As soon as I get the $450 to make the first payment, I am going to CCCS. I know it sucks. But right now I am paying 26% interest rates, as everyone jacked them up. And I am paying over $2000 a month in minimums. In the Springboard CCCS program, many of my creditors (including Chevron, MBNA, Citibank, etc) will stop interest. My plan calls for me to be debt free in 4 years using the plan. I know CCCS is bad. But I cannot afford $1000 for a bankruptcy and lawyer (if I had that, I could pay off a card!) I am four car payments behind, but Toyota is deferring two of them to the end of the loan and I am paying them one overdue payment this month. I am a week late on my rent. Late on utilities, phone, insurance. Just late on everything. I cannot sacrifice my sanity either by just doing the "not pay at all" route. With CCCS, I will be able to pay my car payment and loans/credit cards each month. Once I catch up on all the late rent and such, I will be able to pay everything else on time. I will still have a tiny bit of money to catch a movie. Part of my problem was emergencies and losing jobs, another part was spending too much. I welcome the chance not to have credit for a while. I hope my situation will change where I can up my payments and leave CCCS early. But you can bet I will never get too much credit again. I am going to Debtors Anonymous soon as well. Plastic is important to America, but it's not that important to me anymore. I will still read the boards and give advice when I can, because I do still know a few things. I will still work on my reports as I can. But the past almost 2 years has been spent obsessing over what cards I can get, and how perfect I can make my credit. I need to find balance. I'm not sure WHY I'm writing this but I wanted to share where I've been and where I'm going. I would appreciate any words anyone has. If someone else sees a better solution, then hand it to me. I'm just at the end of my rope. I cannot keep it up at the default rates and upped minimums. It will take me literally 19 years to pay it off, if I even could, which I can't, so I'm screwed.
PLEASE DO A FEW THINGS... Pay you payments with-in the first week...DON'T WAIT TILL THE LAST MINUTE!!! Keep a diary or log of all payments...(CONFIRM THE PAYMENTS POSTED)... When you are 100% done...DEMAND 100% REMOVAL OF ALL TRACES OF CCCS FROM YOUR CREDIT REPORTS!!! GOOD LUCK~~you will need it.
Find a BK lawyer that will work out a payment plan with you. Try to avoid CCCS at all cost. Just because you sign up with them doesn't mean they'll send the payments like they should. Most credit cards will settle for 50% if you let them charge off. Just giving you some ideas.
I am in the credit business dont ever do CCS. Go chapter 7 much better plan CCCS is looked the same as a BK but it drags out for years and you still have to pay back the money horrible plan. Trust us go Chapter 7, dont do 13 or CCCS.
Author, I've been reading your post since you came to the board. I really wish things had worked out better for you. Try not to get down, things will look up soon
She certainly has been trying to resolve her problems for a long time now. Let us hope that this latest decision works out for her. About the best thing we can do for her is to pray that the Lord will guide her in her footsteps and bless her well. I for one shall remember her in my prayers.
I don't have much advice, but want to wish you luck. I inherited some money and got a lawsuit settlement which paid off a lot of my bills. I also own a home and had to refinance (at a horrendous subprime rate) to get cash out. Otherwise I'd probably be doing the same thing. I understand where you're coming from. I've been reading this board for over a year and understand you feel like you're fighting a losing battle. I just want to wish you the best of luck. If you can be debt free in four years, you'll be surprised how much you can save. And then you can weather some of the storms. You're right, otherwise it seems hopeless and can take forever to get out of debt. Keep us posted on your progress.
Believe me, I am not doing this for fun. I'm doing it because I absolutely cannot afford the fees for a Ch. 7.
Author22, If you're paying over $2000 a month in minimum payments now, I think you'd probably be able to swing a one time $1000 BK Attorney's fee. When I filed in 1996, I had to pay an upfront payment of $250. My attorney then spread out the remaining $400 balance over 3 months. Most of the attorneys I've talked to are willing to put you on a payment plan- if you had cash you wouldn't NEED to file. I can understand if you're trying to avoid the BK for the stigma it does cause. However, I can assure you in the long run there is really no difference in a future creditor's eyes between CCCS and BK. If you go through CCCS, four years from now they'll be paid off but your credit is trashed. If you file BK, 2 years from now you could be back into prime territory. You won't have to survive on ramen noodles and you can get on with your life- lesson learned.
Don't go in to CCCS. I made that mistake and went thru CCCS for a little over a year. Based on my experience, your interest rates are never lowered as much as all of the ads for the CCCS promise. I only had 1 debtor out of 15 that eliminated my interest and the rest of them didn't reduce the interest rates enough to really help. The CCCS I used seemed to never get my payments to my creditors on time, even though always I mailed them a cashier's check two weeks before my payment was due. To make a long story short, that year was a waste of my time and money. I ended up filing chapter 7 BK last year and I now wish I had just filed instead of throwing my money away with the CCCS. Looking at your credit scores, I don't think that you have all that much to lose by just stopping all payments to your creditors for two or three months and saving that money to pay a bankruptcy attorney's fees. My attorney's fees were only $1000 and a $200 filing fee. I was able to pay this in three months by stopping my payments to the CCCS and paying that money to my attorney. I'm not trying to insult your credit scores; my TU score was 434 after I filed my BK in July of 2002. Now, it's March of 2003 and my TU score is 564. It would still be down in the 400's if I had stuck with CCCS, because I would still be paying all of that money which mostly went towards interest on my debts. The balances never went down more that $5 or $10 dollars a month. BK is not the horrible thing some people try to make you think it is. Sometimes, it's the best solution. I just wish I had filed a year earlier and I would now be even further down the road of credit recovery.
This thread hits very near and dear to my heart and takes me back to a time 2 yrs ago when we couldn't pay a bill on time to save our lives. Robbing Peter to pay Paul was the story of our lives. We finally sold our house 60 days late on the edge of forclosure. We had been living on credit for almost a year and were being sucked down the drain quickly. I totally empathize with the feelings of the OP, there is nothing worse than the desperation you feel when the phone rings, the mail comes filled with utility cancellation notices, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. That said, almost 2 yrs later, while we are no where near finished, or wealthy, on CCCS we are doing great. I know people have their reasons for hating CCC, but for us it is working and mabye it will for you too. We are using Myvesta.org, the one pay program. We have 5 accounts on it, 2 with no interest, one at 6.99, the other at 12.99 (was at 26%!) and the last is a charge off I am paying on. They have never missed a payment for us and I really have no complaints about it. Only one acct lists CCCS, the others have variations of closed by credit grantor, paying partial payments etc. I can access them online to check when payment is sent and receive statements from the creditors monthly and check the payment is posted. We are making a dent and seeing the light. Good luck!
I know alot of people are recommending BK. If you decide to go that route, change your phone number to unlisted, get caller ID, and don't pay for a month or two while you save for the attorney, and then file. If you want to keep your car and you have a loan, keep that payment current. Don't let your utilities be late, because I've heard that some will charge you a deposit to "reconnect" if you file BK. I did go with CCCS a few years back. I used Consumer Credit Counseling Service. I never had a problem with them in two years not mailing my payments out as agreed. We were prime BK candidates, but for our own personal reasons we chose not to do that. Many creditors did ding my report with the blurb, but as soon as I was out, they took it off my reports. The only creditor that hit me hard was Foleys - they reported me 90+ every month for a total of 24. I finally just got those cleared off my reports! My recommendation if you go this route - The creditors still have to send you statements. Read them carefully. If you are getting messages that your account is past due, check your reports and see if they are also reporting them late. If so, pull them out of the program and pay those yourself. I kept my Texaco card out of the program so that I could "pay at the pump" because of young children, and had a way to fix my car if mechanical problems appeared. My hubby was able to keep 1 Visa out because he travelled extensively. Two years into the program, I had paid down from 30K to 20K in debt. I did see positive results each month. After two years, CCCS gave us a list of mortgage lenders that were "CCCS friendly", we were able to get a 2nd at a fairly decent rate, and were out of the program. Finally, research the company you plan to use (BBB). There are some bad ones, but there are some decent ones. The one I used was supported/backed (or something like that) by United Way. Either way is a painful choice, and it really boils down to your own personal feelings.
I see a mixed bag about CCCS. Just wanted to share my experience. We've been on it since 3/01. Went with our local CCCS branch. They've never missed a payment. We get payments debited out automatically on the 15th and 1st of the month. Only 1 of 5 creditors (Wachovia) listed "account being paid by Consumer Credit Counseling"...MBNA, Chase, First USA, and USAA did not. They all are "closed by credit grantor". My two bits of advice are 1) have CCCS do the automatic debit if you can be sure the money will always be there. As I said, they debit out 15th and 1st and pay creditors usually during the first week of the month. 2)Having said that, call all your creditors and move your due date to like the 25th of the month. This way if CCCS doesn't get payment out 'til late you have wiggle room. Most of the accounts are paid electronically so it's not an issue. Most importantly.....watch your statements every month to make sure your payments are made!!! Good luck in whatever you decide. Ultimately it is a personal decision...do the research and then go with your gut!
just another note to the above post...it may or may not help anybody. I mentioned that Wachovia was the only creditor to report the CCCS notation. Well, they had us as a "joint" account listing on mine and hubby's reports. I did a little thinking and disputed with CRA's but ultimately called Wachovia directly to say I had never authorized this account to be joint. The account was originally opened when I was in college before I ever even knew hubby. Can't remember if I ever actually changed the account to be joint or not but thought since it was old and had been sold to First USA, that I would give it a shot. It worked! I did the same with my First USA account which was also listed as joint and it helped to keep "baddies" limited to "mine" and "his". Now, he has the Chase & MBNA baddies...I have the First USA & Wachovia baddies! Since our last late pay is almost 2 years old....(note...creditors will usually still mark you late until the 3rd consecutive payment under CCCS, in our case signed up in March '01 and our last late notation is May '01)...we just applied for a HELOC with our credit union. We used only hubby's credit. I went in yesterday just to do a "dry run" with copies of his credit report and FICO score in hand. She said she thought 640 was a pretty good score and I went ahead and applied! Keeping my fingers crossed..should find out today or tomorrow!
**Warning - this is going to be a little harsh! So what have you done to try and meet this crisis head on? For all this debt have you accumulated any 'stuff' that retains any value such that it can be sold in a garage sale or on Ebay in order to generate cash to meet obligations? How about your automobiles, are they paid for or are you driving around in 1-2 year old car that you are upside down on and have a high, monthly payment? I know you dont want to be 'preached to' but all of these things would indicate a pattern that has to be broken in order to begin to get your head back above water but remember, you are the master of your castle, not your creditors. So, you have $2000 in monthly mininmum payments for credit card debt and you want CCCS to take over dealing with the creditors! Fine, but ask your self, in the long run how is that going to look any better on your credit report? The majority of financial insitutions see CCCS as worse than BK because it indicates that you are not able to manage debt and have given control to another! I bet that will make a lender feel warm and fuzzy a few years down the road after completing CCCS. Furthermore, do the math, I think you will find that the payment plan that CCCS arranges, although it will get you out of debt in a finite period of time, is actually costing you more than the finance/interest charges you are currently paying. CCCS, in my opinion is simply sending good money after bad! I read of one lady, a senior citizen on a fixed income, who went to CCCS, and the debt reorg plan they created supposedly eliminated late fees, but in actuality it resulted in an effective interest rate of over 75% when combined with the fees CCCS was charging! You are not going to find the answer by 'selling' your financial independence to a 3rd party intermediary. Yes, they have helped many people get out of debt, but not through any revolutionary techinques that you can not apply yourself. Simply because they tell you that they can ge the creditor to suspend finance charges, does not mean that they will. Also, whats to prevent you from going to your creditor and asking them for an interest rate reduction in lieu of you going thte BK route? Before you sign anyting with CCCS, how about you go listen/chat with Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace crew (www.daveramsey.com or discussion forum at http://www.daveramseyclub.com/forum.asp)? Furthermore, go to your local library and see if they have a copy of Dave's book, Financial Peace Revisited, that you can check out. Dave also hosts a nationally syndicated radio show that is on AM radio in many markets accross the US as well as an internet simulcast! Dave might seem a little radical and couter to the pop culture ideals on debt and debt management but there are people with worse situations than yourself on his show every weekday. Take some time out of your day and do some research before you sign up with CCCS! It certainly is not going to be easy, in fact it may well get worse for a while before it gets better. So dont misunderstand, I am not telling you to tune in to Dave because he is going to solve all your problems. On the contrary, Dave is not going to solve any of your problems - but he will help kick you in the pants so that you develop the insght and understanding in oder to solve your own problems!
I have sold virtually everything I own on Ebay and half.com The point is I have not been able to make the minimum payments. I'm a little disturbed at the tone of a few of these remarks...like I'm giving in too easily.
don't get disturbed...you have to take all comments with a grain of salt...noone will know your exact situation and what will be right for you. The exact same facts (debts, etc.) can equal many different solutions to the same problem for each different person. Some may choose BK, some may choose 2nd and 3rd jobs, some CCCS. You have to do complete research and then do what is right FOR YOU!!! Read each post for valuable information and disregard the rest...it's that simple.
Re: Re: Signing up for CCCS next we It doesn't sound like you're giving in too easily. Just be forwarned that CCCS may promise you the moon, but take all their promises with a grain of salt too. I was in a CCCS plan, they did what they promised and made my monthly minimum payments come down, and a few of the bills dropped interest rates. After a year on the program, I looked back through my statements, added up the payments I had made, and realized the amount that the balance had gone down on my credit cards was about 25% of what I had paid, and I ran the math out a few years only to realize that keeping the pyaments to the CCCS the same it would still take 5 more years to have it paid off, and in that time I was not to be applying for any credit. 6 years of paying, not able to get new credit during that time, and then still having trashed remarks on your credit report. What I mean by this, is that the negative tradelines, which have been brought "current" by making the payment plan, will still be closed by credit grantor paid negatives that will be on your credit report for 7 years after you pay of CCCS. At that point, I thought BK would possibly be the best option, but instead I just let them flap in the wind. I'm up on the SOL for them, (knock on wood) haven't had a judgement and in a short few more years all the bad marks will be gone, and I'll keep using the validate and dispute tactics to clean up as much as I can. I admit, I'm truely in subprime heck with a 16% car loan for the wife's Cavalier and I can't get a mortgage for a few more years, but that's OK. Keep up the faith! ChrisB
Re: Re: Signing up for CCCS next week... Others are correct in that I do not know your situation and I can only say that the remarks were meant more as way to get ones attention and in no way were meant as swipe or assault on your character. I will say (type) this again, check out Dave Ramsey. I realize that you are in dire straights and cant see how that will help, but he has been in far worse shape when he lost everything he owned in the late 80's and ended up several million dollars in debt. No, I am not one of his devoted disciples who simply echos every word he utters. I am simply someone who feels that the majority of his principles are sound and can help almost anyone but only if they read, listen, and learn. For fear of offering furhter offense, that will be all I have to say on the matter. Best of luck, Michael
