Really Need Help

Hi Erin, I have been in your same position (still am trying to pay off alot of cards). When I hit rock bottom and couldn't afford the minimums I tried debt settlement. My advise to you, DO NOT do this. I won't bother you with the long details but needless to say they will jsut take your money and your credit and amt owed will be worse off than it is now. My advise is to call the credit card companies and explain your situation, depending on the company they are usually willing to settle the account or work out something so the monthy payments are affordable. If you stop sending in money you will probably receive letters from them telling you to call to work something out...If I knew I could do this before I started the settlement program and ALL my accoutns were turned over to collection, I WOULD HAVE done this. I'm learing the CC companies are more willing to settle for a lesser amt than a Collection agency. I know it's hard to call the CC company but once you do and realize there are options to help you, you will feel much better. You don't have much to lose by trying :) Hope this helps!

Welcome to the forum, Erin! If you signed up for the free debt consultation when you registered with the forum, a counselor should be contacting you shortly. They can discuss your situation and explain the options available.

Another alternative to debt settlement, which Elora addressed is a debt consolidation program. The debt consolidation company gets your interest rates reduced and in most cases, the late and overlimit fees are waived. You make one affordable monthly payment to the debt consolidation company, and they disburse the funds to your creditors each month until your balances are paid off. This helps your credit as well, because a regular monthly payment history will be reflected on your credit report.

Yes - that is another option Erin. I looked into that to but unfortunatly for me the payments would have been to high, so it was not an option for me at the time. That's why I did debt settlement, where they put your money into an account, charge you high fees, and say they will negotiate a settlement when all the funds are in your account. This is something you can do on your own at that rate, all the accounts I enrolled in the debt settlement program were sent to collection agencies, destroying my credit. I've never tried debt consolidation so I can't say anything about it, I just know...stay clear of DEBT SETTLEMENT!!

Elora, debt settlement program is not that bad as you show it. I am sorry that you fall in the hands of wrong company and that is why, your experience is so bitter. You should not have faced such problems if you had done thorough research on that company before signing the contract. There are many debt settlement companies and some of them I know are reputed business. They manage to settle the accounts with the creditors as they show in the contract. You weren't lucky enough to find the right company in time and I feel sorry that you learned the hard way. I say this from my experience. I am also enrolled with a debt settlement company and so far things have been good. They managed to settle three out of five accounts with the creditors that I included in their plan.

There are pros and cons to both credit counseling and debt settlement.I am a financial counselor and am well educated in both. Credit counseling does lower your interest usually by 8% less . However some credit card companys don't work with credit counselors at all but most do. The progarms usually last between 4-7 years. The good thing about that program is that you will not get harassing calls from creditors or collectors. But you are paying back the full debt, plus interest,and plus fees. Be aware that credit counseling companys usually charge fees from 25-50 dollars a month.It will also show on you credit report that you had to get help to get out of debt. It basically looks like a bankruptcy without a lawyer for 7 years. debt settlement is a more aggressive way in getting out of debt. The way it works is instead of you sending payments each month to the creditors with there high interest where you never get anywhere you instead put money aside in a trust account. The settlement company will use that money in lump sums to settle debts with the creditors or collection agencys. They can usually settle anywhere from 20-75 % of the balance. Usually its about 40-50% usually. The programs usually last from 12 to 36 months. The down side is that you will be getting phone calls from the creditors and later the dreaded bill collectors. However you can send cease and desist letters to the 3rd party collector to stop the calls. The other down side is that the accounts get charged off and that will hurt you credit at first. However it will start to get better as the accounts get settled. Plus when they get you debt free your income to debt ratio will be much better. Assuming you don`t go and get your self in debt again and you pay your bills on time for about a year after completing a debt settlement program you should have pretty good credit. My personal opinion is if your bills are already behind I would suggest doing settlement but what ever program you choose look up the company on the BBB (Better Bussiness Bureua). If you choose settlemnet also make sure that the settlement company is a memeber of TASC (The Association of Settlement Companies) or USOBA ( United States Organizations for Bankruptcy Alternatives ). I hope this helps.

Thanks for the replies. Yes I do wish I did research on the company. In my eyes, after all I have been through, most of this could have been done myself, without the help of a third party. I was actually told and have emails to prove it, by the company I signed up with that my account would not be charged off, which it was. If I knew that the creditors are willing to settle with you personally, which they are because I settled the only acount that did not go into collection for 1900 the balance was 6,800, I would have done this. About a month after I signed up I received non stop calls and letters from the credit card companies, the letters all said please contact us if you are having financial trouble (something along those lines). I could not call them b-c of my bogus contract I signed with the debt settlement agency that said you can not contact them. I am still out $850 from the company, I sent in a dispute form to them requesting the money. If I do not receive it I will have to file a lawsuit b-c they are in breach of their contract. It's just sad how people take advantage of other people in need.

ECTSWIN YOU ARE IN VERY GOOD HANDS HERE.TIFANY 99
AND STEG are great members of this forum.this people
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like hell.
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http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/testimonials/