State attorneys general such as New York's Andrew Cuomo have been investigating this practice and prosecuting companies that take clients to the cleaners instead of paying off their cards.
In May 2009, Cuomo sent subpoenas to 14 debt-settlement companies, including Debtamerica Relief, Freedom Debt Relief and New Era
Over the past two months, the Federal Trade Commission has been phasing in rules that govern how debt-management outfits market their services. Now, the firms will be banned from collecting an advance fee for their services. Instead, they will have to wait until a partial settlement is made before taking their cut.
A trade association for the industry has promised to support the new rules, even though industry surveys indicate that between 50% and 80% of debt-settlement companies will close down now that the new regs are in effect. Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/debt_relief_makes_tension_7quMLRkM7tXL0XmxhPN7pL#ixzz14qmYnx28