lawsuit against USCM

[dbake]

What is the name of your state? Colorado

I'm not completely sure which forum this fall in, so I guessed. Let me know if there's a better one, please!

I was a client of US Credit Management for 14 months. I was in their debt elimination program, until two things happened:

1 - They tried to post an ACH for $8500 rather than my specified $176. It bounced, of course, otherwise I wouldn't have needed debt help.

2 - I did some research the afternoon #1 happened and found out a Texas attorney has filed a motion to start a class-action lawsuit. Turns out this elimination program is a form of "debt pooling."

In canceling my client status, they sent me a refund check for $860. However, over the 14 months, I paid them almost $2000. Their program fee was only $595, and If I chose to cancel, I was supposed to be refunded all but that. This means they still owe me over $500 regardless of the lawsuit.

Thing is, I was told that in the best of worlds, if the case goes perfect (for the prosecution), then affected clients would be awarded triple the damages, which means almost $6000 for me. Should I worry about the $500 now or wait on the lawsuit? Is there a statute of limitations for me to notify USCM of the amount they still owe me?

If it makes a difference, USCM is in Texas, I don't know which state laws apply. There is a little information, but not much if you google "USCM class-action lawsuit."

Thanks for any advice!

[Debt Guy]

Well, I can't speak to the merits of this particular litigation. Most of these firms which require monthly deposits into an "escrow" account and have a lot of prepaid fees are scams and end up doing little to help.

This is unfortunate because there are certainly many consumers who could use legitimate help and there are some settlement professionals who act honestly and honorably. It seems to me that the practical cautions for such programs are (1) never give money to strangers for an escrow account -- open your own savings account at the bank and (2) never pay fees of any kind until the settlement professional has accomplished a successful result on your behalf. There are some firms that operate under those guidelines. You would have saved yourself a lot of aggravation if you had applied these two rules.

As regards the class action, it seems to me there are several issues to consider. First, a positive outcome is not assured. Two, any award will go largely to attorney fees. Three, it may take several years to receive the distribution of any award.

Go with your first instinct.