Personal Memo from David Leuthold, CEO of Century Negotiations, Inc.  February 1, 2010

If you are a consumer who is considering entering into a debt settlement program that includes Century Negotiations servicing your accounts and negotiating settlements with your creditors, I understand your hesitancy in placing your faith in a company that has an “F” rating from the BBB. Believe me, WE are dismayed at this rating, but we also are adamant that this rating is not deserved based on past and current practices and results we are achieving for our clients.

All I am asking is that you consider the facts instead of just dismissing us based on that rating.  

The BBB has taken to rating companies in large part due to the industry they are in instead of on a business by business basis based on the BBB Code of Business Practices. Our business practices, if anything, have improved over the years. Take a look at our complaint record, which we believe is really good considering that we are working with over 15,000 clients.

We at CNI take the BBB standards seriously, and have done so since joining the BBB in November, 2003. In fact, we have consistently enjoyed a good rating from the BBB for the past 6 years. You can see copies of those ratings as taken directly from the BBB web site. Our good business practices have resulted in the growth of our business from an average monthly client base of 1,300 in 2003 to nearly 16,000 today.

In regards to working within the BBB Code of Business Practices, I feel that CNI is performing admirably.

• It is through the trust we have built in the marketplace that has seen our significant growth over the past number of years.
• We do abide by FTC and industry standards for advertising and selling.
• Our contracts with consumers provide even more disclosures than is required by any State regarding their debt settlement program.
• Through our business practices of complete transparency and disclosure, at several points before being accepted into the program, we have assurance from the client that they understand all aspects of their program.
• Not only do we abide by the agreements signed by the consumer, you can see from our track record with complaints filed against us that we do make every effort to correct any mistakes in a prompt and professional manner.
• We have spent countless hours and dollars assuring our client’s privacy, and are a leader in our industry in attempting to bring integrity to a relatively new and often unregulated industry.  The latter was a primary reason for me co-founding TASC and more recently accepting the position of Executive Director.

In addition to the Code of Business Practices, the BBB assigns ratings based upon 15 categories, the vast majority in which CNI excels, especially in the area of consumer complaints. Our staff has helped thousands of consumers complete their debt settlement program. We currently are settling over $2 million of debt each week for our consumers. The vast majority (approximately 83%) of our account settlements are for under 40% of the balance owed. We have hundreds and hundreds of client testimonials that we could bring to the table.

The above arguments were a part of my plea for a decent rating from the BBB. Of course, you can see where all of our success did not impress the BBB. We believe our track record shows that we can help consumers successfully complete their settlement program. We would appreciate the opportunity to help you work through your current situation.