I will not qualify for government grants. I cannot get another consolidation loan.

I do not want to use a debt negotiation service.

My credit is good right now. I have paid all my bills at or above the minimum on time for over 7 years, and any blips on my credit have just recently "dropped off" my credit report.

However, I am struggling, and things are about to get worse for me, and very soon I will start to be in the negative.

I need help that won't ruin my credit score I have worked so hard to repair.

If you have used a Debt Management Program and did not have to pay any additional fees, nor make any payments until all of your creditors accepted you into the program, please pass the name along to me.

There is no such thing as a trustworthy debt management company. They will only tell you half of the information you need to make an informed decision. And that half is usually only what you need to make the decision to use their services.

There are other options. Be creative and continue doing your research. There are other ways of handling your situation.

If you have any further questions regarding this or any other credit issue, you may feel free to contact me at nebula7693@yahoo.com

I currently have over $25,000.00 worth of credit card debt from medical bills due to an auto accident that happened a couple years ago. The accident is going to be settled within the next year since I was not at fault, so I will eventually be able to pay off the debt completely. I have contacted the cc card companies to see if they'll lower my interest rate–no luck.

However, I heard about a company that will negotiate my debt with the cc companies & will lower my debt up to 60% (for a fee, of course). Therefore, my monthly cc payments will go down & I will owe less money overall. The downside is that this will ruin my credit rating & it will take 6 months or so to fix it.

Would it be better to do nothing & wait for the settlement to pay off all the debt at once & not mess with credit rating recovery (I want to purchase a home after the settlement)? Or should I do the debt negotiation & go through the process of rebuilding good credit again?

Thanks!
(Only serious answers please)
By "do nothing", I mean still pay the minimum payment every month, but not negotiate the debt with the company. Sorry about the confusion.
I am not going to file for bankruptcy. From what I've seen, this is the worst option for me (other than not pay even the minimum payments). I've seen that it can take 10 years to establish good credit after a bankruptcy.

Don't wast your money on those rats.

File bankruptcy? Go to the clerk of the court and they will give you everything you need. You can get information about it on the web.

Don't wait it only gets worse, look at all your options.

Any other questions?

I have a about $8,500.00 credit card debt. I can't afford to pay the minimums anymore and was thinking about contacting a debt relief company that will negotiate with credit card companies for me, during the negotiations I don't pay the credit cards should I pursue this option or should I just go with partial payments and keep on accumulating fees without reducing my debt? Please help me make this decision.

go to creditease dot net for help

I have several credit cards that are more than 6mo. past due. Several credit card company's have offered a 40% settlement. Is that a good deal or can I negotiate a lower %?

40% is good especially for having done it yourself. If I were you, I'd close all the accounts and take this deal. It sounds really good if it's at a level you can afford.

I read about it and it sounds good, getting commission on cutting someone's debt in half, etc. the company wants $500 for the materials to start up doing it…is it legit? Has anyone checked into this debt negotiation career?

Never pay for a job.

If you are good at what you do, you should be paid by the employer not the other way around.

I have every intention of verifying who i am by any means. I don't expect anyone to just lend me the $850 without me giving them ALL of my real information. Just in case anyone was wondering; i am not some bum looking to scam off people. I work hard for everyday. I am sales rep for a debt negotiation company. I do volunteer work throughout the city and love helping people in general. I am just in a tight spot right now because i kind of promised my nephew that i'd get him a laptop for his birthday which is on the 15th of this month but i'm just all tapped out right now. I will give $1,200 back in 2 weeks to the person who decides to lend me the $850.

Yes I would mind lending you $850, because as with any scam, I'd never see the money ever again…

You want others to give you money without you revealing who you are??? what kind of fools do you take us for???…..

After my graduation I had 12000 dollars in creditcard bills last year //Due to lack of a proper job I went behind payments for 4 5 months and it wnet to colections .. to avoid the harassing calls i joined one of the debt negotiation programs..I payed of only 3000 worth so far and payed over 1000 dollars in fees and around 500 dollars in commision.Now I have a decent job and and can pay the rest of the loans in 6 instalments easily ..Now can ido it on my own bypassing the company … I am doubtful if they are even trying as they promised as the ynever answer mycalls unless there is an offer and sometimesare more rude than the credit collectors ..Please help me I know I screwed up my credit for 12000 dollars but days were bad … Now I am ina positin to pay off the loans either in full or atleast the negotiaeted amount and I dont want to deal with the people who are charging such high fees and wont answer my calls.My problem is there were 6 cards with imit ranging from 1200 to 6000 $

I have good news, and other news…

The good news is, yes, you can get out of the program. They are not a creditor. You do not have to continue their program.

I agree with wholy w that after you negotiate your payments with your creditors yourself, get it in writing before you send them any money. Have it in writing, from your creditors, that they will mark your account "paid in full", or even current, "paid as agreed". These negotiations can help you quickly increase your credit score. Don't feel bad, or low, or anything like that. You know the old saying, stuff happens. Hold your head high and be strong in your negotiations. You'll get what you want.

The "other" news, is that these "credit counseling" or "debt negotiation" programs actually hurt your credit worse than just not paying at all. Believe it or not, a collection is better than "debt counseling" or whatever they want to call it. If you're looking for a mortgage, you're better off with a bankruptcy than "debt counseling". Weird, I know. But true.

More good news for you, is you're getting this program off your back, and off your credit report. Add that to a few good (even decent) negotiations with your creditors, and you'll feel good with new and improved credit!

Good luck! I wish you the best!

I have like 40K credit card bills and want an easy and quick way out of them. I also need to keep my credit in a good shape so i am looking for a program to work with to help me to get red of debts. I interviewed a few debt settlement companies ( http://www.cydebt.com/home/homepage.shtm) and they told me that they can reduce my debts to 15K and wouldn't mark my credit. So what is the disadvantage of these companies and why everybody thinks that they're rip off. I also can't understand one part… what's will my creditors do if i don't make any payment?

There is no magic bullet to clear one of their debts. If an agency states they can reduce your debt, then all it means is that they will get your creditors to settle for less, charge you a big fee, and it will wreck your credit history for a long time.

Avoid credit repair agencies that charge a fee to improve your FICO score by removing negative, but accurate, information from your credit reports. No one can force credit reporting agencies or lenders to remove accurate information from a credit report. Credit repair companies often take your money without delivering what they promise, or provide only temporary improvements of
your score, sometimes by removing accurate information that will reappear later.

Now on the other hand, a credit counselor can help you to avoid going into default and is some cases there is no fee. They will research your situation and advise you on what is best.

Here is a link to organizations recognized as being legitimate and approved by the FTC and Bankruptcy Courts.

http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/ccde/cc_approved.htm

Govt approved credit counseling agencies.

Hope this helps you out.

They said I would get the latest version of software for debt management as well as a license for a members forum included with the negotiation with credit card companies to have a lower and fixed interest rate. None of this happened. I found out that the software was the paperwork they sent in the mail to inform them of the credit cards I have. Also there is no forum, only the workers at the company when you call in. They misrepresented themselves and have never done anything on my account, since February. I found out there are numerous complaints of there practices with the BBB. Can I get my credit card company to reverse the charge? Is there a way to get my money back? I already contacted the credit card company and disputed the charge. I contacted the company and they told me they are sorry I "misunderstood" that software meant paperwork, Yeah, right. Any Suggestions, Please! Thanks!

Contact the Better Business Bureau, you can do it via Internet. I filed a complaint against a large cable company, and I got results within two weeks.
I had made many telephone calls back and forth with no results. I sent them emails and no response. Once I filed a complaint with the BBB they found the time to return my calls. I received a refund check shortly after. They wanted to offer me a special rate if I would agree to continue with the cable service. I told them they must think I am stupid after all the time I spent trying to get my money back from them.

After a divorce, my debts with credit card companies, especially with new increased minimum payments are unachieveable, and I'm looking for relief – these companies claim that,for a fee, 15% of the negotiated total = typically 50 – 60% of the original balance, they will negotiate with the credit card companies and you pay the lesser amount, something you can afford – are they for real and do they work?

From what I understand, debt settlement companies charge a fee based on the amount they save you. For example, if you have a credit card debt of $22,000 and they negotiate a settlement with your credit card to accept $12,000, then they will charge you a fee based on the $10,000 you saved. If the fee was 20%, then you pay the debt settlement company $2000.

You can negotiate this for yourself. Information is readily available on the web. Check out these sites……

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/

http://credit.about.com/od/debtconsolidation/ss/debtsettle.htm

http://www.zipdebt.com/