ComplaintsforOption 1 Legal

• Initial Complaint

  04/10/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I hired Otion1leagl to resolve my credit card debt in July 2019. This debt was to be resolved in 48 months with a monthly payment of $481.64. As of today (4/10/2024) they continue to take $481.64 out of my bank account 56 months after they were hired with very little action taken on resolving my debt. I have no access to my client portal on their website and when I call their customer service center during business hours the phone message says they are not open and hangs up even though I am calling during their business hours. I want to terminate all business with this company and the money they have collected and not applied to my account for debt settlements to be returned in full.

• Initial Complaint

  01/26/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  So, this all started when I filed for divorce in 2019. I had accumulated approx. 34k in credit card debt in the 2 yrs I was married. It was 3 or 4 different cards that we had used to make improvements on our home. I had a credit score of 800 and each card had a 12-18 month interest free promotional period. When my husband moved out I was afraid I wouldn't be able to pay off the balances in time. My income was now cut in half and im a single mother of 3 children and 3 large breed dogs with a rather big property to keep up. I came across O1L on-line and gave them a call. Two people came to my home on 9-10-2019 and assured me they would help. I agreed to pay $499.17/month for 4 yrs to pay all my debt. The 1st payment was automatically withdrawal from my bank account on 11/27/19. I ******* paid the same amount every month since then with the last payment being 8/24/23. After that payment I canceled with the company and am no longer able to access my account. They did tell me that my credit score would drop in the 1st 6 months until I had enough money in my account to negotiate and start payments to my creditors. But assured me it would go up again as my debt was paid. Today is 1/24/24. I now have a credit score of 445. My house in in pre-forclosure and I still owe collections $17,642 which they assured me would be paid by now. I have recently filed for bankruptcy and my lawyer told me I have a lawsuit pending from 1 of my creditors that was never addressed 2 yrs ago. I was appointed a personal lawyer, **** ***** that I haven't been able to reach the last 4 yrs. ****************************. My account # **************** These people waited 2 yrs before taking any action on my account and advised me to not make any payments except to them. So when they finally started negotiating, I had already hit my interest mark. I want my credit fixed and my money back. I'm having a very hard time right now. I'd also like to see this company shut down ruin more lives.

• Initial Complaint

  07/20/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  In 2019 I hired Option 1 Legal/****** ****** ********* (Debt Relief Agency) to help me consolidate & payoff my debts. They indicated to not make any more payments to any of the credit companies from there on since they were going to take over all payments. I paid them monthly installments for them to pay off my debts once they reached a settlement. In 2022 I fired OPTION 1 LEGAL/****** ****** ********* after 3 years of paying >$550/mo for their services & for my bucket of money for payments to creditors, b/c they were not reaching any kind of settlement with most of the creditors. I believe they only reached a settlement with ONE creditor that was a low debt. They wouldn't return my calls, & I was unable to reach the lawyer in charge of my case. I couldn't get past the general cust serv person. I called 1 of these creditors myself & reached a settlement within ten minutes (***** ****). I also reached out to the other debtors & started making payments directly to them instead. I achieved these settlements WITHIN WEEKS. The creditors I reached out to & came to a settlement agreement by myself were for ******, ****** ********, ******, ****** ********* -all under ********* **** -, & *****. I am also in the process of paying off ******. That’s >$20K that this company took from me without actually doing anything for me. Once I stopped services, they cut me off from access to their portal so I was unable to log in to my acct or reach anyone. Since I couldn't login anymore & they refused to restore my access I was unable to find out any specifics about my accounts. On more than 1 occasion I called & requested to have info on my acct mailed to me, & although they assured me that they would, they didn’t. They also refused to give me info over the phone. My credit took a HUGE hit b/c of their lack of payments, & it’s affected my life severely. I am seeking compensation for this fraud where they pretend to represent you but they don’t do anything other than take your money

  Business response

  07/28/2023

  We are working to resolve this complaint with the client. 

  Customer response

  08/04/2023

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and we have not reached a final resolution. I'm currently out of the country and I haven't received another call from them yet.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ********

  Business response

  08/07/2023

  The matter has been resolved to the client's satisfaction.  The refund is in process and should arrive in 7-15 days.  

• Initial Complaint

  06/20/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  So I have been with Option Legal since 2019. It stated it would get my credit card debt paid off by May of 2023. I have been paying consistently every month. I got a phone call in March stating they would be stopping the payment in May. I had one credit card they had not done anything with. I wish I would have print more when I open the app. As now has only paid 4 cards and removed the 5th one and I can not get the contract to open as it was password protected and I don't remember the password. I have send multiple emails and no one has responded. I am need to know what credit card will now be trying to go after me because it was not paid off with my money by Option Legal 1. I would like someone form Legal 1 to give me a call and fix and take care of the Credit card payments. They took a lot of money from me with the fees that are being taking out and shared with Option 1 & ****** *******.

  Business response

  06/20/2023

  We are working to resolve the issues raised by this client.  

• Initial Complaint

  05/09/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This company had a "salesman" tell me a bunch of lies basically and/or not the truth of how the program works. I had great credit and paid all my bills but I had been very sick with ******* ***** ******* ***** and nearly didn't survive. In fact I had a long recovery ahead and didn't need any stress per my Dr. I was heading home from physical therapy when the "salesman" told me everything I wanted to hear like they negotiate and I would not have to pay just a little of each card. I had 4 cards that I thought well I will just let them pay them like he explained to me. I didn't know they would totally butcher my credit and did nothing with any of my cards for more than 7 months. No one contacted me or did anything with my cards. Then two of the cards were sent to law offices and sent papers to sue me. I couldn't believe this. I thought they were taking care of these cards and they were drafting 416.28 dollars out of my checking account every month. It is only for a few months over 3 years but there is no way they will have these paid off and I can't keep going with them drafting this money. This is nothing how it was explained to me and I can't afford to get sick and this stress can set it off. In over two years of payments my money has paid off one card less than 3000 dollars and the rest to them for "fees" I can't keep going on for extra months. They are accepting settlements that I dont approve. I gave them balances and they kept adding on fees and interest and no payments and so they want to accept settlements that are more than the balances that were on the cards when this program started. It was explained to me that they would take on these cards and negotiate with the companies but instead nothing done and my balances ballooned and my credit ruined. One card I could have negotiated for almost 2,000 dollars less than their settlement and I refused that one but they went ahead and accepted it. I really believed in this company and now I really feel cheated.

  Business response

  05/09/2023

  We will reach out to the client in an effort to resolve this matter to her satisfaction.  

• Initial Complaint

  04/04/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was a customer of Option 1 Legal to resolve my debt from 2018 until 2021 with contract to resolve my debt within 36 months. Every month Option 1 Legal collected 524 dollars from my checking account for 36 months. I included several debts and most of them were resolved within the program. However, two creditors were not. One unresolved creditor filed civil case against me despite me being in the program where as result my earnings were garnished from my salary. The Option 1 Legal refused to refund me money. Second creditor was never resolved by Option 1 Legal despite the fact that 36 months of my of program has passed. Option 1 Legal tried to collect my money from my checking account after 36 months have passed despite the fact that we agreed on 36 months program and additionally I had to call them to request no more withdraws from my checking account. Despite my request (that was noted and confirmed by Option 1 Legal) they still attempted to collect my money from my checking account. I had to put global stop payment at my bank to stop their attempts. Their customer service is horrible, they do not take responsibility for false advertisement of their services and I ended up paying myself for two creditors (one creditor as result of court case and wages garnished). I would like to add that they convinced me to add additional payments during the program to increase my chances of resolving debts. None of additional payments resulted in debt reduction. ****** *******

  Business response

  04/04/2023

  We will review and contact the client. 

  Customer response

  04/10/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  It is not a response but rather promise to respond.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *******

  Business response

  07/06/2023

  The client agreed to a refund to resolve the matter. 

• Initial Complaint

  03/03/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My contract was complete in October but they kept taking money out of my checking. I had to do a stop payment. This company is so crooked. I never received my reimbursement. This company should be shut down.

  Business response

  03/10/2023

  We will reach out to the client to discuss the matter. 

• Initial Complaint

  02/16/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Option 1 legal is a debt consolidation service, unfortunately I'm currently being sued by my debtors, and zero payments have been made. I have given Option One Legal about $5,000 over the past few years, and apparently they just kept all of it. They told me not to respond to any correspondence, and that they would handle all communication, but now my Option One Legal online login no longer works, and none of my debts have been paid. The reason for the long delay in my complaint is because I had requested a hiatus in payments, which Option One Legal had acquiesced to in the past without any issue. I recently got a new job and was about to resume payments when I discovered my login credentials were no longer valid, and no longer had access to my account with Option One Legal.

  Business response

  02/24/2023

  We will reach out to the client to discuss a resolution. 

• Initial Complaint

  02/13/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I used Option 1 Legal to pay off some credit card debt I had, I paid 365 dollars for over 3 years and still owe several thousand dollars, they only resolved 8799.00 of my debt and I originally owed over 19,000 dollars and I have paid them over 13,000 dollars and now they are wanting me to pay another 7000 dollars for 25 months, I am 65 years old and only make 1100 a month in social security. I was totally lied too and this company is a total scam and to treat people and a senior citizen at that like this is crazy. I warn everyone never to use this company, I really wish I had of checked more into this before signing up.

  Business response

  02/17/2023

  This matter has been resolved to the client's satisfaction.

  Customer response

  03/02/2023

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** * ****

• Initial Complaint

  02/13/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I contracted with Option 1 in June of 2019 to resolve credit card debts using their program and they would represent me with my creditors. I made monthly payments in the amount of $341.97 until November of 2022, when my program was supposed to end and the debts resolved. They, then, continued to draw, monthly $241.75 without telling me why they needed funds to satisfy a debt that was already resolved. In November, according to their portal and a conversation with a representative, the "*********" debt was resolved and my program was supposed to have ended. According to the statement that they have issued me, they have paid, on my behalf to the collection agency ***** *** ******* a total of $6031.25. The settlement was supposed to be $5790. I have made repeated calls, only to receive lip service and no one seems to want to do anything to resolve this matter. The lawyer who was assigned to my case, is no longer working on it and won't fill out a single form to release power of attorney so another lawyer can help. Every time I call, I speak with a different person, who promises results and do nothing. In December, I was given a wage garnishment saying the terms of the settlement had been somehow breached and I was now responsible for the entire debt. I have paid to Option 1 the amount of $16009.11 according to their statements and my bank. They have settled exactly one debt for approximately $2400. They have paid $6031.25 to the second debt, which has now reverted back to the original amount due to their mishandling. I cannot gain access to the creditor to resolve this on my own and Option 1's response is that they are going to renegotiate the debt which should have already been resolved because I have paid it. So they have my money and neither the creditor or myself has been satisfied.

  Business response

  02/21/2023

  We are working to resolve this complaint with the client. 

  Customer response

  03/03/2023

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** *********

*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. ↩