Has anyone dealt with Christian Debt Consultants?

I got a quote from them which was basically 13% fee. There was not pressure to "do it now"....she basically gave me the information and told me to talk to my wife about it.

She did break it down into "good, bad, and the ugly". She did mention the tax consequences, which I have heard is a common piece of information left out. And she did explain that it is best to negociate after you have missed a few payments and the CC is about to charge off. She did explain the negative credit reporting.

They are BBB acredited and have one complaint that was resolved and got an "A" rating. They are a member of USOBA but not TASC.

She told me that my payment breakdown would be that I would pay $932 per month into a savings account and that CDC would take their fee of $458 per month for 24 months. The rest of the money would stay in the savings and build up for the settlements. FYI, I have a total of $84400 in unsecured credit and the $932/month was based on a 4 year program with an estimated settlement of 40%. I am currently making my payments and have not been late; however, I have been researching my options due to financial problems and I am currently in the "pay a credit card with a credit card" cycle. So I am steadily getting buried and will soon not be able to sufficient payments.

So has anyone dealt with them? Or have any thoughts on them?

LMK

With your situation settlement may be a great option for you just understand all the risk. As far as CDC, I don't know much about them but numbers seem right on par w/ a 13% fee and they seem to have good accreditations. On a personal note I've never understood companies who use the Christian card and IMO have ethical issues with it. I understand people having faith, but can a "business" really be Christian? Probably a topic for another thread though.

I know it seems fishy playing the Christian card; however, if I am lucky the good rating and lack of complaints does show that they were a little more ethical in their customer service...still scary though.

The other thing I liked was that the fee was pretty easy to understand....straight 13%. No monthly maintenance fees, etc. But then again, why do they need a maintenance fee if they are taking out $458 per month for 24 months.....

Is this common in this industry? I mean to take almost 50% of my monthly payment for their fee?

It depends on your payment. Since the fees are set, your monthly program is based upon how much on top of the fees you can accumulate. It can be higher than 50% if you're not accumulating that much each month. Hope that made sense.

I've been considering CDC too. I'll run out of my savings within 3 months and wil have to do something soon. As of yet I have not heard on the net hide nor hair of anyone who has used them, I can't find any feedback from a customer anywhere. My situation is getting desperate but I don't want to fall into scam and make my situation even worse. TADAMS: have you started the prorgram yet? I've been talking to a "Benny" about it, and yes they have been patient and have not hounded me, I've been talking to them for about 3 months now and I am very hesitant. I did ask them about their customers and success getting them out of debt and they said they have helped many, but have only ben in business 3 years. Please someone if you have used them please post a review of them.

Hi tadams14,

$10,992 in fees?? It would be cheaper to personally hire an attorney for God's sake. I'm not sure which Christ this so-called "Christian" organization is taking its inspirations from but it isn't the one I'm familiar with! (I agree, Jack-Black.)

I'm not sure why anyone would pay this kind of money for something you can do yourself. Of course it's nice to have someone help you, but 11 grand?? This wonderful community can help you and give you great advice (see "Do It Yourself" in the link bar above) and pay yourself $11 thousand and become debt free.

But, if you really want to go that route, I would hire a law firm that has guarantees in place. Shop around, my friend. Shop around.

You may even consider Chapter 13.

chrys

I agree on the chapter 13. With these debt settlement companies, there is no guarantee that the lenders wont sue you will you are saving up for the settlements. At least with chap 13 you know that wont hapen.

Have you tried calling your lenders for hardship programs?

458? a month? thats alot in my opinion. I believe my fees were 15.00 a month(account maintenence) then they got a % of what they saved me during a settlement. I would seriously rethink this that is alot of money to pay them for thier services. Im glad they were upfront and honest with you. That is very important, but i honestly would check around some more that is alot to pay for thier services and something that you could do yourself through settlement. Not saying that you should do it on your own your debt is very high, but I think you can do much better.

Actually I am going to try it myself with all the info I have found on this website.........$11K is way too much money.

That is a lot of money, I think you should reconsider this. In your case even I feel chapter 13 may be a better bet.

I went with them in 2007 they told me to stop paying on the Credit cards .. The Christian debt charged me 1,600 and did not contact the Credit card people so I asked for a refund I did not get one .. The total fee was to be about 3,000..
If you go with them set up a separate bank account as they will try and keep taking out the money long after you have quit them ... I closed the bank account I set up just for them as that was the only way they wanted to do business I have since found out that was a lie ...

Yes even I have a friend who has a bad experience with them. They go on charging your bank account, and the only my friend put an end to it was to close that bank account of his as well.

Thanks for the input. I am going to do it myself....glad to get some actual reviews.

Keep us in the loop of the steps you take and how it has made a difference. All the best!

Yes I am familiar with Christian Debt Consultants. What I have have found is that many people confuse them with Christian Debt Consolidation. I was blessed enough by the grace of God to complete their program in 22 months. I did have to settle some of my accounts before I expected to, however I did not mind considering I settled a Bank of America account for 16 cents on the dollar. What I can tell you is that I came to their program after leaving another. I too was leary about the Christian in the name but if you work with the people there you will see that it is not just "using the name of Christ," I can only speak of my experience but I can say that I am satisfied. I "gratuated" the program sooner than expected and in the end I go out for about 50% of what I started with. I worked with Rick and Irvin and have no complaints. God Bless you All!!!