Debt consolidation service

[silverspear]

i am thinking of these guys http://www.consolidatedcredit.org

any other recommendaitions ?

 

[Queasy]

I'll refer you to Clark Howard

Have you heard about the phony credit counseling services out there? They often advertise on late night television, and the amazing part is they are fairly successful. These companies have stolen an ungodly amount of money from consumers and we?re just now starting to put a dent in the problem. According to the Federal Trade Commission, three of these awful debt consolidation companies have cheated people out of more than $100 million. That?s just three of them. You have to be careful about who you trust with your money. If you are one of the 9 or 10 million Americans that gets overwhelmed by debt, there is one accreditation body that lists counseling services. It is called the National Foundation for Credit Counseling - nfcc.org and it is the only body that can give you legitimate organizations. Don?t get taken by one of the scams! Do your homework.

 

[pontifex]

i heard most can hurt your even worse than you are now or just end up costing you more money in the long run.

 

[huberm]

I did one of these a few years back. Just out of college and I had racked up too much debt to handle. They promised lowered interest on all cards, and on two of them I would be reimbursed for the interest paid once it was paid in full.

It didn't work that way - AMEX jacked my rate up to like 27% and all of my cards reported on my credit report. No one will give you credit if "credit counseling" is on your report. Luckily, I saved hard for a while and paid them all off and am doing much better now.

My recommendation would be to evaluate your budget and cut out everything but necessities for a while, and pay them down yourself. You'll be much better in the long run and your credit score won't be obliterated.

 

[fitzov]

Be careful. There are different kinds of credit services. One contacts your creditors to negotiate lower rates so that you will pay your debts without declaring bankruptcy. The other actually buys out your debts with a consolidation loan that you pay off at a lower interest rate. Be sure to read the contract--including the "fine print". Here is one scam perpetrated by a credit counseling service that was recently class-action sued: company claims to negotiate with creditors and you pay a certain monthly payment that pays all the debts through the service rather than paying the creditors yourself. The company sends you an unreadable (faxed) contract that you sign and return. This covers them after you make your first payment and realize--after calling your creditors directly--that no payments have been made. The "first payment" is actually a donation to the non-profit counseling service. Then when you call and tell them that you never agreed to that they ask you if you read the "fine print".

 

[OFFascist]

I've heard that they do not do anything that you cannot do yourself.

Most work by you giving them money, they hold on to your money and negigiate a lump sum payment with the creditor.

You could do that on your own without having to give them a percentage of what they save you.