Elite Financial Services

This place is a scam to get your money. I settled all my debts through these guys only to find out I saved absolutely nothing and had a terrible credit rating afterwards. They tell you that you will save 50% and won’t have to pay taxes on it. That is total B.S. I went to two different accountants and my income was very low for the year, yet I still had to pay taxes on all the debt relief. DO NOT LET THEM FOOL YOU ON THIS. THERE IS NO WAY AROUND IT! After you pay their fees and the governments cut, your right back to your original amount of debt. I personally had the money to pay off my debt quickly with help from family and wish I would have just done it on my own, it would have been cheaper. What’s worse, and this isn’t exactly the right thing to do: Once you have a negative remark on your credit, it takes SEVERAL years to remove, despite anything being settled, meaning there is no reason to pay your debt unless its a serious amount to a certain company who will take you to court. If you start to get calls to court, maybe consider bankruptcy because that will look better on your record than taking a 6 month delinquent notice on your credit history. Either way, it still goes on your record and your credit score is better when you file bankruptcy (generally) because you’re less likely to file bankruptcy again (you can’t do it for another 7 years). When I called to talk with these guys about their shady practices, they just respond with «No, thats not true» and have no explanation. These guys are a joke, but one not to be taken lightly.
My advice if you’re in serious debt: Go talk to a lawyer who is obligated by law to act in your best interests. That will save you time, money, headache and get you the right answer from the start. If I would have done that, I would have saved several thousand dollars and my credit wouldn’t be in shambles now. I used them 3 years ago and my credit still sucks because of them. I pay off my credit cards monthly and always have until I met these clowns and they advised me to stop (by the way incurring tons of late fees) and I still can’t get above 700. I was better off filing bankruptcy 3 years ago and keeping my families cash.

Red flag city.
The first person who called me (after I admittedly mistakenly entered my info into a debt site aggregator), who identified herself as Kim Bennett, was professional and thorough enough. Experience in telemarketing tells me, however, that «Kim Bennett» is likely the pseudonym given by all who call initially. Once she took down some of my debt info, she passed me onto a very fast-​talking guy whose name I couldn’t even understand. He was defensive at any question I asked, talked down to me, and only talked faster once I inquired exactly how creditors would be paid from the «account» clients pay money into. When I inquired about the possibility of keeping a card open for emergency purposes, he talked to me as if I were stupid and said, «Well, obviously you don’t want to keep using a card if you’re trying to pay it down.» Duh. That’s what «for emergency purposes» means.
When he told me that the name of the company is Elite Financial Services but the website address is LiveDebtFree [dot] net, I became pretty suspicious (trustworthy companies tend to have site names that match their company names) and he went into full-​on speed talking mode, attempting to point me toward the reviews on the site (as if any company would put bad testimonials on its own site) and the link to the Better Business Bureau review. Well, even though they have a high BBB rating, the complaints I read there showed me that this company has BSed at least a few people on this alleged «account» they’re supposed to pay creditors from.
When I said, «I need to research this and other options,» he told me defensively, «I’m just trying to HELP you research.» Uh, yeah. By telling me where exactly to look for the info rather than allowing me to do it myself.
I was then rudely told «the only thing you have going for you is that you’re not delinquent in any of your accounts.» Wrong buddy, the other thing I have going for me is a pretty decent bullshit-​ometer.
I truly feel sorry for those in real debt who are so desperate that they allow themselves to get bullied by jerks like this.