Personal Finance

spikelee · Joined: 06 Aug 2005 Posts: 18

anyone dealt with credit counciling firms before?

the article http://www.moneysavingfreetips.com/consumer-credit-counciling.html says to be wary of ccc firms coz:

"Thus as a consumer, you have to beware! Avoid "debt settlement" firms who promise to completely get rid of your debt within months and who ask for a $3000 upfront fee. These usually turn out to be scams who upon receiving the money will run off from the country, disconnect their phones or set up a new firm under a new name."

did you have to pay any upfront fees? did they really help in lowering your interest payments?

TwoCents43 · Joined: 27 Nov 2006 Posts: 6

It's been a few years but we used Consumer Credit Counseling. I think each branch is different, so ask around first. But we had no UP FRONT fees. That's hogwash. They aren't really going to do anything different then you could do for yourself.

We had a monthly fee of like $5. They took one credit card and negotiated it to 0% (Discover). Others they got lower during my "pay back" period. Of course, we couldn't use the cards during this time which was the whole point.

So, they can be helpful, but if there is $3,000 upfront fee...forget it!

It will just take discpline on your end to make the debt go away eventually. And you can call the credit card companies yourself, explan the situation, heck, BEG, be willing to freeze your account while paying off, or dozens of other options.

In short, one has to admit that a credit assitance company would want to put you further in debt to help you get out, right?

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