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CCCS - An Insider's View

CCCS • Consumer complaints • Insider's report

Cornelia of Houston (6/3/03):
I held a day job with Consumer Credit Counseling Services/Money Management International, the largest non-profit credit-counseling agency in the U.S. Their corporate office is in Houston at 9009 West Loop South, Suite 700 in the Aramco building off 610.

During my two years of employment with the company I noticed things that the public may be interested in. The main situation, which troubles me, regards a supervisor of the intake phone-counseling department at the corporate office here in Houston. Company policy and the policies of The National Federation of Consumer Counseling (which CCS is a member of) require that the $35.00 monthly contribution be waved to any client who can't afford to pay it.

At CCCS/MMI only the Team Mangers have authority to waive the contribution. Despite these requirements, the Team Manger, Jabbar Johnson, never waved a fee in the two years, which I worked there. He lowered it on occasion, but rarely even though client’s budgets often reflected the need for the contribution to be waived or lowered.

Many clients of CCCS/MMI have total incomes of less than $300.00 per month as many are on Disability and Social Security. CCCS/MMI is a non-profit company and it operates off money from the $35.00 monthly contributions of clients and the fair share contributions of creditors. This Team Manger, Jabbar, who would not waive a contribution, did however utilize the company to aid his brother.

On several occasions, he took all 15 employees on his team, who are each paid hourly, off the phones and to a meeting that had nothing to do with CCS/MMI. These mandatory meetings were for Jabbar's brother, Deon, to pitch his physical fitness business, "Fitness Solutions.”

A formal complaint was made to Jabbar’s manger and the company's response was that even though the meetings were mandatory it was not mandatory that the employees hire Deon as their physical fitness trainer. The company stood by the use of company funds to help Jabbar's brother pitch his fitness business. In fact, after the complaint was made, Deon, who is not an employee CCCS/MMI, conducted other sale pitches on company time.

CCCS/MMI paid for Deon to make these pitches as they paid the hourly salary of the 15 employees forced to attend. The hourly salaries are paid from money received from client and creditor contributions.

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