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Please give advice

Submitted by on Sun, 08/24/2008 - 10:51
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My girlfriend has $5000 in credit card debt and a $30,000 student loan. Her average interest rate on the credit cards is 20%+, because she couldn't afford to pay on time. Her minimum monthly payments on the credit cards and student loan amount to $750/month, more than 1/3rd of her income, which is $2000/mo. We live in Los Angeles, and it costs a lot more than $1250 for standard living expenses.

She'd like to find a way to economically pay down her debt without completely destroying her credit (which is already bad). What are her best options in the Los Angeles area? I'm very skeptical of using some of these credit counseling services, as many appear to be scams that will hurt your credit even more.


My understanding is that the credit counseling Services don't actually affect your score. Her credit file would be noted during the program, that she is on a debt management plan. However, once she completes the program, my understanding is that the note comes off of her report, and it would be as if she never did it

You can go to nfcc.org to find a non-profit CCCS in your area. I'm not sure if they can take student loans though. Maybe someone else can advise you on that.

debt settlement, on the other hand, would definitely hurt her credit score.


Submitted by alias1958 on Sun, 08/24/2008 - 13:16

alias1958

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Quote:

My understanding is that the credit counseling Services don't actually affect your score. Her credit file would be noted during the program, that she is on a debt management plan. However, once she completes the program, my understanding is that the note comes off of her report, and it would be as if she never did it


I said, "my understanding" twice in that paragraph.


Quote:
You can go to nfcc.org to find a non-profit CCCS in your area. I'm not sure if they can take student loans though. Maybe someone else can advise you on that.


I said "I'm not sure" and "Maybe someone else can advise you" in that paragraph.

Quote:
debt settlement, on the other hand, would definitely hurt her credit score.


This is the only statement that I made that I didn't qualify, so apparently that is the statement that you are taking exception to. Everything that I have ever read or heard about debt settlement confirms that statement. If you are saying that it's not true, then I would truly appreciate you enlightening me on that point because I have actually done quite a bit of research on the subject. As far as I know, you have to be several months behind on your bills before credit card companies will be willing to negotiate a settlement. Since the OP referred to minimum monthly payments, and not to delinquent balances, I didn't have the impression that his girlfriend is currently several months behind on her payments.

And I'm not going to debate either my motivations or yours with you, but I would certainly like to know exactly what advice you think I offered that put this person in harm's way?


Submitted by alias1958 on Sun, 08/24/2008 - 16:03

alias1958

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