National Debt Relief Fees: What You Pay, When You Pay It, and What It Adds Up To
Partner disclosure. Loans Generator has a direct business relationship with National Debt Relief and is paid when a reader we refer enrolls in its program. This does not change the facts reported here: fees are quoted from NDR's own pages, the arithmetic is shown line by line, and the comparison with other options is run on the same numbers. National Debt Relief did not review, approve or commission this page.
National Debt Relief charges a percentage of the debt you enroll. NDR says its fee is up to 25% of the debt you enroll (homepage); its qualifications page gives a range of 15% to 25%. No fee is charged until a debt is settled and at least one payment is made under that settlement. The total you pay also includes what goes to your creditors, a dedicated account fee NDR does not publish, and possibly income tax on the forgiven amount. This page lays out each piece from NDR's pages and the federal rule, then runs one example to the cent.
Key takeaways
- NDR says its fee is up to 25% of the debt you enroll (homepage); its qualifications page gives a range of 15% to 25%. Fees vary by state and the amount of your debt.
- NDR's licenses page: "NDR's fees are calculated based on a percentage of the debt enrolled in the program." That is the proportional method the federal rule allows.
- No fee may be requested or received until a debt is settled under an agreement you sign and you make at least one payment under it (16 CFR 310.4(a)(5)(i)).
- On $25,000 enrolled, a 25% fee is $6,250. Using NDR's own average for clients who complete, settlement costs less in dollars than a debt management plan in our example; the example does not apply to anyone who does not finish. NDR does not state its completion rate on the pages we checked, and in 2025 an industry advertising review found that an earlier version of its savings claim did not reflect the typical customer. A DMP avoids the credit damage, lawsuit risk and tax bill that settlement brings, and the NFCC says DMP fees can be waived based on income.
What National Debt Relief says it charges
| Statement | Where NDR publishes it |
|---|---|
| "up to 25% of your enrolled debt" | Homepage |
| "the average client usually pays a fee of up to 25% of the total debt enrolled" | How It Works FAQ and Top FAQs |
| "You only pay a fee (15-25%) after a debt is successfully settled" | Qualifications page |
| "NDR's fees are calculated based on a percentage of the debt enrolled in the program" | State Licenses and Disclosures |
| "We do NOT charge any upfront fees... Actual fees vary state by state and debt amount" | FAQs |
| Dedicated account fees | Not published on the NDR pages we checked |
All NDR pages accessed October 28, 2026.
On the minimum debt, NDR's qualifications page says you typically need $10,000 or more in unsecured debt; an NDR blog article, updated in August 2026, says $7,500.
NDR does not publish its fee by state, so the only way to learn your exact percentage is the consultation and, more reliably, the written agreement. Ask for the percentage, the dollar fee for each enrolled debt, and the dedicated account provider's fee schedule before you sign.
When NDR is allowed to charge you
The timing is set by federal law. Under the Telemarketing Sales Rule, a seller of debt relief services may not request or receive any fee until and unless:
The rule, quoted. "(A) The seller or telemarketer has renegotiated, settled, reduced, or otherwise altered the terms of at least one debt pursuant to a settlement agreement, debt management plan, or other such valid contractual agreement executed by the customer; (B) The customer has made at least one payment pursuant to that settlement agreement, debt management plan, or other valid contractual agreement between the customer and the creditor or debt collector" (16 CFR 310.4(a)(5)(i)).
NDR describes its own sequence in the same terms: "a settlement offer must be received from the creditor, we must receive your approval of the settlement, and finally at least 1 settlement payment to the creditor must be made. Only then would our fee be earned and charged to your Dedicated Account."
The rule also fixes how a per-debt fee is calculated. Where debts are settled one at a time, each fee must either bear "the same proportional relationship to the total fee" as that debt bears to the total enrolled debt, measured at enrollment, or be a fixed percentage of the amount saved (310.4(a)(5)(i)(C)). NDR's licenses page says its fee is a percentage of enrolled debt, which is the first method. In practice: if your total fee is 25% of $25,000, or $6,250, a card that made up 20% of the enrolled total carries 20% of that fee, $1,250, payable only after that card is settled and paid on.
The rule caps timing and method, not the percentage. Several states do cap settlement fees; Texas, for example, caps total fees in a flat-fee plan at 17% of the principal enrolled. The state examples are in debt settlement month by month, and the full rule is in debt settlement fees: what the FTC rule allows.
The dedicated account fee NDR does not publish
Your deposits sit in a dedicated account that you own. NDR says it is "usually held through Global Holdings" and that you may choose a different provider. NDR's pages do not state what the account provider charges. For scale only: Freedom Debt Relief publishes its provider's charges as a one-time $9.95 setup fee plus $9.95 a month, which over 48 months is $9.95 + (48 × $9.95) = $487.55. Your NDR account fee may be higher or lower; get it in writing.
Worked example: $25,000 enrolled
This example uses NDR's own published averages, not a quote. NDR's How It Works page says clients who complete the program "realize approximate savings of 45% before fees, or 20% including our fees."
These averages cover only clients who finish the program, and NDR does not publish how many do on the pages we checked. In October 2025 the BBB National Programs' National Advertising Division found that an earlier version of NDR's savings claim, 30% including fees, did not reflect the typical customer, and NDR said it would comply with NAD's recommendations. Treat the example as the best case for a client who completes.
Applying those averages to four cards:
| Card | Enrolled balance | Settles at 55% | Fee at 25% of enrolled | Settlement + fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Card A | $8,000.00 | $4,400.00 | $2,000.00 | $6,400.00 |
| Card B | $7,000.00 | $3,850.00 | $1,750.00 | $5,600.00 |
| Card C | $6,000.00 | $3,300.00 | $1,500.00 | $4,800.00 |
| Card D | $4,000.00 | $2,200.00 | $1,000.00 | $3,200.00 |
| Total | $25,000.00 | $13,750.00 | $6,250.00 | $20,000.00 |
The $20,000 total is 80% of the enrolled $25,000, which is exactly NDR's "20% including our fees." That match tells you something: NDR's 45%-and-20% footnote implies an average fee of 25 percentage points of enrolled debt, the top of its range. Over 48 months, $20,000 is $416.67 a month in deposits, before the dedicated account fee.
Three more lines belong in the total:
- Tax on forgiven debt. The four creditors forgive $25,000.00 minus $13,750.00, or $11,250.00. The IRS treats canceled debt as income unless an exclusion such as insolvency applies. In the 22% federal bracket that is $11,250.00 × 0.22 = $2,475.00; in the 12% bracket, $1,350.00. See the Form 1099-C guide.
- Account fees. Not published by NDR; $487.55 over 48 months at Freedom's published provider rate, for scale.
- Growth while you save. Interest and late fees keep accruing on unpaid cards. NDR's averages are measured against enrolled balances, but a creditor that waits can demand more.
NDR's other published numbers, recomputed
NDR's own examples do not all reconcile. On its homepage, "Mary" enrolls $22,800 and sets up "a $362/month deposit for an estimated 48 months," which NDR says resolves the debt "for about $17,300." The arithmetic is $362 × 48 = $17,376.00. If NDR charged its 25% maximum, $5,700.00 of that would be fees and $11,676.00 would reach creditors; at 15%, the fee would be $3,420.00 and creditors would get $13,956.00.
On NDR's homepage, "David" starts with $36,883 of debt, pays $699 a month for 38 months and has "Total Savings $13,928," and the chart on NDR's How It Works page shows his NDR cost as $22,955 ($36,883 minus $13,928). But $699 × 38 = $26,562.00, which is $3,607.00 more than the $22,955 shown. NDR's footnote says fees "are included where applicable." We could not tell from the page whether the gap is fees, account charges or a change in his monthly deposit, so ask NDR to show any example it gives you as deposits in, settlements out, and fees out.
The two NDR footnotes also differ. The disclaimer page says "46% before fees, or 25% including our fees." Applying the same arithmetic, that implies an average fee of 21 points of enrolled debt, not 25. Both footnotes cover only clients who finish the program and come with NDR's own caveat: "Not all clients complete our program for various reasons, including their ability to save sufficient funds."
Advertising review. In October 2025, BBB National Programs' National Advertising Division, an industry self-regulatory body and not a government agency, reviewed NDR's website and commercials. It found that NDR's "24-48 months" claims suggested all of a client's debt, not only enrolled unsecured debt, would be gone in that time, that the limits appeared only in footers, and that NDR's then-current claim of 30% savings including fees did not reflect the typical customer. NAD recommended changes, and NDR said it would comply with NAD's reasonable recommendations. NDR's footers now give 20% or 25% including fees, depending on the page.
Total cost against a DMP and settling on your own
Here is the same $25,000 under three approaches. The DMP line uses NDR's own published assumption for credit counseling ("a 5-year term with an APR of 6% and a $40 monthly fee"), so the comparison is on NDR's terms. Forty dollars a month is within Colorado's DMP cap of $10 per creditor, up to $50, for four cards. The NFCC says DMPs run 36 to 60 months and can bring card rates down to "10% or less," so 6% is a favorable but not unusual assumption.
| Settlement through NDR | Debt management plan | Settling on your own | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paid to creditors | $13,750.00 | $28,999.20 ($483.32 × 60) | $13,750.00, if you get the same 55% |
| Program fees | $6,250.00 | $2,400.00 ($40 × 60) | $0.00 |
| Subtotal | $20,000.00 | $31,399.20 | $13,750.00 |
| Possible tax (22% bracket) | $2,475.00 | $0.00 | $2,475.00 |
| Total | $22,475.00 | $31,399.20 | $16,225.00 |
| Monthly | $416.67 for 48 months, plus account fee | $523.32 for 60 months | Lump sums as each deal is struck |
| Missed payments needed | Usually | No | Usually |
| Lawsuit risk while saving | Yes | Low; creditors agree to the plan | Yes |
| Credit effect | Late payments, charge-offs, settled accounts up to 7 years | Accounts closed; payments stay on time | Same as NDR |
| Certainty | Results "will vary"; not all clients finish | Fixed schedule | Depends on you and each creditor |
DMP payment: $25,000 at 6% APR over 60 months is $483.32 a month. Settlement figures apply NDR's published completer averages; they are not a prediction for any one person.
Figure: totals from the table above. Settlement totals include 22% tax on forgiven debt; the DMP owes none. Settlement lines use NDR's published 45%-before-fees average for clients who finish the program and a 25% fee; the DMP uses NDR's own 6% APR, 60-month, $40-a-month assumption. Bars are to scale. Accessed October 28, 2026.
On paper, settlement through NDR costs about $8,924 less than the DMP in this example ($31,399.20 minus $22,475.00), but only for a client who completes the program at NDR's own reported average for completers. NDR does not state its completion rate on the pages we checked, and NAD found that an earlier version of NDR's savings claim did not reflect the typical customer. What the dollar figure leaves out is why many people are better served by the DMP anyway: it keeps every payment on time, carries no lawsuit or tax risk, and does not depend on creditors agreeing to settle. The CFPB puts it plainly: "debt settlement may well leave you deeper in debt than you were when you started." If you can afford the $523.32, see is credit counseling worth it before you enroll anywhere.
Settling on your own saves the $6,250 fee but needs lump sums, time and nerve, and it carries the same credit and tax effects. The scripts and risks are in negotiating a settlement yourself.
Loans Generator is paid by National Debt Relief, a debt settlement company, when a reader we refer enrolls in its program. This does not change what we report.
Questions to ask NDR about fees before you sign
- What is my fee percentage, and what is the dollar fee for each debt I enroll?
- Who is my dedicated account provider, and what are its setup, monthly and transfer fees?
- How much must I save before you make the first offer, and to which creditor? (The rule requires NDR to tell you this before you agree to pay.)
- If I leave, what fees have been earned, and how fast will I get the rest of my account balance? (The rule says seven business days.)
- Will the example you showed me be written as deposits in, settlements out and fees out?
More detail on the program itself is in the National Debt Relief review, how National Debt Relief works and is National Debt Relief legit. For fee comparisons with two competitors, see National Debt Relief vs Freedom Debt Relief and National Debt Relief vs Accredited Debt Relief. All options are compared on the debt relief hub.
Common questions
What percentage does National Debt Relief charge?
NDR says its fee is up to 25% of the debt you enroll (homepage); its qualifications page gives a range of 15% to 25%. Fees vary by state and amount, and your contract states your exact percentage.
Does National Debt Relief charge upfront fees?
NDR says it does not, and federal law bars covered companies from charging any fee until a debt is settled and at least one payment is made under that settlement.
Is the fee based on the debt I enroll or on what I save?
On enrolled debt. NDR's licenses page says its fees "are calculated based on a percentage of the debt enrolled in the program."
Are there fees besides NDR's fee?
Yes. The dedicated account provider charges its own fees, which NDR does not publish, and forgiven debt may be taxable income.
Is National Debt Relief cheaper than a debt management plan?
Only in our best-case example: $22,475.00 against $31,399.20, if you complete the program at NDR's own reported average for completers. NDR does not state its completion rate on the pages we checked, an industry advertising review found in 2025 that an earlier version of its savings claim did not reflect the typical customer, and settlement carries credit damage, lawsuit risk and tax that a DMP avoids.
Sources
- National Debt Relief, homepage, "How It Works," "National Debt Relief Top FAQs," "Debt Relief FAQs," qualifications page, "How Do You Qualify for Debt Relief?", "State Licenses and Disclosures" and disclaimer, accessed October 28, 2026.
- 16 CFR 310.4, Telemarketing Sales Rule, via eCFR, accessed October 28, 2026.
- Freedom Debt Relief, "FAQs," accessed October 28, 2026.
- National Foundation for Credit Counseling, "Guide to Debt Relief and Debt Management Programs," accessed October 28, 2026.
- Texas Finance Code 394.210, Texas Legislature, accessed October 28, 2026.
- Colorado Revised Statutes 5-19-223, via Justia, accessed October 28, 2026.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, "What is a debt relief program and how do I know if I should use one?", accessed October 28, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, "Topic no. 431, Canceled debt - Is it taxable or not?", accessed October 28, 2026.
- BBB National Programs, National Advertising Division decision on National Debt Relief, October 28, 2025, accessed October 28, 2026.
- National Debt Relief, “National Debt Relief (homepage)”
- National Debt Relief, “National Debt Relief Top FAQs”
- National Debt Relief, “Debt Relief FAQs”
- National Debt Relief, “Debt Relief Program Through Debt Settlement (qualifications)”
- National Debt Relief, “How Do You Qualify for Debt Relief?”
- National Debt Relief, “State Licenses and Disclosures”
- National Debt Relief, “Visitor Information (disclaimer)”
- Federal Trade Commission (eCFR), “16 CFR 310.4, Abusive telemarketing acts or practices (Telemarketing Sales Rule)”
- Texas Legislature, “Texas Finance Code, Section 394.210, Permitted Fees”
- Justia (Colorado Revised Statutes), “C.R.S. 5-19-223, Fees and other charges”
- BBB National Programs, “National Advertising Division decision on National Debt Relief (October 28, 2025)”
Disclosure: Loans Generator has a direct business relationship with National Debt Relief and is paid when a reader we refer enrolls in its program. The worked example applies NDR's published averages for clients who complete its program; it is arithmetic, not a quote or a prediction. NDR states that it does not guarantee that debts will be lowered by a specific amount or percentage. Programs that rely on missed payments can damage your credit and lead to collection suits, and forgiven debt may be taxable. This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice.