What is the best credit counseling service?
I have a lot of debt that I am trying to get a grasp on.
You can fix your credit yourself. You just need the right resources. I've found this site,"Clean Credit Clinic":http://www.cleancreditclinic.com which has step-by-step videos on how to fix your credit report and raise your score. And its free. There are some other resources in the Module '6' section as well that will help you save money.
7 Answers
There are many credit counseling services out there, including Hummingbird Credit Counseling and Education and Money Management International . They all pretty much say the same stuff, but hey it could all be information that you never knew.
Take the time to really look at your financial situation. I do not agree with Greg's comment "Filing bankruptcy and paying someone to fix it are both poor choices". I work in a law firm that focuses on bankruptcy work and let me tell you that a lot of people get really bad financial advice from friends and family. Spend the cash to get a consultation and let a professional take a look at your situation if you cannot do it yourself.
I have worked for Money Management International for more than 15 years. I agree that it is well worth the time to talk with a trained credit counselor. The counseling appointment is free and there is never any obligation.
If you choose to work with MMI, your counselor will help you to assess your current financial situation, develop a realistic spending plan, establish achievable financial goals, and create a personal action plan for success.
Hope this helps. Good luck with your decision!
Money Management International, Take Charge America, GreenPath and Consumer Credit Counseling are all companies that Bank of America refers to. I use to work w/ BofA and have heard many success stories directly from customers (especially about Take Charge and Consumer Credit Counseling).
Make no mistake, these services will hurt your credit while you are under their services but after finishing their 5 year program, any indication of debt management is removed from your credit report and your credit score usually bounces back quite rapidly due to the decreased amount of debt. It won't delete delenquencies, those will follow you around for a bit but they are not as damaging once the debt level is decreased significantly.
Keep in mind, these companies cannot help everybody. You can have too much or too little debt for them to be advantageous to you. If you have too little, try a personal loan. If you have too much and they turn you down, call the bank again and let them know. BofA has a plan after getting turned away debt counseling, other banks might as well. If they still can help you, banruptcy is a terrible thing but may be the only way out for some.
Weigh all your options and choose carefully.
I think paying a service to solve a money issue is reflective of what caused your issues in the first place.
List your debts and your income. I'm fairly certain it's possible to determine what you can cut from your life and how to allocate your resources.
You can fix your credit yourself. You just need the right resources. I've found this site,"Clean Credit Clinic":http://www.cleancreditclinic.com which has step-by-step videos on how to fix your credit report and raise your score. And its free. There are some other resources in the Module '6' section as well that will help you save money.
Credit counseling services help you to know which consolidation services are good for you. The consumer credit counseling.
There are very very few credit counseling services out there that will do anything for you, much less something you couldn't do yourself. Getting a grasp on your debt is a matter of making a lot of very simple (and some not-so-simple) changes in your life to get things under control. Filing bankruptcy and paying someone to fix it are both poor choices.
Best advice: Read Dave Ramsey's book The Total Money Makeover where he proposes a lot of great, common-sense ways that you can get this under control and get your life back on the track to financial success. Good luck.