I WOULD LIKE TO LOWER MY MONTHLY PAYMENTS ON CREDIT CARD BILLS. THEY ARE IN EXCESS OF 10,000. I HAVE HEARD THE TWO TERMS ABOVE, NEGOTIATION AND CONSOLIDATION, USED IN THE SAME CONTEXT. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES? SHOULD I PREFER ONE OVER THE OTHER? WHO SHOULD I CONTACT? THANKS FOR YOUR TIME!
WELCOME.... NO NEED TO SCREAM HERE. Who to contact? Try your creditors first. Explain the situation and ask what they can do. Many will give you lower interest, waive some fees or maybe give you a grace period. You're a current customer who they should want to keep happy. Don't forget to mention this to them.... If you've been seeing the television ads, both benefit the creditor and usually hurt the consumer. The companies that NEGO your bills for you require you send all payments to them. They take a percentage and eventually pass the money to the original creditors. The ads don't tell you these companies as usually owned by the orginial creditors in the first place. They will place an ALERT on your credit report that tags you as a risk and makes it almost impossible to get future credit. Consolidation usually happens as a extension of a second mortgage on your house. If you don't have a house, they're not going to be able to help you. The benefit comes from a home mortgage allows you to deduct the interest from your taxes. The ones that advertise offer charge higher rates than you can find going direct to a bank for a second mortgage. Many of these are in a win-win situation. You pay, they get high fees. You don't pay, they take your home and sell it with all the profit. Hope this helps!
