TurboDebt Review: Pros, Cons, Features, Ratings & More

TurboDebt offers a heavily advertised program promising fast, cost-effective debt relief. Do they deliver?

We did an in-depth review, and while Turbodebt certainly has some pros, we recommend DebtHammer instead.

TurboDebt: What You Need to Know

Don’t confuse TurboDebt, a Florida-based debt relief company, with Turbo Debt, an Ohio-based debt collection company. They are two different companies that do very different things!

TurboDebt is a relatively new player in the debt-relief space: it appears to have been founded in 2020. The company advertises heavily on social media, notably TikTok and Snapchat, and has achieved a significant public profile.

TurboDebt deals only with unsecured debts, like credit card debt, medical debt, personal loan debt, or payday loan debt. Secured debts, like mortgages, car loans, or pawnshop loans, cannot be included. Most student loans cannot be included.

TurboDebt does not provide debt relief services. The company website states, “TurboDebt connects clients to debt relief programs that fit their unique needs.”

TurboDebt does not charge you a fee. Instead, they receive a commission when they refer you to a partner company. This means that the company has the incentive to refer you to whoever pays the highest commission, which means their service is only as good as the company who they partner with.

The main form of debt relief mentioned on the site is debt settlement, and reviews indicate that clients are typically referred to National Debt Relief, an established debt settlement company.

The fine print at the bottom of the TurboDebt website says this:

“Clients who are able to stay with the program and get all their debt settled realize approximate savings of 46% before fees, or 25% including our fees, over 24 to 48 months.”

This suggests that an average client reduces their debt by a total of 25% after fees.

Debt settlement can reduce your debts, but there are downsides:

• Debt settlement can have a serious negative impact on your credit. You are typically required to stop paying debts while accumulating funds for settlement. This means late payments and potential charge-offs. Settled debts also harm your credit.
• A creditor may sue you during the debt settlement process. You will have to respond and appear in court, and if a judge rules against you, your wages could be garnished.
• If debts are forgiven as part of the settlement process, you will have to report the amount forgiven to the IRS as taxable income.

It’s important to keep these in mind as you weigh your options.

TurboDebt at a Glance 

Do they offer a free consultation?	Yes
How to get started	Call 1-866-830-5449 or schedule a free consultation on the TurboDebt website.
Fees	TurboDebt does not charge fees. They may refer you to a partner business that will charge fees for debt settlement.
How it works	TurboDebt provides a free consultation and may refer you to a partner company for debt settlement services.
Who owns TurboDebt	Bonnie Silver, Founder & CEO
Company address and phone number	643 NW 136th Ave Building H, Sunrise, FL 33323, United States 1-866-830-5449
BBB rating	No Listing
Trustpilot rating	5.0 from 3,396 reviews
Minimum debt settled	$10,000
Noteworthy features	TurboDebt provides a free consultation and refers clients to partner companies for debt settlement services.

TurboDebt: Some Questions Answered

The TurboDebt website does not include some key details. For example, there’s no business address listed. We had to get that from a Google map search. The website also does not indicate who owns the company. There is a quote from the CEO on the “Careers” page of the website, but only a first name is given:

We went to work with that and came up with the LinkedIn page of Bonnie Silver, who is identified as the co-founder and CEO of TurboDebt. The page says she’s based in California.

A Florida corporation search turned up no listing for TurboDebt, but it did turn up a listing for All Service Financial LLC, based in Jacksonville, Florida, with Bonnie Silver as Authorized Member.

After a little more searching, we came up with this job ad:

This establishes a relationship between All Service Financial and TurboDebt (some of the text is straight from the TurboDebt website) and explains that the founding team is in California, but the offices are in Florida.

READ MORE: Is debt settlement the best way to get out of debt?

What Makes TurboDebt Stand Out?

TurboDebt’s business model is simple. They recruit customers and pass them on to other companies in exchange for a commission.

Free Consultation

TurboDebt’s actual service is a free consultation. You will need to provide information on your income, living expenses, and debts.

Remember that, as clarified in the job ad cited above, your consultation is with a sales representative, not a credit counselor. The representative has a strong vested interest in referring you to a commission-paying partner.

Debt Settlement

TurboDebt’s primary business appears to be recruiting customers for debt settlement companies. They appear to have a partnership with National Debt Relief. 

National Debt Relief is an established and credible provider of debt settlement services, but before you accept a referral you should look into the potential risks of debt settlement. These include credit damage, collection calls, potential creditor lawsuits, and tax liabilities.

TurboDebt representatives want you to accept a referral, so they may downplay the potential risks. You’ll have to look out for yourself.

Debt Consolidation

The TurboDebt website does not specifically offer debt consolidation services. They promise to help you “choose the debt relief program that best meets your needs,” but there’s no specific information on what programs are available.

The only reference to debt consolidation is on the affiliate marketing page. It is not clear whether TurboDebt offers debt consolidation or they are actively seeking debt consolidation partners.

If debt consolidation is what you need, you will be referred to a lender who will issue a debt consolidation loan. They will pay all of your debts and you will then pay off your new loan with a single monthly payment.

Debt consolidation can be effective, but you will need the discipline to avoid taking on more debt until your consolidated loan is paid off. Check the terms of the loan carefully to be sure you’re getting a better deal.

READ MORE: What are the pros and cons of debt settlement?

How to Sign Up 

You can call TurboDebt at 1-866-830-549 or through their website. You will schedule a free initial consultation.

You will need to explain your household income, monthly expenses, and debts in detail to receive effective assistance.

How Does TurboDebt Work?

TurboDebt provides free initial consultations and refers customers to debt settlement companies and potentially to debt consolidation lenders.

Remember that your consultation will be with a sales representative, not a credit counselor. The representative’s job is to match you with a partner company. This could affect the advice you get.

Is TurboDebt a Scam?

TurboDebt is not a scam. They do provide free consultations, and they do refer clients to credible debt relief companies. However, since TurboDebt primarily partners with National Debt Relief, it may be simpler to contact National Debt Relief directly.

Pros and cons

There are a few advantages and disadvantages of working with a company like TurboDebt.

Pros

• Debt settlement can help you break free of the debt cycle
• You might be able to reduce the total amount of debt that you have to pay off
• You may have a choice among multiple programs
• The initial consultation is free

Cons

• Debt settlement companies cost money
• Debt settlement can harm your credit score. You may face aggressive collection actions and even lawsuits from creditors
• You will have to declare any reduction in your debt as taxable income
• TurboDebt’s business model does not create an incentive for the company to work in your interests

READ MORE: How does debt settlement affect your credit score?

Who Should Consider TurboDebt

TurboDebt is designed to serve a specific type of customer. Consider these questions:

• Is your debt overwhelming?
• Are you struggling to keep up with your monthly payments?
• Are you trying to avoid filing for bankruptcy?
• Do you want to settle debts but feel that you don’t have the expertise to negotiate on your own? 
• Are your debts primarily unsecured debts, like credit card debt, medical debt, personal loans, and payday loans?

If you answered “yes” to more than one of these questions, you are in TurboDebt’s target group. However, you can just as easily connect with debt settlement companies on your own, without a third-party referral.

READ MORE: Is it better to settle a debt or pay it in full?

Who Should Not Consider TurboDebt

There are also people who will not want to work with TurboDebt.

• People who don’t want to pay for debt settlement
• People with a manageable amount of debt
• Those planning to take out a new credit line – for example, apply for a mortgage or auto loan – soon
• People who want to work with a company that works for them, not for the companies to whom they refer clients

Anyone considering TurboDebt should consider the implications of the company’s commission-based business model first. 

The Website

TurboDebt’s website is attractive, persuasive, and incomplete. There’s a promise to “help you take control of your finances and work towards a debt-free life,” which sounds lovely, but there’s no real indication of how they will do this.

There’s no mention of the real downsides of debt settlements, like damaged credit, aggressive collection efforts, and potential creditor lawsuits. Tax implications of debt settlement are not mentioned, though the fine print at the bottom advises consulting a tax professional.

As mentioned above, details like a company address and the identity of the executives are not revealed.

What are Customers Saying?

TurboDebt does not have a listing with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), possibly because there is no business with that name registered in Florida. (Remember that TurboDebt and Turbo Debt are not the same company).

TurboDebt is listed on Trustpilot and has an impressive record there: five stars from 3,336 reviews, a whopping 97% of which are 5-star. TurboDebt is naturally very proud of this record and cites it prominently on the website.

TurboDebt has been in business since 2020. From then until April 2022 they generated only 5 reviews, all in January 2022. In April there were 63 reviews, in May there were 262, and in every month since there have been over 400 reviews. This implies some pretty exponential growth.

It’s important to note that there have been multiple questions raised about the authenticity of Trustpilot’s reviews, though Trustpilot says it has implemented protocols to crack down on potentially fake reviews.

The Bottom Line

Unless you don’t know where to start when considering debt settlement, you’re perfectly capable of choosing a debt settlement company on your own (Here are seven of the best options.) There is no way to tell for certain whether TurboDebt will refer you to the best company for your personal situation. However, the cost of TurboDebt’s services will be covered by the affiliate partners, so you won’t pay any additional money if you choose to work with TurboDebt to simplify the process.

A free consultation is always a good idea, but it’s also a good idea to consult a nonprofit credit counseling agency before you make any major decisions. A certified financial advisor who works for a reputable nonprofit agency won’t be incentivized to refer you to a commission-paying client and will give you some straight-up advice about what you need.

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