Certified Debt Reduction Notice - Utter BS

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So this Certified Reduction Notice arrived in the mailbox of one of my amazing readers. I have no clue what make this notice “certified.” Certifiable is more like it.

The sales letter, that’s what it is, arrived in a plain envelope with little identifying information The letter inside doesn’t even say who the company is behind this.

The claims made in the bold and large print are interesting. In big red numbers is the amount of unsecured debt that is past due. In this case, $19,236. That creates a problem for a couple of reasons. If this is a true reflection of the current debt past due for this reader then how did the company obtain this information to send the mailer? Others have been sued for accessing credit reports fraudulently to get debt information.

Or maybe this is just a number to scare you and has no bearing on reality. The fine print at the bottom says, “Any financial information contained herein is for example purposes and does not reflect any actual debt you may or may not owe.”

So if are to even begin to believe the letter, the records which may or may not be accurate or pulled out of thin air, say the reader owes some debt to “several credit card agencies.” Now what in the world is a credit card agency. I know what a credit card company is or a debt owner, but how do you owe credit card agency?

Next we get to the claims and promises. You have to love this line, “it has been determined you may resolve this distresses debt for $6,732.” So the potential fictional debt can MAYBE be resolved? When will the bedtime story stop?

Again back to the fine print. The important information says “Consumer may be referred to a non-profit or for profit debt relief agency upon detailed analysis of current financial state.” That tells me this is just a sales letter from a possible lead generating company.

So knowing that, how would a lead generating company have a freaking clue what the performance results expected are from a company they don’t yet know who the consumer will be referred to? More logic defied.

So now lets turn to the benefits section. The most likely companies a consumer would be referred to would be a credit counseling program, debt settlement company, or bankruptcy attorney. But the benefits sold to the consumer don’t apply to all options. And I am totally lost in how someone would avoid “costly debt management programs” when consumers are to be referred to a “debt relief agency.”

Now the only program that most likely meets the benefits of stopping collection calls is bankruptcy. But the mailer says bankruptcy will be avoided.

From a consumer point of view I can see how this sales letter might look like something they’d call, but from the point of view of anyone who has experience in the debt relief world it would be recognized as pure BS.

My best advice to anyone who gets one of these letters would be to do a little homework. I would recommend that anyone considering using such a company should read the following free guides.