Independent profile — not affiliated with Freedom Debt Relief

Freedom Debt Relief

Freedom Debt Relief, described by the CFPB in 2019 as the nation's largest debt-settlement company, was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California, operating today as a subsidiary of Achieve (whose corporate structure traces back to Freedom Financial Network). The company has settled at least four government enforcement matters without admitting wrongdoing: Delaware (2009), New York (2011 and again in 2020, most recently for $3.6 million over exaggerated savings claims), and the CFPB (2019, $25 million over fee practices) -- and in March 2026 Georgia's Attorney General confirmed a pending investigation into the company. An affiliated lender, Freedom Financial Asset Management, separately settled with the FDIC in 2018, and FDR was a co-defendant (not the sole payer) in a $9.75 million TCPA class-action settlement over unsolicited telemarketing calls.

COMPLAINTS2

VERIFIED PHONE—

LAST CHECKED2026-08-25

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CONSUMER ALLEGATION

Complaints & Reviews on USAComplaints

USAComplaints currently maintains 2 historical complaints about Freedom Debt Relief, published between 2008 and 2011. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources below.

Consumer ReportPublished Sep 16, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
LawsuitPublished Dec 4, 2008 · Historical consumer allegation

EDITORIAL

Complaint Themes

Fee-timing and negotiating-power allegations (CFPB settlement)Exaggerated savings advertising claims (repeat NY AG settlements, 2011 and 2020)TCPA telemarketing settlementGeneral debt-settlement industry risk: credit-score damage and creditor lawsuits during enrollment

Each tag reflects a complaint's single primary theme (not every angle it raised), and complaints outside any problem theme — a positive report, or one later retracted by its author — aren't tagged. Counts may total less than the full complaint count above.

EXTERNAL SOURCE

Independent Sources

Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.

BBB: 260 complaints verified 2026-08-25

VERIFIED

Contacts

Website: https://www.freedomdebtrelief.com

VERIFIED

Locations

Type	Address
Headquarters	1875 S. Grant St., Suite 300 San Mateo CA 94402

EDITORIAL

Corporate background

Freedom Debt Relief traces its founding to 2002 (BBB records the LLC as starting business March 6, 2003 and incorporating March 10, 2003), founded by Bradford Stroh and Andrew Housser, Stanford MBA classmates. The company operates today as a subsidiary of Achieve, the brand its corporate family (structured under Freedom Financial Network Funding, LLC) launched on September 22, 2022; a sibling consumer-loan brand, formerly FreedomPlus, was renamed Achieve Personal Loans on December 2, 2022. Freedom Debt Relief's own most recent company-reported figures (February 2026) cite more than $22 billion in unsecured debt settled for over 2 million consumers across more than 5 million accounts since 2002, with typical program length of 24-48 months and fees of 15-25% of enrolled debt; the company states it charges no upfront fee, collecting its fee only after a settlement is negotiated, the consumer approves it, and the creditor is paid. FDR holds California DFPI registrations and NMLS #1248929.

EDITORIAL

Is Freedom Debt Relief Legitimate?

The CFPB described Freedom Debt Relief as the nation's largest debt-settlement company in 2019; FDR's current materials more cautiously describe it as "one of the largest and longest-running." The company has settled at least four government matters without admitting wrongdoing: Delaware (2009, licensing), New York (2011 and 2020, advertised-savings claims), and the CFPB (2019, $25 million, over fee timing and negotiating-power claims) -- all resolved by consent settlement rather than a contested finding of liability. In March 2026, Georgia's Attorney General confirmed a pending (not yet resolved) investigation involving FDR and Turnbull Law Group. Separately, an affiliated lender, Freedom Financial Asset Management, settled with the FDIC in 2018 over loans offered to FDR customers. Beyond company-specific matters, debt settlement as an industry carries well-documented general risks -- a federal GAO report has found the practice can involve fraudulent, abusive, or deceptive elements industry-wide, and it typically requires consumers to stop paying creditors directly, which can trigger creditor lawsuits and credit-score damage before any settlement is reached.

PUBLIC RECORD

Court & Public Records

Case	Authority	Dates	Type	Outcome	Source
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Freedom Debt Relief, LLC and Andrew Housser Docket 3:17-cv-06484	U.S. District Court, Northern District of California	Filed Nov 8, 2017 Decided Jul 9, 2019	Settled	Settled The CFPB alleged Freedom Debt Relief violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule by charging advance fees and failing to disclose consumers' rights to their deposited funds, and violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act by charging fees without settling debts as promised (including when consumers negotiated their own settlements) and misleading consumers about its ability to negotiate directly with major creditors. The parties entered a Stipulated Final Judgment and Order on July 9, 2019, without adjudication of any issue of fact or law and without FDR admitting or denying the allegations (except jurisdiction): $20 million in consumer restitution plus a $5 million civil penalty ($25 million total); co-founder Andrew Housser was named individually.	Source
New York Attorney General v. Freedom Debt Relief, LLC (2020 consent judgment)	Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County	— Decided Jun 23, 2020	Settled	Settled New York's AG alleged Freedom Debt Relief violated a 2011 Assurance of Discontinuance by continuing to advertise exaggerated savings figures -- most enrolled clients realized less than half the advertised savings, and one comparison group hit the advertised level only about a third of the time. FDR entered a Consent Order and Judgment on June 23, 2020, without admitting or denying the allegations, agreeing to pay $3.6 million in restitution to over 8,000 New York consumers.	Source
New York Attorney General v. Freedom Debt Relief, LLC (2011 Assurance of Discontinuance)	New York Attorney General consumer-protection settlement	— Decided Jan 1, 2011	Settled	Settled An earlier New York AG settlement, referenced in the 2020 action as the agreement FDR later violated, required consumer refunds and $100,000 in penalties over deceptive practices. Exact filing date not independently confirmed as of this writing.	Source
Delaware Department of Justice v. Freedom Debt Relief, LLC	Delaware Department of Justice consumer-protection settlement	— Decided Jan 1, 2009	Settled	Settled Delaware's DOJ settled with Freedom Debt Relief over operating without required licensing, resulting in $153,000 in restitution to 105 consumers plus $10,000 in enforcement costs.	Source
In re Freedom Financial Asset Management, LLC and Cross River Bank (FDIC consent order)	Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation administrative order	— Decided Mar 28, 2018	Settled	Settled Not a Freedom Debt Relief, LLC matter directly: the FDIC's March 28, 2018 consent order named Cross River Bank and an affiliated company, Freedom Financial Asset Management, LLC (FFAM), over loans offered to FDR customers. Cross River Bank paid a $641,750 penalty and FFAM paid $493,500, with roughly $20 million in additional restitution contemplated.	Source
Georgia Attorney General investigation (pending)	Georgia Attorney General Consumer Protection Division	— Decided Mar 10, 2026	Allegation	Allegation only — no filing confirmed Georgia's Consumer Protection Division confirmed to a local news outlet on March 10, 2026 that Turnbull Law Group and Freedom Debt Relief are part of a pending investigation. FDR told the outlet it provides non-legal administrative services to Turnbull Law Group. No complaint, finding, or consent order had been published as of this writing -- this is a pending investigation, not an established violation.	Source
Berman v. Freedom Financial Network, LLC, et al. Docket 4:18-cv-01060-YGR	U.S. District Court, Northern District of California	Filed Feb 16, 2018 Decided Feb 23, 2024	Settled	Settled TCPA class action against Freedom Financial Network, Freedom Debt Relief, LLC, Fluent Inc., and Lead Science LLC alleging prerecorded/autodialed telemarketing calls and Do-Not-Call Registry violations between May 2017 and April 2018. An amended settlement of $9.75 million (for legal fees and consumer redress) received final approval on February 23, 2024. Per co-defendant Fluent's own SEC filings, Fluent was responsible for $3.1 million of that total ($1.1 million cash plus a $2 million note payable to Freedom Debt Relief); FDR was a co-defendant in the settlement, not its sole funder.	Source

VERIFIED

Company Relationships

Subsidiary of: Achieve Company

EDITORIAL

Frequently Asked Questions

Has Freedom Debt Relief been fined by regulators?

Yes, at least four times, though always by consent settlement rather than a contested finding of liability: Delaware (2009), New York (2011 and 2020, the latter for $3.6 million over exaggerated savings claims), and the CFPB (2019, $25 million over fee-timing and negotiating-power claims). Georgia's Attorney General also confirmed a pending investigation in March 2026.

Is Freedom Debt Relief the same company as Achieve?

No. Freedom Debt Relief, LLC is a subsidiary of Achieve Company, the rebranded umbrella that was formerly called Freedom Financial Network. The two brands are kept operationally distinct for customers, per Freedom Debt Relief's own description of the relationship.