Completely scam. Took 15k and never settled any accounts. Now avoiding refund and all communication attempts.
Response from Citizens Debt ReliefOct 14, 2026
We're sorry to hear you're unhappy. Our negotiators have reached settlements on several of your accounts, with significant savings, and we understand there are open questions about your account. A member of our team will reach out to you directly to go over everything, and you're welcome to contact us anytime.
AH
Allanna H.
UPDATE
UPDATE: WARNING!! NOT AS DESCRIBED
I was let out of my contract with Citizens Debt Relief. However, after further review it was determined that the numbers did not match. It was reported that payments were being made but once the accounts were transferred the money paid it seemed to DISAPPEAR. One account listed 676 paid in, another 472.00 just to name a couple. They received 800 dollars in payment from these two accounts also. I am starting over from scratch with all these accounts. As a single mother this is heartbreaking to experience this kind of loss of funds. I have to just be honest that I paid them for nothing. So I lost almost 5,000 dollars in fees and "payments no one can find" to Citizens Debt for services I did not receive.
I cannot recommend Citizens Debt Relief based on my personal experience.
I enrolled in the program JULY 2024 believing they would prioritize resolving my debts and negotiating with my creditors. Instead, after reviewing my account, I discovered that I paid $2,232 in fees, while only $2,100 of my funds was actually paid toward my creditors. Seeing more paid in fees than applied to my debt was extremely disappointing.
Despite making payments into the program, I continued to face collection activity, and some of my debts remained unresolved. After 2 years, only 1 account had be resolved. This left me questioning whether my financial interests were truly being prioritized.
Communication and follow-up were also frustrating. When I needed answers about my account and concerns, I did not receive the level of responsiveness I expected from a company entrusted with helping people through difficult financial situations.
If you're considering this company, I encourage you to carefully review how fees are assessed, monitor where your money is being applied, and ask detailed questions before enrolling.
This review reflects my personal experience and the information contained in my account records.
Response from Citizens Debt ReliefOct 15, 2026
Allanna, we're sorry for the frustration you've experienced and that things didn't feel clear or supported enough along the way. We take concerns like yours seriously. A member of our client services team will reach out to you directly to review what happened and help however we can. You're also welcome to contact us anytime so we can continue this conversation privately.
MG
Michelle G.
Bad company full of liars & crooks.
This company is awful and full or liars. We made the bad decision to trust these people and it has hurt us so much. They rarely answer the phone and when they do, they spew lie after lie. Alex Ordonez told me my debt would be paid off within a few months of getting a loan, it definitely was not. Thomas Fischer wasn't any better. After giving this horrible company thousands of dollars, we're going to end up paying way MORE than our original debt was. Stay away from this company if you want to keep your credit score decent and so you don't end up paying more than you originally owed. Work directly with the creditors, that will work out much better in your favor.
JE
Jenna
Worse Then Where I Started
Have been making payments to CDR for about 3 years now, & I have no idea what’s going on with my payments. The statement that I get from the payment processor says they’ve taken more in fees than they’ve paid on my debts. I still get regular notices about one of my accounts being delinquent. I’ve called, emailed, opened cases on their website, & I can’t get ahold of anyone. No one ever gets back to me. I don’t know what’s going on, but it smells like a scam to me. Will be stopping my payments if I don’t hear back.
SB
Scott B.
Questionable Business Practices and Horrible Customer Service
Read the positive reviews and notice first and last names mentioned - it's a pattern that may point to the reviews being somewhat manufactured.
My experience aligns strongly with the other negative reviews. Poor/non-existent communication after I declined their loan offer for estimated settlement amounts. Attempts to negotiate essentially stopped after that, as well.
Not only did Citizens fail to handle the majority of the enrolled accounts, but they also significantly overcharged us fees which are stated in the agreement to be 25% of the original debt amount of settled accounts. Despite tireless efforts to contact customer service and being passed around to no less then four different "supervisors", we made little to no progress getting the overcharged fees returned to us. Additionally, the funds we built up were pulled out of the account we had visibility into and moved elsewhere. I believe they do this to generate additional revenue through interest bearing accounts they control.
It took a negative Trustpilot review to finally get someone engaged who genuinely seemed to want to get things straightened out. The overcharged fees would be used to pay the negotiated amounts in lump sums (yes, we were overcharged that much) and we would receive a full accounting of funds that went in and out, but only if we removed the negative review. Review removed and explicit expectations were set. A month later, it was if we never had the conversation. After much effort and complaints to state and federal consumer protection groups, we finally received confirmation that settled accounts were paid off. We are still waiting for that document detailing exactly where our money went. We believe we have suffered damages from the additional financial hardship we endured due to Citizens' poor, if not shady, handling of our account. We are currently in discussions with an attorney to determine what options we have to be made whole. We did receive acceptable outcomes on 1/3 of the accounts enrolled which is why I gave two stars.
If you're willing to take a loan out with them, you may want to consider their services and may have a better experience than I did, but I strongly advise you keep excellent records of all your conversations
CU
CUSTOMER
This was the worst experience I've ever…
This was the worst experience I've ever had!!! This company has taken over $4k and has not settled any of my accounts. I've made several attempts to contact a supervisor to pay off the program and i have not gotten any call backs!! There has been no resolution in over 2yrs now, They keep you in the program to charge fees without closing out any accounts. I highly recommend NOT dealing with this scam of a company!!
JO
Jonny
Truly a let down, do it yourself.
Truly a let down and could have done myself, just go to court when bank has court date. Negotiate than and be done. Still waiting for letter’s showing paid off. I completed my pay in 11 months ago and only 3 they had to deal with. No consistency and I am sorry lied too on who was following up and communicating back. I have never been called in 53 months, I always have to call and that is a joke. 7 case numbers with a 24 hour promised response, have heard from them. Nope again had to spend time texting and waiting.
SO DO IT YOURSELF NO NEED FOR THIRD WEAK PARTNER. I didn’t save a dime. Does anyone else think Reliant the statement company is a true joke. I wish I could call Saul on this confusing invoice/statement.
MR
maren R.
Please don’t do this
After about year and a half I went to the bank and learned they had not paid on my cards one company said they had never been contacted by them now I am sitting with a worse credit rating than when I started and a larger debt from the added interest I am 73 years old I can’t recover from this
Response from Citizens Debt ReliefJun 2, 2026
Thank you for sharing your feedback, Mr. Retzlaff. We are sorry to hear about your concerns and understand how frustrating this situation must feel.
After reviewing your account, we can confirm that there are multiple accounts that have been successfully settled through the program. We would appreciate the opportunity to discuss your file with you directly and provide an update regarding the work that has been completed, as well as address any questions you may have regarding your enrolled accounts.
Please contact our office at your earliest convenience so that a member of our team can review your account with you in detail and work toward resolving any outstanding concerns. We value your participation in the program and would welcome the opportunity to speak with you directly.
We look forward to hearing from you soon.