Valeria wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free.
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“Dear Steve,
After reading your section on completion rate, I am terrified of consolidating my loans. Sounds like you are happier with bankruptcy and I don’t think I need to go that route. I am about $50 thousand in debt. I can no longer make payments on one of my credit cards in order to get gas and groceries.
Do you know of a reputable debt management or consolidation company in which I will not be sued by my lenders during the process?? I recently contacted Money Management International. They gave me a monthly quote which they would deduct from my checking acct. The quote was a little high for me and I want to see about renegotiating with them. Do you know if this is a good company?
Valeria”
The Answer:
Dear Valeria,
Money Management international is a big debt management company and not prone to underestimating your debt management payment to get your money. There is no advantage for them to do that. At the same time they want people to enter their debt management program so they can make money off of you.
If the payment they gave you is too high for you I think it is actually a reflection of the reality of your underlying situation. You are too in debt.
Any credit counseling company that promises you a payment much lower than what Money Management international told you is going to be lying to you to get a few months payments out of you before the whole plan comes tumbling down with creditor rejections.
The payment by any recognized credit counseling company is going to be determined not by what you can afford, but by what the creditors want. That’s the figure that Money Management International gave you. There is no negotiating. It is a formula that is determined by the creditors, not the credit counseling company.
The article you read on completion rates is discouraging because it is real look at what credit counseling companies don’t tell the average person.
It seems to me that you are trying to bargain with yourself to find a solution that is in line with what you want and gives you protections against your creditors. This is the best position for a consumer to be in to get taken by any one of the many companies out there that will promise you everything, because that’s what you want to hear, and deliver nothing. You are a prime candidate to get scammed.
Let’s say that the monthly payment could be just what you could afford. Where does that leave you? If you are just making it month to month, not able to save money, not able to build an emergency fund, and not prepared for the next financial emergency, you are a train wreck waiting to happen.
Without the credit cards to fall back on to help makes ends meet, it will only take one unforeseen, accidental, or bad luck event to throw your debt management plan down the garbage disposal.
I urge you to not make a decision about if bankruptcy is or is not right for you until you go and sit down in front of a bankruptcy attorney and discuss your situation. Don’t make this decision based on an emotional assumption, get the facts.
And after your meeting with the bankruptcy attorney, come back and give me an update in the comments section. Let what you learned percolate in your head for a few days and then make what will be a better and more informed decision about what is the best course for you to follow.
P.S. Be sure to read ‘The Secret of Surviving Through Difficult Economic Times. What I Learned On My Journey‘.