Is Advantage Law Debt Settlement Worth It?

Whether Advantage Law debt settlement is worth it depends on how deep your unsecured debt runs, how cooperative your creditors are likely to be, and whether you have already compared it against a nonprofit debt management plan, a consolidation loan, or bankruptcy. The program can settle credit card and other unsecured balances for less than you owe, but it takes two to four years, damages your credit, offers no shield against lawsuits, and carries no guarantee any given creditor will accept a reduced payoff.¹²

What You Actually Get When You Enroll

Advantage Law follows the standard debt settlement process. You stop paying your individual creditors and instead deposit a single monthly amount into a dedicated escrow-style account. Once that account holds enough money, the firm approaches creditors with lump-sum offers below the full balance. If a creditor accepts, the firm pays the settlement from your pooled funds. If a creditor declines, that debt stays unresolved and the firm may try again later.²

The full process typically runs two to four years, depending on the total debt, how quickly you can fund the account, and each creditor’s willingness to negotiate. Creditors are never obligated to negotiate. Some, including American Express and Discover, have a reputation for being particularly resistant to settlement offers.¹

Clients get a mobile app and a web portal to track account status, accept settlement terms, manage payments, and reach live chat support in English or Spanish.³⁴

Who Runs the Program, and Why the Structure Matters

Advantage Law is a doing-business-as name for The Law Firm of Higbee & Associates APC, a professional corporation based in Santa Ana, California and owned by attorney Mathew K. Higbee, a licensed member of the California State Bar.⁵⁶ The firm operates under several other brand names as well, including New Start Legal PC, First Source Law PC, Trident Law Group, Paramount Law, CountryWide Legal Group, Century Legal Group, and Excel Law.

The law firm structure has regulatory consequences. The FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule generally bars for-profit debt relief companies from charging any fees until they have settled at least one debt and the client has made a payment under the new terms. Attorneys who meet with clients face-to-face before enrollment are typically exempt from most TSR provisions, and many state debt settlement laws carve out licensed attorneys as well.⁷

Consumer advocates have criticized how some firms use this exemption. A 2013 Center for Responsible Lending report described debt settlement operations that affiliated with attorneys “only to provide a cover for collecting advance fees” rather than delivering real legal representation, with the client-facing work done by customer service staff.⁸ Courts have also rejected attempts by some firms to claim the TSR’s face-to-face sales exemption when the actual sales happened remotely.⁹ None of this points at Advantage Law specifically, but before enrolling it’s fair to ask directly whether an attorney at the firm would represent you if a creditor filed suit, or whether the law firm label is largely structural.

One related detail worth noting: the Advantage Law app promotes loan prequalification through Credit9, a lending subsidiary of Americor. In December 2022, the Colorado Attorney General obtained $200,000 in refunds for 262 consumers after finding Credit9 had lent to Americor customers in violation of a state law prohibiting debt management companies from lending to their own clients. Both entities were banned from enrolling new Colorado consumers for two years.¹⁰ That enforcement action involved Americor, not Advantage Law, but it’s context for the loan offer you may see inside the app.³

What It Costs

Advantage Law does not publicly disclose specific fee amounts. The firm may charge enrollment fees, monthly service fees, or a percentage of the settled debt.² Across the debt settlement industry, companies commonly charge 20% to 25% of the total enrolled debt or the final settlement amount.¹¹

Some Advantage Law clients have reported final costs that differed from the estimates they were quoted at enrollment.² Get every fee term in writing before signing.

What Clients Report

Reviews split hard. Some clients report meaningful debt reductions and a smooth experience; others describe modest savings or no results.²¹ A few patterns show up repeatedly:

Enrollment tends to draw praise. Clients describe the intake as quick and professional, with clear explanations of the process.²
Communication tends to slip afterward. A recurring complaint is inconsistent follow-up and slow updates during busy periods.²
Outcomes vary by starting point. Clients already several months behind on payments tend to report better results than those still current at enrollment, because creditors are generally more willing to settle when accounts are already delinquent.¹
Expectation mismatches drive most dissatisfaction. Clients who expected fast credit repair or an end to collection calls report the worst experiences; the process is long and collection activity can intensify during it.¹

Risks That Come With Any Debt Settlement Program

These apply to Advantage Law and to every other debt settlement operation:

Credit damage. Settled accounts are reported as “paid for less than full balance,” typically causing a meaningful score drop, and the marks stay on your credit report for up to seven years.²
Tax liability. Forgiven debt over $600 may be treated as taxable income. You could receive a 1099-C and owe tax on the amount written off, unless you qualify for an insolvency exception.²¹
No legal protection. Creditors can keep calling, add interest and late fees, and file lawsuits throughout the process.¹²
No guaranteed outcome. A creditor may refuse to settle, and you can spend years funding an escrow account without resolving that debt.¹¹

Alternatives to Price Against It

Before deciding Advantage Law is the right route, compare it against each of these:

Debt management plans through nonprofit credit counseling agencies consolidate unsecured debt into one monthly payment at reduced interest, typically over three to five years. They damage credit less than settlement and repay the principal rather than negotiating it down.¹²
Debt consolidation loans replace multiple balances with a single lower-rate loan. Principal doesn’t shrink, but payments can become manageable. This works best if your credit is still decent.¹¹
Chapter 7 bankruptcy can discharge most unsecured debt in three to six months and triggers an automatic stay that immediately stops collection calls, lawsuits, and wage garnishments. It requires passing a means test and can cost you nonexempt assets, but it may be faster and cheaper than years of settlement payments.¹²¹
Chapter 13 bankruptcy spreads repayment over three to five years, protects assets like a home, and forces creditor participation. Interest doesn’t accrue on unsecured debts during the plan.¹²

Use the FTC Rules as Your Checklist

Before enrolling with any debt settlement provider, ask for the disclosures the Telemarketing Sales Rule already requires. A legitimate operation must clearly state all fees, give a good-faith estimate of how long the program will take, tell you how much you need to save before it will make settlement offers, and warn you about credit damage, lawsuits, and accumulating interest and fees.¹³

If your money will sit in a dedicated account, you must be told that you own those funds, that you can withdraw them at any time without penalty, and that the company must return all remaining funds within seven business days if you cancel. Advertised savings figures must account for fees and for clients who dropped out of the program.⁷¹³ If a provider hedges on any of that, walk away.

1
Get Out of Debt. Unpacking Advantage Law Debt Settlement Reviews
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BBB. The Law Firm of Higbee & Associates APC
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State Bar of California. Mathew Kidman Higbee, Bar No. 241380
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FTC. Debt Relief Services and the Telemarketing Sales Rule
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Center for Responsible Lending. Debt Settlement Firms Adopt Attorney Model to Evade State and Federal Rules
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Bankrate. Attorney Model Debt Settlement
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Law Week Colorado. Colorado to Get $200K in Refunds for Americor and Credit9 Consumers
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InCharge. Debt Consolidation vs. Debt Settlement
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Debt.org. Bankruptcy vs. Debt Settlement
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FTC. Debt Relief Services and the Telemarketing Sales Rule – A Guide for Business