In Charge Debt Solutions? CCC?

**daddys3chicks** · 04-25-2005, 08:40 AM

Has anyone ever gone through one of these? We have to do something soon. I know we need to be leery of those services that charge for what they do. Does using one of these hurt your credit rating?

**Kimberlina** · 04-25-2005, 10:15 AM

I don't know from personal experience, but this is what I have gleaned from Dave Ramsey- my personal financial guru.

They will hurt your credit because how they work is to tell you not to pay- they can't start making deals with the cc companies until you are behind. So it isn't actually the act of using them that will hurt your credit, but how things get done.

You know, you can do the same thing yourself without paying anyone. All they do is act as an intermediary, which just increases the risk of something going wrong. You can call cc companies yourself and negotiate with them. You need to make sure if you get enough behind that they offer you a settlement (say, the debt was $500, they'll take $300) get everything in writing and in your hands BEFORE you send them a check- you would want it to say $300 will be settlement of the debt.

That said, if you do decide to use a company, you need to do your research to pick a decent company and then still watch them like a hawk. Payments have a tendency to get "lost." You can request an audit on your account at any time. Dave Ramsey recommends against using them because so many of them are fraudulent, and even those that aren't tend to lose payments from time to time.

I strongly recommend checking out Dave Ramsey's web site. www.daveramsey.com You can listen to his show for free, and this question comes up frequently. Good luck!

ETA- He does say CCC isn't one of the scam companies, but that things do get mixed up there sometimes.

**homesteadmamma** · 04-25-2005, 10:34 AM

Cheryl be very careful as to what you do. I agree with Kimberlina in that you can call everyone you owe money too and explain your situation. You can also write to everyone showing them your financial plan. Ask them to reduce your payments, take off some interest and to give you an extension on payments for a month or so. Most companies I've found are more than willing to help you IF THEY KNOW YOUR SERIOUS. Its far better to approach them FIRST than have someone else do it for you. All they want is their money and some way of seeing that your serious about paying them back.

Also, you have to look at every area in your finances and see what you can cut back on. It can be done, we've gone through it and come out on the other side. But it takes hard work and determination.

Remember, were here for you okay.

**homesteadmamma** · 04-25-2005, 10:35 AM

btw - Dave Ramsey is one of the best!!!

**Jenlee** · 04-26-2005, 09:45 AM

Kudos to Dave Ramsey and all of his common sense advice. YES, it will hurt your credit rating and here is one of the reasons why. If you have to have outside help to fix your financial problems, they will question why you couldn't do it yourself and what will happen if it happens again and no one will help you.

Make the calls yourself. I had a Visa account that I couldn't make the minimum payment. I called the bank who held the card (national, big-time bank) and they offered to put me on a special reduced rate, reduced payment plan for ONE year. My payment went from $323 to $116 a month. This did not affect my credit as long as I paid it each month. They also reduced my % from 16.9% to 9.9%. Not a huge jump, but it allowed me to make a little headway. (Btw, I could afford more than the $116 and it allowed me to pay a little more toward it each month.)

I don't know if that will help, but I would do EVERYTHING I could myself before I would go to one of those services

**Chea** · 04-26-2005, 04:16 PM

If I were you, I would avoid those places like the PLAGUE. Its a mark on your credit that you are using these services and its just as bad as a bancrupcy. You've gotten some great advice -- do the work yourself, figure out a plan and deal with your accts yourself.
If you want to get in-depth -- check out www.creditinfocenter.com
Head for the forums. Those people are brilliant and you'll learn everything there is to know about the "system". Your credit rating is soooo important. Don't let a few bad decisions ruin you for 7+ years.

**daddys3chicks** · 04-26-2005, 05:14 PM

Thanks everyone!

**debbiepittman** · 05-05-2005, 10:32 AM

We did this calling the companies ourselves....only 1 (Discover) was willing to do anything about settling or anything. They gave us a year of payments marked down to only $35 a month.

We were/are already behind due to some setbacks so we didn't have to make ourselves fall behind to qualify.

We are using one of those companies. They charge 10% of whatever the debt is and it is paid out in tiny payments over the 4 years it will take to pay off our debt.

Debbie