The deal offered to us is a "likely" reduction/settlement of 40% of our cc debt, plus 15% commission, with the agreed upon payments clearing the debt in 36 months. The part that is awful to me is that our payments would go into a trust account, & only when they build up enough to negotiate settlement terms will the cc companies be paid. I am NOT behind, just struggling to meet minimum payments & getting nowhere near paying them down. My accounts going unpaid for months terrifies me. I am thinking that my credit would NEVER recover from that. Is this common practice?