Card Credit Debt Debt Relief Stop

Credit Card debt is about to kill me. I lost my job and was unemployed for a 9-month period. During that time I racked up some serious debt. I enrolled in Freedom Debt Relief, and at the time was current with my cc payments. They told me I had to stop making payments so that they could negotiate with each creditor. After enrolling, they were able to settle one debt, but the other two are bringing the hammer down on me. I current have a very low paying job, and am making monthly payments to FDR; I do not have additional funds to negotiate with. I am currently trying to get out FDR's program but they are not returning my calls. Currently my debt is just under $20,000 and I am frightened I will have my wages garnished my checking account frozen and/or lose my home. Any ideas or suggestions? I feel like I am about to lose everything.
Let me state that YES I now know that I have made a poor choice in choosing FDR, even though they did settle with one creditor. My main concern is how to settle this on limited funds, and how to get out of FDR's progam so that I may do so.

If you are enrolled with Freedom Debt Relief, you should call their customer support department. They have amazing team of experienced client service agents who will help you through financial, legal and other difficulties that arise as you make you way to being debt free. Their client support number is toll free: 1-800-655-6303.

And if your creditor threatens legal action, you can call FDR’s Legal Account Resolution Department - (800) 993-8950 - which is a team of people with special training in handling the legal issues involving creditors. You’ll be happy to know that, unlike a lot of companies, FDR does not rely on some "outsourced", over-seas customer service center. When you call them, you will always get one of their in-house U.S. professionals!

I have called both of theses departments many times (I had a family member in the program who I would handle over-the-phone conversations for because she is hard of hearing), and I was always amazed at the level of knowledge and expertise they possessed. They’re very polite – with none of the “annoyed-to-be-talking-to-the-layman” attitude you find with some legal & financial specialists. I was also very pleased to get though to a real person in just seconds on every call! Very surprising, given the size of the company.

The company has settled the debts of tens of thousands of people, so they have dealt with all the different tricks and tactics collectors use to pressure people. And, as I found out, some creditors do apply quite a bit of pressure in attempt to scare you out of the program. Like most predators, creditors employ a “divide & conquer” strategy. When you’re enrolled in FDR, you have the collective bargaining power that comes with being part of a group of thousands, plus you have a team of debt specialists on your side. Unscrupulous creditors will try to scare you out of the program so they can attack you all alone.

Also, I did a little extra research and found out that Freedom Debt Relief has been named a "Best Places to Work" by several independent surveys in the San Francisco/Silicon Valley area (where they are headquartered) as well as in Phoenix (where they also have offices). This didn’t surprise me, as their employees’ job happiness is clearly evident over the phone, but I was still impressed with a company that makes a "Best Places to Work" list in the San Francisco/Silicon Valley area. With the likes of Apple, Google, eBay, and Craigslist all headquarter in the area as well, you know the bar to be among the "Best" is set pretty darn high.

2009-07-19 13:48:37 by MsAlcide66

www.debtfreeassociates.com -- At Debt Free Associates, we provide credit card debt relief for our clients. Is your credit card debt out of control ...

ok, i turned out to be the 18 year old statistic getting a few credit cards and not having the correct judgement or knowledge to use them. in total of about 3-4 cards, i have just over 10,000 in debt.

im 21 now and know better, but not how resolve my situation. there are soooooooooo many debt relief commercials and such and i dont know if they do any good, or which ones to choose. its quite overwhelming.

and to top it all off. i recently recieved a summons for one of the credit cards, they even sent one to my employer. i feel like im going to drown.

id love to consolidate my debt and set up a plan. but to be honest im not even sure where all my debt is. how can i find out all the pple i owe? some have stopped sending mail thinking i was a loss. some help please. im desperate. im to the point i just might file bankruptcy.

oh do i ahve to go to court? can i just settle outside? or what? im nervous

The best thing to do is to go onto experian website and order your credit report this will give you an idea of who you owe to and what debt you actually owe that is the best thing to do

2008-07-26 14:03:04 by Calli S

ok so im only 20 years old. my bf and i spent 7,312.00 BUT we are no longer together...so he stopped helping pay on a credit card that i had in my name? but now the credit card is like 12,000.00!! a collection burrow has contacted me and we will go to court they said the WILL take 26% of my paycheck? they told me i've disappointed alot of people???? they don't know me though? haha so should i go with the debt or bankrupsy lawyer or just a reg. lawyer and how much will that cost me?

You are being legally fleeced. The credit card companies have worse ethics than a slug and you do not have much legal recourse. Most likely, you are fully liable for the full amount, however, you can only go after your husband for his share of the liability.

Twenty years ago, we had ursury laws that prevented people from being charged excessive rates. (A bank tried to coerce my 20 year old daughter into getting a credit card even though she was unemployed! The rates were absurd.)

My suggestion to you is to work for the Green party and Ralph Nader in the next presidential election. He is the only candidate that will work toward fair consumer laws and enforcement. The other candidates are bought by election contributions (banks, insurance companies, and drug companies).

America is being fleeced and there ought to be better protections for consumers.

2008-04-29 09:58:33 by khellsee yo

I signed up with ABC Debt Relief and they told me that even though they couldn't tell me to stop making payments, they did recommend that. I have never been late on any C.C. payments. They said that once I stop making payments, the C.C. companies will try to get me to pay throughout the next 6 months or so. But after a while, they will put me in "collections" status and are then ready to negotiate a settlement which they say I can cut down 40% of all my debt. Does this sound too good to be true? Or, am I getting douped into punishing my credit score for the next decade?

Yes, and yes.

Your credit will be damaged. You'll pay higher interest into the forseeable future but your life will go on. Decide the best business decision for you!

Is the short-term condition in which you find yourself crippling or can you cut back on lunches out and consolidate tasks that require driving, forego the drycleaner, etc., and pay your cards off (one at a time until the balances are gone)?

If you cannot find another way out of your current circumstances, then debt negotiation may be the way to go.

2008-09-23 13:07:12 by asimmonz

Okay. I graduated college in 2006. I am working for the university and have a pt job. I had to buy a car (Living in LA, you must have a vehicle).

The car and student loans I can deal with. It's the stupid credit cards that are causing me to drown... I can and have made ALL my payments and I am not late, but after all the bills are paid, I literally have $106 a week to live on.

So, to make ends meet I buy gas and junk on credit.

Here is a little break down of what I owe:

28K credit cards/personal LOC
17K student loans
9K car loan


TOTAL is approx 56 K.

I make about 35K a year, but I have to live, typically on Credit Cards.

I have looked into two companies (Nova Debt, and Freedom Debt Solution)

One of them (NOVA) said I could pay off my credit cards in 4 & 1/2 years by paying 700 a month. But all my accounts would be basically closed/frozen. Q: Would that mean my "credit" would not longer be good? Would it affect my credit score?

Freedom Debt Solution is a company that basically has you stop paying your creditors, then tries to negotiate with them to settle your debt for a fraction of the cost. Again, it would freeze/close my credit cards and wreck my credit.

Keep in mind, my credit score is good! I have never been late and I always make min payment plus $10.

I also live with family and pay no rent. I'd really like to be able to move out and on with my life. With the job market, it's not looking good for me to find a new job anytime soon, tho I am looking.

I need help. I am totally open to questions, comments, concerns.

You have 3 different choices here:

1. Negotiated Debt Settlement
2. Consumer Credit Counseling
3. Debt Consolidation Loan

Except the loan, both, credit counseling and debt settlement, are going to negatively impact your credit. In credit counseling, you are paying a third party to make payments on your behalf, and in return the credit counseling firm is supposed to get you discounts on late fees and interest rates to "ideally" get the debt paid of quicker. These programs usually do not work, primarily because, no one agency has great relations ships with all creditors and more so because more than half of them were funded by credit card companies themselves. These programs can take anything from 4 - 6 years to complete.

Also, many of your future lenders and creditors are going to see that you enrolled in a credit counseling program, and are basically going to think that you cannot handle you finances well.

Negotiated debt settlement, basically saves your money in an escrow account and then makes lump sum settlement payments to each of your creditors ONE AT A TIME. I cannot stress that enough. Most people do not understand this concept, as while you are saving money, no payments are bieng made to the creditors. This will definitely impact your credit. But you have to look at it in a sense that you take this time to get rid of your debt completely, and you can repair/recover your credit after you have gotten the debts paid of. Debt settlement programs take about 18 tp 36 months to complete, so you are looking at a definite timeline to eliminate your debts.

Keep in mind that both these options will only work with credit card debts and not your student or auto loans.

The third option is to get another debt consolidation loan, but given your limited income and high amount of debt, I doubt that you will be successful in getting approved for a low interest loan for 25K (which is what you need to get all your credit card debt into one loan.

You can also try to consolidate your student loans seperately.

2008-10-03 10:01:48 by Jane Y