I heard that credit counseling is bad does anyone know?

Question

I heard that if you go to places like care one to repair your credit that it looks worse then if you file bankruptcy? Does anyone know? i choosing to pay off my stuff myself but I almost went through care one until someone told me this... Help me out please

Answer 1

Here is what I know- I had a ton of credit card debt and super high interest rates. I could no longer afford my monthly payments. I did some research--at first i wanted to get a consolidation loan--then decided against that bc essentially you are just moving your bill around and as a matter of fact, i have a cousin who did this and then racked her cards up again!
After looking into credit counseling company's--I came across Debt Counsling Corporation. They have been so great. Lowered my interest, my payments, made it so that I could actually have money in my pocket. They went over my budget with me and really helped. They are not a settlement company--those are bad news. I saw my payments being applied each month bc I still received my monthly statements from the credit cards. I also monitored my credit report bc i eventually wanted to buy a house. It is nothing like a bankruptcy regardless of what the fools above are saying. check out this link- http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/WhatsNotInYourScore.aspx --this is a great webiste all about your score and how it is calculated. This particular page shows the things that are not calculated in your score.
Anyway--I almost tried to pay off by myself bc i was scared of what would happen to my credit. However, if i did, i would still be paying!

check them out--here is the link http://www.DebtCounselingCorp.org

Answer 2

Listen to Brian G. He knows what he is talking about. Your debts will start to reflect current and paying as agreed. Go with Consumer Credit Counseling Services their # is 1-800-249-2227 or you can go to www.cccs.net. I have worked for 4 credit card companies and they are the ones creditors love to work with. Just make sure your proposals are getting to your creditors. Keep in mind that even though you are going through debt mngmnt you still have to keep up the minimum payments no matter what they say. Collectors can still call you because they dont have the paper proof that you are with an agency. Please stay away from settlement companies. They will tear your credit to shreds. A faster way to credit recovery is bankruptcy. If you have a mortagage and car loan dont do it. Bankruptcy can be more damaging. Give CCCS a try. Most collectors will tell you the facts if they are calling you. Some times some companies have thier own deals that are better than what CCCS can do. Call your creditors and see what they can do to help out with a lower payment and see if they have 0% interest. Some do some dont some have something at a more resonable interest rate. Good luck with everything.

Answer 3

I have been through credit counseling, and if you choose the right type, it can only help your credit. By the right type, I mean a non-profit one that does not make promises of getting rid of bad credit, charge you an upfront (or usually, any) fee, and that helps you set a budget and makes sure your bills are paid on time. They work with your unsecured lenders (namely, credit cards) to stop interest and past due charges and lower the amount of monthly payment. They do not get rid of debt that you legally owe, except in some cases they may be able to get cc companies to drop past interest or other charges. By doing the above, they get you brought back to current on all your bills, greatly improving your credit. You may not see it right away, because of all the past problems, but you are on your way.

If the company does not meet all of the above criteria, they are a rip-off, and you will be out whatever amount they charge you, have no better credit, and still owe all your bills.

Answer 4

Credit counseling is not a bad thing - as long as you work with reputable, honest people.
They should charge you a small fee - if they charge you at all - and they should be very knowledgeable about what they are doing.
A lot of credit repair places are absolute scams and they don't do anything you couldn't do on your own with some letters and stamps.

Answer 5

Use of credit counseling services is equivalent to filing chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Your score will be impaired for 7 years plus the time it took to repay your debts through CC. Keep in mind that credit counseling agencies are not their to help you to repair your credit score, their purpose is to assist you with repaying your debts.

While you using their service you cannot open new accounts and your current accounts will be closed. While you repaying your accounts they will be reported as:

- current (very unlikely); or
- credit counseling (same as bankruptcy ch. 13); or
- late (since you do not make full minimum payments the creditors consider it as late)

Once you done with credit counseling program all these derogatory information will remain on your reports for 7 years.

So, think twice before you use them. Also check http://creditinfocenter.com/debt/cccs.shtml

Answer 6

No, it doesn't negatively affect your credit.

If you decided to take a payoff amount instead of what was owed then it will show on your credit that you settled for less than you owe.

And you can't take on anymore debt while in the programs. So if you do it, and decide you want a new car, you have to wait until you are finished with your previous debt.

Answer 7

Anything a credit repair agency can do, you can do yourself for free.
It just takes research.
There are tons of helpful forums on the internet, one of the best I've seen in the one on myfico.com. You can read through the posts of others that are in situations similar to your own.

Answer 8

yup yup, it will show up on your credit as a bankruptcy. Show may as well pay 7 or 9 hundred dollars, get ya an attorney clean everything up and start all over again! you can do this every 8 years!!