Here is the question:
Howdy Boiler… Do you think debt consolidation is a good deal? It seams easier than what you do with suing the collector. Mariam
Mariam,
I don’t know much about debt consolidation, but I think they are a scam. I had a friend here in Colorado that paid a debt consolidation service and they didn’t pay the collectors. He ended up in bankruptcy.
My friend didn’t mention this to me until he was through with bankruptcy, so it was to late to sue the collectors for any FDCPA violations.
Best, Boiler
Mariam makes an unfairly vague comparison. Plenty of websites make soothing promises to “fix your credit”. This one has been concerned mainly with helping us defend our rights as alleged debtors. Both goals take study and work, and not what “seams easier” [sic].
The “debt fixers” come in different forms but I’ve yet to see one which did little more than nothing for their fees. Obvious frauds like girlfriends of “Heather” and “Rachel” sell you a tip sheet telling you to pay your credit card bills faster. The FTC has shuttered several of those credit reprice scammers since 2009. The slicker shops sell a plan of action, supposedly for debt repayment, in which the only genuine action is the transfer of wealth from their gullible clients to their own pockets.
In those programs you’re convinced to solve a problem meeting monthly bills by paying some other place a monthly bill. For months or years someone hoards your money as creditors go unpaid. You get pummeled with collection activity and eventually are sued. The debt fixer sits back while this happens, having usually done nothing to negotiate rates or pay off the delinquent accounts. Per its contract you don’t get refunds and you can’t sue the fixer for non-performance.
Even if the job is done honestly, the “fixer” enjoys no special favor with the banks and does nothing you can’t do for yourself through phone calls and letters for almost free. If strategic default becomes your new plan, you don’t need to pay anyone to hold your hands while you miss due dates. You’re in a better position to fight the coming storms with *more* of your cash flow, not less, under your control.