800-500-4893

I Love how you wrote this, I got this letter and am ANGRY over how they presented it!  Not that I am angry over some business doing debt consolidation for others. It is HOW they presented this!!  You said it all, I hope you do not mind me quoting you on my blog where I sound out on this issue!  sending letter to the company today of how I feel about this tactic!!

Brenda in Oregon

According to the BBB the company started business on12/6/10, has an F rating and requested that the company modify their mailer because it was misleading. Unless the BBB is wrong on the start date, the company is less than 12 months old.

So if a person signed one of thier contracts and they don't answer your calls to cancel before a payment is made who do you contact to opt out?

Really? I am thinking about it but i am still somewhat skeptical.

Wow. We all have the same phone number(s), and yet have slightly different versions of their name, and letters received. I went to their website, and then using all of phone numbers listed for them on the site and my letter, as well as all the company names they provided me 'DMI' 'Debt Mediation Initiative', and Debt Arbitrators, LLC I ran them all through the BBC (who IS a private for-profit business in and of themselves, BTW) and EVERY ONE of them came back with very very poor- and scary ratings!

I stick to my original plan of paying what I can when I can, and then take turns with each creditor to set up arrangements as other debts fall off. At BEST these guys are going to buy off my debt and then I just owe them- and you'd have to be naive to think they are doing out of the goodness of the heart. I'm in deep enough- I don't need anyone else making money off me!

At least one of the two good comments on them is obviously written 'in house' by one of their people, the other sounds a little too 'pitchy' too- like they are telling us how the program works, like an AD?

Don't waste you time with the BBB- they have no authority.
I'd be more concerned with reporting to the COUNTY/City District Attorney's Financial Fraud. They'll kick it up if it needs to be, but you'll have better luck at the local level. I'm willing to bet that they do business in Plano for a reason- the local laws are probably more leniant.

Hello was wondering if you could please contact me in regards to your time with credit arb. Just enrolled and would like to speak to someone who has done it and completed the program. Send me a message on here or thru email if u can. Thanks

So you post 2 times under 2 different names to try and cover up the "F" credit rating from the BBB? And 1 of them is a flat out lie, about how you "graduated" from their 12 month progam, when they have only been in business for 8 months!  Such desperate measures are quite laughable. So are you one of the companies founders? Or maybe one of the stooges hired to work their phones?

lol 493 X 42 months is 20,706. Guess she was off by 5 dollars...? who's anal malibubarbi?

Actually, genius, i googled the company name because i was looking for the main number to give to a friend (i have my reps direct line). This site came up and i saw all of you on here making ignorant assumptions because you're too scared to make a phone call so i decided to tell people what the program really is. Good luck with your debt though .. that is why you got the letter after all. :-)

ATTENTION TO ALL! Credit Arbitrators LLC is now using a different phone number. I got the pink 'Debt Mediation Notice' today-- after receiving their 'catalog' some time ago-- and the number they want me to call is 1 800 500 7016. Moreover, the envelope it was sent in bears a box that states "WARNING: $2000 FINE, 5 YEARS IMPRISONMENT, OR BOTH FOR ANY PERSON INTERFERING OR OBSTRUCTING WITH DELIVERY OF THIS LETTER, TITLE 18 U.S. CODE SEC. 1702" as if this is some kind of letter from a government or other 'official' agency. I smelled a scam from the get-go and did not respond nor am I going to call and make it possible for them to contact me by phone. BUT-- I'm very concerned that others who do not recognize a scam and are vulnerable to their intimidation techniques, especially senior citizens [of which I am one but street-smart, having done protective services for seniors], will fall for this, believing the intimidation. Title 18 Code Sec. 1702 merely states that persons stealing mail before it is delivered to the intended recipient can be fined or imprisoned-- duh.

What I'm wondering is how they get our names and addresses in the first place? Anybody else have health insurance based in Texas?

thank you for this info, you saved me from making a big mistake

Thanks...I got the letter in the mail and almost had a heart attack. So I choose not to respond to them.

I received the same pink letter with the "official" governmental looking warning on the envelope. I have outstanding credit and can tell you that this letter made me panic. Had I missed a payment on one of my credit cards and they were dumping me? Was I being audited by the IRS? People should not have to have these kinds of stomach-in-your-throat experiences when they open their mail, for CRIPES SAKE! Their type of marketing should be illegal. On the bottom of the outside of the envelope they should have to write "The enclosed offer is optional and in no way reflects any financial or legal obligations." Yeah, yeah, I can read the letter, but not before the PANICKED feeling set in first! It's a bunch of crap.

You sound like the guy on the phone when I called and asked him how I owed money and i haven't owed anyone in 2 years, he shuddered. I bet you do to huh, yeah . Bet you do big boy.
BBB say's don't play with this fool, I agree. send notes saying you owe and owe and then offrer to take your money, don't be fooled by the games this idiot is playing.

AGREED! Received the pink letter today with same official-looking government warning on the envelope. Also have good credit, but panicked and nearly had a heart attack when I read "DEBT MEDIATION NOTICE." I've moved around so much that I thought maybe I forgot a medical bill, or missed taxes on a 1099 last year, or maybe had a really old debt I wasn't aware of... I read the letter in a cold sweat until I got to the disclaimer at the bottom. What a load of crap, I second this kind of junk being illegal.

Thanks for all the info everyone.

The phone number listed on my letter is 1-800-500-9640.

Any ideas how they got our addresses?

Try this link, they might be able to give you some more information about the authorities to contact.  This is clearly a scam, and you are not the only one to have fallen prey to these people.

http://www.bbb.org/dallas/business-reviews/de ... ano-tx-90315469

How does this kind of coercion -- threatening legal penalties and monetary fines if the letter or call is not answered -- count as "legitimate advertising"?

My 84 year old mother who does not read English well received this letter that had an account number, an estimated balance and estimated savings listed at thet top of the page.   The letter says that a mediation program is available but has not been activated.  Please call..to negotiate with your creditors to reduce your balances...You can imagine how flustered my mom got - especially since she has NEVER owned a credit card.
When I called the number, I was told that this was a marketing strategy and my mom did not owe anything.  I was so angry, I just let the nice person on the other end of the line have it.
First of all, I would like to know how they got to my mother and second, this type of marketing is despicable.  I know that there are legitimate credit arbitrators out there, but this gives them all a bad name.

I got a letter in the mail stating that "A credit card mediation program is available to me and has not been activated".  Sorry but I just finished watching the documentary www.zeitgeistmovement.com and found out that the "whole monetary system in the country is a fraud"!  This was new information to me.  Now that I think about it, all of the banks never lended me "money" to begin with.  They only issued me "credit" and then I was required to pay "interest" on the debt.  Now, they can write and call all that they want.  I understand the "game" now.  I have been to www.realityzone.com and www.freedom-force.org.  Let's change the world!