Debt Mnagement and Getting a Mortgage

I'm going to say that it depends, when I was in college I made a few mistakes, I had to go through a debt consolidation Co. and in no way shape or form did it affect me. I got a mortage for 300K, 3 years after I had started my debt consolidation. To this day I have a near perfect credit score. I can get the the info for the non-for-profit co. I worked with, they were fabulous and VERY understanding.

The Co. is 1-800-570-3462 American Finance. They are non-for-profit so they do not charge you for their services, they take all of your cc debt or other loans you can't pay, work with the creditors to lower or even stop all interest. I used them and was debt free in 2 years, my parents are now using them and in 2 months they will be debt free. I hope this info helps.

S.

I know people that have filed bankruptcy and got a mortgage with in the same year. So, I don't see how trying to pay off your debt would hurt. You may end up with a higher interest rate though.
I do want to tell you about a bad experience that I'm aware of with debt management. My mother did a debt management service a few years ago and ended up still owing a lot on the credit accounts when the contract with the service was up. The interest continued to add up, they said it wouldn't. Also the fees the company charged were very high. My best advice would be not to call one of those places that advertise on TV. Something that seems to good to be true usually is. Maybe talk to your bank for a referal or even a loan to consolidate your bills. Then call and cancel the cards. Sometime you can even work out a lower rate for future purchases once you pay the account off, so do that if you want to keep one card for emergencies. Good Luck!

Hi N.
May I suggest a finance and debt coach? His name is Dave Ramsey. You can listen to him FREE on 2 local radio stations.

am 1260 or am1090 Both stations are talk radio. You can also listen for free on Daveramsey.com I encourage you to check out his web site. Dave is a christian man who has dedicated his life to helping others become DEBT FREE! He takes calls and emails throughout his shows and answers questions. His show is a great learning tool. I wish you well! Heidi

Hello, N.. Rachelle had some good advice. I actually do mortgages for a living. Anytime you pay off some debt it is good. How you go about paying off the debt may make a difference in what your credit will look like in the future. Debt consolidation companies do work for you that you can do yourself. It is WORK though. They make arrangements with the creditors to pay so much a month or on a biweekly basis.
Something you can do on your own if you are disciplined enoughed to pay.

You can get a copy of your credit report from the 3 credit bureaus (Transunion, Experian, and Equifax) without the credit score free once a year. You can take those reports and first dispute anything that is not yours or that are duplicated. Next you can write letters to have things removed. Sometimes they will if they are to old to verify. Lastly, you can make settlements on old accounts for sometimes 1/2 or what is owed. You should write a budget first and began to save so when you make the settlements you can have some money to send as good faith. The work is writing the letters and on the phone. Because you are a stay at home mom it will be a great task for you after the baby goes down for her morning nap. I have some other information and I am willing to give it to you if you are interested in cleaning up your credit yourself. Depending on how much debt you have bankruptcy is another option but may not be for you. drop me a response at ____@____.com from N. K. Good LUCK

Be very careful. I did the debt management, I can't remember the name now. We had a mortgage already, then I entered the program, then the ARM on our mortgage shot WAY up and we could not get re-financed. All the mortgage companies said yeah no problem we can still re-fi you, we would apply get the inspection all that and then the last minute we would have the rug pulled from under us. We ended up get a home equity loan through my local credit union and paid off the debt mamngement people and then got re-financed. But it was a long stressful road. THe good news is I now have no credit card debt! I highly recommend the program I was in Money Manangement Inc or International is the name, but it will hurt your credit rating for a time.