Credit And Debt Counseling Advice

out of hand. I am now in the position of either having to file Bkrpt, which I qualify for, or pay my creditors through a credit counseling service. After a divorce, my home was sold (no equity), and at the time I was unemployed. I am now employed and renting a tiny house but hoping in the not real distant future to purchase one. I am trying to get my financial affairs in order, but the payments to these creditors are far more than I can afford without going through credit counseling. If I pay them through counseling, it will take several years to pay off my debts. If I file bankruptcy, it will remain on my file for 10 years, but I'll be able to buy a home, albeit with an astronomical interest rate.

Any advice?

well, sounds to me like you are well aware of your options, however, i'd shave about 3 years off that bnkrpt on your report. my husband filed many years ago...7 to be exact and it JUST came off his report.
i went through a program through a law office and it's DMB financial. i was in about $15,000 with credit card debt out of college. looking back, i probably should have just applied for a loan through the bank and paid them off and owed the bank, however, working with DMB has taught me alot and after 3 years, my program is almost done. we are waiting to settle the last account, which should happen in the next few months.

with DMB, they take power of attorney over your accounts....just the ones that you owe. so, the collection calls go to them...not you! then, they work out a workable monthly payment with you and that goes into a trust. then, once there's enough there to settle on a card, they settle and move onto the next account.
meanwhile, all this is happening and your credit is going WAAAAY down the toilet. HOWEVER, when you are done the program they fix all of your credit. so, your report is sparkling when you're finished. the only catch is that IF you get back into the hole while they are working with you, then they will stop all efforts and the contract will be void.
so, if they settle this accoutn and see that i got another card and ran that one up and it's bad on my report, then they wash their hands of me.

SO, it's been a GREAT experience learning how to manage my money and live credit card free.

my husband had some when we married and we are in the process of getting the last one paid off. very nice.

the best part...when we get all of our credit woes under control we will have freed up $500+/month! that's a nice car payment!!!

so, i would check out DMB OR see if your bank would approve a loan for you...at least then it's just one payment per month.

take care:)

2007-10-10 07:53:15 by liebchen2

www.CreditRepairPublishing.com CREDIT COUNSELING and DEBT CONSOLIDATION What you need to know before you sign up. "(NPR News, May 15, 2006 ...

I need help and I don't know where to turn. Yahoo answers is probably not the best solution, but I want to know what the masses think.

My husband is probably getting laid off tomorrow...

We have been thinking of trying to consolidate our credit card debt, but don't know which option is best. We have about 23K we are trying to take care of...all credit cards...it sucks. We are making payments over the min now, but things are going to get tight.

Wells Fargo told us they could consolidate about 10K and roll into a car loan. We don't want to do that, cars are so unreliable and we don't necessarily want to end up w/ negative equity. Our house has depreciated so much that we can't really refinance.

I know credit counseling negotiates your rates with the companies and gets you a lower payment (hopefully at a lower rate) to pay off over time, but it also puts a major dent in your credit score.

Any advice?

Sorry to hear about your situation. Your husband will qualify for unemployment, being that he would be laid off. Some creditors, especially in this economy, may hold off on one or two months payments, being that he is laid off, and unemployment compensation is a lengthy process. Cars do depreciate a lot and fast, so having over $10K in negative equity will make it difficult to ever trade in the car, or refinance the car down the road in the event you have problems with it.

A lot of reputable debt consolidation companies, like wells fargo financial who don't require an upfront fee, and won't let your debts be late, will consilidate into one personal loan, especially since you are a home owner. They will give you separate checks for each debt, and pay them off. This may help with one lesser payment every month, as opposed to separate payments for each credit card. To me, this is better than paying someone for 2 months, while they let all your debts go late and affect your credit, then settle with the companies for a lesser amount.

If you absolutely have to do this, this is the route I would go. Maybe a lesser total monthly payment for your credit cards and your husband's unemployment compensation will help even out the loss of income.

2010-01-20 13:56:26 by Liv

Price: $6.99

I feel like I'm way in over my head in debts and loans, and would like to see about getting some help with consolidating my debt and managing my budget. Any suggestions on where I can find some good, credible agencies for this?

I tried to search online, but a lot of the websites I come across look a little fishy.

I used care one credit to consolidate my minimal debt. about $4000 in credit cards.

If you have more than $10,000 consider filing bankruptcy. Contact an attorney in your area. They give free consultations and typically only require $100 to retain their services.

2008-10-15 12:57:15 by kayjay

Price: $4.99

We have a lot of personal debt brought on by poor choices and a little hard luck over the past several years. We are all employed (me, hubby and 20-something son) finally and making enough to pay the bills and eat, etc but the "damage" is already done on the 'ole credit report - going from approximately 780 to 511. I will not go the bankruptcy route as I do not see that as a viable option for me, however, my question is, since the FICO # has fallen so low now, should I just go ahead and go w/ debt settlement company to help me get these bills paid off or continue with the "snowball repayment" plan I worked out for us. In the past 5-6 months, I have already paid down $6000 in debt using the snowball but I did see an $11 K charge-off by a creditor appear on my credit report this month so, that pretty much sinks the ship so to speak. Thanks for your good advice!

I personally wouldn't go the credit counseling/debt settlement route. You are basically paying someone else to do what you already can do for yourself. I went through the same thing (finishing up the last of the recovery) I droped from 710 down to 465. I am back at a 630. I saved money, and called each individual collector and settled on the account with them. If you cal the collectors they would rather settle than see nothing at all. Once they appear on your report, they know the damage is done, it's easy enough never to pay them. My advice, save and settle. Most collectors will usually settle the debts for half the amount provided you pay the day you call. This would allow you to pay them off for less of a cost to you and help clear up your credit bureau. Hope that helps.
ps. when you settle have the collector send you an email with the agreed upon terms before you give them any information on electronic payment. This covers your backside from them trying to cash more than what was agreed.

2007-08-04 03:05:13 by dede_mcm

Are you better off just calling each of the debts on your credit report and working out an payment arrangement with them directly.

Сredit repair workеd fine to fix my credit. They disputed and removed lots of bad items from my credit report. I used this service - creditreport.undonet.com

2009-02-04 09:13:43 by chicken2008