Any one had experience, good or bad, with contacting a Christian Debt Consolidation company?

Question

Credit card debit, college loans and medical bills are at critical levels and am way over my head. Trying to make monthly payments, but that is not enough. Not eating out or wearing new clothes, just not making enough money. Considering turning to a debt consolidation service, but not sure about who would be safe and secure to go through. Thanks for any input.

Answer 1

First of all they are a BAD IDEA from the get-go !!!!!!!!!!!! You can do this all by yourself and it wont cost you a cent !!!! And just because it says CHRISTIAN doe NOT mean it's good!!!! Some of the biggest swindles and rip-offs have been done under the guise of "Christian" !!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will help you if you want. I have helped many. And wont charge you.
First you need to cut up ALL CREDIT CARDS. Then you need to call each credit company and ask to speak to the supervisor, you need to tell them that your current interest rate is way too high & you need to get a much better rate or you'll have to drop their card. (pay on time every month, so they'll want to keep you & always try to pay at least 40% more than minimum due and as much as you can afford!).
Do you have a checking account, I assume you do. If so, go to your bank & ask to open an OVERDRAFT PROTECTION ACCOUNT on it. This will enable you to pay your bills on time and it will keep your credit good as you wont have OVERdRAFTS!!! After you open that, you need to make all your credit card payments AUTO-PAY out of your checking account for at least the minimum due, preferably min.+ $10 each. This way you will NEVER be late on a CC payment and your credit will improve vastly in the next 6 months !!!! Also try to pay something on each card by check when it comes in by snail mail !
Then contrary to what most financial advisers advise, I want you to start paying down your lowest balance as much & as often as you can, if you have $5 extra in change that week, drop it in the bank & send them another check for $5 !!!
Dont buy ANYTHING you can make at home and take with you to work or play !!!! You're on a MONEY DIET !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Make your own Latte, your own muffins, your own lunch !!! Dont buy an pre-packaged foods, make your meals from scratch!!! No movies, barrow movies from friends or the PUBLIC LIBRARY -- they are FREE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All you need is a library card !!!
I can council you more if you are interested, let me know. [e-mail]
I helped one co-worker clean up his credit and within 7 or 8 months he was able to buy his own home (and he was out of serious debt !!!) Aunt Barbie

Answer 2

I am guessing you listen to Dave Ramsey on the radio. While he gives some great advice (over and over and over again), he is a paid radio personality.

*ANY* (I cannot stress that enough), ANY debt consolidation will look worse on your credit report than the debt you already have.

Both my wife and I have years of banking experience, so trust us on this. Mortgage lenders see consolidations as *the* largest red flag going for lenders.

The reason for this is:

Consolidation companies do not loan you the entire sum need to pay off your debt. Instead, they negotiate with your lenders a 'mutually beneficial' arrangement of between 30-60% of the debt amount. The consolidation company then starts you on a loan for the full amount, while they pay pennies on the dollar for your current debt and everyone except the consolidation company loses.

Best method:

Call your creditors and negotiate a lower payoff amount yourself. You will not likely get the 30-60% that consolidation companies get, but it will likely be much lower than current.

Keep in mind, every dollar you negotiate less than the current debt you owe them, you are essentially stealing from them. You may not feel bad about this, as they make money screwing others, but right is right.

Pay your debts and stop going into debt. The only way to ever be free in any country.

Answer 3

the reason those organizations are counseled antagonistic to is because they don't do something you may not do yourselves, and they many times do not help your credit all that a lot both. Debt consolidation organizations frequently make an arraignment with the individuals you owe debt to pay off a lot less debt than you owe, which does not look solid on a credit record. in addition they charge you a ludicrous volume to do something you may do via your self. really, with debt consolidation, you're paying to be lazy. extremely, contact the lenders yourselves and make the mandatory price arraignments and use the money the corporation ought to have charged you in prices to do away which includes your debt swifter and quite strengthen your credit.

Answer 4

Why not spend some of that money to learn how to repair your credit and up your score. I have used these programs myself and have and will keep on advising people to purchase them. My daughter and son-in-law went through bankruptcy last year and they are already starting to improve their credit by using these. Check them out go to www.comingbackstrongfiancially.com if they can help me they most certainly can help you.