Just wondering if anyone has tried debt mediation or credit counseling and what your results were. I tried to get a loan from the debt consolidation loan from the bank, but they wouldn't approve me. The company I am looking at is called Free Life Yes. I am at the end of my rope and could lose my car and home. Please, any advice is appreciated!!
Carri-
I have used CCCS, Consumer Credit Counseling Service, www.cccs.net, and it was so simple. You put in the amounts you owe plus all of your living expenses, etc. and they come up with a monthly rate that you can afford. You pay them monthly and they disperse money to each of your creditors. It gave me such peace of mind. Granted, it still looked bad on my credit report, but I was making the effort to pay off my debt, so that made me feel good.
I just encourage you to be very careful and read the fine print because often times you are paying them more than they are paying to your creditors and it takes even longer. Also, I know that this isn't a short term immediate fix but I truly encourage you to tune into Dave Ramsey on AM 570-he's great and very helpful. I do know that he is against CCC but if you feel it's what's best for you then go for it.
They can NOT repo your credit cards. Pay your car and home first and quit answering your phone unless you know the caller (in case it is a harrassing phone call from a creditor).
Provide the necessities by prioritizing the bills (house, car, gas, food) and then see how much is LEFT to reduce the other debt.
What do you have around the house that you do NOT need. Have a blow out yard sale and use the extra cash to catch up the house and car payment.
Google Dave Ramsey and possibly get his book. It explains it ALL. He went bankrupt and then decided to listen to what GOD says about money and finances. It REALLY works.
Be blessed,
Pamela <><
Great advice from Pamela. Also, sometimes you can negotiate with your creditors. They'd rather have some money from you than none.
Start listening to Dave Ramsey. He is on KLIF 570 AM every weekday from 1 pm to 4 pm. He will teach you how to work though this so you don't get to this place again. Go to the library and get his book "The Total Money Makeover". If you are not in the DFW area check out his website DaveRamsey.com and find out what time he is on in your area.
We did Consumer Credit Counseling. It has been great for us. We even got letters from our credit cards thanmking us for taking this step. It has made our home a peaceful place again. I used to want to cry every time the phone rang. Now I don't worry! The people at CCCS were awesome. Nobody made us feel bad for being in the spot we were. Good Luck. I also believe in Dave Ramsey, but i feel like we were too far gone- we needed the help from CCCS. We follow him now to get the rest of our money in order and he is great.
What you want to be sure of is that you go with a true non-profit organization like Consumer Credit Counseling. Some of the others take your money and don't do a thing for you. CCC has been around for years and years and they don't take your money. I would be sure to carefully check out any company before taking this step but you are on the right track. I wish you the best in this tough situation.
CCC is probably the best one for credit counseling.
If your credit is already shot you may want to consider filing bankruptcy. Bankruptcy will protect you from losing your home and car, and help get your life back on track. I had to get past the feeling of being a loser doing it and realizing it was a second chance. It was the best thing we ever did. Now I am just working on rebuilding my credit. I have a good attorney if you want the name. Good luck to you!!
A lot of those places may help, but will ruin your credit. Go with Consumer Credit Counseling Services (CCCS) It was the 2nd best thing we have ever done. The first best thing is folling Dave Ramsey's advice. There is a course you can take called "Financial Peace University". A lot of churches offer it for free, you just have to pay for the material.
These companies will not stop reposession or foreclosure. They will not "Save" your credit. Essentially they strike a deal with the credit companies (for a fee)to give you "slow credit" in apposed to "charge offs". Slow credit is just as bad as having bad credit or no credit. So why pay someone to do what you can already do for yourself. If you are really serious about this, I suggest seeking out Dave Ramsey. He has been there, done that, and back again. The man is amazing!
1)On the home- Call your mortgage company and see what you can do. They really do not want to reposess your home. That would mean they have to try and sell it and in this market there is no way they will get what they have loaned you on it.
2)On the car- talk to your finance company about rolling the payment into the loan and refinancing. Then try to sell the car and use the cash to buy a cheaper car with no payments. It is amazing how much you save when you have NO CAR PAYMENT.
When I was younger I went thur CCS(Consumer Credit Counseling). The WORST thing I ever did! Now I know that they only did what I could do myself. Not to mention that by doing it myself I learn how to manage my own money. CCS manages your money for you. They contact your creditors to arrange a payback plan (something you can do for yourself too). Sometimes the creditors will accept, sometimes they will not and your CCS will ruin your credit score with charge offs. Discover Card was one that did not accept a payment plan from CCS (when I did it). I ended up with a charge off and a collection agency on my back. That one still comes back to haunt me 13 yrs later. Even though it is now paid off ever time they sell those files it opens up again and I have to provide another company with proof of a paid debt.
Being in Debt IS NOT the american way. It is possible to live your life "like no one else" and have no debt.
Denise
Married 12 yrs with 3 kids (19,18,5).
Please contact this man at Freedom Debt Relief:
I recently contacted him and he was very helpful. We did not end up going with his company because we did a consolidation loan through our credit union. He was our next option. He was very helpful and not at all pushy. He was the one who suggested the different options to go with. They do debt settlement where they contact the lenders and ask them to reduce your balances owed. Best of luck to you, this can be a very stressful situation.
If you are using your 401K money, see a bankruptcy atty before doing anything. We went thru my entire $250K 401K to stay afloat, only to find out later that with bankruptcy, we would have been able to keep that. Live and learn. Good luck.
My husband and I did that about 4 years ago and we are still paying on it. It is awful. We have a HUGE payment that is killing us more now than it was then. We thought we were at the end of our rope then, but it is worse now. I honestly believe that if we had tightened our belts we could have done it on our own. What you need to do is listen to 570 am from 1pm-4pm and get the book called "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. The radio program is Mr Ramsey speaking on debt and debt management. Many many churches in the area offer a workshop on his system. I think it is well worth checking out. The book is a EVERY easy read and wouldn't take much time to figure out if it would work for you before making the next move.
Hope this helps!
I suggest you find a Crown Financial class or Financial Peace University. FPU is part of Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover...we are going through that class right now through my husband's workplace. One should be held at one of your many local churches. They will help set a budget and you do the work yourself. If you do it all yourself, you will not end up back in the same boat...God speed to you. We are still working on our issues but we are going to make it;)
I agree with many others who responded - go with Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS). Here is the website for the Texas branches: http://www.cccs.net/.
CCCS is very reputable, they have been around for years, and they are approved by the Better Business Bureau. My friends used them to get rid of over $50,000 in debt. Five years later, the debt is gone and there was NO harm to their credit report. In fact, their credit is better than it was before, because they don't have all those credit cards wrecking havoc on their credit report and they now know how to be responsible with their money. Since going through CCCS, my friends have had no problem buying a car or getting other services that check your credit. They say it's the best thing they ever did to save themselves from debt.
Basically, those debt assisstance companies are just debt collectors you choose. So you have one collector to work with that you chose instead of 15 others that were chosen for you and can get quite rude. There are also atty's who specialize in going after creditors who don't follow the rules - for no fee. Sometimes you can get paid for something as simple as the creditor doesn't have a permit to collect in TX. Check him out - Dean Malone in Dallas. As far as the debt relief companies - shop around and CHECK THEM OUT. There have been cases where someone pays everything off, but it never gets reported to the original creditor and they still have to pay. Also try talking to your creditors directly. Come up with an overall plan and see how that works for them. Sometimes they can be flexible - especially when the economy is not so strong. good luck
i wouldn't suggest debt mediation or anything like that. also, please don't file bankruptcy, that's a VERY irresponsible way of solving the debts you got yourself into. what you need to do is sell your car, and buy a "beater", clearly you can't afford what you have, so you need to get rid of it. use the money from selling your car to pay off the note and use the remainder to outright buy your beater, even if it's only $500. next, be SURE to pay your mortgage ON TIME each month. next, pay your utility, phone, and groceries. those are your NEEDS. use the remainder of your money to set up an "emergency fund" and begin paying off your debts. also, sell anything and everything you don't NEED, have a yard sale or use craigslist, i'd also get rid of your computer and internet. good luck!
my mom has gone through Consumer Credit Counseling Services, non-profit organization. They consolidated all of her debt and she was able to pay it off in about 4 or 5 years. They just took one payment out every month until it was paid for. It worked great for her and her credit is still in very good standing.