Freedom Debt Relief vs National Debt Relief
Freedom Debt Relief and National Debt Relief are two top companies in the debt relief industry. Both service about 40 states across the United States and hold a number of industry accreditations to support their legitimacy.
Both have a minimum debt requirement of $7,500. This means that if you owe a smaller amount of debt than this to a credit card company or other creditor, neither of these companies will be able to take your case.
The two companies’ differences lie mainly in their pricing and state availability, which is detailed more thoroughly below.
Overview
Freedom Debt Relief
Undisclosed
$7,500
Debt Settlement, Free Consultation
AFCC, IAPDA
No
22 Years
National Debt Relief
N/A
$7,500
Free Consultation, Debt Settlement
AFCC
No
15 Years
Ratings
Freedom Debt Relief
National Debt Relief
Reviews
Freedom Debt Relief
Reviews
National Debt Relief
Reviews for Freedom Debt Relief
Helpful Favorable Review
Cinda Staley
May 7th, 2024
La Verne, CA
Verified Customer
Review Source
I have always found great help from the customer service representatives at this company. They have guided me through understanding my account and resolving issues, including a fraud incident that left me with a large credit card balance. They provided a solution that I didn't know existed, easing my worries. Their assistance has been timely and thorough, answering all my questions and addressing my debt efficiently. I appreciate their support and feel confident in their service.
Helpful Critical Review
Tammy
May 7th, 2024
Verified Customer
Review Source
I recently had a mixed experience with this service. There were times when I received helpful assistance and other times when I felt ignored. It was frustrating when I encountered someone who seemed indifferent to my needs. Overall, the inconsistency made it difficult to rely on this service. I found myself feeling like my time was wasted.
Reviews for National Debt Relief
Helpful Favorable Review
Tammy Myers
May 6th, 2024
DETAILS
Review Source
They take the stress off of me trying to figure out who and what to pay. I make one payment and they talk to the creditors. It releases the rest of my money to save and/or fix things that I have been unable to take care of before.
Helpful Critical Review
Lisa Jones
April 15th, 2024
DETAILS
Very slow with making settlement arrangements and payments. There are hidden fees that were not mentioned upon signing with NDR. Creditors are calling me asking to settle because no one from NDR has called. But yet. I deposit money every two weeks in my account. This is the worst decision I ever made
The Final Word
Company Experience and Expertise (Winner: Freedom Debt Relief)
Freedom Debt Relief has been in business since 2002, while National Debt Relief started offering its services in 2009. Thus, Freedom’s team has seven extra years of experience over National Debt’s.
Both companies are members of the AFCC, and Freedom Debt is even a founding member.
User Experience (Winner: Freedom Debt Relief)
User experience is determined using sentiment from customer reviews and by evaluating ease of website use. To start, Freedom Debt has over 14,000 positive user reviews on BestCompany.com and also offers a user-friendly client dashboard that customers love. For these reasons, it wins the user experience category.
State Availability (Winner: National Debt Relief)
National Debt Relief offers its services in 41 states and territories, while Freedom Debt operates in about 75 percent of the country, or around 38–40 states.
National Debt Relief also wins this category because it more clearly communicates the states in which it does not offer its services: Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont, and West Virginia.
We cannot find a list of the states not serviced by Freedom Debt Relief, and we would like to see more transparency here so that potential clients can quickly determine if FDR services their state or not.
Cost (Winner: Freedom Debt Relief)
The range of enrolled debt that FDR typically charges for its services is between 15 and 25 percent, while the range for National Debt Relief ranges from 18 to 25 percent. Thus, Freedom Debt wins this category because its minimum cost runs slightly lower than that of National Debt.
However, in general, both companies average charging between 20 and 22 percent of total debt, so they are also fairly equal in this category.
Minimum Debt Requirement (Winner: Tie)
Both Freedom Debt and National Debt have minimum debt requirements of $7,500. However, National Debt Relief does include a section on its website of previous cases it has settled, and some of the enrolled amounts are smaller than $7,500, so there may be exceptions to its rule.
We recommend scheduling a free consultation with one or both companies and communicating how much debt you are hoping to enroll, so the company can determine if you are eligible for its services or not.
Freedom Debt Relief vs. National Debt Relief: Which Is Better?
We are very impressed with both Freedom Debt Relief and National Debt Relief. Both have hundreds of positive customer reviews, both hold industry accreditations, and both offer services to the majority of the United States.
While National Debt Relief is a little more clear on its state availability, it has less overall reviews than Freedom Debt Relief and its costs start out a little higher than Freedom’s (18 percent vs 15 percent).
We also prefer Freedom Debt Relief’s user experience and recognize its longer time in business has given the company more time to establish a positive reputation and relationship with clients.
For these reasons, our top pick in this comparison is Freedom Debt Relief, but we also recommend National Debt Relief if it operates in your state and you feel confident after your initial consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a debt relief program?
Debt relief can come in two main forms: debt settlement or debt consolidation.
With debt settlement, you work with a debt relief company that negotiates with your creditors on your behalf to settle your debts for less than you owe. You then pay the debt relief company settlement fees, and pay off your debt once a settlement amount has been agreed upon.
With debt consolidation, you receive a loan from a debt consolidation loan company that allows you to pay off your existing debt. Then, because of your loan, you are now in debt to the loan company, but you can now focus all of your energy to pay off that loan, rather than paying off multiple creditors at once.
This option does not reduce the total amount of debt you owe, but rather just consolidates it in one place so that it is easier to keep track of.
How does Freedom Debt Relief work?
Freedom Debt Relief doesn't charge an upfront fee or any other fees until after debt is settled with creditors. This practice is standard for the industry. Debt relief companies, like National Debt Relief and Pacific Debt, also do not have upfront fees.
Upon enrollment, customers will open an FDIC-insured bank account that the client controls. Clients will put all of their money that would have gone toward paying their debt into this bank account instead. This is the main reason why this program hurts your credit score more than debt consolidation.
Next, FDR or its representatives or agents will negotiate with your creditors to settle on debt to pay.
Freedom Debt Relief makes money by charging fees on the enrolled debt amount. Its average fees are a bit high (around 22 percent fees on enrolled debt), but its services are thorough.
The company's ability to help clients find an easier road to financial freedom and paying off debt is highly valuable.
How does National Debt Relief work?
The debt settlement program or settlement process at National Debt Relief is three-way; it involves the debtor (you), the settlement company, and the creditors.
With NDR, customers can expect to settle any type of unsecured debt (student loan debt, medical debt, credit card debt, etc.). Unsecured debt does not have any property attached to it as collateral (such as home loan debt or car loan debt).
It is important for customers to carefully monitor their credit score and credit report. Note that the nature of debt settlement will involve moderate to heavy penalties on your credit score.
Debt settlement companies generally have clients stop making payments so that the lenders become more willing to start debt negotiation. Stopping to make even minimum payments will affect your credit.
Instead, clients pay money into a savings account each month. The money in the account will be used in the settlement agreements with creditors. Once the debt is settled, the client's credit report will show that the debts were settled, not paid in full.
The challenge for the settlement company is to weigh the debtors present and future financial situation against the patience and requirements of the creditors. The fact that NDR is generally providing quality customer service while navigating the testy relationship between the creditors and debtors is significant.
