Consumer Protection Division
Dallas Regional Office of the Texas Attorney General
1412 Main St Ste 810
Dallas, TX 75202
To whom it may concern:
I find it unfortunate but necessary out of concern for the public's best interest to inform you of numerous fraudulent and deceptive sales practices and illegalities being conducted and perpetrated by Debt Settlement America (DSA) and the owner of this company, Chris Kesterson. DSA is a debt settlement company, however, they often violate the Deceptive Trade Practices Act 17.46,
(b) (3) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to the source, sponsorship, approval, or certification by, another; (5) representing that good or services have sponsorship approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits, or quantities which they do not have or that a person has a sponsorship, approval status, affiliation, or connection which he does not; (24) failing to disclose information concerning goods or services which was known at the time of the transaction if such failure to disclose such information was intended to induce the consumer into a transaction into which the consumer would not have entered had the information been disclosed.
By confusing consumers not only in Texas but nationwide to the fact that they are a debt settlement company and not a debt consolidation company.in addition, they proclaim all their employees are bonded and this is a blatant untruth. Furthermore, they state their debt negotiators are all certified, again, this is patently false. Often consumers are given advice regarding their credit scores when entering their debt settlement program and that advice again is false and misleading when DSA salesperson (s) tell consumers their credit score will be minimally impacted.
The consumers seeking help from this company are told to stop paying their creditors. They are to pay DSA's service fees for the first 4 months of a 36 month program. However, they fail to explain to the consumer that late payment fees, over the credit limit fees and interest continue to accrue during this period. After 4 months of paying straight fees to DSA the consumers continue to pay lower DSA fees for the next year while they are supposed to start saving funds in which DSA will negotiate their outstanding debt with. However, if a consumer has 3 outstanding credit cards for (a) 10,000 (b) 5,000 and (c) 3,000 equaling $18,000 DSA charges 15% of the total debt as their fee or $2,700, so the consumer will pay $270 for the first 4 months then pay $135 a month for the next 12 months in DSA fees, while saving $135 each month for 12 months then after 17 months $270 for the remainder of the program or 19 months toward negotiations funds, however, the consumer is not told it would take more than 36 months to acquire the necessary funds to settle all of their debt. Often creditors seek judgments during the savings period and DSA is notified that summons have been served on their clients to the tune of 80 to 100 summons each month. That is correct, nearly 1,000 summons each year. Although the employees of this company are not licensed attorneys they often give legal advice as how to answer a summons and what to say during the actual judgment hearing. A clear violation of Section 81.101 of the Texas Government Code, which states:
(a) In this chapter the "practice of law" means the preparation of a pleading or other document incident to an action or special proceeding or the management of the action or proceeding on behalf of a client before a judge in court as well as a service rendered out of court, including the giving of advice or the rendering of any service requiring the use of legal skill or knowledge, such as preparing a will, contract, or other instrument, the legal effect of which under the facts and conclusions involved must be carefully determined.
I pray for the sake of the public's best interest you look into the aforementioned allegations. I ask you not to take my word for it but that of the consumers who have been permanently harmed by DSA's actions such as Cynthia Nelson 206-794-1702, Gary Joseph 330-488-6222, Erica Molay 205-540-1590, James Mathews 940-631-1749, Margaret McDonough 310-428-6001, Alicia Davila 972-939-9998, Joe Pizzo 586-792-5847, Chad Lee 817-594-3781, Lori Koralewski 262-994-5423, Richard Cifra 440-449-4990 and En Chen 847-275-3358. Many former employees of this organization can attest to their fraudulent and deceptive sales practices and illegalities as well; such as Peggy Bys 214-906-8613, John Bilbay 469-450-7068, Javier Clayton 214-398-1326, Angie Fields 972-989-8693, Rickey Johnson 972-218-6257, Carol McCullough 972-743-5912 and Letonio Franklin 469-693-4927.
I have taken appropriate action to notify local media outlets and anyone else who cares to listen as their deception continues to impact unknowing consumers across the country. I have personally witnessed consumers being lied to regarding DSA's negotiations with creditors. Even when consumers have the necessary funds to negotiate their outstanding debt their so-called negotiators often drop the ball and the consumer pays more than they bargained for. Further, when requesting refunds I have seen how these individuals stall, avoid and wear a consumer down to give up or walk away from their money. This company and its owner is as shady as shady can be and consumers should view this company with extreme caution.
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