Credit Counseling Service Recommendation

I have been with Care One Credit for over 1.5 years now...They are great. I have paid off several bills and am on the downslide now. Go to www.careonecredit.com for more information. They give you a choice on whether or not you want to pay them anything for their services (I pay $3 a month in addition to my payment that goes to my bills). But you don't have to pay anything if you don't want to. Try them and let me know how it works! We're in the same boat -- trying to get stuff fixed so we can buy a house within the year! :)

Hi T.,
Back in the early 90's, I got into a lot of debt while I was in college. They gave me credit cards left and right and I maxed them all. I went to M. David Cole and Associates and I feel it was the best thing I could have done. I tried to look them up on the Internet and couldn't find them so I don't know if they are even still around, but I'm sure any good credit counseling service would do close to the same thing. They got almost all my interest to 0% and lowered my monthly payments by more than half. I think I paid a 10% fee each month (that was 10% of what I was to pay the creditors, so if I owed $220 to the creditors, I paid $22 to M. David Cole and Assoc.). I sent one check to the credit counseling service and they dispersed the payments to the creditors as they felt best served my needs, usually paying the most to the highest balance, stuff like that. It took a few years to get completely out of debt, but I did and have since bought 2 houses and have a fantastic credit score now. Anyway, I'm so glad I went to a credit counseling service when I did and I hope you will be too. Good luck! N. :-)

T.,
I wanted to take a second to respond to your inquiry as I am in the mortgage business. I can tell you from a mortgage lending perspective, your best bet is to NOT get into Consumer Credit Counseling. It can be detrimental to your credit score and limit you on the loan programs that you will qualify for. Many programs will require that you have a clear 12 month pay history and permission from your CCCS couselor to enter into a mortgage loan. Some do not allow a person to be in CCCS at all..meaning you would have to finish the program before you could even qualify for a loan. The best advise that I can give you is to do your best to find a credit card that will allow you to consolidate your debts at the lowest interest possible. You can do this by transferring debts from all of your cards onto one card. Then, stop using the other cards but DO NOT close the accounts. It is better for your credit to leave them open with a $0 balance. I truly believe that debt management can be handled on your own, w/o paying anyone to do it for you. I would be happy to go into this further with you if you are at all interested. I have a lot of experience with helping people fix credit problems. I could also help you out with any mortgage questions you may have before you start looking for your house. It really helps to be as informed as possible before you get into the debt management companies, you have to be careful. Hope this helps!

L.

Hi T.,
My Fiance was laid off for over 4 months and his credit is really bad now. We want to purchase a home to. I don't have any information i can give you but to ask please if you get any reliable feed back let me know.
Thank you so much and good luck.

I was in the same predicament as you. I got behind on credit card bills and have school loans. I was recommended to the Consumer Credit Counseling Services by a friend and they have helped me tremendously. I called and had a phone interview. I never had to go there in person. I mailed them copies of my bills, I pay them a small fee of $19 a month, and I see my balances getting smaller and smaller. I did my homework first and made sure they were registered with the Better Business Bureau and checked out if there had been complaints. The last time I checked, they had not. They were helpful, straightforward and took my MBNA interest, which was at 22%, down to 9%. I was sceptical at first, but this has been a real blessing. The website is www.cccs.net Good Luck!

I went with In Charge [changed name from Profina], should be InCharge.Com, anyway I am pretty much debt free, except for a few new ones from the delivery, but those were after I consolidated... I am happy with that company..

~Angie

Working Mom w/a beautiful 4mo old little angel [girl]...

Hi T.,

If you can, please avoid going through a debt consolidation company. If you're trying to buy a house, this will actually make your credit worse. You can work this out yourself (you and your husband). I have a website that has resources for getting out of debt on your own. My website address is http://www.momsmakingmoneyonline.com .

I also recommend listening to Dave Ramsey. He has a Mon - Friday radio show on 100.7 (I think) at 1 pm airing in the Dallas area.

Hope this information helps.

D.
1-888-875-9620