Any legit debt settlement companies - experience?

[SunFloridaDisney]

Just wondering...

anyone have experience or know anything about these
debt settlement companies?

 

[Chicago526]

They're all scams. They tell you to stop paying your bills, send the money to them, and they'll get a settlement for a "fraction of what you owe". Most take your money and run, many charge outragous "fees", thus giving you less money to bargin with, and all will trash your credit and likely get you sent to collections and then eventually sued.

Credit counseling is a horse of a different color, and CCCS run by United Way is a good one. They negotiate with your creditors FIRST, and then once they get your payments and interest lowered, you pay CCCS and they pay your creditors, and they only charge a very smal fee to cover their overhead. Before doing CCCS I would first contact your creditors and see if they are willing to work with you first though. If they tell you to go fly a kite, call up CCCS for a consultation, and see what they can do for you (you don't have to accept if you don't like the numbers).

 

[SandrA9810]

Most the time, you can do a debt settlement on your own with the credit card company, but you do have to be a few months behind before they'll help you... why help some one who's paying all the interest??

But you do have to close the accounts with the company in order to do any kind of settlement.

If you just need lower payments, and would like to keep the accounts open, CCCS is the way to go. But don't be surprised if there's not much of a drop in your min payments. It'll hurt your score a bit while you're in the program, but not as much as a debt settlement.

CCCS does a debt settlement program too, but I'd look to doing it yourself before paying some one else to do it.

 

[raenyny]

I was going to say the same thing...I worked with a woman a little after my divorce some years back and she was a forclosure specialist she sat with me to help get out of debt and you just need to get a copy of your credit report and call and write letters to each thing on there make what ever deals you can and you'd be surprised what you can accomplish on your own

 

[angey77]

I settled my credit card debt about five years ago by using Auriton Solutions. A friend of mine had recommended them and I was very pleased by their service. I was charged a small percentage of all debt owed per month as their service fee (it was only around $15) and they worked with all my credit card companies to reduce my interest rate. I had around $9K of credit card debt paid off in about three years, I would say.
I probably would not have tried them if my friend had not had such a good experience with them. I'm overly cautious about these consolidation places myself.

 

[SondraC]

Just wondering...

anyone have experience or know anything about these
debt settlement companies?

I know people think they are scams, but I know of at least 3 different people that used them with success. Yes, you do stop paying the monthly payment (instead you deposit a set amount into a savings account, and when it reaches a certain amount it can be used to settle you account.
BTW, yes you do have to claim the difference on your taxes, but depending on your situation you just show you are "insolvent", meaning your debt is more than your worth.