debt counseling/consolidation

Research them with your DA's office. The company should also be listed with the Secretary of State. You will come to know about their legitimate business.

Shop with some more companies and take the individual quotes. You will come with a better decision before finalizing the suitable company.

Yea...I have heard of them. I checked em out on the BBB and they are listed there. I was actually going to enroll with them and I decided that I could settle my debts alone..I am doing good too. I have got 5 items removed from my credit and have 2 chargeoffs that I am paying on. On one of them I only have 1 more pmt and it will be cleared..

How to find a reputable debt counseling service - is debt settlement a good option as well? I am leaning towards Care One - I would like to know if they have been successful with anyone.

I don't really think that debt settlement is as good. With consolidation you are just combining your bills (original balance) into one monthly payment. As with settlement you are only paying a portion of the bill, keep in mind, alot of these settlement companies don't tell you that you have to pay taxes on the amount of the settlement. Moreless when you finish paying the settlement with the taxes, you would have been paying just about the original balance itself. And I am pretty sure that settlement isn't going to help your credit as much as consolidation will. The choice is yours and if you can call and discuss arrangements with your creditors, that will be even better. I had a couple bad things on my credit that were charged off and with CA's. With some of them I called the original creditor and some the CA's. All of them allowed me to send in monthly payments as low as $15.00. If you can, I would suggest trying that before you use a consolidation/settlement company. Good luck..