In a quest to repair my credit, I have sought out the help and expertise of a credit counseling agency. I have numerous delinquencies on my credit and much information that needs to be disputed. Previous attempts to self-repair have failed, so I decided to get help from professionals. After the initial consultation, everything sounded great until the credit counselor I had been assigned hit me with the fee: 00. This is not including the money I have to put into paying for the things on my credit. On my behalf, they will contact my creditors and negotiate settlements, pay them directly through payment plans, and dispute inaccurate information on my report. Then they will work to help me rebuild my score; they offered for this to be done within 17 months. My payments to them would be 0/month with a 0 down payment, then an additional 0-250 to go towards my settlements.
It all sounded great (to me) because they seemed genuine. The company is registered with the BBB, and I found no negative reports regarding the company, which is First Stone Credit Counseling. The payments I can afford with me cutting expenses and working a part-time job in addition to my full-time teaching job. I am also teaching summer school and doing extra opportunities this summer to bring in additional income. It just seems more logical to put that money towards my creditors. I am desperate to repair my credit. However, is the fee this agency is charging extreme? Another issue is with them offering settlements; I thought "paid in full" is better for the credit. If this is not worth the risk, what other options do I have, whether its self-repair process or professional services?
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Tue, Jul 27, 2010
July 27th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
That fee, in my opinion, is way too much. I went with a debt management company a few years ago to pay down my debt to a more manageable amount and I paid a $50 per month fee on a monthly payment of $175.
Having an account be paid in full is definitely better. Settling is only good if your next option is bankruptcy and it doesn’t sound like you are that much in debt, so don’t try for that.
The company I went with was CareOne. I’m sure their fee for you will be much lower than First Stone. This may or may not be something you’ve been told by First Stone, but CareOne will try to eliminate fees and lower your interest rates. Make sure you are very diligent in making the monthly payment on time and understand all rules and processes carefully.
It’s great that you have a secondary income. This will definitely help you pay down your debt more quickly. I hope everything works out in the end.
July 27th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
You can do all of this yourself. Do all of it in writing ONLY, do not talk with anyone over the phone. Send letters by Certified Mail, Return Receipt US Mail. You can handle each creditor as you see fit, one at a time, or whatever your budget can afford. They charge too much, although they are legitimate companies. Why have someone else do this work when you can do it yourself? You will also learn a lot about the process. Everything will then be in their hands, not yours. Not a good feeling. If you gave them your checking account number, close it and open a new account and cancel the contract if you signed one. Deal with each creditor yourself.
July 27th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
http://debtreliefreviews.net/credit-counselling/ has a list of very good credit counselling companies.
July 28th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
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