Posted on July 15, 2009 at 11:51 am Hey All! Seem to have a common problem, guess that's why we're all here. Basically, I've accumulated a large some of debt. $55k to be exact. I can make all of the monthly minimums, but I'm getting no where. I am looking for a consolidation to try and get out of this. I can afford about $1000 a month to pay. I'm currently checking with Consolidated Credit Counseling Services. Any feedback with them?I've cut up my cards, but this debt is starting to add a great amount of stress to my health. Any advice on what step to take next? My credit score is still decent, just the huge amount of unsecured debt makes it impossible to get a loan to pay this all off and make a single payment.

Posted on July 15, 2009 at 12:58 pm If you were trying to get a loan and cannot get approved, your options would be the following (if you are looking for help and cannot pay it off on your own): credit counseling, debt settlement or bankruptcy. Since you are able to make monthly payments bankruptcy really shouldn't be necessary. Consolidated Credit Counseling Services is a credit counseling agency out of Florida. They have been in business since 1993 and are members of the Better Business Bureau. They actually have an A+ rating with the BBB despite 61 complaints over the last 36 months. This would tell me that most likely they are a very large company with a lot of clients. Their counselors are AFCPE certified. I would make sure before signing up with them that the creditors you owe are willing to work with credit counseling agencies, as not all do.

Posted on July 16, 2009 at 4:47 am Thank you, Steven. I personally would love to do debt settlement, but I believe you have to have the money up front, correct?

Posted on July 16, 2009 at 8:12 am Hi Jimbo- not exactly. What most debt settlement companies aim to do is set you up on a monthly payment plan that you can afford. And while your payments accumulate (typically in an escrow account set up in your name), they negotiate with the creditors to try and lower the amount you owe until you have enough to pay them off with a settlement (usually in a lump sum). Typically they won't start negotiating until there is some ammunition to work with- as negotiating with no money saved up is not the best idea. So, if you were to have the money up front, they could indeed begin the negotiations right away. People who have a lump sum of money to work with right off the bat tend to get in and out of these settlement programs a lot faster.