I had a loan that I could not pay off due to a failed business. The debt went into collections and the collection agency was demanding full payment (it was about $13,000).
In searching for ways to pay this debt, I came across e-Limidebt who e-mailed me and said they would negotiate with my creditor until they could come up with an acceptable settlement. They sent me a payment schedule that came to about $170 per month — very reasonable, right?
What they did not tell me that the $170 was their fee ONLY. None of this money went to the creditor. The creditor kept calling, of course, becoming more and more threatening each time.
The e-Limidebt folks advised me NOT to speak with the creditor. I simply told him to call my contact at e-Limidebt. He said repeatedly that he would not work with them.
E-Limidebt said that I should just try to save as much as I can (another thing they didn't mention in the beginning) until they could negotiate with the creditor.
Red flags that I should have seen: e-Limidebt's letters had grammatical errors in them! E-Limidebt's counselors told me not to talk to the creditor, but they were never available when he tried to reach them.
Finally, I gave in to my gut feeling and called the creditor. He was more than willing to work with me and we settled for $2,000! If I had continued with e-Limidebt, I surely would have been taken to court. I wish I could get my 6 months of fees back, because they did not help me in the least.
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