted] to represent him/her or provide further assistance in any court proceeding, there will be additional fees involved.”

Ms. [redacted] mentioned about only one wage garnishment in her complaint that happened 4 weeks ago, but she had also received a summons from Koster Finance LLC for Koster Cash Loans account back in April 2014 (within one month of making her first payment of $50 for the program to get started) and we worked out a payment arrangement with Koster Finance in May 2014. Please find the attached documents 1) Kosters_Summons.pdf and 2) Kosters_Proposal Letter.pdf.

Ms. [redacted] said “Unfortunately, 4 weeks ago one of my creditors garnishing me and I called Sandra to ask her why this happened. And she said she will check with the creditor who garnished me. And 2 weeks past nothing happens and I called the creditors and they said they never communicate my debt consolidation so that why it happen the garnishing to my paycheck.”

Here she mentioned about Check City who started garnishing her pay checks. We agree we could not negotiate with this creditor at the beginning of the program. It was because Ms. [redacted] made the first payment of $50 to start program in March 2014 and she received summons from Koster Finance within a month April 2014. Our main intention was to pay off Koster first. In addition, we also worked out an arrangement with Cash One account. Koster and Cash One payments continued until August 2014. During this period we also settled with her another creditor Credit One bank. Hence, almost 98% of her monthly payments were going towards creditor payments and we did not even get the chance to adjust all our fees, which is still due.

It is not true that we did not communicate with the creditor to stop the garnishment. When we were informed, we called Check City and tried to work out an arrangement. They wanted the balance in lump sum, which Ms. [redacted] was unable to arrange and she decided to cancel the program and file for bankruptcy. We were helpless as the creditor already had judgment against her and they were not ready to negotiate at all. On the other hand Ms. [redacted] could not come up with any extra funds to pay off the balance, as she was already paying what she could afford at the max.

Ms. [redacted] said “And I emailed Sandra telling that I don't want their service anymore because they don't take care of it and she agreed with that but they continue taking money on my checking account.”

This is not true at all. We received her account cancellation request on September 15, 2014 which was the same day her ACH payment was scheduled. It was not possible for us to stop the bank to process the payment batch, as that could have created problems with other client payments processed in the same payment batch. We always inform our clients to send us any payment change request at least 7 days prior to the due date, which is also mentioned in the payment authorization form she signed with us. Anyway, we never denied refunding that money. We don’t know why Ms. [redacted] mentioned this, but this is not true at all.

Ms. [redacted] said “When I email her she is saying that I owed them $900++++ for their job that they save me $000+++ for negotiation for my creditors. When my attorney pulls out my credits still all the same nothing changes some of my creditors they sell it to another company and they claiming that they solve it.”

For this particular point, we have to explain how debt collection works and how creditors and collection agencies report to the credit bureaus. Normally it takes about 60 days for the creditors and collection agencies to report to the credit bureaus after all the payments are done. We had worked out arrangements with five creditors so far out of the twenty she added in the program. Out of these five creditors only Cash One was paid and closed by the end of August 2014 and the rest were still on payment plans where we were making payments until August 2014. Hence, these settlements may not show on the credit report right now.

In addition, except Cash One with whom we worked out an arrangement directly, all these four creditors had forwarded the accounts to either the collection agencies or law firm. We have all these settlement/ payment arrangement letters and the bank payment receipts as proof of work done by us. Unfortunately, we could not not attach all of them because the Revdex.com online reply module does not accept more than 4 attachments. If Revdex.com wants we can forward all the documents and receipts through email.

Ms. [redacted] said “The only company that they working out is Koster loan but they don't even finish.”

It is again not correct. The only account we paid off was Cash One account as mentioned above. We had been making payments to Koster Finance since May 2014. All the payments we made until August 2014 were cleared successfully and debited from our business account. Koster account could have been closed by September 2014. However, Ms. [redacted] canceled the program on September 15, 2014. Hence, we did not disburse the last payment for September and this is how the Koster account was not finished.

Ms. [redacted] said “Only my concern is to give all my money back that they took it from my checking account total of $2,434.00.”

It is true that she paid us $2434 so far, but only $400 was adjust towards monthly consultation fees and the rest of the money was paid to the creditors. There is a pending fees of $938.93 still due as per the fees structure. We can understand the pain of wage garnishment and we also know that Ms. [redacted] was unable to arrange the extra funds to stop the garnishment. Our Client Relationship manager Sandra Gibson already gave her an assurance to waive off the pending fees. Unfortunately Ms. [redacted], still not happy with that and she wants us to refund the entire $2434 that includes the payments we made to the creditors.

Our refund policy is very simple and transparent. We have 100% money back guarantee, where we refund all the collected fees if we cannot work out a settlement or payment arrangement. As mentioned earlier, we settled and/or made payment arrangements with five of her creditors where one of them was in legal status. Hence, this is definitely not a case of 100% refund, as we have all the documented conversations with the creditors, settlement proposals and payment receipts to proof the work done by us. However, looking at Ms. [redacted] financial situation, we can refund her an additional $400 (along with her trust account balance) that we collected in fees. She can feel free to contact us directly for the refund check.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:

1. I submitted the summons from check city July 26,2014 and [redacted] responds on my email July 29,14. After that I've been calling her but she never call back or responds to my voicemail. Until I received the letter of garnishment and I faxed to her right away which sept 6,14. I've been calling her again and emailing her but she responds to my email after 4 days which is sept 10,14. She doesn't have and update still regarding the garnishment until I make an action again, and according to check city [redacted] never negotiating with them until last minute that check city already filed the garnishment. So check city asking for lumpsum because it's too late to negotiate. For me as a client this is unacceptable because I am paying them and trusted them that will take care of my debts, anything that they can not solve they should let me know right away so that I am aware and make a decision. But [redacted] never acts as fast as should be.

2. It is true that I have 20 creditors but only four of them are being called or sold to another company. And the rest they keep calling me and even I gave [redacted]'s phone number [redacted] never answer them.

3. [redacted] already aware that I am canceling my service to them since Sept 6, 14 because I not happy anymore for her slow action to my case. And she knew that and I sent an email to [redacted] on sept 15, 14 because I want to make sure that they will not getting money on my account. But still they do get money to my checking account. And still did'nt finish the last payment to Kosters loan. If they are sincere to help their client how come they don't pay the last payment for Kosters loan which only $117.

3. Everytime I called [redacted] she never answer my calls most of the time only email she responds and after a few days before

Business

Response:

Point#1

We have a recorded conversation with the creditor [redacted] dated 05-07-2014. In the audio [redacted] tried to negotiate with them, but the lady denied to negotiate as the file of Ms. [redacted] transferred to a law office. She also confirmed that [redacted] called their office in February 2014, but after that there was not further communication due to which they had to send the file to a law office and they filed the case in April 2014. [redacted] explained the lady that our client Ms. [redacted], just enrolled in the program in February and she had no sufficient funds to pay off the debt or at least negotiate for a payment plan. We tried to attach the audio file with our reply, but the Revdex.com's Online Complaint Management System does not allow us to attach the wave format audio file. If needed, we can forward the audio via email for further review.

This recorded conversation is a proof of the following facts.

1. As informed in our previous reply, Ms. [redacted], made her first payment of $50 in March, 2014 to start the program. Hence, it is not true that [redacted] did not negotiate with [redacted] until last minute; rather she called them even before the file was transferred to a collection law firm.

2. Per the attached recorded conversation, [redacted] tried to settle the account with [redacted] in May 2014. However, the [redacted] denied settling as it was too late to negotiate. They wanted a lump sum payment for the outstanding balance. This situation was never changed even after the garnishment. They were ready to stop garnishment if Ms. [redacted] make a lump sum payment. Hence, it is not true that we put her in more trouble by not negotiating with [redacted] as Ms. [redacted] is claiming.

The [redacted] account was already out of control in May 2014 just within 2 months of her enrollment when we only received a $50 payment to start the program and initiate the negotiation and one regular payment of $300. We already mentioned in our response that Ms. [redacted] also received a summons from Kosters in April 2014 and we settled that first, as it was the first priority at that point of time. Ms. [redacted] needs to understand that a negotiation cannot stop garnishment, they want payment or some sort of payment arrangement. We gave her the option to pay off in lump sum, but she could not afford that. We can understand her problem, but we cannot settle the matter unless she arranges the funds. We were already making payments to two of her creditors and 98% of the monthly payments were getting utilized for creditor payments. We settled one legal case with Kosters and we could have settled with [redacted] as well. Unfortunately, her monthly payments were not sufficient to solve both of them at a time.

It is strange that Ms. [redacted] not trying to understand these simple facts. Perhaps, she was not keeping a close watch on how we were using her funds to pay off the creditors. If she would have monitored the negotiation process, she could understand that it could have been two wage garnishments instead of one.

Point#2

Point #2 is a question on our work strategy and it is very difficult to explain to someone who does not have any idea of how the debt collection industry works. According to Mr. [redacted], we contacted with 4 creditors only, which is not correct at all. Again we have proof of the settlement proposals that were sent via fax to all the creditors she enrolled in the program, but we negotiated with the creditors that were either with a law firm (no need to explain that it is the most important matter) or a collection agency. Original creditors usually do not offer good settlements at the beginning, but collection agencies do. Hence, our intention was to get the best deal for our client so that she can save more.

Ms. [redacted], also mentioned that “creditors keep calling me and even I gave [redacted]'s phone number [redacted] never answer them. “ We really have nothing to explain about this except the fact that if we would have avoided the creditor call, the 5 settlements were never been worked out.

Point#3

Please find the attached email cancellation request dated September 15, 2014 that clearly states “Effective today I will cancel everything to your company. I need my money back.” We received her cancellation request on the same day of her payment date, so we could not stop that. We tried to make an ACH refund, but her account was frozen and the transaction was failed. We could not find any written request made on September 6, 2014 to cancel the account or a scheduled payment.

Koster payment was scheduled for $197.38 to be paid before September 18. As of September 14, 2014, Ms. [redacted] had $-45.77 in her trust account that generally happens when we make payments on behalf of our clients if they have few dollars short for creditor payments. Hence, we were waiting for her payment to get credited on September 15, 2014 to make the creditor payments that includes the final payment of Koster. When she informed us that she does not want to continue and wants a refund, how could we utilize her money to pay her creditors? Is it a legitimate allegation at all?

Point#4

We can understand this is really annoying for any clients, but none of us ever intentionally avoided client calls. [redacted] deals with more than 150 clients. Probably she missed few calls while she was speaking to someone. We will surely try our best to address this issue and make sure that our clients are not facing these kinds of problems anymore.

We are still ready to refund all the fees we had taken so far to compensate for any bad experience of Ms. [redacted]. We cannot refund for the creditor payments as she is demanding. It was her debts and we just made payments on her behalf. We never borrowed anything from these companies.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:

I "Highly Recommend" Oak View Law Group for anyone who's in debt and having problems with creditors...This Debt Management Program and it's team have truly helped me and given me peace of mind...Thank You so much Oak View Law Group.

Review: I signed up with this company to consolidate my bills on October 31, 2013...and was told NOT to contact my creditors and stop making my payments. They also told the creditors NOT to contact me. The Two hundred dollars a month that was being debited from my account, was to be used to pay on my debt. This company received $200.00 on 12/17/13,01/16/14,02/19/14 and 3/18/14 from my Chase Acct, and didn't send a PENNY to my creditors in five months from me signing on with them. I have been reported to the credit bureaus for being four months past due and I have also been reported to collections. I wasn't even past due on any of my accounts, the coerced me into believing that they can save me thousands of dollars, I don't just give my money to some company, without being provided a service. I'm very UNHAPPY about what happened to me, on March 25, 2014 I came to your website and found out they had TWENTY-THREE complaints against them. If I had only utilized your website, I wouldn't have SIGNED UP with this company.Desired Settlement: I did receive a phone call from OVLG, and they did say they would refund my money in three weeks. I'm HAPPY about that, now I have to rectify my GOOD STANDING with my creditor and get in a CURRENT STATUS again, with the money I shall be receiving in three weeks.

Business

Response:

I am extremely satisfied with OVLG. My representative ([redacted]) went above and beyond to work out great deals with my creditors and he communicated the staus throughout the entire process. For those wanting to get debt relief but are skeptical of Debt Firms, I highly recommend OVLG. They saved me thousands and the stress of dealing with bill collectors.

Review: Doing business with this company for awhile. They are more expensive then they lead you to believe. They debit you and string you along as far as they can to take more money from you monthly I also noticed they debit above and beyond fees without telling you. I have been trying to get my account closed for a month now and they take forever to respond and only get their answering machine when calling. Since I asked them to close my account and send me the balance they have debited me an additional 185 fee. They stated only 50 dollar fees would be taken out of the monthly 350 payments.. however all these fees were charged. I feel this was false advertisement and they need to send these above and beyond fees back to me. Especially the last one of 185 after I told them repeatedly to close my accountView detailDate: 03/10/2015$0Fees: $185Paid to Creditors: $0Added to Trust account: $-185$417View detailDate: 01/30/2015$0Fees: $124Paid to Creditors: $0Added to Trust account: $-124$2173.16View detailDate: 06/30/2014$0Fees: $86.44Paid to Creditors: $0Added to Trust account: $-86.44$197.16View detailDate: 03/31/2014$0Fees: $147.5Paid to Creditors: $0Added to Trust account: $-147.5$599.78View detailDate: 02/28/2014$0Fees: $212.72Paid to Creditors: $0Added to Trust account: $-212.72$827.28View detailDate: 10/30/2013$0Fees: $221.26Paid to Creditors: $0Added to Trust account: $-221.26$0View detailDate: 09/27/2013$-0Fees: $79.95Paid to Creditors: $0Added to Trust account: $-79.95$0.01View detailDate: 11/16/2012$350Fees: $108Paid to Creditors: $0Added to Trust account: $242$242.26View detailDate: 05/23/2012$0Fees: $-178Paid to Creditors: $0Added to Trust account: $178$295.06View detailDate: 03/27/2012$0Fees: $321.96Paid to Creditors: $0Added to Trust account: $-321.96$45.7Desired Settlement: all the fees

Business

Response:

After filing this complaint, client contacted us directly for the refund of the said fees in his complaint. Client seems to be having a huge misconception about the fees after being in the program for more than 3 years. Client claimed that we have false advertisement which is completely false. In his complaint, client mentioned that we stated only $50 as fees and have charged beyond that without telling him, which is again wrong. Client has been in the program since November 2011 and all the said fees has been collected as per the contract and also made visible to client since he enrolled in his online account so that he may check these fees and report us of any dispute/discrepancies. As per the contract signed, our fees is 25% of the savings that we provide to client with each settlement. It seems client has completely forgotten about the success fees and has only mentioned about the monthly fee in his complaint which is $50 per month. We have the agreement letter, acknowledgment letter and call recording where we have mentioned the success fee of 25% to client while signup, to which client agreed, and if required by Revdex.com, we can produce these documents. Since after filing this complaint, client contacted us directly, we have also sent the agreement letter to client to remind him of the fees explained to him while sign up.Client also stated that he has been trying to get his account closed for a month and we take time to respond and get answering machine when called. However, client has been in constant touch with us and have received timely responses. Below is the timeline of the conversation we were having with client:Till February 24, we were in discussion with client in regards to getting his last account settled. As per client, the creditor did not sound legit and he intended in not paying them. We informed him that we will check with the creditor and if found legit, we will make the payment else we shall refund him the full trust balance. However, on 2/24, client sent an email stating that he wishes to cancel the account and get a refund as he is unemployed and needs some money. February 27: We informed to client that his refund will be credited to his account within 7-10 business days, which eventually was credited on 3/06. We also informed him that we received an offer from the creditor for $200 and requested him to let us know how he wants to move forward.February 28: Client responds to us and authorizes us to retain the amount required for settlement and to refund the remaining amount to him.March 4: Since we received authorization from client on 2/28 and going back and forth with creditor took some time and as the settlement offer was valid only for February, creditor revised their offer to $480 for March. We informed the same to client. Unhappy with the increase in the settlement amount, client requested to cancel the account and refund the full trust account balance. However, as per discussion with client on 2/28, partial refund was already processed, so we processed a fresh refund for the leftover balance which was to take another 7-10 business days and was credited to client account on 3/13. However, during this time client filed this Revdex.com complaint on 3/12.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: They did not tell me about additional fees. They stated I would only be charged 50.00 a month.. I paid 350 a month to them and they took 50 out right away.. They never alerted me to the additional fees, they just took them out at will. I never agreed for them to charge me additional fees beyond the 50 per month. 50 per month is more then enough. Also they settled some amounts and the balance was charged back by the clients to the IRS and I have to pay additional IRS money per each settlement. I feel they were not upfront with me on any of the additional fees or that the IRS would be charging me for the amount above the settled amounts. I have had several relationship managers with this company and the latest Steve Lewis has been very rude.I demand that they send me all the fees above and beyond the 50 per month..

Business

Response:

As stated in our response earlier, client seems to have completely forgotten about the success fees. I have attached the acknowledgment letter which clearly indicates the success fees (Point # 2) and as well as the taxes that client may need to pay to IRS(Point # 12). Client had replied to this stating that he agrees to the terms listed in the acknowledgment letter. Revdex.com does not support attaching .wav files as we have the call recording where the same was explained to client.Client stated that we never alerted about the additional fees. I have attached a screenshot of a support request sent to client regarding a settlement offer for one of his accounts. The support request clearly states the success fees applicable for settling the account, to which client replied and agreed. Similar support requests were sent for each settlement that we got for client. If required, we can attach all those support requests as well. Each support request for settlement, had success fee details. I am not sure why client still persists that we have not informed him, when we have documented proofs informing him about the fees, before sign up and as well as during the program, to which client had agreed.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: They never stated they would charge me success fees up front.. They stated the only fees would be 50.00 per month. And I am upset because they drag you out so they can collect these 50 dollar fees per month.. Their excuse was that we need to let the creditor send it to collection so that we can settle! This is not right. They owe me all the success fees and I should hire someone to go after these people for dragging me on and collecting 50 dollars a month way longer then they should have. I demand they pay back the success fees as they never stated they would charge me more then the 50 dollars a month.