credit score

Probably not considering you are trying to pay off your debt. But that is a good question and I would like to see what others think of this as well.

Here's my take:

1) The debt program of itself will not report to the bureaus. But the accounts you included can put a comment that says "Account payments managed by financial counseling program". I'm not sure how this comment factors into the whole equation in calculating a credit score.

2) Considering that the accounts are most-likely delinquent already, that is having a major effect on your credit score.

3) Creditors typically re-age the account to a "current" status when you meet certain requirements in the debt consolidation program. If they eventually show a "current" status, that will help the credit score.

BUT... the only reason a credit score would matter is if you are trying to obtain new credit.

As a lender, if I see several creditors reporting that you are in a debt management program, regardless of the credit score I may be inclined to say to myself "Why should I give you more debt if you can't take care of the debt you already have?"

The debt consolidation programs sometimes put ppl in worse places than they are. I, myself, had entered into a debt consolidation company for about 1 month and then cancelled the agreement with them. I contacted all of my creditors that were on the program and asked if they would all accept the payment amount that the company was going to pay them. Luckily for me, they all accepted, and one of my payments was as low as $15.00/mth. I had a capital one acct on there that had charged off, and it seems that they are hard to work with, but they also accepted a payment of $42/mth. I am not sure who your creditors are, but you could try contacting them and see if they will accept $20/mth. Some will and some would rather see you in court then to try and help. With the debt company, your credit report will show either derogatory or charge-off paid in full through credit counseling, and if you do it alone, it will show either derogatory or charge-off paid in full. I am not really sure, but I think if you do it alone, it will help more regarding your credit score.