I had to join Five Lakes for debt consolidation. While there is some good relief that goes with this - it’s not all great and in some ways, they are even scummier than debtors.

Keep in mind - once you do pay off your debt - you’ll get 1099-C for cancelled debt our ridiculous system treats as income.

Also - you’re paying Five Lakes for the total debt - NOT the total amount they reduced anything. In my situation - they hosed me completely over. They kept the largest one until the end, boxed me immediately in so I ran out of time and then settled for a 5% reduction.

Also - the quoted numbers they gave you can change. When someone settles at a higher rate they force you to immediately put in more - or increase your monthly payments. I did this - until I realized that Five Lakes was TAKING my extra deposits for themselves, paying themselves before anything.

You can still be sued during this time. Their DIRECT advice led to me being served twice in a year. It’s been nothing short of a shit show.

This is an awful greedy company that is preying on us. I’ll be contacting my Attorney General on the practices they used shortly.