Any recommendations??

[strwberri]

Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone knows of a good Debt consolidation company that I can contact for some help trying to pay credit and loans I have? Thanks!

[joesixpack]

Re: Any recommendations??

Do you own a home?

[strwberri]

Re: Any recommendations??

no, i rent, but I want to lower my debt so I can try to save more towards a home.

[boefixepa]

Re: Any recommendations??

Be careful with places like that. Many...in fact most...work on this theory.

They take from you the amount you normally pay to your debts. They sit and hold it (ruining your credit, jumping your interest rates and adding all kinds of fees! and earning interest on it I'm sure) until your collectors are willing to settle for some huge discount. Like 40 cents on the dollars. When they are willing to settle for what they have set aside, they pay off the debt. Most people don't do enough research to realize this!!

If your credit is already in shambles and you've already helped them along the path, this may be a viable option for you. If you've managed to keep your head above water and value your credit score....STAY AWAY!!

You're better option is to call your CC companies yourself and see if there is anything you can do. It's horrible! they make you feel like the scum of the earth! it's depressing and often takes talking to many people and most can't deal with this. But I managed to get a year interest free as long as I made payments on time and within that year I was able to get my credit repaired enough that I could transfer the balance to a more reasonable card with a more reasonable rate. Often times it means they will close the account and you can no longer use the card, that's not necessarily a bad thing, so deal with it.

So do some serioud reasearch into how these places will help you. What's their method and what's there plan. If you really don't what black marks on your credit, then it's really better to do the depressing grunt work yourself. Many credit cards, once contacted by and credit counseling service, will put you on their black list and that can make your life more difficult than before.

However, the root of the problem lies in your spending habits. Fix that and you can and will crawl out of the hole. Don't fix that and you will return to this situation eventually anyway.

[b4freedom]

Re: Any recommendations??

Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone knows of a good Debt consolidation company that I can contact for some help trying to pay credit and loans I have? Thanks!

None of them are good. Here is what they'll try to sell you: a bigger loan with more payments at a slightly less interest rate. In the long run, it'll cost you more. Want help getting ride of debt? Pretend your fat: Eat less, excercise more. Or, spend less, save more.