Freedom Debt Relief is one of the largest debt settlement companies in the United States. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is suing Freedom Debt Relief. Freedom Debt, the agency alleges, has engaged in deceptive or unethical acts that have damaged consumers. The CFPB seeks monetary relief for Freedom Debt and civil penalties for the company.
The CFPB asserts that Freedom Debt Relief has not informed consumers about their rights to withdraw and receive a full refund. The company also claimed that it misled customers regarding the savings they would get from their debts. The company also failed to inform customers that their money was in an account that belonged to them.
Freedom Debt Relief was charged with violating several consumer protection laws. This includes the Telemarketing Sales Rule. In addition to these charges, the company is accused of committing fraudulent activities and engaging in high-pressure sales tactics. The CFPB seeks injunctive and monetary relief.
Freedom Debt Relief is also being sued by the New York State Attorney General's Office. The company is accused of failing to inform clients about their rights to withdraw and causing harm to many consumers. Freedom is also accused of making false statements regarding the company's ability negotiate with creditors.
The complaint also states that Freedom has not been transparent about the billing and payment process. Freedom didn't have access to the account of the consumer. Customers who are enrolled in the program negotiate with their creditors to reduce the amount of debt. Freedom collects the entire fee from the creditor if they refuse to negotiate. However, this doesn't always happen.
Freedom Debt Relief was criticized for charging clients upfront fees, even though they had not paid the debt. Because it stated that they were not permitted to charge customers until the debt is settled, this was because of the fact that the company charged upfront fees. As a result many clients who were enrolled in that program lost money they had already saved. The company could have advised clients to withdraw from the program in order to receive a refund. This would have helped prevent some fraud.
Freedom Debt Relief has another problem: they operate under different ownership. Andrew Housser was the co-founder and chief executive officer of the company. He still oversees the company's operation, including the approval of its policies. He also knew that Freedom was not willing to negotiate with creditors. Thus, he may have known that Freedom was taking payments from consumers while not negotiating with the creditor.
Freedom's deceptive or unethical business practices should not be ignored, regardless of the legal reason. Anyone who has had similar issues with Freedom should consult a lawyer for more information about their rights. A lawyer will be able to help you devise a strategy, gather evidence and help you win your case.
FAQ
How can a novice earn passive income as a contractor?
Begin with the basics. Once you have learned how to create value, then move on to finding ways to make more money.
You may have some ideas. If you do, great! If you do, great!
You can make money online by looking for opportunities that match you skills and interests.
For example, if you love creating websites and apps, there are plenty of opportunities to help you generate revenue while you sleep.
Reviewing products is a great way to express your creativity. Or if you're creative, you might consider designing logos or artwork for clients.
Whatever your focus, choose something you are passionate about. It will be a long-lasting commitment.
Once you have discovered a product or service that you are passionate about helping others purchase, you need to figure how to market it.
There are two main ways to go about this. The first is to charge a flat-rate for your services (like freelancers) and the second is per project (like agencies).
In each case, once your rates have been set, you will need to promote them. This means sharing them on social media, emailing your list, posting flyers, etc.
These three tips can help increase your chances to succeed when you promote your company:
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Be a professional in all aspects of marketing. It is impossible to predict who might be reading your content.
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Know what you are talking about. Before you start to talk about your topic, make sure that you have a thorough understanding of the subject. Fake experts are not appreciated.
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Avoid spamming - unless someone specifically requests information, don't email everyone in your contact list. Send a recommendation directly to anyone who asks.
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Use a good email provider - Gmail and Yahoo Mail are both free and easy to use.
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Monitor your results: Track how many people open your messages and click links to sign up for your mailing list.
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Measuring your ROI is a way to determine which campaigns have the highest conversions.
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Get feedback - Ask your friends and family if they are interested in your services and get their honest feedback.
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Test different tactics - try multiple strategies to see which ones work better.
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Learn and keep growing as a marketer to stay relevant.
What is the difference between passive and active income?
Passive income means that you can make money with little effort. Active income is earned through hard work and effort.
When you make value for others, that is called active income. You earn money when you offer a product or service that someone needs. You could sell products online, write an ebook, create a website or advertise your business.
Passive income can be a great option because you can put your efforts into more important things and still make money. Many people aren’t interested in working for their own money. They choose to make passive income and invest their time and energy.
The problem is that passive income doesn't last forever. If you wait too long before you start to earn passive income, it's possible that you will run out.
If you spend too long trying to make passive income, you run the risk that your efforts will burn out. You should start immediately. If you wait to start earning passive income, you might miss out opportunities to maximize the potential of your earnings.
There are three types or passive income streams.
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Businesses - these include owning a franchise, starting a blog, becoming a freelancer, and renting out the property such as real estate
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These include stocks and bonds and mutual funds. ETFs are also investments.
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Real Estate includes flipping houses, purchasing land and renting properties.
How to build a passive income stream?
To consistently earn from one source, you need to understand why people buy what is purchased.
Understanding their needs and wants is key. It is important to learn how to communicate with people and to sell to them.
The next step is to learn how to convert leads in to sales. To retain happy customers, you need to be able to provide excellent customer service.
You may not realize this, but every product or service has a buyer. If you know who this buyer is, your entire business can be built around him/her.
To become a millionaire it takes a lot. To become a billionaire, it takes more effort. Why? To become a millionaire you must first be a thousandaire.
You can then become a millionaire. Finally, you can become a multi-billionaire. The same applies to becoming a millionaire.
How does one become billionaire? You must first be a millionaire. All you have do is earn money to get there.
You must first get started before you can make money. Let's now talk about how you can get started.
Why is personal financial planning important?
For anyone to be successful in life, financial management is essential. We live in a world where money is tight, and we often have to make difficult decisions about how to spend our hard-earned cash.
Why should we save money when there are better things? Is there anything better to spend our energy and time on?
Yes, and no. Yes because most people feel guilty about saving money. Because the more money you earn the greater the opportunities to invest.
You'll always be able justify spending your money wisely if you keep your eyes on the bigger picture.
It is important to learn how to control your emotions if you want to become financially successful. You won't be able to see the positive aspects of your situation and will have no support from others.
Unrealistic expectations may also be a factor in how much you will end up with. This is because your financial management skills are not up to par.
Once you have mastered these skills you will be ready for the next step, learning how budgeting works.
Budgeting is the act of setting aside a portion of your income each month towards future expenses. Planning will help you avoid unnecessary purchases and make sure you have enough money to pay your bills.
So now that you know how to allocate your resources effectively, you can begin to look forward to a brighter financial future.
What is personal financing?
Personal finance means managing your money to reach your goals at work and home. This includes understanding where your money is going and knowing how much you can afford. It also involves balancing what you want against what your needs are.
Learning these skills will make you financially independent. You won't need to rely on anyone else for your needs. You're free from worrying about paying rent, utilities, and other bills every month.
Learning how to manage your finances will not only help you succeed, but it will also make your life easier. It can make you happier. You will feel happier about your finances and be more satisfied with your life.
Who cares about personal finance anyway? Everyone does! Personal finance is one the most sought-after topics on the Internet. According to Google Trends, searches for "personal finance" increased by 1,600% between 2004 and 2014.
Today, people use their smartphones to track budgets, compare prices, and build wealth. You can find blogs about investing here, as well as videos and podcasts about personal finance.
In fact, according to Bankrate.com, Americans spend an average of four hours a day watching TV, listening to music, playing video games, surfing the Web, reading books, and talking with friends. It leaves just two hours each day to do everything else important.
Financial management will allow you to make the most of your financial knowledge.
How much debt is considered excessive?
There is no such thing as too much cash. Spending more than what you earn can lead to cash running out. This is because savings takes time to grow. So when you find yourself running low on funds, make sure you cut back on spending.
But how much is too much? While there is no one right answer, the general rule of thumb is to live within 10% your income. Even after years of saving, this will ensure you won't go broke.
If you earn $10,000 per year, this means you should not spend more than $1,000 per month. Spend less than $2,000 per monthly if you earn $20,000 a year. For $50,000 you can spend no more than $5,000 each month.
Paying off your debts quickly is the key. This applies to student loans, credit card bills, and car payments. You'll be able to save more money once these are paid off.
It's best to think about whether you are going to invest any of the surplus income. You may lose your money if the stock markets fall. However, if the money is put into savings accounts, it will compound over time.
As an example, suppose you save $100 each week. That would amount to $500 over five years. After six years, you would have $1,000 saved. In eight years you would have almost $3,000 saved in the bank. When you turn ten, you will have almost $13,000 in savings.
Your savings account will be nearly $40,000 by the end 15 years. That's pretty impressive. But if you had put the same amount into the stock market over the same time period, you would have earned interest. Instead of $40,000, your net worth would be more than $57,000.
It is important to know how to manage your money effectively. You might end up with more money than you expected.
Statistics
- Shares of Six Flags Entertainment Corp. dove 4.7% in premarket trading Thursday, after the theme park operator reported third-quarter profit and r... (marketwatch.com)
- As mortgage rates dip below 7%, ‘millennials should jump at a 6% mortgage like bears grabbing for honey' New homeowners and renters bear the brunt of October inflation — they're cutting back on eating out, entertainment and vacations to beat rising costs (marketwatch.com)
- 4 in 5 Americans (80%) say they put off financial decisions, and 35% of those delaying those decisions say it's because they feel overwhelmed at the thought of them. (nerdwallet.com)
- U.S. stocks could rally another 25% now that Fed no longer has ‘back against the wall' in inflation fight (marketwatch.com)
- These websites say they will pay you up to 92% of the card's value. (nerdwallet.com)
External Links
How To
How to Make Money Online with No Experience
There are many ways you can make money online. Some people prefer to use their computers for work, while others prefer to go outside and interact with other human beings.
There is always room to improve, no matter who you are. We will be looking at simple ways you can improve your life.
Since its inception, the popularity of blogging has increased exponentially. Anyone can set up a blog from any computer and make money.
A blog isn't only free but also very simple to set up. A domain name and hosting services are all you will need if you don't have any knowledge about blogging.
One of the best ways to make money online is by selling photos. It doesn’t really matter what your skills are with photography.
You only need a quality digital camera and a decent image editing application such as Adobe Photoshop Elements. Once you've got those things, you can upload your images to sites like Fotolia where millions of people visit daily for high-quality photos to download.
If you have skills in something, then why not sell them? There are many places online that you can sell your skills, whether you're a great writer or a native speaker of several languages.
Elance, a website that connects freelancers to businesses looking for their services, is one example. People post projects they need help completing, and freelancers bid on them. The project will be completed by the highest bidder.
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Make an ebook and sell it on Amazon
Amazon is the most popular e-commerce site on the Internet. They offer a marketplace where people can buy and sell items.
This allows you to create an ebook and make it available through Amazon. This option is great because you are paid per sale and not per page.
Another way to make extra money is to teach abroad. Teachers Pay Teachers links teachers and students in need of English lessons through sites like Teachers Pay Teachers.
Teaching can be done in any subject: math, science or geography.
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Google Write Adsense Pages is an alternative method of advertising your website. When someone visits your website, you place small advertisements throughout the pages of the website. These ads are displayed whenever visitors view any given webpage.
You will earn more revenue the more traffic you get.
Digitally, you can also sell artwork. Sites like Etsy are used by many artists to list and sell artwork.
Etsy allows you to create virtual shops which look exactly like real stores.
College graduates are increasingly attracted to freelancing. More companies outsource jobs to contractors as the economy improves.
It's a win for both employees and employers. Employers save money because they no longer need to pay benefits and payroll taxes. Employees benefit from having flexibility in their schedules while earning additional income.