A New Kind of Debt Negotiation? Rise Above Debt Relief
June 12, 2008 by Miranda Marquit
Filed under Finance
Normally, I am not overly fond debt negotiation. After all, the idea is that you stop paying your creditors and put money into a third savings account. The debt negotiation company then works on settling your debt (usually for less than you owe overall) and then pays the settlement out of the third party savings account. Most debt negotiation companies will try and get anyone to sign up for their programs, even if they aren’t needed.
Rise Above Debt Relief has a different approach. Recently, I spoke with Jeff Boulton, CEO of the company, about his approach to debt management.
“We really take a counseling approach to debt relief,” Boulton said. “We help people pay their creditors, as well as help them set up a savings plan. And we counsel with them to help them build a solid financial foundation.”
The other thing I really like about Rise Above Debt Relief is that the program actually says no to some people. “We actually turn a lot of people away,” Boulton explained. “because debt settlement isn’t for everyone. Some people would do better with another approach. We talk to potential clients, and if there is another service, or if they could do it themselves with a debt snowball, we tell them how to do that instead — at no cost to them.”
“We are really rigorous about the people we accept into the program,” Boulton continued, “We view this as the last option before bankruptcy.”
Of course, this debt negotiation program has a fee, but Boulton is up front about it. “It’s a 13 percent flat fee, based on total debt entered into the program.” But he also pointed out that in many cases, borrowers pay much more than that when they struggle to pay interest.
Additionally, Rise Above Debt Relief offers financial counseling and free budgeting software. “We want to help people move on from their debt and start building wealth,” Boulton said.
Right now, debt settlement is all that is offered by Rise Above Debt Relief, but Boulton hopes to offer other debt management services soon. But, for now, his company remains one of the best debt negotiation programs I have seen.
“It comes down to education,” Boulton explained. “Get people on a budget, and get them away from living off credit cards. And with Rise Above Debt Relief, anybody can call in and get sound advice and not be pushed into something they aren’t going to need.”
Disclosure: I have not been paid by Rise Above Debt Relief. I am impressed, however, by Jeff Boulton and his ideas. I have not tried the company’s services, but they appear to be sound and helpful for those in serious debt.
What’s the total fee for a ten thousand dollar debt; and, what do I have to put away monthly as savings and for how long? Are there any hdden fees, like legal, late or interest fees? How many months do
Based on the flat fee, it looks like about $1,300 on $10,000 debt. But I’m not completely sure that’s still accurate. You would have to contact Rise Above Debt Relief yourself to get more of the details.
“I want to drop out of the program unless you have some way to end these annoying collection calls. When a collector calls, I feel like you are not doing your job and I need to find a DSC that will end the calls.”
The following is Jesse Niesen’s letter to introduce DAANCLIENT to a fellow DSC. It is unsolicited. Jesse is one of the premier, front end producers in the debt settlement business:
‘Have you heard of the “DAAN”? It’s a little device clients plug into their phone line, then when creditors call, all they have to do is press “*” (star key) and hang up. The device takes over and delivers the script to creditors, routing them to the DSC who represents the clients to handle all collection calls, directing them efficiently to the negotiators.
* Minimizes and eliminates creditor calls much quicker because it uniformly delivers the most powerful script with attorney representation regarding collection calls (not debt).
* Less customer service headache and reduced workload because it’s easier for clients to use than reading a script themselves, or heaven forbid, talking to and making things worse with the creditor.
* Major reduction in calls from clients upset by creditor calls, means more time for reps to enroll new clients.
* Reduced BBB complaints, ouch.
* Creditor harassment is documented.
* Increases efficiency of communication between creditor and negotiator.
* Give a marketing advantage to companies who have it.
* Eliminates the creditor call objection in most sales calls, resulting in higher closing ratios.
* Increased retention = more revenue from the same effort
There’s more, but this should do to get your attention.
This has always been a no-brainer to me. Could be your gain…
Kenny Jursinski is an attorney and partner with the DAAN Group. We’ve become friends and The DAAN Group has quickly begun doing business with many other settlement companies, all of whom rave about the DAAN.
I can personally attest to DAAN because I did the first test with my own clients, testing 20 units and looking for real feedback from each… which was unanimously positive and effective.
I figure any DSC would greatly benefit by meeting Kenny and implementing the DAAN.’ “I stand behind DAAN 100%. Feel free to use my name as well, I just ask that you include: Jesse
Niesen, www DebtGOTOGuy com. If people want to email me as a reference, feel free to include my email jesse@debtgotoguy com, I could sell DAAN like hot cakes to anyone who knows the debt settlement biz – and I will!”
Sincerely, Jesse Niesen
PS, here’s the DAAN Website: www daanclient com
Thank you for your enthusiasm, Ken. While this comment is bordering on spam, I did think that there was some good information in here.
this is not a article, it’s an ad probably written on wordpress or prweb – otherwise what’s the point of writing this? for fun? Rise Above Dbt. sounds lik every other yahoo out there and I’m not knocking on the industry just that miranda thinks they walk on water. i’m sure the budgeting software is no more than an excel spreadsheet that produces graphs and images.
Um, I interviewed the guy, and put down his responses. And wrote it myself. I do not have other people write my stuff, and I don’t publish press releases. When I do post from guests, I clearly point that out. I don’t think that they “walk on water”, but I do think that it is better than most of the debt negotiation services out there. Also, have you tried the software? If so, perhaps you could write a review of it. But looks like you are operating here mostly on assumption.
Rise above debt is just another con-job company. See:
http://ripoffreport.com/reports/0/456/RipOff0456918.htm
and
http://ripoffreport.com/reports/0/430/RipOff0430173.htm