ALSO AGREED:
always make sure you BBB any business you deal with when paying up front for services -- including coll agencies. Make sure they are accredited and that they have a score of A- or better.

Most settlement programs are, in fact short term (meaning 90 days or less). Some people need to build these esgrow accounts over a longer period of time before taking advantage of a good settlement, in which case a DSC is right for you...but not CSA, you LITERALLY can do everything they can do because they do not build esgrow. They just stop the calls.

just to add, they will TRY to stop the calls. they still will attempt to call you and most settlement companies will tell you not to speak with them, or remind them to contact the settlement company. if they continue the settlement company will send them another letter to stop calling. but they will still try

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my blog about saving money during a recession, And my personal story about Provanta's debt settlement program and how it worked for my family

I think the problem is not many people know about finances thus they don't know the pros and cons of debt settlement. Settlement can really work if you or the company you go with follow through. Of course the banks are going to say they don't work with credit solutions they want YOU to keep paying on time. Wither you do it yourself of go with Credit Solutions lets be smart. Send any documents certified mail to the credit card companies when you negotiate with them and keep copies of all correspondence. I know people who did Credit Solutions and love it I also know people who just did it themselves. Either way educate yourselves with the law and financial information not other peoples comments. Look at the paper work of ANY company you go to and understand how the program works. In loo of social networking the real work of research is lost. If you really want to get out of debt get help because you obviously couldn't do it yourself in the first place. What do you have to lose? Or rather what will you lose if you don't do SOMETHING. Good luck to you guys and pick up a book once in a while. The person who went with credit solutions called 1-800-950-5313 and talked to lee the person who did it themselves got a book by David Blachard.

I was a client with Credit Solutions for a year and was told to not answer phone calls or mail because it was a scare tactic. I did as they said and on one of my accounts that was for $600.00 all of a sudden jumped up to $1,200.00 and a summons to go to court. Called CS who stated that they would not make any settlement offers until they were notified by me that there was money to use. This is not what my wife and I heard on the seperate phone calls when we signed up with them. Sure they settled the account and I'm paying $5.00 less than the original balance plus another $230.00 dollars. After speaking with the lawyer who is collecting the funds for this account stated that I would have had a better deal negotiating with them personally. They sucked out a years worth of service charges that was over $1,800.00 that I could have used to pay a couple of the cards off. I cancelled today after speaking with a personal lawyer friend of mine. Sure they may be certified but a word of warning to anyone thinking of going with this company to do your homework first. Don't be scammed like so many of us on this site.

Isn't there a Statue Of Limitations that after so many years of inactivity on a card that it is basically wrote off as a bad debt for the credit card company?

I've been with credit solutions for 3 months now. So far it's been everything they have promised. I settled my first debt this week at 25 cents to the dollar. I've also had other offers for 50 cents on the dollar but obviously don't have the money to settle everything so quickly.
I've seen posts about Student Loans on this thread. I highly doubt that this company would enrol such accounts as Student Loans can not be settled. This is credit 101.
If you are thinking about credit solutions then do your research, and make your own decision. So far my results have been positive and I'm happy I made the choice.

I have sent them almost $1,000 to help me... they've done nothing!! I could've paid off a creditor by now with that money. Granted I got myself in this mess by my situation at the time, but I truly am trying to fix things... and now I get scammed... how do I get my money back for credit solutions? please help...

I WAS a former credit solutions client and they told me the same thing as everyone else, dont make anymore payments to your creditors, dont answer the phone from debt collectors, and so on and so fourth. I signed up back in late april/early may with cs and they told me that my fee for their services was going to be $3000 with the first 3 months paying $305 each, then after that my payments would go down to $148 per month. They also told me that by the 4th or 5th month that i would be hearing from them with possible settlement offers, and i didnt hear SQUAT!! So after i got done with my job this fall(seasonal worker) i decided to call my good friends at careonecredit.com and had them sign me up on their program, i called cs and told them that i was through with their bs(pardon the langague) but i was not seeing any results and that my credit score had gone from extremely excellent to poor within 3 months of being on their program a.k.a 768 to 534. (nice huh) anyway im excited about being on this program, because for one, i know that i will see results using these guys at careonecredit.com they are very professional when i call them and have a question about my account, and they have enstilled a sense of trust for me that i can count on them to help me out with any questions i may have about my program! Thanks CAREONECREDIT.COM!!!

I have nothing but praise for the company and people I dealt with at Credit Solutions. I believe just as with any venture you may go into it's only going to be as good as the person your working with, such as their actual concern for your individual needs. What was said to take 36 months for me and my husband to pay off was done it less than 24. Thank you Haley and Credit Solutions

it depends on your states laws. the state im in is 4 years others are 5 and six and i have even heard of some states being 3 i think. so check into your states laws. after 4 years in my state they can no longer take you to court and sue you as long as you dont pay or agree that the debt is yours and such. but they may still try to pursue you, and after it has expired if you agree or pay anything it starts the statute of limitations all over again.

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my blog about saving money during a recession, And my personal story about Provanta's debt settlement program and how it worked for my family

...says the man w/a 50 inch flat screen and a credit score of 0.

You're delusional. You need credit for everything these days. You can't even buy a home or start a business without it. Oh yeah and just TRY to get a decent job without good credit.

Think about it this way: There has to be some way to keep people accountable for the large sums of other peoples' money that consumers spend. And consider yourself lucky that all companies like Chase and Bank of America will do is make derogatory credit marks on your CBR. Most companies will litigate on top of that.

So whatever your therapist is telling you about debt being a "stressor" and all that garbage, disregard it. You DO need credit and if you DON'T have it, it will come back to haunt you.

One more thing, when people actively choose to ignore their debt, OTHER people, good tax-paying people, have to pay for your ignorance!

...Oh, and credit solutions is a joke

I went through DebtWave who was recommended to me through this site. They have been AWESOME. I started out with $21K in debt 4 years ago...and i'm down to 3K. They estimated 4 years in the beginning and i've gone a little over 4, but will be done in May/June. they have excellent customer service!

I just went with credit solutions last night and they told me they could get my interest lower and their fee would be absolved in the interest and finance charges they will save me. They said they could definately get this as i have never missed a payment. It is supposed to be money back if they can't save me X amount of dollars. Is anyone in that boat?

im under the impression that credit solutions is a debt settlement company. which means you stop paying your bills to settle the accounts. i would suggest you read this whole thread and find out more about settlement before you make a decision about this particular company

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my blog about saving money during a recession, And my personal story about Provanta's debt settlement program and how it worked for my family

Wow your credit rating must SUUUUCK! good luck buying a house or whatever it is you plan on doing with NO credit... Such a shame.

In response to "Extremely ticked off!"

You're an idiot. CareOne is a Consumer credit counceling service that doesn't even do THAT. It's merely a front for it's debt settlement parent company Persels & assc... All Care one does is refer potential clients to P&A. This in my opinion is much worse. P&A, CSA, and J Haas are all going to hell for what they do to their unsuspecting clients.