AmerAssist Turnaround Management Corp

AmerAssist Turnaround Management Corp. set up my company to pay our vendors. Their customer service was awesome when they were setting me up, but once they started getting my payments, which was $3000 a week, their customer service began to become less and less. They took $16,000 out of my business checking account over a couple of months.

I began getting calls and notices from my vendors stating they were not getting paid. Come to find out they never paid any of my creditors. The Department of Revenue (who was on the critical vendor list to get paid first) never had any correspondence with them. DOR shut us down for nonpayment. They told me that I would have to sue them. I never got any of my money back from them and none of our creditors received any money either.

Beware! Do not use this company. They are a scam. They look for companies that need help and destroy them further. I do not know why they are allowed to stay in business. I have had many lawyers say that these companies go after companies that need help and they screw them in the end. I am going to get my money back, but I will have to fight for it. They make sure they work with companies out of state to make it hard to get the money back. I just want anyone considering using them, don't!

AmerAssist stated that they would negotiate with my creditors and arrange lower payments so I could avoid bankruptcy. They failed completely and have over $10,000.00 of my money that they won't return. After they set up a budget payment that was supposed to be applied to all of my creditors listed, they waited until I had started making payments. However, they said they couldn't start paying out to the creditors until there was a minimum amount in "escrow".

Once escrow was reached, it was revealed that several of my key creditors wouldn't negotiate with them at all and that AmerAssist doesn't, in fact, dole out a monthly payment to creditors, but attempts to pay them off with a lump sum. The sum will be accumulated in the account which is hard to do when a business can't pay the original payments, is now trying to pay into AmerAssist, and also stave off creditors that aren't being paid.

Once the scheme failed and I ended up in Chapter 13, AmerAssist refused to return my money that had accumulated in their coffers. So, their guarantee that one will pay less than owed is fraudulent. I was assured that my money would be returned if restructuring efforts failed and that was a complete lie. AmerAssist never intended to return my money, or to actually use those funds to pay creditors. AmerAssist always intended to obtain and keep the money for themselves--and Kenneth **.

In January of 2009, I signed an agreement with AmerAssist Turnaround Management Company to help negotiate with 5 creditors. The company wanted me to pay them $1,000 twice a month. For 6 months, I paid them a total of $7,000. They held onto my money telling me that the longer the creditors do not get paid, the better debt settlement I will get. I believed them that they were negotiating. After paying them $7,000, they paid off a debt that I owed under $2,000. They settled for $800 and they got an additional 33 1/3% in their pockets.

After that, no more settlements were made until the following November of 2009. I got one of their monthly reports telling me that I had no money left in my account. I contacted one of the financial companies representing a creditor and they told me that a settlement had been reached, but they never received any payment. I was furious!

The financial company told me that AmerAssist Turnaround Management told them that I didn't have any money in my account. I told the financial company that I did have money and that they were not telling the truth. The financial company was willing to settle directly with me at a substantial savings. I would not trust any of these debt settlement companies. I waited a year too long and now I have to go to court because AmerAssist didn't do what they promised. I had too much debt for them to negotiate, but they still wanted a lot of money up front. Thank goodness I only got taken for $4,000. Do Not use this debt negotiation company!

My creditors are wanting payments in full. I am being forced to claim bankruptcy due to letting AmerAssist handle my financial debt accounts. I am having to close my business of 5 years because filing bankruptcy means having to close my business doors. When I went with AmerAssist, I was not passed due on any of my accounts. I was told not to pay anything on them because the longer they are not paid on, the better settlement I will get. This is a complete lie. I had better than excellent credit before I hired Amerassist. Now, I have no credit. All of the unsecured debt is in my sole name. I am scared that by filing any bankruptcy, I can lose my house. I have spoke to two bankruptcy lawyers and have yet to get a truthful answer out of either of them. Who can I trust?

They claimed they would consolidate my debts, (creditors and my landlord) instead they took my money and didn't pay any creditors. I was in financial trouble so I started paying AmerAssist all of my earning so they could work out deals with the creditors. I paid them over $13,000.00 and they did nothing. After they did not reach an agreement with my landlord (they said they did) I was served an eviction notice from the sheriff. I went to court to get an extention until things got cleared up.

Things never got cleared up. I was forced to declare bankruptcy. They never reimburced any of the money that I paid them. Because of them I was forced to go under, I was having trouble paying creditors as it was, now with them taking all of my money and not doing anything with it I had no choice but to fold. So basicly they took over 13,000.00 and did nothing, they did not even reimburse any of the money.

What made me write to you is that I noticed on the internet that AmerAssist has done the similar things to many people. They have to be stopped.