Why do I need credit counseling or credit counselors?
In some cases, you can negotiate with creditors on your own to arrange payment or have positive information reported to a credit bureau. However, to get the benefits of lowered monthly payments, lower interest rates, stopped late charges, and waived over the limit fees, you need our credit counseling and counselors. As a non-profit organization, our credit counseling and counselors can secure you these benefits not usually available to credit consumers.
Why can't I just keep paying off my creditors on my own?
If you keep paying just the minimum to your creditors at the current interest rate, it will take you much longer than if you paid off your debt through our credit counseling and counselors. A $10,000 debt usually takes 32 years and $24,500 to pay off, if you are paying the monthly minimum of 2.5% of the balance at an average interest rate of 18.5%. Because we may be able to reduce your interest rates, stop over the limit fees, and so on, it will take a lot less time to pay off your debt through us. Chances are, in the past, all your debt payments have just gone to pay off interest. You probably haven't even touched the balance! On average, our credit counseling clients pay off their debts in 3 to 5 years, depending on individual circumstances.
Can I send in more money once I have a better cash flow?
Of course - you can always increase your monthly payment. The more you pay, the faster your accounts will be paid off. Just let us credit counseling and counselors know you want to increase your payments beforehand so we can figure out which creditors to pay more money.
Should I pay my bills in the time before I send you my first payment?
That's your decision. We recommend that you do if you can, because there is a brief negotiation period, after we receive your first payment, when we make arrangements for future payments with your creditors. If you miss due dates for accounts in the meantime, you are risking penalty fees and negative information being reported to the credit bureau.
After I pay off one account, can I just pay less?
That's your decision, but we highly recommend that you pay the same amount and transfer whatever you used to pay for the other account to a high interest account. That way, as you pay off each account, you end up paying more to the remaining accounts, speeding up the process without changing your monthly spending budget.
Will I still receive harassing phone calls?
You might the first several months on the program since it takes time for your creditor's collections department to find out you're with our credit counseling and counselors. If you get a harassing call, inform the party to call our credit counseling and speak to your account specialist. If you get a harassing call from a collections agency that is not part of your creditor's company, we will provide you with a cease and desist letter. 3rd party collection agents must obey this letter, according to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Make sure you tell your account specialist if you receive any such calls from a collections agent.