Anyone done Credit Counseling?

EdlynsMom · 08-03-2006, 08:45 PM

I did a search on this and couldnt find anything relevent, so Im sorry if this has been done before!

Im supposed to talk to someone from the credit counseling company tomorrow, but I want to see if anyone has done this, and know if its really a good idea or not. From what I understand its a company that negotiates better rates on your credit cards, but its not a consolidation. They would cancel or lock the existing cards and wed be unable to open any new ones until its paid off. It seems like it would be paid off much faster (for about hte same amount we are currently doling out) than if we just paid as usual. Theres a monthy fee, but I think it gets put towards your total debt.
Is it worth it?

EdlynsMom · 08-03-2006, 11:58 PM

:

Om Girl · 08-04-2006, 12:53 AM

I asked a similar question...
look here

EdlynsMom · 08-04-2006, 01:04 AM

Ah, I missed it! Thanks....the place im looking into is CCCS, at least, its got the same acronym, sounds the same.

Pinoikoi · 08-04-2006, 11:03 PM

we went to consumer credit counseling service. they require you to cancel all your cards- including some of the "credit protections" you may be signed up for. But it is just one payment a month- that saves me money right there, in gas, stamps, and time. I paid off all my credit card debt that way- now we are working on dh's..

they are non-profit- there was a start up fee, and a monthly fee- to support staff. If you only have a few small bills with low interest, it probably wouldn't be worth it.. I had 6 credit cards at one point, and the reduction in interest and late fees fixed my mind.

Your payments stay the same. Once I had paid off 2 credit cards, my payments to the remaining 4 went up- (same total monthly amount I paid CCCS, though). It was nice to see that once I got a couple paid off, the others got paid off very quickly.

Oh, yeah, be careful! Call BBB! I heard that Ameridebt or one of those was sued because they didn't post payments for people. Make sure you get a credible company!

Mizelenius · 08-05-2006, 10:00 AM

Yeah, be careful! My SIL did something like this and after she spent $, found out that some of her creditors didn't have an agreement with the co. so she was out the money!

ustasmom · 08-05-2006, 10:36 AM

Be very careful.

We lost $5000 to a debt settlement company.

EdlynsMom · 08-05-2006, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ustasmom

Be very careful.

We lost $5000 to a debt settlement company.

Was this one not certified by the BBB, or otherwise "red flagged"?

ustasmom · 08-05-2006, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdlynsMom

Was this one not certified by the BBB, or otherwise "red flagged"?

They have a clean bill of health with the BBB. I filed a complaint and never heard a word back from them.

GracieBugsMama · 08-05-2006, 02:57 PM

You want to go by word-of-mouth, too if you can... do as much research as possible on each company you're considering. And most importantly: read all your paperwork very carefully, and watch your statements each month. We still get all our credit card statements, and each month I can see the amount decrease--a good feeling. GL!

zavierchick · 08-06-2006, 12:04 PM

this will be long,

but I just had to put my two cents in- we started to work with a credit counseling service years ago after a bad fallout with a business partner (thousands of dollars of debt- it was a horrible experience!) The counseling company was well recommended, so no problems there, but honestly, if you don't mind a little groveling and confrontation, you can do what they do yourself directly with your credit card companies. By the time I got to the point to contact a counseling service, we were already getting calls and letters from the credit cards run up by my biz partner, so one day when one called, when I was very postpartumm I just lost it- bawling, it was entirely unintentional, I just was at such a low point with my teeny preemie and all this debt, and the guy was super, gave me the whole scoop on what the credit card company itself could do- they basically offered me the same deal that a counseling service does- no interest, set payments, cancelled the card, no more charging on it, and even forgave a bit of the debt. It can't hurt to call your cards before the agency, worst case, they won't go for it and it takes a bit of gumption to just call them, but it is in their best interest to help you out if they can- better to get some of the debt, than for you to declare bankruptcy, was basically what the cust. svc rep from the first card we worked with said. We were able to work out deals with 4 out of the 6 companies that way, and then still had to slog through the other two. sorry for the

post, but thought it might help!

Good Luck!

EdlynsMom · 08-09-2006, 05:35 PM

I called one of my creditors and got one of the apr's lowered a little bit. Good, but not enough.

Im waiting to hear back from both the Consumer Credit Counseling Service, one called Consolodated Credit COunseling Services, also Freedom from Debt Relief. Oh, this is on the FfDR website, is it true???

Quote:

"The main problem with Consumer Credit Counseling organizations is that they are secretly working for your creditors! This may seem unbelievable, but it is true - and it is why you end up paying about three times more money to pay off your debts in Credit Counseling than in Freedom Debt Relief's "Debt Reduction Program." Most Consumer Credit Counseling firm's claim non-profit status and pretend to be independent. But in fact, these non-profits are funded and supported by the very people you owe money to; - the credit card companies. That is why Consumer Credit Counseling companies do not negotiate your debts down. They merely try to come up with a plan to make sure you keep paying your credit card bills every single month. They want to force consumers to pay as much money as possible to your creditors. Sure, they may help lower your interest rate a few points, or eliminate a late payment or two, but the credit card companies are happy to do this when they know you are going to keep making payments that Freedom Debt Relief could have negotiated away for pennies on the dollar....."

Im hoping I didnt mess up by trying to get info from more than one place....

Weirdly, I got a random call from a service Id never heard of, didnt call them or look them up. it seemed safe to give them some of my info, and they just said that it wouldnt be worth it for me to go through them, as they could do nothing more than I already did.
Also, my inbox is now innundated with spam for various things...ahh, the joys of the internet!

I really dont know whtat the differences are between these places, and what I read on that previously quoted site makes me want to go with that one. But, is it just good marketing? I need someone to tell me to just pick one and go with it...a kick in the rear, if you will.

Pinoikoi · 08-09-2006, 05:45 PM

In a way, CCCS IS working for the credit companies. They try to help you avoid bankruptcy as much as possible- by helping you pay what you owe.

I don't think I would have done a credit service if I had had to do it on the internet. Is there one near you? With REAL people?

MaddieMay · 08-09-2006, 06:00 PM

I agree that you can do most of the work yourself by calling the creditors directly. Check the Oprah website-I remember them doing one of their "Debt Diet" shows on that and it showed one family calling them directly. They got interest rates lowered and everything.

Also, I'd be really leary of giving anyone information over the phone, but that's just me.

ustasmom · 08-09-2006, 09:24 PM

That sounds like a debt settlement company.

They don't negotiate your interest rates. What they do is negotiate with the credit card companies after you haven't paid them for months. You send your payments to them instead. They offer the credit card companies around 30 to 40 % of the balance owed. Some credit card companies will not play, and they will go after judgements against you. And if they get a judgement, they can garnish your wages for 25 of your disposible income and/or get a lien on your house.

EdlynsMom · 08-16-2006, 01:13 PM

Bringing this back to life, have more questions...

Id pretty much decided on CCCS, started the process, but kept recieving calls from the other Debt Management place. When I finally talked to the guy he said that Going through CCCS puts a mark on my credit report that lenders will view as a ch. 13 bankruptcy. Is this true? Would it be preferable to have that or have a delinquancy status on my cards which i could then try to get "reversed" through an affiliate of the Debt Mgmt. place? Ive been told that this delinquancy reversal isnt really true, that it stays on your credit no matter what.

Most of the other stuff he said was double speak, so I wont mention it, he just wanted me to go through his company...

And, I was also wondering, regardless of which co. I use, if/when I send more money then required in a given month, does that extra go immediatly to my balance or does it sit in an account accruing interest for that company? I will be asking this question to CCCS soon.

BTW, my credit card was only willing to drop my interest rate a little, and it was only the rate for purchases. I had (stupidly) used the card to wire some $$ overseas, not realising it would go down as a cash advance, so I had that huge interest rate, which they werent willing to change.

AAH! Why is this so hard...I just want to get this started and not question it anymore!

Pinoikoi · 08-16-2006, 09:32 PM

Mine said that while my items were in repayment they would say something about a financial plan on my credit report (for each item in repayment through them, not for everything obviously), but once they are paid off, they just say "paid in full" with no further record of my having used a company to help me.

caeden&connersmom · 08-17-2006, 09:55 AM

None of the CC's that we have on CCCS show up as "in repayment plan" on our credit reports. They show we are up to date on our payments and report our on time payments each month.

Each CC company has different policies with CCCS. Citibank, BOA and WaMu all work with CCCS so we got really good lowered rates, all the late and overlimit fees removed and they are reporting our on time payments with no reference to us being in CCCS on our credit reports.

luvdisny · 08-18-2006, 12:53 AM

When I lived in North Carolina, I used CCCS, which at the time was affiliated with United Way - or atleast in the same office as UW. They did a reasonable job of getting my payments lowered. I say reasonable only because I had one dept store card that wouldn't adjust the interest rate and I had one bank card that had a due date that would be missed by the payments each month. Neither the credit card company nor CCCS would change the date they did business, so I would end up with late fees each month. I took that one back and paid it on my own. (I was able to make good payments on it with the savings from the other cards.)

My CCCS office would only take cash or money orders, so I paid with money order each time and kept the receipts along with the monthy statements to make sure CCCS was doing their job. Anytime I was able to pay extra I did and that got my balances down even faster.

All in all, I would recommend CCCS again if I lived in NC but I would really have to check out the local office here in South Carolina to see how they do things.

shelbean91 · 08-18-2006, 09:21 PM

Once we paid CCCS in full, there was nothing showing on our credit report. If you send extra, it goes right to your cards.