Is it Legitimate for MMI to Ask for a Service Fee of $12 a Month and $50 Start Up Fee since they say they are non-profit? – Bea

“Dear Steve,

I recently signed up with MMI to lower high interest (29.9%) credit cards that my husband had. I was told that the initial fee for the month would be $50 plus $12, plus another $10 cushion. After that the $12 plus $10 per month would apply. They would then manange and disburse payments to the creditors. If they are trying to help people out of debt, then why charge them a fee? Just wanted to know if this is the way they pay MMI’s employee salaries?

Bea”

Dear Bea,

MMI (Money Management International) earns money from monthly service charges and “commissions” from creditor for money they collect from you and return to the creditor on a monthly basis.

This is the primary funding mechanism of the credit counseling debt management program.

Additionally, some creditors do not pay the “commission” but instead give an arbitrary amount to help fund the operation of a credit counseling group.

If the credit counseling approach is the best solution for you it looks like MMI is charging you very little.

Please post your responses and follow-up messages to me on this in the comments section below.

Steve Rhode Debt Coach and Author

Steve Rhode is the Get Out of Debt Guy and has been helping good people with bad debt problems since 1994. You can learn more about Steve, here.

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