Credit Card Debt Help

Anyone ever use one of those credit card debt help companies like AmeriDebt or Care One? I wonder if they can actually help or if they are all scams.

 

Scams. Don't do it.

Cut up your cards and live with your means.

 

Don't.

 

DO NOT DO THIS. They can lower your payments a tad, but they also report to the agencies that you have entered credit counseling. Mortgage companies look at this as a bankruptcy. No shit.

They also tend to NOT send in your payments. Bunch of crooks.

 

I used Consumer Credit Counseling back in 2000. They had me cut up my cards and consolidated all of my monthlies into one payment. They contacted the card companies and negotiated a lower interest rate, and then sent the bulk of my monthly funds to get the higher interest cards paid off first.

I wasn't that far in the hole at the time (around 10K-15K in debt), and they got me debt free in 3 years.

I just bought a house and a car, and got complimented on my credit score, so it didn't kill me to use the service, but that was 2000 and the rules may have changed.

As an added bonus, I got an $1800 interest rebate check from AMEX completely out of the blue earlier this year congratulating me on completing the debit management program (which I completed in 2003!!!).

 

If I can get a decent price when I sell my house I can pay off most of it and be OK. My wife has been out of work a lot the past year or so and it has made me run up the credit cards. It is very hard to adjust to one income when you are used to two. I am getting there though. I sold my camper and now I am moving into a cheaper house. If I could sell one of my cars I would but I owe too much on them.

If I am faced with not being able to make the payments on them I would think it would be better to go through credit counseling than to let them default. I just do not know which ones are scams and which ones are not.

 

It shows up on your credit report.

 

Can't someone do all this on their own with no 3rd party taking a cut?

 

Credit card companies rarely adjust your rates down. They will for a company like this though. Unless you're close to bankruptcy, it's a really bad idea. Pay your bills on time. Stop spending unless you have cash in pocket. When you're a single income household, you have to make sacrifices. Ask anyone who has ever divorced.

 

The one I participated in was non profit. They got my rates down, which I couldn't have negotiated myself, and the rebate check was literally "pennies from heaven."

My mother is considering signing up for debt management. I am trying to convince her to do it on her own. She is a shop-a-holic and could probably benefit from the structure, but I have heard that it can be damaging to a credit report.