Did you receive a mailer from Lighthouse Financial Solutions? Was the debt consolidation quote you received much less than what you are currently paying? What are it's reviews?
If you have recently come to the realization that you might need help getting out of debt, you might have started researching debt relief companies. Debt relief companies offer their services to individuals who may not be able to handle their debt independently.Depending on your situation, there are many ways these companies can help. But if you have started thinking about working with one, make sure you do adequate research before signing any contract. This article will analyze Lighthouse Finance Solutions and help you decide if they are a reliable debt relief company.
According to its BBB page, Lighthouse provides debt relief services. Debt relief is the process in which a third party negotiates with your creditor on your behalf. The goal of a debt settlement firm is to find a lower payment that will fully satisfy the debt that you owe. So, a debt relief may try to settle a $10,000 credit card balance for $5,000. This can provide ample savings and a potential lower monthly payment.
According to its BBB page, Lighthouse Finance Solutions is based in Florida. It is difficult to determine when Lighthouse Finance Solutions was established. Its BBB page was only created in 2020. However, the page does not list the date that the company was established. When looking at Trust Pilot, the reviews only go back to 2021. And when looking at Google reviews, again, the earliest review is only from two years ago.
Because of this, my hypothesis is that Lighthouse Finance Solutions is either a relatively new business or they recently rebranded and are operating under a new name. Strangely enough, it does seem as though a branch was opened in Texas, which was “incorporated” in 2017. Regardless, it is interesting to note that they do seem to be relatively new to the scene.
At Ascend, we believe that debt settlement may be a good option, but it’s only in the context of understanding all of your options and understanding the cost of that option. This is exactly why we built a free debt relief cost comparison calculator so that you are MOST informed.
According to Lighthouse’s website, they advise their clients to expect to pay anywhere from 70-80% of their original, enrolled debt amount by the end of the process. This includes all debt payments and service fees. What this means is, if you enroll $10,000 worth of debt, you should expect to pay anywhere from $7,000-8,000 by the end of the program. This is not just paying off your debt, however. Debt settlement companies typically make their profit by charging you a percentage of the debt that you enroll. This can up the cost, however, you will typically still save money from your total debt amount (depending on your situation).
Unfortunately, it is not common for debt relief companies to broadcast their rates, so we are unsure of what they tend to charge. Despite this, we know that debt settlement companies tend to charge anywhere between 18-25%. With the disclosure in mind that Lighthouse gives to expect to pay 70-80% of your total enrolled debt, this estimation does line up. It is important to note that this rate can change on a wide variety of factors, including location, debt amount, and creditors. Make sure you ask for an accurate estimate of cost before working with any debt settlement company. But sometimes, the cost isn’t the greatest factor. What do other people think about the time they spent with Lighthouse?
As mentioned above, it appears that Lighthouse Finance Solutions specifically works with debt settlement. Debt settlement is a process in which a lower payment amount is negotiated with your creditors to fully satisfy your debt. When you work with a company, they will do the negotiation and you will only be responsible for making regular payments into an escrow account that will eventually go to your creditor.
Oftentimes, you can expect to have anywhere from 20-50% of your debt forgiven. However, you typically have to be able to make a full payment once the negotiation goes through, which is why you will still have to pay into an escrow account. According to Lighthouse’s website, the process typically takes anywhere from 24 to 48 months. So how much does it cost to do debt settlement with Lighthouse? Let’s take a closer look.
Lighthouse Finance Solutions has a wide spread of reviews across multiple review platforms. We will go through the top three review platforms to see what others have said about working with Lighthouse.
Surprisingly, Lighthouse only has 3 reviews on what is arguably the most notable business review platform currently online. And the reviews are not good… In fact, of the three reviews, every single one of them is a 1-star review. To Lighthouse’s credit, the three reviews do seem to come from people who were not fully aware of the scope of Lighthouse’s services and expected them to do things that they either do not offer or were not hired to do.
Because of this, the BBB is probably not the best place to look for reviews on Lighthouse Finance Solutions.
In stark contrast to their BBB page, Lighthouse’s Google reviews are plentiful and positive. With over 1,800 reviews, Lighthouse has a stunning 4.9 out of 5-stars. Many of the reviews sing the praises of the individual who helped those going through this process.
While many of the reviews are a little vague (can’t be sure if they were just reviewing the person or if they actually went through the debt settlement process), there are also many glowing reviews that obviously come from people who went through the entire debt relief process with LFS. These reviews are both reassuring and encouraging. Some people even recalled having their accounts settled much faster than they had planned!
Finally, we will look at Trust Pilot. This review platform has quickly become popular for businesses and individuals alike. Unfortunately, however, Lighthouse Finance Solutions does not appear to have a Trust Pilot page set up. This means that the only major review platform that LFS is active on is Google Reviews.
In fact, when researching the company, Google seems to be the only review platform with significant engagement. While this can cause a raised eyebrow, it might just mean that LFS funnels its clients to review them on Google only. Regardless, not having a significant web presence nowadays can be a little worrisome, so keep this in mind as you consider working with the company.
While it might be worrisome that you can’t find many reviews online, the ones you can find are mostly great. If you are still considering working with LFS, consider giving them a call and asking any questions you might still have about their company and the debt settlement process. They should be able to confidently and correctly answer anything still on your mind. And if you would like to talk to an honest and unbiased third party about your situation, give our team a call! The only thing we want to do is help YOU make the best decision you can make toward a financially independent future.
