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Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2007 7:55 am Subject: fees to expect

what kind of fees can i expect from companies using the debt consolidation route ?

Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2007 8:14 am Subject:

Welcome fly....
Fees differ from one co to the next but u can prepare to pay any where from $15 to $40 per month in your payment. I'm not sure but seems i remember something about the fees being calculated by the amt owed and the terms of repayment.
Hope this helps u some,
Ang

Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2007 8:46 am Subject:

Although it has been several years ago, I think we had to pay a fee also and it was included in our payments.

Just make sure you check out the company before you use them. We used a company that did not really do anything for us or really tried to negotiate a lower payment and would tell us it was up to us to discuss this with our creditor. We finally quit using them because our payments kept going up and we were paying more than we were before and these people weren't doing a thing for us. Wish I could remember their name.

Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2007 12:51 pm Subject: fees to expect

Yes, what 2nband told is absolutely correct. You should check out the company before you use them. I would recommend you to discuss with the other members of this forum about the company you are planning to start with. In this way you can get feedbacks about the company and can be rest assured that you have chosen the right one. Regarding fees it’s always a good idea to go for free counseling with different companies. During the counseling they will provide you all the details you need. Generally fees depend on many factors like what is the total amount you owed, how many creditors you have etc. There are different procedures as well like debt settlement, debt consolidation etc. I am not sure though. So just wait and see if somebody has clear idea about it.

Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2007 5:49 pm Subject:

debt settlement is where (I believe) you pay a certain amount a month to an agency...when enough has been paid in they then contact a creditor and try to make the best deal to pay it off. Then you move on to the next one.

Debt Consolidation, management, counseling...here it is a debt program (I am in one)where you pay a certain amount every month and they make payments every month to your creditors as part of a plan. It usually takes anywhere from 12-36 month depending on your debt. They will contact your creditors and present them with a proposal...then as the smaller bills get paid off the extra money is added on the the next highest and so on till they are all paid. In many cases credit card companies, for example, will lower interest rates and remove late and over limit fees once you have made several payments in the program. The fee for this is usually $20-$50 a month included in your payment to help processing and making your payments for you. They will also field most of your creditor calls and letters.

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 7:59 am Subject:

In my consolidation experience, I pay $36 a month to the consolidation company. The rest get distributed to my creditors. They base it on the amount that I pay them monthly ($356 a month). My monthly payment is based on how much I owe to my creditors. I'll be done in I think 41 months. They field all the calls from the creditors. The only thing I get are my monthly statements & the calls have stopped. As my creditors get paid off, then my monthly payment will go down, but I can still send in more if I want.

Whatever you do, you should check out the company with the BBB!!!

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 8:38 am Subject:

Don't just check the company out with the BBB, unfortunatly it isn't all that reliable but it is a good source. Put the name of the company in a search engine and see what comes up. Make sure that you do your research. There are many companies out there that aren't reputable.

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:08 am Subject:

All give great advice. I'm not entirely remembering this but I think that the monthly fee will be entered into consideration of your financial ability to pay every month. in other words, your counselor and you will come up with a plan, factoring in all your debts, and then you will have one payment per month that includes the monthly fee. When I consolidated my fee was $30, very reasonable compared to that of the interest of a potential loan, which when i was in trouble i also briefly contemplated. but i think the interest would have been far above the monthly fee i was paying.
please check out whatever company you choose...the BBB is a good site but google it too and especially use this site's search tool as it will give you more insight as the experiences others have had.

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:35 am Subject:

Yes debtstinker...that is how my plan worked also....

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