Citizens Debt Relief (www.citizensdebtrelief.com) has a 4.0 out of 5 rating on OK.one, based on 100 user reviews collected here. It is listed under Money & Insurance and its reputation is good. 22% of reviews are 1 star, a relatively high share; The business has replied to 23% of negative reviews; 75 of them were added in the last 12 months. Last updated 2026-08-30.
What reviewers say
AI generated
Reviewers had a great experience with this company. Customers frequently praise the helpful and knowledgeable staff for guiding them through the debt relief process with incredible patience and very clear explanations. People deeply appreciate the supportive customer service, noting that representatives make them feel truly comfortable and confident during extremely stressful financial times.
However, some reviewers were not happy with the communication and support, mentioning ongoing difficulties in reaching anyone via phone or email for assistance. A few other people also felt that the overall debt settlement process did not meet expectations, pointing out persistent issues with accounts and a lack of follow-up.
Auto-generated from all reviews of this business. For reference only.
I trusted Citizens Debt Relief with $5,836.02 to help manage and settle my debts. Instead, they failed to pay my creditors, which led to attorney involvement and a wage garnishment that now takes $484 from every paycheck. One creditor added $2,352 in interest because CDR never contacted them.
They ignored me for over a month until I filed a BBB complaint. After that, they briefly communicated, admitted fault, and agreed to send me $450 per month to help with the damage they caused. They made a few payments and then stopped without warning. No explanation. No response. Nothing.
They have not replied to my emails, including the one about the attorney now pursuing collections. Aside from one recent payment to a single creditor, they did not pay any of the accounts they were contracted to handle.
I’m sharing this so others know what happened before trusting this company with their finances.
I found CDR trying to get out of a bad situation that fell upon me. From the beginning of my experience, Ethan Edelson proved to me that it was more than just another customer he had to deal with. Ethan was extremely communicative and understanding as I explained my situation. Over the months I’ve been enrolled, Ethan has remained in contact with me, just checking in to make sure everything is well. I am now on a track for success, all thanks to Ethan!
Talking to Brandon was very helpful and easy to make my decision. Brandon was good explaining everything that I needed to know. Hopefully I won't regret my decision.
They are very helpful. Easy to communicate. One of the person. I talked. Mr. Alexander. He is very very nice. He helped you a lot of everything. He explained clearly every step and I am so glad. And it’s Big health for me.
Mr. Turner was very knowledgeable and very polite throughout the entire process and informed me about every step that would happen. It was very easy to switch from my previous debt consolidation company to Citizens. I have no regrets. I highly recommend Citizens Debt relief.
Reply from Citizens Debt Relief2026-04-03
All of our consultants are IAPDA certified. Thanks for sharing
I was enrolled a couple of years ago, and the agent who enrolled me said I would be committing to a 60-month term. Boy was I wrong. I was able to pay larger sums with no penalties and was done with paying off all my lenders with more than a 50% reduction on each account. If I had done this directly with the lenders I would have incurred fees just to pay them off faster. This is a great option to get out of debt fast without paying big banks lots of useless fees. Thanks CDR
Reply from Citizens Debt Relief2026-04-03
Thank you! One of the main benefits of the program is you can pre pay :)
I have had past experiences with two companies in the same business providing the very same services. CDR is a completely different refreshing experience due to ALEX GAROFALO and the Customer Service Department. All my questions where answered with one conversation and my confidence regained that progress was restored towards meeting my goals.
I was with this company for some time with a few accounts. I had some fraud regarding my debt and had been waiting to hear back. In time, most of my accounts got cleared. While I was with CDR, communication had been great. I would get email responses instantly. I was sent a summons and they continuously made me feel at ease. It was a tough time for me and it made a big difference. After my debts were cleared, they were going through some changes within the company but they contacted me and sent me my refund. I’m grateful for them. If you have debt, you’ll be happy you contacted this one. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
I could not be happier with my representative, Brandon Turner. Throughout the entire process, over the last 18 months has been there for me when I asked. He’s given me advice and guided me to the right department and persons when needed.
Since I’ve enrolled, more than half of my accounts have been settled with lenders, with an average reduction of 65% off the original balances.
The first 6 months or so were pretty stressful. But once the settlements started coming in, I could see why this company is one of the highest-rated debt relief companies. These folks know their stuff.
If you are having trouble managing your unsecured debt take it from me and give these folks a call. You won’t be sorry you did.
Brandon has been great! He constantly stays in contact with me AND he has already gotten 2 settlements for me at an extremely low offer. I'm so happy to be signed up with Citizens.
The presentation of Citizens financial is really professional. Their support team always picks up the phone and they are there to support your process. The director of the company personally reached out when I had a change of plans and all in all debt solutions should be a final resort if you are in a problematic situation.
SCAM! Whatever you do, do not use Citizens Debt Relief
Whatever you do, do not use Citizens Debt Relief. They are a scam. You can do better negotiating with your creditors on your own. If you absolutely need someone to represent you find a local lawyer that deals with debt issues. A lawyer will be cheaper!. I wish we had done this but didn’t know we could go that route at the time.
Here’s how they work(or didn’t work):
I gave them 3 creditors to negotiate with( $26k of total debt). They said they would negotiate them down to $19k total for which I would start paying $471/mo right away to build up funds. After 16mo I learned through my creditors that Citizens had made zero effort to negotiate or even contact them. On top of that, I negotiated directly with my creditors down to $13k on my own. When I told Citizens about this they didn’t know what to say except that I would still have to pay the $19k. Why would I pay $6k more than I needed to for your service I replied. This went on for a while(weeks) cause I was unable to get in touch with anyone at Citizens. (Once you question their process they will no longer answer your calls). In the mean time we received a court summons from a creditor, which would likely put our home ownership in jeopardy. So I closed my Citizens account(took 3 weeks to do something that takes them 5min cause no one would answer my calls), and demanded back my money that’s supposed to be sitting in an escrow account. They told me it would take 20-30 business days to refund me. It’s been 29-32 business days depending on which holidays they count and no funds yet. As a matter of fact my wife and I have called them at least 5x a week in the last 4weeks and not one call was answered, voicemail returned, or email replied to.
They will take advantage of you in your time of need, if they actually negotiate for you may pay a little less on you debt but you’ll save a whole lot more money and time negotiating with your creditors yourself. They have made our situation a lot worse. Now we’re fighting for our home. They could care less.
Absolute horrible experience. Said several things that never happened. In the end they had me pull a loan that didnt cover all of the debt and told me to lie to the creditor about it. So overall instead of dropping the amount of debt they said in the beginning they raised my debt after 15 months to almost 15,000 more than what we originally signed. I tried to cancel and they pushed through three more "negotiations" which were what I was offered as settlements by mail and then on top they took their commissions for not doing a fu**ing think.. This company is worthless and a complete scam.. Now we have more debt, our credit is completely ruined, they took money for shit negotiations that were worse than what I was offered and stuck me with another loan for 600 more per month than what I was paying. I hope the company gets sued, would gladly join the lawsuit. NOW, I have a law firm representing me from all the lies and potential lawsuits they bestowed upon me and my family for their false scams and unethical business practices.
THIS IS A SCAM PROMISES PROMISES AND… CITIZENS THEFT AT ITS BEST
THIS IS A SCAM PROMISES PROMISES AND QUOTES ALL LIES I WANTED OUT OF THIS MESS AND NOW THEY WILL NOT RETURN MY MONEY. THEY HAVE NOT DONE ANY NEGOTIATING AT ALL. VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH THIS COMPANY. BEWARE OF LIES AND PROMISES. TODD STEINHAUS YOU REALLY SHOWED YOUR TRUE COLORS NOT RESPONDING TO MY EMAILS OR TAKING MY CALLS. I JUST WANT MY MONEY BACK . IS THIS HOW YOUR COMPANY MAKES MONEY BY STEALING IT WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS.
Reply from Citizens Debt Relief2026-02-11
We take concerns like yours very seriously and want to help resolve this matter as quickly as possible.
At this time, we are unfortunately unable to identify your account based on the information provided.
We would very much like the opportunity to assist you directly. Please contact our main office at 800-560-3956 or submit a request using the Help button on our website so our team can locate your account, review your concerns, and work with you toward a resolution.
This is an ongoing issue, since November 2025. I'm leaving this review in February 2026
I've been requesting follow ups for some time. I'm not getting any responses. I was sent to collections. I asked if I have to apply to their loan company to complete the debt reduction. No answers. No one will answer a phone, an email, or a chat message.
I was very skeptical about signing up for any program like this, but Todd Steinway was very patient, friendly and knowledgeable. He helped to ease my fears and doubts and made me feel comfortable and confident enough to move forward. I am looking forward to working with CDR and being able to sleep again at night.
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