Consumer Defense Partner Integration

This article describes the Consumer Defense Partner Integration. It is organized into the following sections:

• Preparation
• Activate the Integration
• Enter Credentials
• Required Field Mappings
• Setting up the Enrollment Plan
• How the Data Transfers
• What happens if an enrollment fails?
• Cancelling a Client

Preparation

To use the Consumer Defense Partner Integration, your client will need to have the following ready:

1. Authorization: Confirm with your Account Manager or FORTH Sales that this integration is enabled for your account. If it is not, FORTH Sales can help you make this happen.
2. CDP Credentials: You must obtain a Client ID and Client Secret directly from Consumer Defense Partners.
3. Fee Structure: You need the specific Enrollment Fee and Monthly Fee amounts provided to you by CDP.

Activate the Integration

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Navigate to the Admin tab and click Integrations.
   
3. Select All Integrations (or "Other Integrations").
4. Scroll down to find Consumer Defense Partners and click it.
   

Note: If you do not have a CDP account yet, a pop-up window will appear with instructions on how to apply.

Enter Credentials

On the CDP Integration page, locate the Credentials section.

• Enter the Client ID and Client Secret you received from CDP.
• Click Save.
   

Credentials and required field mappings should be entered under Admin → Integrations → Consumer Defense Partners Legal Plan interface.

Required Field Mappings

To ensure payments are calculated correctly, you must tell the system where to look for fees.

1. On the CDP Integration page, click the Credentials dropdown menu at the top left and select Mappings.
2. Enter the CDP Enrollment Fee and CDP Monthly Fee amounts that you received from the client (provided by CDP) as digits in the "Custom Value" field (e.g., 125).
3. Important Note on Fee Profiles:

• If your plan has fixed fees, ensure they are mapped to the correct fee slots (usually Fee 2 and Fee 3, but  fee 4 and 5 is acceptable).
• If you have variable fees (e.g., $125 for a Standard plan vs. $625 for an A la Carte plan), you must use a Fee Profile or create separate plans.
  

Setting up the Enrollment Plan

Once setup is complete, the integration works automatically during the enrollment process. When editing or creating an enrollment plan for a client:

• Enable the Checkbox: You must check the box labeled "Includes Consumer Defense Partners Legal". This turns on the integration for that specific client.

• Warning: Only check this if the client is actually paying for CDP Legal fees. CDP Plans without Legal fees should not have this checkbox.
  

• Select the Plan and then Compensation Template: Ensure a Consumer Defense Partners plan is selected, and then select a Compensation Template that has Consumer Defense Partners referenced. Use the default system payee named "Consumer Defense Partners" (do not create a custom payee unless specifically instructed by your Account Manager).
  

IMPORTANT: A different payee can be used only if the Account requests it, however, it is suggested to use the Forth Managed Payee. In this case, PLAW will have their own Payee and not use the Forth Managed Payee.

NOTE: Documents provided by the client from CDP can be created in both HTML (PNG) or PDF.
 

How the Data Transfers

Client information can be submitted to Consumer Defense Partners during the enrollment process in Forth - when you finalize the enrollment, the system works in the background when the enrollment plan is flagged as a Consumer Defense Partners plan and the required credentials and mappings are present, to:

1. Send Data: Submits client contact info and debt records (Creditor Name, Account Number, Balance) to CDP during the enrollment process.
2. Link Accounts: Creates a link between the CRM Contact ID and the CDP Member ID.
3. Upload Docs: Uploads the signed contract/agreement document to the system, along with client information and debt records if present (creditor name, account number, balance). An Agreement document re-upload will trigger the re-submission of the file to Consumer Defense Partners as long as the initial client information submission was successful.

NOTE: You will see a floating Green Box (Success) or Red Box (Error) on the screen indicating if the transfer worked, and errors are recorded in the system log.

What happens if an enrollment fails?

• Error Messages: Check the system log for specific error details.
• Manual Retry: If the system fails to create a member in CDP, a banner will appear on the Enrollment Details page. This banner provides a link to manually create the customer in CDP.
  
• Re-uploading: If you need to re-upload an agreement document, the system will automatically attempt to re-send the file to CDP (provided the initial client data transfer was successful).

Essential Data Requirements

The system automatically maps most fields (Name, Address, SSN, etc.). Other fields are read from the enrollment plan and mapped automatically as well. However, for the integration to work, the following fields must not be empty in the client file:

• First & Last Name
• SSN & Email
• Full Address (City, State, Zip)
• Bank Account Details such as Bank Name/Routing/Account Number (from banking/contact on file)
• Enrollment Plan Details (Contract Fees, Other Amounts and Dates)
• Note: You must map this integration to an enrollment fee, even if the fee is $0.00.

Cancelling a Client

CRITICAL: When cancelling a client's enrollment in the CRM, you must check the box labeled "Cancel in Consumer Defense Partners."

If you miss this step, the client will be cancelled in your CRM but will remain active in the CDP system.

IMPORTANT!  Be sure to check "Cancel in Consumer Defense Partners" when cancelling the enrollment, otherwise the contact can still be enrolled in CDP, but not in the CRM (see image above).

REMINDER: The Consumer Defense Partners Integration is based on the company assigned to the contact and not based on the company the user submitting the file is under.

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