It sounds like a conflict of interest for them to buy out all your debts and then collect from you. How would you feel if later you couldn’t pay and they sued you even though they were representing you earlier?

Ok, here is what they generally do. They will have you sign a limited power of attorney and fill out a cease and desist to send to your creditors. Then, when you have enough funds accumulated, they attempt to settle your debt. All of this time, no payments are being made and it crushes your credit score. They aren’t the only firm that has gotten into this business of debt settlement, there are many others, as well as debt settlement companies that do the same thing. But, now banks/creditors are fighting back after numerous requests to stop taking on their current customers. I work for a large global bank who will not work with these types of firms/agencies. In fact, as soon as we receive a cease and desist along with a power of attorney, we immediately send the account for legal action. Many big banks are taking this route, yes, they may be a law firm, but when the large banks file suits on thousands upon thousands of people, these guys won’t be able to keep up. I know of four major institutions that will not deal with these types of companies/firms; Citi, Bank of America, GE Money, and HSBC. I would make sure your outstanding obligations aren’t to any of these banks before you sign up with one of these companies. Anyway, you can settle accounts by yourself, so why pay someone? These guys know that an account must be delinquent for a bank to generally offer a settlement, so….that’s what they allow happen. Then they try to settle for their 45% or whatever they promised. As for the charge off, try to settle it by yourself, but I would ask one question of the agency. Ask them if they own it or if they are working on behalf of the original creditor. FYI…Generally the most an outside company buys a debt for is 15 cents on the dollar, offer them 20 and they’ve made their profit. Good Luck.