Need a Reputable Debt Consolidation Service/company

I used to work in a collections department and want to warn you that alot of companies will hold your money you pay them and make settlements on your accounts-which is not that much better than charging them off.
My husband is employeed by one of the largest banks and they refer people to Take Charge America (they are non profit). You can also check the BBB for reputations. He also told me that just going with a debt will affect your credit and you will not be able to use any of your credit accounts. You can call and ask to work on a "fixed payment program" and they should be willing to reduce your interest rates and possibly cut your payments.
You could also ask for a "consolidation loan" I know that Citi offers them at a better rate than others...and wont harm your credit...
He also says going with a debt reduction company should be a last resort before bankruptcy.

1 mom found this helpful

You need to do some serious research on debt consolidations. Some lenders treat DC like they do bankruptcy. It is tricky. You usually end up w/ one huge loan @ non-prime rate. I have heard a lot of bad things.

There are ways to reduce cc debt w/o spending more. One is paying every 2 weeks. It cuts the interest considerably. Be sure you are current- then send 1/2 minimum payment 2 wks early and the rest on time. It really works!
Clark Howard is a great financial adviser. He has a radio show and several books. Go to the library- where things are free.
Good Luck! Don't give up. Your young and a MOM! Your future looks bright!!

1 mom found this helpful

M.,

The debt consolidation agencies don't do or guarantee anything for you. You can do it on your own. They will pressure you into paying them thirty or forty dollars a month! You don't get any benefits from the credit card companies until several months have passed by. If you work with the credit card companies, just get everything in writing. Either way, you still ruin your credit, so don't let those agencies say they protect your credit. Also, it takes so long, SO VERY LONG, for your payment to the agency to get your credit card payment to the company! My advice is to stay away from all of them. Don't be fooled by "non profit". You can still pay everyone in your company whatever you want and still be non-profit if there's no money left over as profit. Those high level execs can make a lot of money. Good luck! You will get through it.

Most such companies will do you a disservice - for what you can do yourself. You can work you own debt snowball by following simple principles outlined by Dave Ramsey in his Total Money Makeover book. He can be heard daily on local radio from 4 PM - 7 PM on 1050 AM WCVX (he provides financial advice to callers from across the country). His books are available at your local library ( another is Financial Peace). He's been through serious debt and has taught many folks how to work their way out of it and get control of there money habits to have financial peace. You will not be mislead - this is not a freak financial guru. He is painfully honest and you must be willing to change your habits. I wish you well!

Hi M.,
I used a company called community credit counseling of NW Ohio. They are a non-profit office. They set you up on a budget. Then you pay a certain amount to them each month and they take care of your bills.

www.cccservices.com

M.,

My husband and I are trying to get out of debt also - we are following The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (www.daveramsey.com). It's a wonderful plan that teaches you how to get out of debt on your own and then start amassing a savings so that you never have to worry about creating/needing debt again. By following the plan we should be out of debt (except for our house) by March of 2009 and that's including both of our vehicles.

I would highly recommend this plan - Dave Ramsey's motto is "By living like no one else you can live like no one else".

Good Luck,
Mel

Hi I to have recently been put in the same situation.
I call a dept consolidtion place, only to find out later I could of done the same thing on my own.
They also will tell you if you don't stay with them that you will no longer be able to get help from any other dept place in the next five years. (I should of known better but I was desprate at the time )

You can call the credit card compandies and ask them to please lower your intrest rate and close your card and talk to them openly about trying to pay the bills off. and let them know your situation if they can help you from filing bankrupcy they are willing to help.

This is all this place did for me but they are also charging me $30.00 per month to do this it is just one more bill added to my growing dept. good luck hope the future seems brighter.

I would agree with the person talking about Dave Ramsey. He is really great. We have used him for several years now and are getting pretty far toward our final goal even though we are 26 and 25. I believe because you are a single mom you might be able to get his program for cheaper or free. You might want to call him or write him. The info is at www.daveramsey.com It's a great program.

Stay away from debt consolidation programs. MOST of them don't actually pay your debt off and the ones that do charge you 50 or more a month to do what you can do for yourself for free. Call your credit cards and get them to lower your interest rates. Of course there are other things besides just getting rid of debt. Including saving for college and retirement. Dave Ramsey will lead you through it step by step. :)

I don't know much about actual services and companies, but my husband and I were able to get out of debt by taking a class called Financial Peace University. It is taught through a 12 week video course by Dave Ramsey. Look for it online and there are courses offered in many communities. It teaches ways to get out of debt through a "monthly cash flow plan" and it really works...especially when you have the accountability of the other people in your class.

About 4 years ago we used CCCS, (Consumer Counseling Creditor Service I think). The website is www.moneymanagement.org.
They treated us very well, worked out great rates with almost every credit card we owed on, and the monthly rate was decent. You will pay a monthly fee, but IT IS negotiable, so negotiate it. Good luck!

Try a company called Genius. I think the spelling is right.....My husband and I used them few years back......excellent non-profit debt consumer company. You tell them your creditors and the amount you can spare to pay every month.....they negotiate with your debtors and the interest rate.... then you set up a direct withdrawl with Genius every month....in 3 years our debt was completely paid off. We had 350.00 withdrawn from our account every month and Genius dispursed it to all of our debtors....best experience ever....every month we received a statement from them that showed us what was paid...as soon as the first bill is paid off they move that extra money to another debtor...best part: they do not charge a dime for their services!!

I am sure they have a website.....good luck!!!

Many of us have made bad decisions on money matters. this agency has helped our family. -Christian Credit One(non-profit) 6730 Roosevelt Ave.Franklin,Ohio 45005.PH# 1-888-767-9155. Hope this will help. God Bless and Good Luck C. C

Been there, done that. To consolidate, check with your bank first. I did this before and was the best move I ever made. You can also call your credit card co. and ask for a lower interest rate, very simple to do and you may be suprised. Also, may want to consider transferring balances to another credit card with 0% interest to help get under control.
Good luck!

be careful-in saving yourself interest you may ruin your credit by going through a debt consolidation company-try calling the credit cards themselves and getting them to lower your rates-wait about a week since the feds are lowering again this weekend-good luck!!! L.

M.,

You are wise to deal with it now before it gets worse. I can relate and have had first hand experience with debt. I went to a consultation with one of the debt consolidation non-profit organizations. When it was over I left and never looked back. If you research a little or get some responses from others that have went through these organizations I'm sure they will tell you that it's a rip off. There were "donations" you could give etc.

I have a few different suggestions. I went to Family Services of Butler County. They have a financial counsler you can meet with and it doesn't cost you any money. They will contact some of your creditors and talk to them about lowering your interest rates etc. They will also work out a plan for you.

Another idea my husband used for a credit card he had run up to $2,000, is he applied for a credit card that guaranteed a 5% interest rate for the first year. He then transfered his balance over to that lower interst rate card.

Something I did when I felt like I was starting to go under is borrowed from my 401K. It was $2,000 and it saved me a boat load on interest. You'll want to read about this carefully if you decide to go this route because there was an outlook that showed the amount I borrowed could cost me in the long run by that money not earning interest to go towards my retirement.

What I'm doing right now to become debt free is working full time and I've started my own business to make extra money and eventually work from home full time. I know you said you make pretty good money already. By adding extra income you can get out of debt even faster. There is a really great book I want to recommend to you, "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. He is a finance coach and also hosts "The Dave Ramsey Show". He has helped thousands of people budget and transform themselves to make over their money habits. I can get this through the International Wellness Store I'm working with for $9.99 ($24.99 retail price & $16 on amazon.com). The Wellness Store is promoting this book because the CEO is a big believer in people reaching their goals to be debt free. To get more information on the great products or this amazing business opportunity go to www.WorkAtHomeUnited.Com/AnitaM and fill in your information. I will get back to you right away. Best of Luck!
-A.

Hi M.-
Be VERY VERY careful about the company you turn to. We are doing some debt consolidation now with a company that clearly has our interests in mind, and they still make money. They will do a FREE Financial Analysis Needs for you. This tells you were you really stand and finds out where you want to be financially, college for kids, retirement, paying off debts, paying of house, investing - whatever you are looking for. They consider your whole picture to get you out of debt faster, for less money and earning more on the money you do save or invest. The company's name is Primerica. Paul, our advisor, is very helpful, wants to make sure we understand everything he tells us and loves to answer questions. Our local banks do not want us to become debt free, they thrive on our debts. I'd be happy to share his phone number with you, so you can call me at 216/544-7306. He's helped us a lot. And even if you decide not to use his services, you'll at least gain a lot of important knowledge on your finances and how things really work for and against you.
Hope to hear from you and take care, K.

I agree with what some of the ladies said about reading Dave Ramsey's book. He also has a website that you can go on. My husband and I are currently taking the Financial Peace University class he has thru our church. It is AWESOME! There are so many things he teaches that I never knew. He gives simple and practical advice on how to get out of debt, have a savings, and stay out of debt. Please look into his books, website, whatever you can get your hands on. I think you will find it very helpful and be blessed by it.

M.,
I would strongly advise not going through a debt consolidation company. I did and to this day regeret it I researched the company through the better business bureau and every thing, needless to say if you look the company up on the internet right now they have taken thousands of dollars from people like you and I. But the company owners are no where to be found. I learned through this experience that you can do for yourself what they say they can do for you. You can negotiate settlements with the card companies yourself adn regardless of what people tell youit does not have the negative impact as most people think. Most companies when settlements are made will notify the credit reporting companies as acct. paid in full. Just be careful as to what you do.

You can do this yourself in most cases. Call your creditors and ask for a lower interest rate. If that doesn't work out for you, then start checking outside help. the main thing is not to create any more debt. Pay off your smallest ones first, then apply what you would have paid on the one paid off to the next one in line. That's the defensive plan. The offensive plan is to find some supplemental income. I can help you with this, if you're interested. You can contact me through my web site. You're very wise to get a handle on this right away! Hope this helps.
T.

www.livetotalwellness.com/T.
www.workathomeunited.com/T.

T.

You should read "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey!!! I couldn't put it down amd he is awesome when it comes to helping people get out of debt in ways that truly work!

I work for a bankruptcy attorney, and have seen this over and over again. I want to urge you to use Azalia's advice below, because what happens with most debt reduction companies is that they have you give them a certain amount of money every month, which they then send out to your creditors for you. The problem is that unless you give them a power of attorney, they can't speak or work out arrangements with your creditors, and so they will send out an amount that is lower than your minimum, and from what I hear from many of our clients who tried this route, they send payments late as well. I am sure you can see what kind of damage this will do to you with interest and late fees. It leads right to bankruptcy. You have no idea how many cases I have seen like this. If you have to seek a debt consolidation company because your credit is too low to get a loan or your creditors won't lower your rates, I would use Greenpath, or find a bankruptcy attorney who will do debt cosolidation and will actually know what the laws are. Good luck.

what getting a debt consolidation loan? pay all the cards off and then jsut have 1 payment...hopefully witha decent interest rate. i tried one of those credit counseling services before and it helped some, but they look even worse on your credit report then a bankrupsy does...trust me, i've learned that from poeple pulling my vredit report. if a loan is not an option...start by trying to pay off the the card with lowest limit...you can get it paid off the fastest, then to the next highest and so on...jsut make sure to at least pay the minimum on the rest of the cards so your rate doesn't go up more and you don't get late fees. i learned that is the best strategy from a personal economics class i took. once you get them paid off...keep one major card for emergencies.