Law Offices of Richard A. Brennan - Can you rely on them?

listen i dont mean to be an a**, but you cant blame richard brennan alll your life, that sure wont solve your problems, start thinking about how to solve your debt, YOU put your self in it, YOU will get yourself out of it, second, Richard Brennan is not responsible, if he had stolen from you dont you think he would be behind bars, and lastly since I am knowledgeble about the law in MD, he has done nothing wrong, your ambulance chaser attorney has dropped his case and if you dont believe me call him, ask him, and third he doesnt even have enough people to file a class action. Check the books. Lastly even if this class action does go through, it will take years, you people need to start worrying about the creditors that will file suit against YOU, for the money YOU owe them, because they dam well wont blame Richard Brennan. So this forum can continue to grow, heck were almost at 70,000.00 people, but remember this, his company is still in buisness, YOUR still in debt

You aren't worth the time to angrily respond. May life bring you much success, and may you never go through the bumps in the road many of the forum members are or have experienced.

:shock: :shock: :shock: DAMN someone forgot to take
his meds today!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Listen, I am back on track with the creditors that were originally on the plan (most have even been paid off). However, that does not dismiss the fact that Brennan took over $800 from my checking account and never sent it to the creditors or gave me a refund for it. This forum is to warn others not to do business with Brennan and to find ways to get the money back from Brennan that he has stolen from us. No one is making you read this and since you obviously have not done any business with Brennan you should keep your opinions about him and these members to yourself. We are blaming him for what he has done (not followed through with his end of the contract, taken money from us without consent, and not passed on the money that he has taken) not for the fact that we had debt to pay off.

. credit counseling &debt settlement co????????s that are attached to attorney????????s offices are scams. The initial person tells customers great stuff. they stop lawsuits & garnishments. (They can????????t stop any of this.know one can. This is going to happen till the debt is paid
) Don????????t tell them that $ goes into a trust account & you have to wait till it accumulates to do settlement. Mean while their credit is ruined.
The first payment that goes is to the initial company, (ex credit counseling of America, in mass, claiming to be non- profit . they make a profit no one works for free. They can claim anything they want when there is another name they are attached to.) they say the first goes to the law office. In actuality it goes to them. (On customer bank statement it shows the attorney????????s office). It takes 30-45 days for the paper to be sent to the law office (which is not really a law office, it????????s an office where people answer phones) the actual law office is in another state. Then once the paper work is processed another payment is taken. Then once again this is the first payment. However it is the second. People get blown off to call back the first company consumer credit counseling.
They call them back & are given the law office # again.
Once a month or two goes by when people have paid 3 payments they think they have some money. They find out from there contract it says they have to pay 3500.00 in legal fees. Well one third of that goes to those fees initially. Which doesn????????t say that in the agreement.. know matter who is asked about this it will denied there millions of dollars on the line.

PEOPLE NEED TO READ THE AGREEMENT!!!
And relize that people are lying to make commission.
These company????????s scam thousands of people everyday for money. They need to investigated & shut down.

. credit counseling &debt settlement co????????s that are attached to attorney????????s offices are scams. The initial person tells customers great stuff. they stop lawsuits & garnishments. (They can????????t stop any of this.know one can. This is going to happen till the debt is paid
) Don????????t tell them that $ goes into a trust account & you have to wait till it accumulates to do settlement. Mean while their credit is ruined.
The first payment that goes is to the initial company, (ex credit counseling of America, in mass, claiming to be non- profit . they make a profit no one works for free. They can claim anything they want when there is another name they are attached to.) they say the first goes to the law office. In actuality it goes to them. (On customer bank statement it shows the attorney????????s office). It takes 30-45 days for the paper to be sent to the law office (which is not really a law office, it????????s an office where people answer phones) the actual law office is in another state. Then once the paper work is processed another payment is taken. Then once again this is the first payment. However it is the second. People get blown off to call back the first company consumer credit counseling.
They call them back & are given the law office # again.
Once a month or two goes by when people have paid 3 payments they think they have some money. They find out from there contract it says they have to pay 3500.00 in legal fees. Well one third of that goes to those fees initially. Which doesn????????t say that in the agreement.. know matter who is asked about this it will denied there millions of dollars on the line.

PEOPLE NEED TO READ THE AGREEMENT!!!
And relize that people are lying to make commission.
These company????????s scam thousands of people everyday for money. They need to investigated & shut down.

People, please - I was given this information by , of all people, a debt collector: debt settlement does NOT protect you from anything. Only filing for bankruptcy can stop harrassment, judgments, and garnishments. (Of course, paying the bill is the best bet). RA Brennan took over a thousand dollars from me AFTER he screwed up all my payments through consolidation. One of his people gave me the sugary lines about debt settlement, and I was stupid enough to believe what they told me. I had originally called them to stop the consolidation, because my bills were geting so far behind that the balances were going UP instead of down. I was ready to file bankruptcy at that point. I will never see a penny of this money again. I WAS able to get the ACH payments stopped with no problem, then received a statement from his office stating that all of the money that had been taken toward debt settlement was being used for "retainers" and other expenses - in short - not a damn penny went toward any of my bills. I am now in the middle of bankruptcy, which was NEVER my original intent. I had payed down my debts by over $10,000.00 before Brennan took over, only to see them go sky-high again. I was told by my bamkruptcy attorney to NEVER,
EVER, do debt sttlement through a third party. Why pay fees to them when you can negotiate debt sttlement on your own? I was also told the same thing by the very nice debt collector who called me from Citibank. That person stated they could settle with me right then for 40% of my bill. I just want to help others learn from my very painful experience!

I can't believe Brennan is still around, and hasn't been disbarred. Then again I guess he typifies what has gone wrong with the law profession.

Brennan wrote "Yes, I drive a two year old SL55 that was leased for me BEFORE I ever even took on the CrediCure issue." Richard, before you ???????took on??????? the Credicure issue, you were Credicure. A later posting confirmed it was leased for him by CrediCure. That's an old trick AmeriDebt used. A NONPROFIT leasing a vehicle for certain members of management. Brennan should be offering thanks to the Credicure clients. They are leasing a very beautiful car for him with their generous "voluntary contributions."

And to the former AmeriDebt customers who were unwittingly "transferred" to Credicure, you might be interested to know how Credicure got your information in the first place. A manager from Credicure intercepted them from Western Union. The name of the contact person was not changed when Formulak, Brennan and Shaffer left AmeriDebt, so they were able to transfer your money to Credicure????????s bank account. There was one big problem though. Credicure did not have the infrastructure to disburse any of the money that was intercepted. They did not have account numbers for your creditors, nor did they have the payment addresses. The "payment processing center" for Credicure was really Richard Brennan's condo.

The sad part of all of this is that all of these problems could have been avoided, and the responsibility ultimately lies at the feet of the regulators - the FTC and the Attorney General of Maryland. They shut down AmeriDebt but didn't go after some of the biggest players that ultimately earned it its fate. In the years after Jeff Formulak, Paul Shaffer and Richard Brennan left the company, there were a lot of positive changes made. They were not shut down for things that happened after the Three Amigos left the company- it was for the shenanigans that went on when they were in charge. As chance would have it, they avoided the heat by setting up shop under their new name ???????? Credicure. Which by the way was given to Formulak, Shaffer and Brennan after the previous ???????owners??????? failed to make it operational.

Shame on you FTC and Maryland AG. You put all of your eggs in one basket by going solely after Andris Pukke. How very near-sighted of you. Look at these postings to see the people that have been hurt in the meantime because you dropped the ball. You????????ve let the cancer grow when the cure was so easily within your reach. I????????ve heard first-hand accounts that a high profile member of the MD AG office was present at a certain court hearing, as was Jeff Formulak, and from all accounts the two were chummy. One has to question how effective MD????????s AG office is when they can be so easily snowed over, and incapable of chasing down relevant facts. Especially given the information that members of this blog have been able to find- and we????????re not the ???????professionals.???????

Mr. can't stand you people,
I would like to get a hold of you. Your a d***head. All I want is to get my money back from Brennan and be done with him.

Richard, you are writing some interesting things. It????????s almost like you actually believe them. Too bad there are still a lot of us around that have the inside scoop, and judging by some of the postings, it looks like a couple of us are beginning to stumble across these posts. To your credit, you were only the front-man for Formulak and Shaffer, but like we always use to say; "give them enough rope and eventually they????????ll hang themselves." You didn't honestly think you were going to get away with anything did you? I????????d like to offer counterpoints to your own personal declarations:

Excerpts from Dick Brennan????????s 1/22/07 Posting

???????NONE of the poster (sic) READS my above posts?????????????? They are being read Richard but one believes them.

???????Why do you think I am still in business??????????????? ???????Had I stolen anything, I would be in jail where thieves belong??????????????. ???????On top of that, I have my personl (sic) information posted. How unethical is that???????????????.Since you????????re an attorney and therefore unfamiliar with ethics, let me educate you a little bit. Your statements are textbook examples of rationalizations that unethical people use to justify unethical behavior.

???????No one appears to want to hear the truth????????????????????? Richard, you are running because the truth is catching up with you. And I couldn????????t be happier. Formulak and Shaffer need to go down with you.

Excerpts from Dick Brennan????????s 1/23/07 Posting #1:

???????My Law Office represented CrediCure.??????? Richard, you????????re withholding facts. Your story begins at AmeriDebt. AmeriDebt hired you to answer client complaints. Formulak needed your Esquire title on the complaint letters so the company under his leadership would look legitimate. You were brought into Credicure for the same reasons. You didn????????t become a ???????law office??????? representing Credicure until around the time the AmeriDebt payments were intercepted from Western Union ???????? 2004 was it?

???????CrediCure was founded by a woman named Mary Purcell in August of 2000. I was never on their Board of Directors and was never a control party of the organization.??????? What Richard is really saying is that he was never part of Credicure under Mary Purcell. Formulak, Shaffer and Brennan did not take over Credicure until much later. He is also saying he was never a ???????control party,??????? which is true because Formulak and Shaffer were calling all the shots. Richard is, and always was their pawn.

???????CrediCure was a federally recognized credit counseling agency.??????????????. Is this the sleazy legalese way of saying they held a 501(c)(3)? Was the tax-exempt status legitimate or was Credicure able to avoid paying taxes (even though your clients paid their share of taxes) because you were small enough to fly under the radar for so long?

Excerpts from Dick Brennan????????s 1/23/07 Posting #2:

???????CrediCure, like all of the top 100 credit counseling agencies in this country began being audited in the Spring of 2005. By spring of 2006 ALL of them have had their non profit status REVOKED. Because most states only allow NON PROFITS to do credit counseling, ALL of them would be in violation of State Law. CrediCure chose to wind up its affairs and close.??????? The well ran dry. Formulak, Shaffer and Brennan had to come up with a new plan to profit off of client????????s in debt.

???????My Law Office began stepping in to work towards CrediCure's closure in March of 2006. In June, my law office took over CrediCure's trust account to prevent any loss of client funds.??????? Hocus-pocus, here????????s our new plan. We can continue to support ourselves off the backs of the people who came to us for help.

???????At this point CrediCure's client trust accounts with the Law Office all ran negative.??????? Can you explain how this happened? As the attorney in charge of these accounts, didn????????t you have a fiduciary duty to safeguard your client????????s assets? Even from yourself, Formulak and Shaffer?

Excerpts from Dick Brennan????????s 1/23/07 Posting #3

I never asked for hand outs. Richard, what do you call the ???????voluntary contributions??????? that AmeriDebt and Credicure asked for? It seems as though your leased car qualifies as a hand-out. But I see your point that you never asked for handouts. You just took. It????????s all in the semantics.

I didn't even pursue clients who failed to pay due to their financial difficulties. I have difficulty believing this one. Unless of course these were your early years when you still held the values you were raised with. Until you hooked up with Formulak and Shaffer.

I took on the CrediCure issue to HELP all of you. I never set out to harm any of you. It HURTS to see me being called a "shark", "thief", and all the host of other negative remarks. Richard you began your venture answering AmeriDebt complaint letters. You moved to Credicure with Formulak when he was forced out of AmeriDebt. You facilitated the ???????Credicure issue.??????? By helping Credicure clients isn????????t that a little like the fox guarding the hen house? You have a lot of nerve complaining that your feelings are hurt. You????????re not the victim ???????? you????????re the victimizer.

My family has shunned me because of the negative publicity. I would wager your family shuns you because you????????ve turned your back on the values they raised you with.

Excerpts from Dick Brennan????????s 1/23/07 Posting #4

The ONLY way this could get fixed is the following: continue on a debt management plan with letters of explanation. (We gave this instruction, but many of CrediCure's clients did not follow the instruction) The creditors were willing to forgive the problems, BUT, ONLY IF the consumer stayed on a debt management plan. Secondly, I offered MY services at a reduced rate. I could negotiate a settlement for less than the remainder owed. This would simply end your indebtedness. (Again, we offered this option, but most did not take advantage of the offer). There is so much wrong with this I don????????t know where to start. First of all, deflecting the blame back onto the clients became an art form at AmeriDebt (under Formulak and Shaffer), and it continued at Credicure. Be a man Richard and accept some blame. Second, I????????m appalled he????????s still trying to sell his services to the same clients that he helped to destroy. By the way Richard, what is your rate for debt settlement? Did you mark up your prices 100% so you could offer a 50% discount?

So... without following the instructions, I am left with very little I can do to help. Meanwhile, I have not slept in six months, have used up all my personal assets to help cover this, and set up my staff to best use what little business we have left. I think what Richard is trying to say is ???????You dumb clients. You can????????t follow directions and I am the one that suffers for it. I can????????t sleep, I had to HIDE my assets from the regulators, and now I????????m at risk for having to run my office out of my luxury vehicle. Poor me, poor me, poor me.???????

I possessed a great reputation before this issue. Richard, did you have a great reputation within the legal community, the community at large, or just Formulak and Shaffer? I know you, you know me, we know the same people. Richard, you may have been a great guy before you hooked up with your boys, but after your relationship began with them, the only reputation you had was one as a shark that didn????????t possess an ounce of moral values.

Now, my former business associates shun me. What? Does this mean the honeymoon is over with Jeff and Paul? Did they decide they no longer had a use for you and tossed you aside? Wake up Richard, you????????ve been their pawn for many years.

Yet, for all the harm I have endured, I STILL want to help these consumers. You play with fire and you get burned. You facilitated unconscionable, intentional harm to clients Richard. If you have been harmed, it was your own doing. Your acts are finally starting to catch up with you. You have some nerve portraying yourself as a victim. You minimize all the pain and suffering you have inflicted on your clients.

I'm stuck with a problem I did not cause, paying for debts I did not owe, and trying to stay in business with a ruined reputation. Richard, I????????d like to take about 3 years. One of Credicure????????s managers called Western Union and redirected payments that belonged to AmeriDebt clients, to Credicure. Payments that would have gone to their creditors within 5 days. But Credicure wasn????????t able to send the payments out were they? Why was that? Was it because you didn????????t have their creditor account numbers, or was it because you didn????????t have an accounting system that could disburse out such a high volume of checks? Didn????????t you portray your condo as Credicure????????s payment processing center to one of the big creditors? Citibank, I believe. On behalf of the clients, YOU were implored to return the money and to cease taking more. YOU were fully aware of what would happen to the clients but you allowed more money to be taken. Not to mention the fraudulent letter you are suspected of writing. The one that said AmeriDebt was out of business and had transferred their accounts to Credicure. AmeriDebt didn????????t go out of business for another year, and they definitely did not transfer their accounts to you.

Your day is coming Little Dickie Brennan. Don????????t be an idiot. Take Jeff and Paul down too.

This choice little post comes from ???????can????????t stand you people.???????

???????listen i dont mean to be an a**, but you cant blame richard brennan alll your life, that sure wont solve your problems, start thinking about how to solve your debt, YOU put your self in it, YOU will get yourself out of it, second, Richard Brennan is not responsible, if he had stolen from you dont you think he would be behind bars, and lastly since I am knowledgeble about the law in MD, he has done nothing wrong, your ambulance chaser attorney has dropped his case and if you dont believe me call him, ask him, and third he doesnt even have enough people to file a class action. Check the books. Lastly even if this class action does go through, it will take years, you people need to start worrying about the creditors that will file suit against YOU, for the money YOU owe them, because they dam well wont blame Richard Brennan. So this forum can continue to grow, heck were almost at 70,000.00 people, but remember this, his company is still in buisness, YOUR still in debt????????????????????????????(Misspells and bad grammar are not mine, they belong to the ???????can????????t stand you people??????? genius).

I would like to expose this person for who they really are. They are either 1) Richard A. Brennan who????????s hiding behind a fake name to hurl insults; or 2) an employee of the Richard A. Brennan law firm who is trying to justify in their head that Richard isn????????t doing anything wrong.

Bottom line is Richard A Brennan is a victimizer. He was pre-disposed to developing the trait when he opted for law school. Since then he has mastered in the financial abuse of the disadvantaged. Jeff Formulak and Paul Shaffer were highly effective in helping Richard achieve his true potential.

To the thousands of victims listed in these pages, start your search with AmeriDebt. Jeff Formulak and Paul Shaffer skated through the AmeriDebt scandal unscathed ONLY because the IRS, FTC and MD AG had a bigger fish to fry ????????the one with the biggest purse. Brennan, Formulak and Shaffer were small enough to fly under the radar and continue a more ruthless form of deceit under the name Credicure.

For recourse, if you haven????????t tried it already, contact your state????????s attorneys office. You might also search their website for information related to debt management providers. Between 2003-2004, there was a big push state-by-state to regulate the debt management industry because companies operating like Credicure were harming consumers. Many states now have bonding and/or licensing requirements, etc. or they bar out-of-state agencies entirely. In early 2004, Credicure was noncompliant in many states. If you reside in one of those states, your state????????s attorney office should be able to help you. Keep in mind, rules of your state were designed specifically to protect you from what has happened. Also hound the FTC because they dropped the ball in not following the AmeriDebt trail to Credicure. And don????????t be intimidated by comments from ???????can????????t stand you people???????, or anyone else. These guys are just bluffing. None of them are smart enough to have all their bases covered.

More comments on previous posts???????..

Onelamb????????s post dated January 27, 2007: ???????I have no idea about these posts you see above. Maybe, one of their competitors was trying to give their company a bad name.???????

Onelamb, unfortunately the client accounts are real. The three amigos have been doing this going back years. Jeff Formulak began his path of destruction in 1996 with Consumer Debt Resources. He got lonely ???????at the top??????? and picked up Shaffer and Brennan along the way. A competitor would not waste their time trying to give these guys a bad name. They????????re too small, despite their claim of being one of the top 100 DM programs in the country. I agree not all posts are from clients. I see some posts from people who have known these guys for years, and who are probably like me - completely shocked these guys continue to abuse financially strapped clients.

???????Profanity Deleted???????s post dated January 15, 2007: ???????i heard from a bird that richard and jeff was not only stealing money from clients.....but he also was stealing money from his employees.........i heard that the employees get paid on the 1st and 15th if every month,,,,,,but they havent recieved there money yet......i heard that he told his employees that "if anybody try to sue then he is pacdking his *profanity deleted - suebee* up and moving out of the state.???????

Why does this sound like Credicure is still in business? Didn????????t Richard say they lost their 501(c)(3)? This pretty much confirms my earlier assertion that they????????ve just changed names; not operations. The threats mentioned by ???????profanity deleted??????? definitely came out of Jeff Formulak????????s mouth. Richard doesn????????t talk that way. So what this means for the victims is that Jeff Formulak is still in the picture. Richard always was, and still is just a pawn. The masterminds are who you really want; Jeff Formulak and Paul Shaffer. This is good news since Jeff and Paul both have a long trail that begins with AmeriDebt, and there????????s a lot of information on the internet. Many of them investigational reports issued by regulatory agencies.


And thank you to the guest that posted the link to Richard????????s yahoo page. I think Richard????????s favorite quote is quite telling;

???????By any means necessary???????

Has anyone heard from the Attorney Grievance Commission of MD. They contacted my about a hearing March 13th!

Has anyone heard from the Attorney Grievance Commission of MD. They contacted my about a hearing March 13th!

this company is a rip off be VERY careful with them

Hi to whom it may be of interest too! I'm from Maine and have been reading comments here since November when I joined ccc fo America. They told me right up front the my 1st payment to them was not refundable!
I was told that I was going to be in a Dept Settlement Program not Managment Program With Brennan Office.
I have gotten statement from my trust account with his office once a month. I'm thousands in dept with credit cards But always paid on time then used credit to purchase gas, phonebill etc. I'm sure one or two of you know the drill!!! I knew up front from ccc of America that these cards were not going to be paid until a settlement between what I had saved in my trust account and the creditor could settle on.
In maine most of the attorneys including my divorce lawyer wants money up front that includes retainer fees, they are very expensive.
Here's the reason for writing this... I have spent many hours on the phone talking to collection people and have heard it all. Yes word for word about collection practices etc. And what a lawyer can do to protect me. Now 4 months later I still havent given into them and paid the credit cards to open the accounts back up. I asked all 16 credit card company collection agencys if they had ever heard anything bad about Brennan or even if He was real. Wouldnt these companys have a knowledge about him if he was stealing from their customers.
I think Debt Lawyer have a legal relationship with collection dept. Could it be that when a Lawyer goes to a big credit card co. he might have 100 cases instead of just one. And that might be why a Co. settles for half and settled, instead of open and pending or nothing. And I will tell you that speaking to the credit co. One or two of them will tell you that they have seen a settlement program work. And that when I do get all this past me. They would like to talk to me about maybe opening up another account with them. Of course I did give them thousands in interest payments!!! Their not stupid they are very smart and they know I'm going to get it together again! I know what is being said about Brennan's Office. For now I'm not giving up I have come this far. Oh one more thing the credit card companys are offering me settlement too. Why is that they didnt offer that before. Hmmmm Maybe the debt lawyers have something here. No I do not know or work for Brennan or CCCA. I just have some thoughts and I have a very positive additude.
Maine Girl

Maine Girl, you're the perfect victim for people like Dick Brennan, Jeff Formulak and Paul Shaffer. It's wonderful you have a positive attitude - keep it. But heads up on Dick Brennan who appears to be a real attorney.

Richard A. Brennan has handled only 11 cases in the state of Maryland since 1995. That's about a case a year. Almost half of them were domestic abuse/dispute cases that he handled for neighbors.

I researched the website for Maine's state legislature. Under Document LD2263, Page 5, of the 119th Legislature:

Paragraph 2, part B says: "debt management service providers must disburse payments to your creditors within 15 business days of receiving your money".

Didn't you say Dick Brennan is "holding" all of your money until a settlement can be reached with your creditors? Has he had it more than 15 days? Is he aware of what your state law requires?

Section 6176, Paragraph c ???????? "Each debt management provide must have a surety bond on file with the state of Maine, and they must have provided you with the location of the bond in your agreement".

Does your contract with Mr. Brennan provide you with the location of the surety bond? Is he aware your state requires it?

Please Maine Girl, you sound like a very sweet girl. Please research this information yourself (I found it through Google), and then contact your state's attorneys office. Good luck to you.

Thank you Knowtherealdick:

I don't know about sweet. But I do think out of state people have more street smarts.

I signed up for a Settlement program not a Managment program. I could have done a Managment program myself. In managment programs the payment were about the same as I was already paying. Which was about $1500.oo a month. In Settlement programs my payments about $500.00 a month. And yes the office is taking part of their payment just like a divorce lawyer upfront. On my bank statement from his office which I can contact the bank. It shows how many payments his office will take and when. I'm going to pay his office a very large amount to deal with my creditors. But its still half or less of what I would be paying by myself or through a managment program. I have signed up for 5 years doing this which is better then paying $1500.00 each month. And Hes dealing with the collection co. I can't afford to pay the collection co. the thousands their asking for. Which is hundreds of dollars in interest each month. I did that for a very long time. CCCA told me right up front what I was going to be paying Brennans Office. Which is very small compared to what my credit card bill are and will get. (And a Law Office will make them sign off when I have settled with them). This way they cant come back on me in 5 or 6 years. (The credit card companys will sell these to collection). These account could be sold a number of time!!
When I have enough saved (I know this will take years) I have told the credit card companys this too. Then we will pay off the card one at a time a very long process. But like I said payments of 1,500.00 a month verses $500.00 a month. I have a little bit of money in my pocket. And I still have credit cards I didnt put them all in this program. I kept some for emergencys. CCCA told me to do this if I could. And yes Maine laws are one of the toughest as far as CCC companys are concerned.
Maine Girl

Maine Girl, what you're saying doesn't make sense. If Dick Brennan's office is sending payments to your creditors on a monthly basis (or if he should be), you're on a debt management program, and your state laws apply. He may be calling it a settlement program as a marketing tool.

But if you're saying he????????s not sending out any money to your creditors until you????????ve made 5 years worth of payments, you have bigger problems than you think. He????????ll have $30,000 by then. Why is he waiting the full 5 years? Can????????t he pay some off along the way? How do you know he????????ll still be in business that long?

The bigger question is why are you trusting someone you've never met with $30,000? Especially since there are probably thousands of stories on this message board from people that were ripped off. That doesn????????t sound street smart. It sounds like your being taken advantage of.

I'm starting to think your posts are fake. You seem wise one minute but dumb the next. How are you bright enough to know Maine laws are one of the toughest but dumb enough to tell me how Dick Brennan walks on water. A man you've never met or spoken to. Did I forget to mention that I personally know him and the other 2 owners of the company? How do you think I know so much information?!

Hello from Maine:

Walks on Water, Thats good! And it made me laugh!! If anyone can take care of 50,000.00 in credit card debt.
That person can Have the title of Walking On Water!!

You write very well. Thank you for talking to me.

To tell you the truth. Well I have all along.

No I don't know this man or his company and its not whatever (Fake) to speak like I do. What it is. "I want to Have some type of Hope that I have made the right decision." No I don't know that any settlement program will work. And I do not know which one will.

Once in a while a card company still calls me, One did last night (I don't think I should say card names) etc. It usually starts out I get mad but, by the time I am done they have a friend in Maine. This is true we usually end up laughing and talking about loans and they tell me about their money issues. I asked if she had received a POA from Brennan office. They had, On Feb 24 2007. And something else on the 10th of March. But she could not tell me what it was about. I can call Brennan's office to find out but I'm really not that concerned. The way I understand this is If I make a payment on my cards myself. That makes my account active and this hole thing starts all over again. NOT! I get maybe one call from these card people every 5 or 6 days now. Before it was 20 calls a day. From 16 different card company's. I was going nuts. As I am sure one or two people know about.

As far as holding money. If I could have kept up paying 1500.00 a month in payments why would I need a management program I could have done that myself.

No I'm not dumb! Trusting yes! Just like I'm listening to you and trusting you with some of my experiences. What I have look for on this site is someone that has gone the distance with Brennan's office. This is what I am doing. And you are very right who knows. My place of work might go out of business next week too. I have 7 years hard work invested in them.

I was not sure is it 30,000. Their not going to hold 30,000. When they can settle they will take care of that one. "This is what I want but your right I will have to see what happens."

Today!!! I have 50,000.00 Credit Card debt. Very much the Truth!!! What will that be in five years? Help me out here let me know. For the next 5 years I'm paying his office your right something like 28,000.00. That is including his Lawyer payment which is a couple of thousand. Yes a lot but over 5 years. Remember! I'm would be paying card debt of 50,000.00 with interest for 5 years. That's got to be a very large number. I cant live making those kinds of payments. But paying his office 500.00 a month I can live. I have my car and still have a few credit cards too.

I don't know if I made the right decision. No not in the least. And I only have day to day experiences to tell you. Only time will tell. I want to believe this will work.

If you can tell me a better way to turn 50,000.00 into 26,000.00 And have the payment be 500.00 a month and have a lawyer working for me PLEASE give me their name so I can compare programs. If this does fail I will go bankrupt. But I will be able to tell the judge and show him the proof that I did really try to settle my debt Real, Fake, Honest, or whatever. Look at the situation the way a Judge would for going bankrupt. This girl tried. Not dumb, I just want to give it an honest chance to work. Oh another fact I have learned. I could have to pay taxes on the thousands that get written off. Well if thats the case I will make payment to the IRS which I'm hoping will be a % of the amount.
From
Looking for Man that Walks On Water!
PS.
I really liked that!

You're right about paying taxes on the write-off. Anything that is written off over $600 will be taxed as if it were income. Just another thing to keep in mind when settling your debts.

As far as the tax thing go's too. On a monthy bases My three bigest card payments were. One 300.00, 280.00, and 160.00. Interest on 300.00 was 200.00 Interest on 280.00 was 160.00 and and Interest on 160.00. was 100.
So 360.00 a month was given to these very large credit card companys. Free and clean that is money they get to keep for letting me use their charge cards. And I was never ever late on payment EVER! What is 360.00 a month times 12 something like 4000.00 a year free and clean. How stupid could I ever be to think I could keep up with that. I have 16 cards that is only three of them. I really think that the IRS and I can work something out. If it comes to that some of the charges were to medical bills, dental work even grocerys Not cash thank god!! I think the IRS will know of a way to look at this.

Managment and Settlement are two different things. Managment is paying on the total amount owed. Im not doing a managment program. I dont want and cannot pay all those interest charges they want me to pay anymore I have been paying those thousands of dollars for years. I've gaven away thousands of dollars on these accounts from 1997 to 2006. I think I have paid for using their cards. Yes I did this and no Im not crying about it.
I'm saying enough is enough. I'm changing my hair color I dont want to be BLOND anymore.
Not Managment program
It's Settlement Program
Maine Girl

It sounds like you are right, you needed the assistance to get out of debt. I just hope that Brennan won't steal the money from you as he did so many other people. Then you would be right back where you started, only out thousands of dollars with nothing to show for it.

This is for all of you armchair financial advisors out there. I have actually worked for a credit counseling agency since Oct 05. A debt management program does indeed make monthly payments to your creditors. A debt settlement program is a different animal altogether. What we found at our company is that most people were told "DEBT SETTLEMENT" but due to the barrage of TV and Radio ads all they heard was "debt consolidation" or "DEBT MANAGEMENT". When they got angry we simply pointed them to the mailings they received from us, which clearly stated it was a Settlement Program, as well as the contracts they signed with us that did not mention anything about creditors being paid. Now of course they didn't think it was their fault, it never is, but the ones who actually listened to our Credit Counselers actually decided to stay. The ones who wanted to blame everyone but themselves for their problems flooded the BBB with complaints, and guess what, when the dust settled we not once were found to have done anything wrong. If the same thing is happening with Richard A.Brennan the first thing I suggest that you disgruntled people do is READ YOUR CONTRACT. A contract should clearly state what you signed up for. You wouldn't try to overhaul an engine without reading instructions first, doesn't it make even less sense to sign away your financial life without reading things first? Oh wait, thats how most people got into this. They didn't read their contracts that specifically mention 28% interest, and when their interest was too much who did the blame when they spoke to our counselers? The creditors, thats who. The moral of the story is to see what your getting into before you commit to it. You wouldn't marry someone that you know nothing about, so why would you similiarly commit yourself to something like being in debt without sorting through the fine print? People all think they're special, well guess what, your not. So stop expecting the world to treat you like you are. Grab the bull by the horns and make a good, informed decision before you do something. If not then you may as well dive into a pool without seeing which end is the shallow end 1st...

I knowmystuff,
That's a little tough dont you think. What you say is true. I really had to look into Settlement and managment programs.

I did get scared very much when my card companys were screaming for money. When I talked to the card companys I really had to tell them that It's a settlement and I cant pay you until I have saved enough money to do so. I told them I was making an honest atemp to take care of this matter. Most of them knew what I was talking about. They said to just have Brennans office send them a proposal of how much money I could pay out of my saving with his office. Well at that time what was in my saving after 4 months was really nothing compared to 13,000.00 that I owe to this one card alone. What can they say. Oh and they did say many things NOT Bad though. They know out of 13,000.00 their going to get a much smaller amount and its going to take time. I am sure they will sell this to a collection agency. But when they do Thats were the Lawyer's office comes in. When this collection agency starts calling me I will tell Brennan office the name and number of the agency. He wil deal with them. NOT ME! I might have enough to settle one account for 200.00 and the total when I started could have been 800.00. My Lawyer will in a legal way make sure this is somehow signed off.

Collection agencys can come back on you 6 years later for the same thing you took care of 6 years earlier. This is why I want to have a Lawyer taking care of Me. Brennan office will not pay them unless the collection agency signs OFF. It doesnt have to be Brennan's Office it could be any Laywer one might be cheaper than the other. I do know a Laywer is a Lawyer, every phone call or letter I will get charged for! I dont call Brennan office unless I have too!!!
One of my card companys told me they dont deal with Lawyers but they will deal with me. I learned why because it has to go to a collection company. Because Brennans office isnt going to pay them 13000.00. A collection agency might except 5000.00 and I'm done with them. They sign off. Yes my credit will go down but Like I said before. I kept a couple of Cards out of this program so I still have some. And I have a little money in my pocket. And Im in good standing with my hometown bank (car loan).
Again I'm as new to this as anyone. And I cant say this will work. But what I can say is that. Everything that I was told or advised by CCC of America. Or Brennan office has been right on the nose. I'm in this for 5 year's. I still have 4 yr's 7 months to go. I will keep you posted.
Bankrate.com sould tell you the difference between a managment program and settlement program.

Hi one more thing,

When talking to CCC of America, They did tell me but should have told me more of what types of programs there were. And what program I should be in and how the process works.

I should have been told that credit card companys have the right to call me on a regular bases to get status of my accounts. With me, when I say regular I got calls daily. Until Power of Attorney letters went out which in my case took about two months. I was very very scared during that time. I really didnt know what would happen. I'm 5 months in with Brennan. Letters are out and I really never get calls. If I do I talk to them and tell them what is going on.

Brennan stole $1200 from me under his "debt settlement" plan. All of which went to various "fees" of one sort or anther.

Look up the following companies under the Maryland Department of Taxation. Look up Credicure Group, Preston Payment Processing, and The Law Offices of Richard Brennan. They are ALL in poor standing and ALL were set up and owned by Richard Brennan. ALL have the same address listed and ALL have the same signatures.

I read a few pages back and someone else uncovered that he owned several non profits as well.

You can Google the Maryland Tax Dept to get the link to view this information.

Has anyone received any type of refund from R.A. Brennan? what about the lawsuit? He has $1572 of my money. OF course he doesn't return emails or phone calls.Any help would be appreciated.
Frustrated in Texas

Unfortunately I can't tell you anything about refunds from Brennan - I am still waiting for mine as well - but I did receive an email from Mr Koch regarding the lawsuit. He stated that the case is pending in the circuit court for Frederick Co, MD, and there have been no significant developments as of the beginning of the month.

You move offices, have no employees when ya get there, behind on making clients payments to creditors and cant tell them until 2 to 3 mos later..... Good Job! Great Business! I mean think about it. So many people are pissed off about this crap. Don't give them the run around be a man, take some responsibility and say you screwed up! It's not that hard!

Say it with me "I am sorry"

Thanks!

I have had all the same problems as you all have had and are still having. Mine was a dept settlememt so it took me alot longer to get wise to them. I feel so foolish for letting myself be taken like this. THey have taken $488 from me for 12 months now. I put a styop to it this week. I have faxed, e-mailed, called, over and over but no reply from anyone. I am going to try all the channels everyone else is and hope to get my money back from them. I recieved to letters from them a couple of weeks ago and one had the letter head of Law Offices of Brennan, Smith, & Associates. They also have a new company called Global Client Solutions withdrawing the money. You can view your account and transactions online so I thought it would be a good thing. It was...I found a balance of $0 with the one and only withdraw they made going to Brennan for retainer fees. That was the last straw. Has anyone been able to get through to anyone there this week?

I wrote letters to my State Attorney-Illinois. She wrote me and told me replied "accept what he sends back". Today I just got a check for $695.00. That bast... owes my $1550.00!! I have fought with this for 11 months now! It's really something this jerk can "steal" from us like this! Anyone commenting about the stealing....YES IT IS STEALING WHEN.... you sign a contract and take money BUT DON'T MAKE THE PROMISED PAYMENTS!! But because you are in the position you are in, you get away with this "STEALING"!!!

I have been calling the law office from months now. I have tried to get them to pay me the money they caused me to lose but they keep putting me and my wife off. You need to stay away from them because they will put you fruther into debt. Plus when you do debt consolidation it looks like bankruptcy when you go to buy a home and they won't help you. So.....be careful if you decide to.

youdo not retirn calls or emails or faxs call this num.419-235-38096

They are a bunch of rip off artists. I sent a cancellation letter on 02/06. They tried to tell me they never received it until 02/23. I emailed it and faxed it on 02/06. So now they drafted my account on 02/28. But they tell me they only have to have 3-5 days to cancel the draft. I have been trying with no avail to get my money back for 6 weeks. I keep getting shifted around to different people. And the reason i cancelled is that my payday loans, which is all the debt i had, say they dont negiotiate with ccca or the attys office. They are just a big rip off avoid them at all costs.

If you receive a check for partial refund, DO NOT CASH IT. I was told that this would be like you saying that you accept that amount as what you are owed and everything is settled. Please let me know if this is incorrect, but I would not take any chances.

Guest you are correct.Some states allow what is known as a restricted endorsement. If you accept funds,then you are agreeing to their proposal.I am uncertain how many states do this,but it is still legal in mine :mrgreen:

Yet again I am both angered and distressed to see MISINFORMATION being passed as fact. Debmlaw, for instance, was found by the independent auditor to be owed only $421. As a concession the law offices paid out a higher figure. Secondly, cashing the checks DOES NOT constitute acceptance of anything other than the money, unless there is additional wording to the effect of "settled in full", "payment in full", or similar language. Ripped off in VA, please contact my office if you've had a problem. Payments are only debited for those with a contract and for whom no cancellation letter or email was on file. All of the offensive staff that had been hired to deal with former CrediCure clients have been terminated. Again, I cannot stress this enough when I say this, but most people venting here WERE NOT my clients. We have striven to assist all of these former clients of CrediCure. However, for those who were in debt management plans, the only way to prevent harm was to follow the instructions on getting started with a new company. We found a group of companies that would accept the CrediCure clients. The major credit card companies agreed to the transfer so that no harm would come to these clients. Many people did not follow the instructions. We can do nothing about that. Secondly, we are slowly getting to each client in part because the negative publicity has destroyed our business. No money in means no money out. We apologize for the delays. However, we DID NOT take any clients' money. Clients who pulled their payments back took back money that was not theirs. Also, CrediCure's client accounts were behind, so that when we began placing clients with new agencies the accounts ran negative, causing missed payments. The BIG fallacy here is that the Law Offices got that money. We DID NOT. As we did not get the money, we could not simply give back what we did not have. Compounding the issue, those who did not follow instructions for the new agencies caused no money to be available for refunds for those who may have been due such. I understand the frustration as I am equally frustrated. I've leveraged everything I had to take care of these issues and it still may not be enough. I fought for consumer rights before taking on this project. It has not gone as planned. I am deeply sorry that it has not gone as planned. I only ask the misinformation to stop. This only makes a bad situation worse.

As an example to demonstrate my point:

Suppose company A takes on resolving the problems of company B. Company A makes $50,000.00 per month. It's expenses are $45,000.00 per month.

Something goes wrong and there are $150,000.00 worth of claims against company A from the actions of company B. Without any changes, company A could only pay out $5,000 per month. Suppose company A received new income from company B totaling $50,000. That still would leave $100,000.00 to be paid out with only $5,000.00 per month to cover it. It would take nearly two years to cover the entire amount.

Now if negative publicity and public campaigns against company A reduce its monthly income to $35,000.00 per month, then there is nothing available to pay out and the company is headed towards bankruptcy. Then there is zero pay out and no future ability to pay. Company A may choose to borrow money to keep up, but unless it is able to recover to at least its former income, it is only a matter of time, very short time, that it can continue until it collapses.

I hope this makes the situation more clear as to why it is imperative to get accurate information, and understand what a reasonable response is.

I'm confused. I've read through this entire post because its entertaining, almost like reading a Jerry Springer show, but I am curious about one thing. I've noticed that people keep askin Brennan's office for money that they ADMITTEDLY didn't pay to him, but to another company. I don't understand how their mind is working, thats like going to McDonalds, getting a bad burger, then driving to Burger King and demanding that they give you a refund for it. Can someone explain this to me?

They're stupid, thats all the explanation you need.

I hardly think that each person is "stupid" as you put it. Possibly their reasoning skills aren't as highly tuned as are those of most people (or maybe they are and most people just don't have good reasoning skills, I'm not a psychologist so I don't know). It just doesn't make sense to me to demand money from one company when you paid it to another company. Also, please try and be semi-polite, we're not here to slander people.

I know, this is a public board.We can have a heated discussion all day. Let's keep it civil so I don't have to break out my red pens please.

Hi Richard! It????????s so nice to see that you are responding. You are entirely right that it is imperative to get accurate information, so your clients can understand what a reasonable response is. Start with AmeriDebt.

You were hired by Jeff Formulak to reply to complaints from AmeriDebt clients. When the gravy train at AmeriDebt dried up, you, Jeff Formulak and Paul Shaffer moved operations to West Virginia under the name of Credicure ???????? an offshoot of AmeriDebt.

Credicure held 2 advantages; 1) it was located outside of Maryland, and 2) it was small enough that you could fly under the radar. To fill your clients in, prior to your exit from AmeriDebt there was heavy pressure mounting from governmental agencies ???????? Maryland????????s AG in particular. And what was the problem? Too many consumers were complaining that AmeriDebt kept their first payment.

ISN????????T IT IRONIC RICHARD THAT MORE THAN 7 YEARS LATER, YOUR CLIENTS ARE STILL COMPLAINING OF THE SAME THING?

At first Richard I had high hopes that Credicure was indeed on the up-and-up. I really believed your consumers would receive high-quality credit counseling, and the three of you had a lot of support and encouragement to make that a reality. So what happened?

Let????????s start with counseling. You misrepresented why Credicure was closed down. You lost your non-profit status because you were not counseling any clients. Credicure existed ONLY to turn a profit from your consumers???????? first payment and monthly service charges.

Which begs the question Richard, of where all the money went. Client payments are required to be deposited into a trust account, and disbursed out to their creditors within just a few days. Credicure was only entitled to the monthly service charges ($20-$50 per month, per client), and the rest of the money in the trust account shouldn????????t have been touched- not for rent, not for your Benz, and not for Jeff????????s Harley. You????????re not disputing the fact that all the money is gone, so then tell us, where did all of it go? It didn????????t go to the creditors or your clients would have creditor statements to show that payments had been made.

Can you also tell us how many of these complaints originate from the AmeriDebt ???????transferees???????? Let me refresh your memory on the chain of events;

1) Your manager Jesse called Western Union to have payments from AmeriDebt clients deposited into Credicure????????s bank account.

2) Credicure could not disburse the funds because you did not have account numbers or payment addresses for the clients???????? creditors, nor did you have an accounting system that could handle to volume of payments to be made.

3) A letter was sent to AmeriDebt clients on Credicure letterhead stating AmeriDebt was filing bankruptcy and their accounts were transferred to Credicure. The only problem was that it wasn????????t true. One version of the letter even went so far as to falsify a newspaper article to make it appear as though the information was true.

4) You defended these actions in court, all the while knowing that; clients who ???????switch??????? credit counseling programs are usually dropped and lose all benefits, and accounts that have been reaged are ineligible to be reaged again. How did you think you could send payments out on time if you didn????????t have the means to do it? Why were you not concerned about the harm that would come to those consumers?

And don????????t try to bamboozle anyone in this forum into thinking you didn????????t have any ties to Credicure, other than legal representation. You occupied an office in Credicure????????s office on Mildred Street; first or second office to the left of the front door. You communicated with creditors as an attorney working for Credicure; not as legal representation on behalf of Credicure.

The problems you cry over here in this forum are of your own making. You????????re trying to separate the Law Offices of Dick Brennan from Credicure but they are one in the same- just repackaged so you can once again fly under the radar and avoid government regulators.

A reasonable response to your consumers, now that they have accurate information, is that you are closing down the Law Offices of Richard A. Brennan. You are severing ties with Jeff Formulak and Paul Shaffer, and you will work on behalf of the clients in recovering their money. If you really do care about these consumers, why don????????t you just go legit?

You are mistaken ..he does get the monet as a withdrawl from rocky mtn bank and trust . I called them (after waiting 3 months for action)when i received a statementin my name they would not send ne money from it without ok from brennen! His office did not return my lawers or my calls ..... Rip off !!!! Sm

After wayting 3 months my lawer said cancel automatic payments.. Due to no action. Calls to rab did not help."i have no connection with ...." i received a statement from rocky mtn bank and trust showing i had money in an accout. But they would not release it to me without rab offices ok ,even though the account is in my name.. My lawer got nowhere with his people , sound like a big..rip off .. Avid at all costs ..so sue me ..

From the postings I have read on this site I would say that you probaly are the real dick. It sounds to me that you are either a disgruntled employee or maybe a disgruntled friend, I am sure from your time and effort put into these postings that you either have a government job and I am paying you to write these messages or you are lacking a REAL JOB. Neither of which would surprise me.
If you know as much as you say, and I am doubting your information somewhat because I am familiar with this situation to a degree than why waste your time hiding behind your screen name, be a man or woman like Richard and go public.
And by the way how could anyone possibly take more money than Pukke.
If you are so sure all this is going on than why haven't you done something about it? Could it be that you are hiding behind something? Makes one wonder. Don't bother to respond, I won't be checking. This is my first and last time on this site. I stumbled on it by accident and am way too busy to monitor this as you do. BYE BYE NOW!!!

Richard is that you hiding behind the screen name "gal"? Are my posts hitting a little too close to home?

You made a comment in your post that pretty revealing. You asked "and by the way how could anyone possibly take more money than Pukke,??? Do you realize that type of logic is a classic way in which people rationalize unethical behavior? The unethical often try to convince themselves and others, that what they are doing isn't really wrong because someone else has done something much worse. Do you think Credicure clients, or the clients of Richard A. Brennan would buy that logic Richard?

I do think there's some hope for you Richard ole ???gal.??? If you were comfortable with what you were doing, you wouldn't be trying to rationalize it. Come clean Richard, and please help all of these people get their money back. You say that all you've ever really wanted is to help people, so go out there and do it. It's never too late to turn a new leaf, and you'll have a much easier time looking at yourself in the mirror.

the "knowtherealdick" is right on the money!!!!!!they have done their research

I know I said I would not monitor this but I had to see if you responded. I am my own person, I do not need to hide. But I see that you do. I read it in the paper about Pukke like everyone else did, open your eyes coward, and realize that you are way too close to this situation and now you have me intrigued to identify you, I seem to know the names of the players except you. I did some research myself last night and it seems that not only do you border on the edge of defamation but also the stalking law, which by the way is easily proven these days to protect. Like someone sneaking around to find out where a persons office is or maybe trying to follow people to see what they drive and how they paid for it. I will not give my name because I am not willing to invite a stalker into my personal life, but if you are so good you have my initials figure it out. I have just one thought on who you may be. You mention the Paul guy briefly but not much on him, is that because you may be working from his information, or could it be that he is closer than a friend........? Makes one wonder. Since I am part of an investigative firm bordering the state of MD I have alot of connections and son you are way off base on some of your facts.
I am going to meet with my attroney friend and I am going to discuss this with him. I do belive the law takes defamation serious, especially to one of their own.
And by the way, a FOIA or a SUBPEONA can get all records from this sight with identifications. Or it can be done the old fashion way with a very intelligen IT person. BYE BYE NOW.

P.S. Oh, and don't insult me again by calling my a guy. I am very much a woman of means and I mean to take a stand when I need to.