It’s easy to let your credit card debt get overwhelming. This doesn’t mean you’re a shopaholic, addicted to the thrill of the hunt and feeling forced into buying items on total impulse, watching packages stack up unopened and unneeded. In a bad economy many families are forced into using credit cards for things they never would have used them for before such as weekly grocery shopping, coffee shop runs, or even paying other bills using a credit card. When bills pile up, consolidated credit counselling might be a good option for you.
Consolidating credit is just that – all your monthly bills (except your rent or mortgage) are wrapped into one payment which should be significantly lower than what you had been paying. Many pros and cons exist, but if your other option is to declare bankruptcy you may have no other choice.
There are many reliable local non profit agencies that provide this service, and they do it well. However, there are also many scam artists out there who can’t wait to hook up with desperate consumers that will believe anything and sign anything in order to get them back on track. Before getting involved with a company, do as much research on them as possible before committing to them and certainly before you give them any money.
One of the scams involves companies that actually do absolutely nothing for you. These are usually online sites that have very professional looking information, testimonials from supposed clients, and lots of disclosure information about what they do and how this could affect your credit – all things one would expect to see in a legitimate business of this nature.
However, what they do is take your money and run. They simply take your application, perhaps communicate via email or even a few phone calls, wait an appreciate period of time, and then tell you everything has been fixed. They then give you a new figure for what your monthly payment will be, and you are instructed to send them this money.
Your assumption of course is that your monthly payment to them will be appropriately dispersed to your creditors with whom this credit agency has supposedly been negotiating regarding lowering your payments. The truth is that this company hasn’t done a thing for you! No one has called your creditors, and no one has paid your bills. And by the time you find this out and start asking questions, the company has changed websites and names and can’t be tracked down.
In a few months you will find that your creditors start calling asking when you plan on paying your overdue bills! When you explain your situation, this is when you are told they have no new agreements with you or any of your representatives.
At this point your creditors have probably either cancelled your credit cards or even increased your APR to unmanageable heights of near 30% or more, in accordance with your original agreements with each lender.
See More Guidance on Consolidated Credit Counseling at Consolidated Credit Counseling and Consolidated Credit Counseling Services Info
{ 0 comments… add one now }