A warning has been issued to solicitors over accepting services from firms that claim to be able to write off people’s loans and credit card debts.

According to officials from the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority there has recently been an increase of misleading adverts, including ones run online, from firms that claim to be able to write off these debts for people. Some of these firms have claimed that credit agreements can be written off in many cases, as they are not enforceable, which the regulatory body has said is not true.

The regulator is also investigating ten firms under the solicitors’ code of conduct. Chief Executive of the SRA, Antony Townsend, said: “These adverts appear to offer an easy way out of difficulty to people who have debts they are struggling to pay. But many credit agreements do meet the legal requirements and, therefore, can’t easily be challenged as unenforceable.”

The warning is now being issued to solicitors telling them to be on their guard about these debt clearance firms, and those solicitors that do not heed the warnings could find themselves in very hot water.

If they do deal with these firms they could find that they are in breach of their code of conduct, and this could result in action by the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal, which could ultimately result in the solicitor being banned from practising. It has also been made clear that any debt firms that are licensed by the OFT, who then publish misleading material could face fines of up to £50,000.

The Ministry of Justice also printed details of claims that could be construed as misleading by these firms in a report last year, and this included a firm that was claiming that around 80 percent of credit agreements could not be enforced.

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