ComplaintsforWhitestone Legal Group

• Initial Complaint

  01/23/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been trying to call them for a week but no matter what time it is their answering machine says to call back during normal business hours.

  Business response

  01/23/2024

  We will have someone reach out. 

• Initial Complaint

  09/13/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Since the start of my program on or around 01/31/2020, I have paid $1$ in fees. I can no longer access my contract to see where the fees went and for what? OVER 10K in fees? This is criminal what this company is doing. 4/28/23 I funded the program with $$ which was the estimate to complete (ETC) at the time. After two weeks I called in to check in the on progress of negotiating and paying off the creditors. I was told once I mad the lump sum for the ETC I should wait ***** business days. I waited a few more days and called back again, but I was still told to wait. I do believe I called in about three or four times before I was finally told it was assigned a negotiator, *******************************. When I spoke with ******* she advised me that the ball had been dropped and my file should have been assigned a negotiator immediately upon receiving the funds for the ETC. Each time I call in I am told that all of the calls are recorded, so I request that this call is pulled and reviewed for exactly what was said. I do not have an exact date of this call. While working with ******* she told me there were some files that did not have POA's with the company, some could not be found, and some had been sold and Whitestone was not on record with them so they were not informed. There are a few emails I can forward you between ******* and I were I called and located the files, found the account numbers or participated in three ways calls to allow ******* to negotiate on my behalf. I thought that POA's were filed with all of the creditors at the start of the program and I provided Whitestone with all of the documents I had received if creditors sold the accounts or sent me summons. Finally, on 06/13/2023, the first account was settled.I was overcharged fees, fees were taken and no calls to explain.

  Business response

  09/19/2023

  We have resolved this matter to the clients satisfaction. 

• Initial Complaint

  12/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My wife and I have been with Whitestone since July of 2019. Our debt was a little over ******* and we enrolled 5 accounts in the program and it was supposed to be a 4 year plan. As of today, we have paid Whitestone over ******* with only one account settle for ****** I have been emailing and calling several times over the past few months with no response. Today when I finally talked to someone I was told they switched the attorney without notifying me and we have been put out of the program with no notice, email or phone call. After, I've tried to be in constant communication with this company. And only because I called again today did I found out we were no longer in the program. I was told to reenroll I need to pay ***** up from, but have still have reserved money that they are holding. Also, they claim we were in litigation with another account and now that has been stopped and no settlements will be made. Again, never received any notification letting me know what was going on. We have wasted so much time and lost so much money with this company and still left with all this debt. I asked to speak to a manager and all she could say was I'm sorry for the Miscommunication, but there is nothing we can do. She said she sent messages to the executive team and they told her unless we came up with ***** (which we don't have because we have been literally giving them all our money). There was nothing they could do to reopen our program and she wouldn't let me speak to anyone else or even try to help us in anyway. They took all their fees out up front of course and now are unwilling to help. I have no clue if we will get any of the little money we have in reserve although it's my money and we should! the payment processing service they used which is called *********** locked us out of the account as soon as I got off the phone with Whitestone. But I do have the last statement they sent out as proof of what we've paid and had left!

  Business response

  01/30/2023

  Business Response /* (1000, 10, 2023/01/03) */ We have been unsuccessful in our attempts to reach the client so far. We will continue to reach out. Consumer Response /* (3000, 13, 2023/01/09) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I've spoken to 2 representatives and I am awaiting on them to resolve the issue. Business Response /* (4000, 15, 2023/01/16) */ We agree that the matter is not yet resolved.

• Initial Complaint

  09/06/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had cancelled my need for Whitestone Legal Group August 9th. I was unable to make payments to a creditor due to still being "represented" by another party. Whitestone failed to send a letter confirming that they no longer represented me and it resulted in my payments not being made on time and losing my agreement with the creditor. I demand to be refunded the difference as they caused this due to negligence and took over 3 weeks to send the letter after I made multiple requests. Whitestone has plenty of time and chose not to be expedient about their service costing me thousands in negotiation loss. I paid thousands of dollars to Whitestone over the years and they continued to ******** after I tried making a clean break. I called every day for two weeks to ******* trying to pay my bill and was continually told I could not until Whitestone informed ******* I was no longer represented by Whitestone. Hitting my credit with a late payment and bringing my owed debt from $6,902.63 to $14,000!!!!

  Business response

  10/14/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2022/09/29) */ We have been unsuccessful in our attempts to reach the client. We will continue to reach out to discuss a satisfactory resolution. Consumer Response /* (3000, 10, 2022/09/30) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I received one voicemail on 9/15/22 from a ******, no contact information, therefore, I could not return the call. I wouldn't consider that "attempts to reach the client". Business Response /* (4000, 12, 2022/10/03) */ We will reach out to the client again immediately.

• Initial Complaint

  07/15/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I signed up with Whitestone Legal Group over 2 year ago to help with my credit card debt. They promised to work with the credit card companies and get major reductions in what would be due to them. And with the money that I was paying them twice a month work with the credit card companies to get these taken care of. As of today 7/15/2022 Whitestone Legal Group has been paid $219.00 every 2 weeks to help pay off/reduce my credit card debt. As far as I know nothing has been paid or reduced with the money I have been paying them for over 2 years. And as of today 7/15/2022 ******** Card has frozen both my bank accounts, and no one at Whitestone is answering my calls or voicemails. I am now not able to pay ANY of my bills due to this happening. I got NO notification this was going to happen from Whitestone Legal Group. I was also told by Whitestone to NOT talk to ******** or any other creditor as they would handle everything and get the debt down for me. If I would have known they would just keep my money and do nothing with what I am paying them monthly I would have talked to the creditors myself and worked something out with them directly. I feel I have been duped and scammed out of money.

  Business response

  08/24/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2022/08/11) */ We have resolved this matter to the clients satisfaction.

• Initial Complaint

  07/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I signed up with Whitestone Legal Group in January of 2019 and agreed to pay $567 per month so I can have my debts paid off. It has been 3 and half years that I make payments on time and none of my debts have been settled. And now I recently received a summon from court that they will garnish my wages. I uploaded the court order on their portal and received an email that someone will contact me within 72 hours, no one did. I called them a few days later to find out what is going on, I was told that an attorney is handling my case and will call me back. I asked for the attorney's contact number and I was given an email address, when I asked for a phone number to speak to the attorney they told me the only contact is the email and to just email them saying that I need a callback. Who is calling me back? How do I know it is a real attorney? How come nothing was settled in over 3 years? Why I am getting my wages garnished? Why am I paying them all this money and nothing is done? If Whitestone cannot do the work I would like all my money back that i paid over the years and I will contact the credit card companies and settle with them.

  Business response

  08/08/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/07/19) */ We are working with the client to resolve the matter to their satisfaction Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/07/20) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I have to call every few days to follow up and their answer is we will expedite things with our litigation department and give us a call in 48 hours, until now nothing is resolved and my court date is approaching. I signed up for this program to have peace of mind and now it is a bigger burden knowing that my wages will be garnished. Right now I feel like I was scammed. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/07/27) */ We believe this matter is no resolved to the clients satisfaction.

• Initial Complaint

  06/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Early October 2019, I found myself in a financial bind. Unable to obtain a consolidation loan from my bank I went online and applied for one from ********************* I received a phone call in response from ****** ********** who explained that they did NOT loan money but he referred me to Whitestone Legal Group for a Debt Resolution Program (DRP) I contracted with Whitestone Legal Group for their DRP on 10/12/2019. Monthly fees of ******* were paid by an ACH to*************************** (***) for a scheduled 48 months. My Notarized limited Power Of Attorney allowed them to negotiate with 3 (three) creditors on my behalf with Whitestone's "Performance Standard" of a minimum 35% reduction in debt as a goal. Their fee was to be 19% of my debt. My obligation was to be current in payments and forward settlement offers and any legal actions to them promptly. Their contractual obligation was to work diligently on my behalf and represent me should legal action occur. A 50% settlement (from *************) offer was submitted in February 2020 and ignored by Whitestone. They did settle with************ in July 2020. I was served a Summons 10/5/2020 that I submitted unanswered and then a Subpoena 11/29/2021 that was also submitted (including emailed to my '** Attorney********************) that went unanswered. 3/17/2022 I received an Income Execution of Judgement Order... All from my ************* debt. I have requested documentation of their work on my behalf without full satisfaction and their own retained ** attorney (********* **** ******* has not had success communicating with them to settle the Judgement against me. Whitestone Legal Group's Breach of Contract, Nonfeasance, Failure to keep client informed, Misrepresentation, Failure to abide by American Bar Association Rules of Professional Conduct has resulted in my complete loss of faith in them and their program/business.

  Business response

  08/03/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2022/07/12) */ We are working with the client to resolve this matter to their satisfaction. However, the matter is not yet resolved. Consumer Response /* (3000, 10, 2022/07/14) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I have been in communication with two (2) different individuals from Whitestone Legal Group. On 6/28/22, one individual contacted me specifically about my BBB Complaint. This was later in the day after I had rejected an offer previously posed by the company representative that was supplying me with my case file records from Whitestone that included confirmation of their Nonfeasance/ Breach of Contract. The offer proposed was a full refund of fees paid but did NOT address the income execution order resolution their negligence caused. Without this included in the settlement offer, I refused. I also directed the BBB Complaint respondent to communicate with the other employee I had been working with. A follow up email on 7/11/22 about the status of resolution was immediately answered to say they were negotiating to settle the Income Execution Order and would be in touch with me later in the week (today is Thursday with no more contact). Until the income Execution/ Wage Garnishment is settled and my Fees paid fully received, my complaint is not to be listed as resolved. Business Response /* (4000, 12, 2022/07/19) */ We are working with the client to resolve his issues. However the matter is not yet resolved

• Initial Complaint

  03/29/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  It has been a few yrs. I've signed up with company to work on my depth consolidation. They are a very slow process. Until last month... I was notified by my employer they would garnish my wages. I had 2 weeks to resolve this matter. Every time I've called I seem to get transferred to a different person. No one seems to help. I was told the litigation department would contact me in a few days... never heard back. I've been paying out for the past few yrs. A fee to the attorney all their fees they provided my services for on top of my monthly fee to build my account. Every month never skipped or was I late. From what I was told now that I'm being garnished is I do not have enough funds in my account. Well maybe if someone would have reached out and said something I would not be in this situation. It has been over a month that I'm trying to resolve this matter and I still get told it's being taken care of but you need to provide more funds. How can I pay you and get garnished at the same time? It makes no sense and I literally cannot put food on the table to survive. I find Whitestone Legal Group has not done their job, has not provided me with any information, I find they have not been able to resolve my issue, I find Whitestone Legal Group at fault about my financial situation in which I want them to pay for all the money they have pocketed of fees for not doing their job!!

  Business response

  05/06/2022

  We are working with the creditor to resolve this matter. However, the matter is not yet resolved.

  Customer response

  05/12/2022

  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  I was contacted from them about 3 weeks ago. I have not heard back. Yes the matter is not resolved. Until it is I am not satisfied and still wish to move forward on their resolving this matter. I want answers and I want money back that is owed to me from them paying themselves out and not doing their job.

  Business response

  06/06/2022

  We are working to resolve this matter still

  Business response

  06/14/2022

  We are working to resolve this matter still

  Customer response

  06/15/2022

  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  There still has been no contact, no resolution to this matter. I am not happy with the situation as they are not doing anything to resolve it. Very upset that they cannot call me directly and discuss this.

  Business response

  07/16/2022

  We are working with the client to resolve this matter to their satisfaction.

  Customer response

  07/19/2022

  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  I was contacted today. Was told they are still working on case. I have not agreed to anything as I do not feel the situation is not resolved. This matter is taking way to long and I am being penalized for all at the end of it. Which is not where this will end until they come up with half of the payment for this creditor. Due to their lack of negligence and on top of having me get garnished.
  Until further notice this case is not acceptable till I get it what I want taken care of!!

• Initial Complaint

  03/14/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I was enrolled by signing a contract in a debt resolution program with Whitestone Legal Group since 05/01/2019, the total amount to consolidated was $ ********* divided between 6 creditors accounts ( 3 from Bank of America, 1 Elan Financial, 1 Bank of Bartlett and 1 Orion Bank), with the promise to save significant amount of money monthly and annually, getting out of debt in 3-4 years with one monthly payments, reducing amount of principal, interest and penalties paid back. The only 3 things I have to do was, stop paying / communication to /with my creditors, safe many to pay my creditors and forward all communication from the creditors to Whitestone Legal Group. And from 05/01/2019 Whitestone Legal Group will start working to pay off my debts through a strategy in which Whitestone negotiates with my creditors on my behalf to pay back, in a lump sum or term payments, less than the amount owed on my accounts. The steps in this process was that Whitestone will notify my creditors that I'm represented by an attorney, constant communication, create a Unique Debt Resolution Strategy to negotiate with my creditor starting with sending a Letter of Representation ( LOR ) to all my creditors after I made my first payment, and communicate with all my creditors for me. I was also promise to get litigation support services. Immediately they brought down $****** from the original amount and will take their fee for the services base on the original amount of my debts 19% of $ *********. It happened Whitestone only work on 3 of the 6 accounts enrolled in the program ( 3 from Bank of America ) , they never work or follow the contract we signed or even read any of the documents I faxed and email to they in regards the account from Elan Financial, Bank of Bartlett and Orion Bank. I'm uploading a complete document that is a continuation of the complain...

  Business response

  03/30/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/03/23) */ We have resolved this matter to their satisfaction Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2022/03/29) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

• Initial Complaint

  02/27/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I joined this debt resolution program in April 2019. The debt i was trying resolve/settle/pay was around *****$ There were a total of 6 creditors. 2 creditors i pulled out of the program and payed off myself total ****$. Since 2019 Whitestone has negotiated with only 1 creditor and that is currently being paid monthly. I have paid Whitestone a total of *********$, When i login to my account i cannot see my account balance. This company misleads you into thinking they are continually working with your creditors to resolve your debt. They are not. 2 separate times I was sued and contacted them for advice and or assistance with no response, I paid the debts myself before having to go to court. A resolution: Refund my money and release me from the program. I will pay my creditors myself.

  Business response

  03/28/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2022/03/16) */ We will reach out to the client to discuss a satisfactory resolution.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩