The credit card law is not a lie. It went into effect on Thursday, August 20th, and some more aspects to it kick in over the next year. It’s not a perfect law and doesn’t solve everything, but it does make some changes. It’s too bad credit card companies took advantage of consumers right and left before the law kicked in, but I suppose that’s to be expected. Here’s more information about the new credit card law: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssBanks/idUSN1948224320090819
I canceled my Capital One card as soon as I could–I didn’t like dealing with them either. Sorry if this is a duplicate post, by the way. I’m having some technological trouble.
I am thinking of signing a debt management plan with our local CCCS (Consumer Credit Counseling Service). I’ve known about this service for over 20 years. I called them a little over a year ago and they gave me advice which helped me bring myself out of foreclosure and modify my mortgage from an 11.25% interest rate to a 7% interest rate.
In the last year I have paid off a lot of debt. I could go the rest of the way on my own, but I still have about $22,000 left to go. After carefully looking at my spreadsheet, and in particular the interest rates (most in the 20-29% range … ouch), I decided it would be appropriate at this point to bring in some help to get me the rest of the way.
So I called CCCS and talked with them about an hour going over my financials. The biggest draw for me is that they can negotiate my interest rates way down, which will save me a lot of $$$ in the long run as well as finally free up some of my monthly income so I don’t feel so choked off all the time.
They made up a 4-year plan, but I have the flexibility to pre-pay at any time if I want to get out of debt faster (which I do and plan on doing). Having said all that, I would like to ask the group … is there any reason for me NOT to go ahead and sign up? Your feedback would be greatly appreciated!
I recently met with CCCS and am going over the pros and cons of signing up with them (my previous email explains more in detail). I knew that going on a plan would impact my credit score, but I figured that would be minor and short-term (assuming I pay on time). But I just read an article on the internet that seems to say the impact is a lot worse than that. It said:
“You’ll have a lot of the same credit problems that someone that filed for bankruptcy goes through. The differences between a debt-management plan and a Chapter 13 bankruptcy repayment plan aren’t as big as you might think, so keep that option in your back pocket as you discuss your debt problems with a credit counselor.”
While I am aiming to get out of debt permanently, I do still need to consider my FICO score, because I need to refinance my mortgage as soon as I can. I’d appreciate your perspectives on this.
I’ve been told that there is no guarentee that the cc company can get them to lower their interest rates. I would get a notebook and your list and start making calls yourself. I would tell the company that if you didn’t have to pay the cc company and you could work this out yourself they would get their money faster.
Just don’t stop at the first person you talk with they are only authorized to do so much. Ask for their supervisor or if there is another department you could speak with. Have you looked into Dave Ramsey and the Financial Peace University? That’s what my husband and I are doing. It’s an AMAZING program. All common sense stuff, but just amazing when it’s laid out there. I’ve known people that have paid off $40,000+ worth of debt in just a couple years. At my husband’s current salary (I’m a stay-at-home-mom), it will take us about two and a half years to pay off $58,000 in debt.