Vortex Debt Group

TASC sets strict guidelines on marketing practices.

CHICAGO — Gary Kopycinski teaches religion and ethics in a suburban Chicago Catholic high school, but his effort to practice what he preaches made him the perfect target for a debt settlement company. Three years ago, Kopycinski was told by several advisers that he should file for bankruptcy. His finances were a wreck. He held $35,000 in credit card debt and was on the hook for a car loan that …

BBB is warning financially troubled families to beware of misleading debt settlement companies claiming they can easily reduce or eliminate credit card debt. Since late 2007, BBB has received more than 3,500 complaints from individuals, including many who paid hundreds of dollars in upfront fees to debt settlement companies but only fell deeper into debt.

Debt-settlement companies say they can reduce your bills, but the first thing many of them do is bill you.

Better Business Bureau is warning financially troubled families to beware of misleading debt settlement companies that claim they can easily reduce or eliminate credit card debt.

You frequently see ads on TV and hear them on the radio promoting help for consumers to get out of debt. Sometimes, though, these offers can put you more in debt.

Filed under: Personal Finance , News , Lynnette Khalfani-Cox Most of us have heard those radio commercials proclaiming things like: “If you have thousands of dollars in credit card debt, you could be eligible to wipe out up to half of those bills. Call us now!” The idea of eliminating 50 percent of your credit card obligations no doubt sounds like music to the ears of folks who are mired in debt …

The Attorney Generals Office and the Alabama Securities Commission announced the permanent shutdown of one of the largest debt settlement schemes in the nation, which had been operated in Prattville by a local attorney.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning financially troubled families to beware of debt settlement companies that claim they can easily reduce or eliminate credit card debt.

The Better Business Bureau is out with a new warning: beware of some debt settlement companies.