Financial Challenges Support Group

This community is for people who are struggling to meet financial obligations of any kind. Financial challenges include everything from the day-to-day challenges of making ends meet to managing credit card debt to bankruptcy. Get support from others who are going through similar obstacles on the road back to financial stability.

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deleted_user 05/11/2008

hi-
husband and i are considering going through a debt settlment prrogram. i wrote a post about this a bit earlier, and now i have a little more information about the the process, i wanted some of your opinions.
you sign up for the program, you pay the 3rd party, and you stop paying your credit cards. once there is enough money built up in your acount to make a decent offer to settle one of your cards, they work with the creditor and settle the account.

i am worried about a few things:
1. they cannot stop any of the harrassing phone calls- they have no control of what the credit card company can do
2. there is no guarantee that the credit card company will settle the debt - they are basing the settlment on past experience
3. it will be nearly 3 years before they are able to settle our last account/card - so in that time what can that credit card company do to us?
i am worried that lawsuits can be filed/wages garnished/etc -- and for what??? because we joined this program! the balance on the last card is pretty high - appx 13k.

anyone have any experience with this? i know one person had stated that the credit card companies would not work with her or settle her account, so she got stuck at square one PLUS all the negative credit and a large balance.

we are considering debt consolidation/credit counseling as the other alternative - in the long run it appears we may be paying more, but we will be working direct with the creditors so little chance of harrasing phone calls/visits and less of an effect on our credit cards.

thanks in advance for your feedback!!
any resources to recommend as well?

deleted_user 05/11/2008

this does not work. We were with accushiled for 3 years and paid them 5000. they settled one debt and we finally had to file bankruptcy. You stop making payment and next thing you know you are being served papers have to go to court and end up getting your wages garenshied. DONOT DO IT, IT DOES NOT WORK!!!!!!!!!!

deleted_user 05/11/2008

it is called acushield financial or debtco. It sucks we had money coming back when we closed our account and it took 6 months to get it back and I had to call the president of the company, it was horrid!!!!!

deleted_user 05/12/2008

Seek a non-profit credit counseling agency. They have programs with most major CCC's. As marlla22 states DO NOT SIGN ON WITH A CREDIT REPAIR COMPANY Good Luck

dnjnm 05/12/2008

I agree to Seek a non-profit credit counseling agency. They will contact your creditors and work out arrangements for you.

HEPCinRVA 05/12/2008

I did Consumer Credit Counseling back when I had some personal problems and couldn't pay off some creditors.
They charge a small monthly fee ($10.00). They talk with your creditors, get interest rates and finance charges reduced or removed. They consolidate your payment into one monthly payment until all debt is paid.
They give you budget counseling and will not make you pay more than you can afford.
They will make you cut up your credit cards!

deleted_user 05/14/2008

Yeah.. they changed bankruptcy laws also. I know they're different from state to state... If I had any assets I would hide them and relatives would hang on to what I valued. Also, if I knew back then what I know now I would have racked up a bunch of purchases on my credit cards, sold the crap for cash money locally so it couldn't be traced, and then gone bankrupt.

jody0385 05/14/2008

zounds you sound like my ex. He always thought that a good game to play to, rack up a bunch of credit card bills and sell the stuff. He was a bit looney (not that you are looney but he was). If you wait it out the credit card companies will most likely offer you a settlement amount. The ONE card I had and couldn't pay off offered me a settlement amount just for the actual amount on the card for the items purchased. I guess they were happy that I had paid so much interest at that point (I had the card for several years and used it often and made the minimum payment). It was a HUGE difference, cut my bill in more then half. Late fees realy add up. You can also call and ask for a settlement amount. Talk to supervisor after supervisor and eventually someone will give you a good settlement amount. Thing is they usually want that amount in 30 days. Also it shows up on your credit as settlement not as paid in full. There is a difference there too, but it's better to show settled then to still be unpaid.

deleted_user 05/14/2008

Cripes - I AM loony!! I'd be worried if I wasn't loonytunes dealing with the stuff I've dealt with. To sum up my stance: look for the loopholes and exploit them. I didn't make the rules of the game but I find it worthwhile to have a few cards up your sleeve when you know They're cheating. ;)

deleted_user 05/14/2008

I did a credit couneling program several years ago with christian credit counselors who were a nonprofit group. and it worked out ok. of course it showed on my credit report that I was in counseling and I could not get a loan for anything and all my credit cards were frozen. but they did negotiate either a 0 or really low rate with the creditors by their gurantee of the balances to the creditors. Now we had to file for BK for differant reasons. As for the stop paying programs we were told by the differant attorneys we talked to that one thing those companies dont tell you is that i.e. you owe 1000 and they settle for 500 at the end of the year you will have to claim the 500 they let you off the hook for on your taxes as income.
Good luck

deleted_user 05/22/2008

I originally considered going through a company to consolidate the debt, but ultimately chose to make the calls to the creditors myself. I did basically the same thing that the company would have. I told them my situation and they have me a list of "options" to start paying the debt off. I have four cards--each of which were anywhere from 4-6 months late on payments--and I'm paying $111, $109, $88, and $84 per month, a total of $392 and that is basically the same outcome of what a company would have gotten and this way, I KNOW my payments are being made because they are made by ME and automatically deducted from my account each month, separately. If you go through a company, I'd have had to have the $400 or so available on the same date each month. Hope it works out for you! It's wonderful to see my own debt going down, little by little and I know you'll feel the same!

deleted_user 05/27/2008

I just contacted Consumer Credit Counseling - a non profit agency. I'll let you know how it goes. I gave them all my info and requested an evaluation but didn't sign up for anything yet. I hope it wasn't a phishing site lol because they have my life. Course nobody would want to steal my identity, they are probably better off with their own!

Jo

Goof 05/27/2008

I work for a very large...well known bank...won't say which one for obvious reasons...and when someone tells us that they are with a debt settlement company...we get legal on the phone right away...the reason for this is...that company will hold your money...like you said...then TRY and do a settlement....by the time that they do it....your card is more than likely at the verge of being charged off...and it gets reported to the credit bureau evry 30 days that you stay past due...even if you make a partial pymt....we DO NOT do business with those companies...our legal dept takes over....on the other hand...cccs....be careful too...most of them are valid...I would suggest looking up the name in the Better Business Bureau before signing up any of them...I have worked with credit cards for the past 7 yrs...

deleted_user 05/28/2008

I contacted CCCS which is a nonprofit agency and associated with The National Foundation for Credit Counseling. They were very helpful and respectful. They pulled my credit report, analyzed my monthly budget and offered a DMP (debt management program).

I did not sign up for the DMP. I called my biggest creditor (citibank) and told them I was thinking about the DMP. Mind you, I have called them several times over the past few months and they were not very willing to help me. When I told them I was going to have to do the DMP, they changed their tune and offered me a long term plan with payments about 1/3 of what I'm now paying, and cut my interest rate to 10%.

This will keep me from going completely broke, and I'm going to make the same call to two other places today. I'm trying to keep one credit card for emergencies and cutting up or cancelling the others that I have.
Best of luck to everyone!

Jo

deleted_user 06/02/2008

thanks everyone for your reply! unfortunately i have some bad news... husband got laid off last week due to budget cuts in his company. at this point i feel we have no choice but to file for BK. we are going to do a lot of research first, and your feedback so far has been invaluable!! thanks again!

deleted_user 06/02/2008

Prior to filing bankruptcy ten years ago a friend of mine gave me a book called Back Off, it tells you how to deal with creditors and what not to do. It was the most inspiring, educational and empowering books that I have ever read. It gave me the strength, courage, kick in the ass and fight to get through that terrible situation. I realize that the laws have since changed since I filed but still well worth trying to get your hands on a copy...just to give you hope if nothing else. Might try Amazon or some used book website. It was several years old when I got my hands on back in 96. Hang in there, good luck and stay strong! Remember, you hvae what they want! So make them come to your terms!

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