How the Site Works: Ascend's mission is to take the pain out of personal finance for everyone. Not everyone who comes to our site is currently best fit for the Ascend product, so we spend a great deal of time and effort finding partners that we hope will be beneficial to you.
How We Make Money: Our partners sometimes compensate us in the way of advertising. Some partners we recommend pay us referral fees for sending them new customers. If you click through an application link on our site and end up receiving the service, we may receive compensation when your application is approved, and you move forward with this product. Each partner is vetted based on the following criteria:
Many consumers became aware that the CFPB sued Freedom Debt Relief for alleged misconduct related to its debt settlement services.
In our research, we identified 2 Freedom Debt Relief lawsuits that provide additional context around these claims.
This raises a common question for consumers evaluating debt relief options:
Is Freedom Debt Relief a scam?
Not necessarily.
Freedom Debt Relief operates under regulatory oversight, including rules enforced by the CFPB. These regulations are designed to protect consumers and ensure certain disclosures are made.
At the same time, consumer experiences can vary.
The company has an A rating on BBB and a 4.3 rating on Consumer Affairs based on several thousand reviews. However, reviews on other platforms are less favorable. For example, Freedom Debt Relief reviews on Yelp show significantly lower ratings, and publicly available information on Freedom Financial Network’s Google profile is limited.
Because of this, it is important to evaluate both regulatory actions and consumer feedback when considering any debt settlement provider.
Before enrolling in any debt settlement program, it is important to review the provider’s client services agreement.
This document outlines:
How fees are calculated
How settlements are negotiated
What responsibilities the company assumes
What responsibilities remain with the consumer
Freedom Debt Relief provides a copy of its client services agreement online, allowing consumers to review the terms before enrolling.
Key sections typically include:
Assumed Guarantee: The company does not guarantee settlement outcomes, as results depend on creditor participation
Assumed Responsibility: The company works to negotiate settlements, but outcomes vary
Program Length: Timelines depend on individual financial circumstances
Consumer Responsibility: Consumers remain responsible for reviewing and approving settlement offers
Debt settlement is one of several options available to consumers.
Other common options include:
Each option differs in:
Cost
Timeline
Impact on credit
Eligibility requirements
Using a comparison approach can help determine which option aligns best with your financial situation, which is why we built the Debt Options And Cost Calculator below to help you compare the differences in payments based on your own debt amount and income.
Debt settlement programs typically charge fees based on enrolled debt, often ranging between 15% and 25%.
While settlements can reduce total debt, the actual savings depend on:
The negotiated settlement amount
Program fees
Tax implications (such as forgiven debt being taxable in some cases)
As a result, the net benefit may be lower than expected.
Let's now talk about the fees.
Many debt settlement companies charge a % of enrolled debt ranging from 15-25%. Let’s take a look at an example if Freedom Debt Relief charges you 25% of your enrolled debt.
This savings can be much less than you would have expected when you started the program. Now, there are companies that charge much less in fees, which is how you can really save money. We work with 2 reputable companies that charge much fewer fees, so you could save significantly more.
What I would recommend is to use our tool to compare the cost of debt settlement and other options.
During a debt settlement program, creditors may still pursue collection actions, including lawsuits.
Some creditors are more likely than others to take legal action. This risk should be considered when evaluating whether debt settlement is appropriate.
In certain situations, individuals may instead consider qualifying for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, depending on their financial profile.
You may wonder if you should avoid debt settlement if you have a creditor that is likely to sue you.
Not necessarily.
If you have only 1 creditor out of 8 that are likely to sue, then the debt settlement company can prioritize settling that debt before others. Also, when a creditor sues, a debt settlement company like Freedom Debt Relief may be able to settle the debt, but just for a higher percentage. So, you may have gotten 50% of the balance owed before, and now have to pay 75% of the balance owed.
That said, if most of your creditors are likely to sue, then you may pay well over 100% of the balance owed after accounting for debt settlement fees, so then an individual may consider looking at Chapter 7 qualification using the means test or Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
Debt settlement programs can take several years to complete.
Program length depends on:
Monthly contributions
Total enrolled debt
The time required to negotiate settlements
Longer timelines may also increase exposure to fees and collection activity.
Freedom Debt Relief has helped thousands of people get out of debt and achieve debt freedom. So, should you work with Freedom Debt Relief or another debt settlement company?
That is ultimately your decision, and you understand your situation best. Here are a few resources that can help you make the most informed decision:
Making a broad statement that Freedom Debt Relief lies is not something I would be willing to make. For example, it does not give Freedom Debt Relief the benefit of the doubt.
Are there times when consumers feel misled? Look at the reviews and other sources on your own to make the most informed decision for your situation. Our goal at Ascend is to help you get out of debt cheaper, easier and faster. If there’s any way that we can help you accomplish that, please give us a call at 833-272-3631 or take one of our free debt comparison calculators.
Yes
No