Myvesta Foundation Steve Rhode, getoutofdebtguy.org Steve's articles are a bit misleading to his real cause. Arizona Internet

UPDATE - myvesta.org is getoutofdebtguy.org.

Should Steve be trusted? You decide.

I am really looking forward to the future. With the new rules in place, it will get rid of a lot of companies that should not be operating. I think that if everyone complies, you should be a happy fellow. Now we can really look at all the options and how they really work. What will the credit counseling industry have to complain about now? Now we can look at why companies like Money Management International went from a 400,000 a year company to $159,000,000 million in revenues with $55,000,000 in assets as a "non-for-profit" company. How in their company charter it states that any executive that travels more than 2 hours by plane will "fly by first class". Oh the tragedy of having to travel like the common folk. How their average salaries are more than 200k per year with expense allowance. How 50% of the revenues (yes, we will call them what they really are) come back from the credit card companies. Which really comes out of the consumers pockets. We can look at how - is it myvesta.org you used to run with your wife "Pam Rhodes" (who alternated from VP to President and back to VP - while keeping the same exact salary) - I think it was well over 1,000,000 in combined salaries that you and her made over a 4 year period (it actually came out to about 20k per month) - just like the common folk that you try and selflessly help out each day. And isn't myvesta.org (no longer a 501c3 company - what happened there?) now operating in Europe (what the US isn't good enough or you can't operate with a good profit? Just looking at transparency). How is it that you still after bashing the debt settlement industry - keep up those google ads to generate money off of. I am really looking forward to a level playing field now that these needed protections have been put into place and for the record, I believe that self help, cccs, ds and bk all have a place as a viable solution for the consumer. What I really have a problem with are people that claim one solution is better than the other or that they hide their true motives and pretend to be a little guy just helping out their fellow man.

I'm still reviewing the numbers but this is what it appears to be:

Myvesta.org

in 2002 – gross receipts of 5.6 million - 2 million in company assests 1.6 mill in cash
You made 217,000
Pam Rhode made 96000
56000 in public relations expenses
28000 in meals lodging and entertainment
87000 in professional fees
468000 in contract labor
In 2003 Myvesta had 3.1 in gross receipts revenues with 4.1 in expenses?
Pamela was director of operations for 88,000
You as president made 180,000

224000 in temporary labor
145000 in insurance
20,000 in internet services
22,000 for auto expenses
20,000 in moving expenses
other program on consulting fees – 42000

in 2004 – you made 58,963 as chairman and pam (now president) made 85,000
in 2005 – you made 85,000 (chairman and now again president) and Pam made 85,000 as vice president (the same as she was making when she was president?, with a now lesser role?) CASH ON HAND WAS 668000 and went to 289,000 by the end of the year?

2006 cash on hand from January 1 – May 24 2007 – cash on hand was 289,000 and in May it was 0 ?

year you pam

2002 217,000 96,000
2003 180,000 88,000
2004 58,963 85,000
2005 85,000 85,000
2006 87,824 80,716

628,787 for you in 4 yrs. 5 months
434,716 for her

total – 1,063,503 or about 20,000 per month. Right around the middle class
payscale.

Yes Steve, let's look out for the consumer, across the board

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Steve's response:

Jon,

You raise some good points.

What will the credit counseling groups have to complain about now? They are going to get swept up under the new TSR once the CFPB goes into effect. The CFPB has no exception like the FTC does when it comes to nonprofits.

MMI makes a lot of money. Yes they do. Many people don't realize that a non-profit is not a break-even company. Non-profit is the tax status. A non-profit can make a lot of money, they just don't pay taxes on it.

Myvesta I did not run Myvesta with my wife during the entire life of Myvesta, only in the last year or so. I have spoken about this before. "My temporary departure as president of Myvesta could be best described as a sabbatical. I did take one year off as president but continued to serve as chairman of the board. I took the year off because I realized that over the years of founding and growing the non-profit group I had spent more time with the organization than with my daughter who was soon to graduate from high school and go off to college. I wanted to spend more time with her. I returned to my position of President of Myvesta a year latter."

Did I make a lot of money? I did and we had a lot of revenue, 70 employees and 20,000 clients at one time. It was a big deal. My wife has an accounting background and ran the accounting department. If you look at the public returns you will see she was not the highest paid employee and her salary was in line with her responsibilities. But it needs to be pointed out that I made a whole lot less than other CEOs of similar credit counseling groups at the time. Salaries paid at Myvesta were in line with responsibilities and fair market compensation at the time. We made sure of that.

Myvesta went out of business. In 2007 Myvesta went out of business and closed. We donated all the assets at the end to local non-profit groups and closed the doors. The reason Myvesta failed was because we refused to play the creditors games and put people into debt management plans that would benefit us by meeting creditor collection quotas and demands. That decision killed the company. We tried to find other services we would be able to offer that met out charitable purpose to stay afloat, I was unsuccessful in that effort. We applied for grants and funding all over but struck out.

Transparency As far as transparency goes the annual returns for Myvesta are publicly and available just as they are with any other non-profit. People can search through Guidestar.org to find non-profit returns.

Ads As far as the ads go, I talk about those at length in the site terms, here.

So I'm curious, how much do you think debt settlement CEOs are making with 20,000 clients?

I make no claim that one solution is better than another. The best solution is the one that is most likely to be successful, meets the goals of the consumer, and results in a better life moving forward.

Finally, as far as "claiming to be a little guy" out to help my fellow man, I'm not sure I've ever said that. Certainly my extensive experience in the field makes me a knowledgeable expert in debt relief. I talk about my experience here.

Steve

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As much as I'd like to believe this guy, it seems through various negative responses that he's nothing more than an above average vocalist against companies that help people get out of debt, while generating revenue on the side using ads/possibly providing leads to debt consolidation companies.

The only reason that I reposted this is because I feel a sense of falseness to his claims of donating the assets to local non-profit outfits after closing myvesta. What I also find odd is that Myvesta Foundation is still operating, otherwise you'd not be using the name as a form of contact, as can be seen here. Look under "6. Virtual Mail".

Rebuttle this post, Steve Rhode.