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NPR reported recently that "the credit reporting agency TransUnion says the rate of delinquent payments - 90 days late or more - has dropped to its lowest level in 17 years." This same report stated that Americans are carrying less credit card debt and that there has been a sharp drop in delinquent payments because the banks have made it harder to get a credit card.

This is great news, but this report had nothing to say about a larger problem: Many debt settlement and mortgage loan modification companies are taking advantage of credit strapped consumers.

In the state of Washington, where we practice law, the pro-consumer Debt Adjusting Act, offers a strong avenue of relief for Washington consumers who have been duped by debt settlement and mortgage loan modification. Debt adjusting and loan modification companies doing business in Washington are mandated to limit their fee to 15% of the amount each installment submitted by the consumer to the debt adjusting and loan modification companies. These companies are also required to distribute at least 85% of each installment to the consumer's creditors.

It appears to be a widespread industry practice to ignore these and other requirements of the Debt Adjusting Act; however, consumers can use the Debt Adjusting Act to obtain a total refund of all fees (plus attorney fees) paid to companies who violate the Debt Adjusting Act. Washington residents who have been duped by these companies should act now and fight bask to protect their rights and seek a refund of their fees.

One trick that the loan modification and debt settlement scammers use all the time is to require the consumer to stop sending payments to their credit card and mortgage companies. Instead, these loan modification and debt settlement scammers often have their victim/clients send the money to them, with the false promise that they will make payments to the and negotiate directly with the credit card and mortgage companies.

Washington law places very strict (but easy to follow) requirements on how this money is distributed, and many (if not most) debt settlement and loan modifications providers fail to follow these simple requirements. Making matters far worse for people who fall victim to these scammers, many of these companies fail to do anything to help the consumer-they simply pocket the money as fees and claim nothing could be done to help the consumer.

You can fight back, and here's how.

Luckily for residents of Washington, the Debt Adjusting Act empowers victims of the debt settlement and loan modification scammers to obtain a total refund of all fees (plus attorney fees) paid to companies who violate the Debt Adjusting Act. This is a powerful statute that may help you fight back if you fell victim to these scammers.

Don't blame yourself. Fight back for your total refund!

Mark D. Walters, Walters Law Firm PLLC, and Blogger at PurpleLawyer

By Mark D Walters
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_D_Walters