Robert Stanley Gitmeid

I thought doing a debt relief program would be the way to go instead of filing Chapter 13 - I should have filed Chapter 13. I made the call to National Debt Relief initially and ended up with Robert Gitmeid, I'm guessing NDR just passes people to other firms. In the beginning, I thought it was great.... Several accounts were settling fairly quick. However, I have had 4 lawsuits, which has been disappointing and stressful. Those accounts were eventually settled, but it was the point that they were filed in the first place. The money you "think" you are going to save...you really are not. Between their fees and the 1099C you receive at the end of the year from each creditor, you are STILL paying just as much if not more. YOU ARE BETTER OFF FILING CHAPTER 13 than going through this nightmare. IT IS NOT WORTH IT! I keep being contacted to send them a notarized POA for one of my creditors that I have ALREADY completed twice before. Gitmeid keeps coming back to me saying I didn't put something on it, when I wrote everything on that piece of paper that I was told. Here it is, the end of October and they are STILL putting me through this crap. They also give you the option after you have been in the program for awhile to be "qualified for a loan" for the remainder of your accounts. If you choose to do this, yes, all of the creditors will be paid off HOWEVER, it is now a "loan" and you will pay 24% interest for another 4 or 5 years. So however long you have been in the debt relief program will feel like you are starting all over again. NEGOITATE WITH YOUR CREDITORS YOURSELF OR FILE CHPATER 13...this was a HUGE mistake that I cannot undo now.

I used this service and it would take months to reach a settlement. I had to remove several of my accounts and settle them myself. They were great in the beginning, but as I came close to the end the got worse and worse. On my last account they never sent an agreement to negotiate so I received a set...tlement offer. I sent it to them on the 15 of dec and nothing happened. I followed up several times and still nothing. On the 2nd of Jan the sent the letter to authorize. On the 8th they said that the letter was out of date and needed a new one. But never bothered to contact me in any way. They promised to expedite almost one month prior but didn’t even bother to follow up. But they kept charging monthly fees. If you are in no hurry or don’t worry to resolve quickly I’m sure they are ok. But if you plan to pay off quickly they are absolutely terrible. I would suggest another service for sure that can at least follow up. There were a lot of fees not disclosed up front. So be warned!

Positives: It’s not a scam. It took a while and I got sued in the process but they eventually settled. In the space of 2 years, I would have cleared 35k in credit debt. Another plus is that after I signed up with Gitmeid, the collection calls surprisingly stopped, and I also did not have to appear i...n court after I got served. They took care of all legal matters as they said they would. Negatives: They are not very transparent about “how” they do things. They rarely have updates and they give you little information about the process. I called them several times asking for updates and got nothing even after I got served by the creditor. Another negative is that after the settlement was agreed, first thing they did is pull their whole fee amount (over 7K) from the escrow account. That money could have gone a long way I’m sure to negotiate a lower settlement. In the end, a large amount of the money I had saved for a year went to Gitmeid first instead of the creditor? Not cool… And my biggest complaint is that the settlement amount was so high (80%) that once I add their fees, I will end up paying a lot more than what I owed the creditor in the first place. They did not even flinch when they told me over the phone. The conversation was very impersonal. My monthly payment tripled to maintain the payoff schedule to the creditor. Luckily, I got a new better job or else I am not sure how things would have turned out. My Advice Gitmeid will do for you what they say. But don’t think it’s necessarily going to be easier and cheaper. No one can defend your interests better than yourself. In retrospect, I could have faced my creditor and worked something out directly with them.

My biggest issue right now is that I paid my debt off earlier than they had estimated since i made extra payments ect. I was told in the beginning I was allowed to do so without penalty. They still have me scheduled for deposits even though everything is paid for. I've called multiple times and spoke...n to multiple different people who promise me i wont get money taken out of my account again and they still continue to do so. Plus it takes them 45 days to refund the money. Absolute bull.

18 months later and they’ve helped me clean up almost $30K worth, plus the creditors don’t call/harass me anymore. I’ve been served to appear in court with some creditors. As soon as this happens, I let the Gitmeid team know and they take it from there. I haven’t had to go to court yet, thankfulll...y. The key is to make the scheduled payments every month, and to notify them immediately of any court notices so they can handle them for you. One month at a time. Slow and steady, and I’ll be out of this soon. Yes there are fees, but with the settlements they arrange, I’m still not paying back all that I’m in debt for, even with their fees. Work hard, make the deposits. Gitmeid will get you out of debt. I’ll give them 5 stars when I’m debt free.