Has anyone ever used debt consolidation service (My debt my choice)?
Any drawbacks too?
Answer:
The drawbacks are that there are lots of sharks out here so you want to read up on it all so that you'll be able to find a good deal and not fall pray of any con artist.
here you'll find tons more info than I could possibly
write myself. It'll take a bit but it's your money and well worth
taking your time over it
http://credit-cards.ebookorama.com.
and here http://finance.ebookorama.com
also plenty more to read here
http://credit.ebookorama.com
http://credit-repair.ebookorama.com.
good luck!
My mom did that..and still had to pay nearly $800 dollars a month..she finally had to go bankrupt.
Yes, it CAN be a good idea, IF you use a reputable service (some collect "payments" that never get sent to the correct agencies, and then it ends up in collections, anyway). Also, you have to make a choice to change your spending habits--and maybe your lifestyle--and commit to paying off debt. Obviously, something like turning high-interest credit debt into a home mortgage can save you lots of money, but you don't want to start a habit of using your house as a "bank!"
The major drawbacks:
1 - most of them will do major damage to your credit report. I have heard horror stories including: companies not paying, paying late, missing payments, paying too little, etc. Anything they mess up is reported on your credit.
2 - If you apply for a loan, most lenders look at being in this kind of program as being worse than filing for BK.
You would be much better off coming up with a plan and getting out of debt yourself. It isn't hard but it will take effort and sacrifice.
Good luck!
Yes - you take out one big loan to pay off lots of smaller loans, like credit cards. The debt doesn't disappear: you just smooth it out over a longer period of time. And the trick is not to get back into debt again because you only want to do loan consolidation once.
There are different ways of doing this, depending on your circumstances. It pays to do your own research and choose the option that suits you best. This website has lots of information and links.
Hope this helps - good luck!
It can be good and bad. I'm doing it right now and I'm not happy with the company I chose (CCC). At least I have 1 monthly payment and it is substantially less than I was paying to all my credit cards. I had to go this route because my creditors were not willing to work with me even though I called them as soon as I was out of work and tried to negotiate BEFORE things went south. The only way to stop the phone calls demanding money was to go through a debt consolidator.
Carefully research every company. Educate yourself on the laws and your rights. Go from there.
They DON"T knock off your balances, they just take your money from you and (after taking a fee) pay the creditors. But many times they are late, or they pay the wrong amounts, or don't pay at all (remember Ameridebt?)
I think you would be better off doing it yourself. Check out "Total Money Makeover" by Ramsey or "Millionaire Next Door" by Stanley for good ideas on debt reduction
http://www.careonecredit.com/
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