Consumer Credit Counseling Services

In My Humble Opinion
1

Sheesh, I post in IMHO very little, and it’s two threads in three days.

Anyway. My husband came into our marriage with no debt and substantial savings. I, on the other hand, came into our marriage with a lot of debt and no savings. We’ve worked out a plan to pay down my debt, but I’m realizing that I may not have the best plan. We did talk to a financial advisor at our mortgage company, and he said I’m doing fine with my plan, but to be honest, I’d much prefer to be able to deal with it all in one payment and get rid of my credit cards at the same time. My debt, comparable to others, may not be huge, but it feels like it to me. A friend is using a Consumer Credit Counseling Service and I’m considering it myself.

Has anyone ever done this? A few things I’m worried about.

  1. The debt is in my name and my name only. If I do this with my credit cards, will it affect my husband at all? He’s just been approved for a mortgage with only his credit (we plan to refinance in a few years and put me on the mortgage - I am on the title, though, so I’m not legally screwed if something happens to him), and I would hate for anything I’ve done to screw him up. If there’s even a possibility that this could happen, I don’t want to try this.

  2. I’ve heard it’s actually worse than bankruptcy (which I don’t want to do). Will I be able to recover from CCCS faster than bankruptcy in terms of my credit? Provided I make payments on time, etc, will my credit score improve decently? Or will it take the same 7 years as bankruptcy?

  3. I’d really just like to hear personal experiences with CCCS. It’s really hard for me to admit that I need help with my debt, but I wish I had admitted it years ago. I want to be debt-free, considering I have a husband who is financially responsible. I’m trying to be better about money. If this is something that will help me do that, I will.

Thanks for any advice/experiences. I’d like to learn more about this before I broach the subject with my husband so I can give him the full story.

E.

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Elza, are you American, Canadian…?

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I am currently engaged in the debt-repair process myself, though on a smaller scale.

I highly, highly recommend this site, and suggest you ask them about CCCS:

www.creditboards.com

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US - in Ohio. Sorry, I should just change my location.

I wish I was Canadian, though. Does that count?:slight_smile:

furt, thanks for the link. I’ll check that out. Honestly, the debt isn’t horrible compared to our income, but I keep thinking how much better off we’d be if I didn’t have it.

E.

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Move on up. Plenty of miserable weather for everyone! :wink:

I’m sorry I don’t have any US relevant info, Elza. The most important thing here is making sure you are dealing with a true non-profit and preferably a government sponsored program. I would also check with your local Better Business Bureau to see if they have any complaints issued against them. You don’t want to end up dealing with a company like AmeriDebt.