Question:
Dear Steve,
I had paid Burlington Financial $13,947.00 to help me get out of credit card debt. Now, this occurred in 2015.
1. How can l get my money back if they have not followed through with their obligations?
Citronella
Answer:
Dear Citronella,
I think you are actually talking about Burlington Financial Group. If so, the company is still in existence.
So the logical place to start would be to give the company a chance to make things right by coming to a solution you both agree to.
I would suggest you read my guide, How to Get Your Money Back From a Debt Relief Company if You Feel Like You’ve Been Scammed.
I did notice that some recent complaints with the BBB sound similar.
It looks like the Burlington Financial Group strategy is to eliminate debt using a debt validation strategy. They actually say, “When you utilize the Burlington Financial Group’s document preparation services to make third party debt collectors verify a debt, you can expect harassing calls to yourself and friends or family members to stop.” – Source
But what about the original creditor?
It is just my opinion but as a single strategy to deal with debt, I don’t think people are going to get the outcome they hope they will get. What happens when a debt collector accurately validates the debt or sends something back and says it is adequate validation?
Looking at what they say they do it seems that this is a lot of wording for a type of debt validation you can do yourself.
What I could not find on their website was any mention of how often their strategy legally eliminated the underlying debt or led to the consumer being sued.
If you want to know about debt validation, look at 15 U.S. Code § 1692g. Validation of debts.
They quote part of a section of that section of the federal law on their website. The entire section says”
“(b)Disputed debts
If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period described in subsection (a) that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, or that the consumer requests the name and address of the original creditor, the debt collector shall cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof, until the debt collector obtains verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment, or the name and address of the original creditor, and a copy of such verification or judgment, or name and address of the original creditor, is mailed to the consumer by the debt collector. Collection activities and communications that do not otherwise violate this subchapter may continue during the 30-day period referred to in subsection (a) unless the consumer has notified the debt collector in writing that the debt, or any portion of the debt, is disputed or that the consumer requests the name and address of the original creditor. Any collection activities and communication during the 30-day period may not overshadow or be inconsistent with the disclosure of the consumer’s right to dispute the debt or request the name and address of the original creditor.”
But what happens after the 30 day period? There is nothing that prevents the debt from being transferred to another collector or even suing someone. As part of the defense, the consumer could request the debt be validated during the suit. Then there is the issue that the window to request a debt to be validated is that it be done within 30 days.
As the CFPB says, “You have 30 days to dispute a debt or part of a debt within 30 days from when you first receive the required information from the debt collector. Once you dispute the debt, the debt collector can’t call or contact you to collect the debt or the disputed part of the debt until the debt collector has provided verification of the debt in writing to you. Your dispute should be made in writing to ensure that the debt collector has to send you verification of the debt.” – Source
You can read the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act here.
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