There are a large number of people that think they are better dealing with a non-profit company because it won’t cost any money. If you really think that anyone of these non-profit companies do this because they really care about helping you out of the kindness of their heart and are going to go to work every day for free then you are sadly mistaken. Really think about it would you go to work full time for free if you had a family that depends on you, of course not.

They just don’t use the word profit it is called a donation or educational contribution or some other name in order to charge you a fee. If you read the fine print of the agreement you will find a section that states that the company will also get a portion of your payment from the credit card company. This is known as a fare share and has to be given as a contribution or donation from the credit card company.

C.C.C.S (consumer credit counseling) Credit counseling programs are not created equal by any means. When you sign up with a consumer credit counseling company they become the middleman between you and the credit card companies. You put all of your accounts on the program and only make one monthly payment to the credit counseling company and they pay the credit card companies on your behalf.

This is supposed to make it easier for you to manage all of your accounts. The advantage you get though a credit counseling program is that the credit card companies will lower the interest rates on the accounts but you will still be paying back over 100% of the actual debt. A normal program will last around 40 to 60 months on average. If you are on a credit counseling program right now you should add up your monthly payment and times that by the number of months you will be paying.

When I speak to people that are on a credit counseling program and have them do this they are shocked at what they are seeing. For example I had a client last week who was paying $1,650.00 a month to a credit counseling company for a 60 month program and thought she was ahead of the game. She was paying $1,850.00 in minimum payments on 7 credit cards totaling $75,000.00, so the $200.00 a month in savings was a lot better then what I was paying, she said.

I asked her to take what she was paying to the credit counseling company each month and times that by the 60 months and she did. When she saw the total there was a long silence followed by an Oh my God. For those of you who hate math I will tell you the totals. She was paying back $99,000.00 on a $75,000.00 debt. That means she is paying $24,000 in extra fees to the credit card companies.  She told me that she never thought to add everything up to see what it came out to, she only focused on the fact that she was saving $200.00 every month.

Well, she is no longer on that credit counseling program. There are also a lot of companies out there that end up causing more problems for you because they are not paying your creditors on time. If you make your payment on time and the credit counseling company is late, you will be the one who is held accountable and now risk the chance of being kicked off the program. Once this happens the creditor will raise your interest rates again and you will be left in a worse situation than before.

When you are searching for a company to handle your negotiations with the credit card companies make sure you go and check them out with the BBB (Better Business Bureau). If you see that any company has a lot of complaints against them, then you know to stay clear. This is a very important decision you are making, so don’t rush it. When you are dealing with your debt you should make sure all of you questions are answered and you feel comfortable with the company and their program.

I am writing this to you because I want to let you know that all of us little people who have credit cards owe you our deepest gratitude. It is because of your Honesty and understanding that we want to help you out of this terrible financial situation you are in. You have helped us in ways that no other corporation could ever come close to doing, so we want to lend you our money for a change.

Many of us have already started feeling the effects of your appreciation towards us for helping bail you out of the mess you help create and making sure you will always be around to take our hard earned money every chance you get. Well, we want to thank you for doubling or even tripling our interest rates and let’s not forget about you drastically cutting our credit limit on our cards.

Thank you, Thank you so much because since you have reduced our credit line in order to protect us from spending too much money, you have caused our debt to credit ratio to rise up and now you have given other creditors all the reason they need to join in and start raising the interest rates and reducing our credit line on our cards.

Man, I don’t know what we would have done without you guys in these hard times we are facing right now. Since millions of us have lost over half of our income because a spouse is out of work or even lost both of our incomes and are struggling to keep a roof over our head and food on the table. We have families to support and bills to pay but we don’t need this money as bad as you do, so please take it from us.

We would not want you to have to struggle in life; you shouldn’t have to choose between a 50 million dollar estate in Beverly Hills, CA or the Penthouse in Manhattan, you should have them both. You shouldn’t have to choose between the a Bentley or the new Aston Martin, you should have both of these as well. You should be able to use this T.A.R.P. money any way you see fit, so if you want to give all the executives millions of dollars or if you want to travel the world on your new private jet, then that is what you should do.

We are all too happy to give up our kids college funds and use what little we have left in our savings to make sure you are okay. We don’t want you to ever have to experience  any discomfort in the way you live your lives. Most importantly you should never have to deal with any of these hard times that we go through everyday, so if you have to raise our interest rates and cut our credit lines to keep your pockets full of our hard earned money, then we are glad to help you out.

So, just remember if there is ever anything that we can do to make your life easier please don’t hesitate to find new ways to take our money. Thank you very much for all that you have done and will do to us in the future. We know the time is going to come when you are going to come back and ask for more of our money after you spend these billions we just gave you and want you to know we understand and would love to help you out again.

Sincerely,

Your greatest supporter Joe Sellers

Have the credit card companies raised your interest rates or reduced your line of credit and you can no longer afford to keep up with the minimum payments, then you should look into debt negotiations. When you are dealing with your debt by doing everything possible and are still falling further behind then maybe it is time you had a little help along the way. The credit card companies are showing no mercy for Americans that are now out of work and are struggling to get by but yet they are still raising interest rates and making it difficult for you to pay off your debts. This is why more people are turning towards a debt settlement company negotiate their debts. It is time to get off the credit treadmill and start putting your hard earned money back in your pocket where it belongs. If you have any questions or need more information regarding your situation you can contact me at www.uscaonline.com/

Ping my blog

If you are reading this then chances are you are one of the millions of Americans that are overwhelmed with credit card debt and feel like it is a never ending battle with no end in sight. While you continue to pay the minimum payments month after month your principle balance never seems to go down.

This is because of the way your creditors have it structured and if you continue paying the minimum payments it will take you 30 or more years to pay off your debt and that means you will have paid your debt a couple of times over. Now this is hard enough with one credit card so if you have multiple cards it can be even more of a nightmare to deal with.

With the problems we are having with the economy right now we are really starting to watch how we spend our money. Unfortunately for a lot of Americans that have lost their jobs paying off their credit cards is not top on the list of priorities but is still something that needs to be taken care of.

I mean really you are not going to pay the credit cards before you put food on the table for you and your family, are you? Of course you are not but you need to figure out another option to keep from falling to far behind. The longer you put it off the harder it becomes to get back on track.

You need to figure out what you want to accomplish and what is going to be in your best interest. The good news is you do have options the bad news is they are limited. I will go over them with you now.

1. The first option is to do exactly what the credit card companies are telling you to do. You can continue to pay the minimum payments every month and wait for them to raise the APR% (annual percent rating) on you if they haven’t already done so. This could very well leave you having to pay them double or even triple the amount for your monthly minimum payments.

2. You can go on a consumer credit counseling program. This will allow you to pay the credit counseling agency one lump sum payment every month and they will disperse it to your creditors for you. They will lower the interest a little bit but you will still end up paying back 115% or more of the balance. Also a very high number of people don’t complete consumer credit counseling because of the way it is structured.

3. There is always bankruptcy but because of so many people abusing it in the past the banks fought to have the laws changed. Now it is harder for the people to file bankruptcy that really need it. Not only is it on your credit report for 8-10 years you will always have to answer yes to the question about bankruptcy on any important applications or documents. So this does have a longer lasting effect on your credit then most people realize.

4. Or you can try to settle your debt through debt negotiations. A well structured credit card debt settlement program can make all the difference when you are looking to pay off your cards and get rid of the debt. Do understand though this is not for everyone because it will have an effect on your credit. If you are at a point where you can no longer afford to pay the minimum payments but still want to pay off your balance then this might be for you.

5. Last but is definitely least is to do nothing. That’s right, just sit back and pay nothing. Who cares if you keep falling further behind and deeper in debt? Hopefully you do. This is really not what you should do because things will only get worse and it will be that much harder to get out of debt and back on track.

When and if you are ready to look into a debt negotiations program make sure you are comfortable with the person and program that they offer. A growing number of credit counseling and debt settlement companies are popping up all over the U.S. and are rapidly giving this industry a bad name. It is all too often that people are taken by fast talking sales people that are only concerned with getting you on a program as quick as possible.

They tell you all the things you want to hear and sell you on an easy fix. Nothing about your situation is easy and should not be taken lightly. The decision you make today will affect you tomorrow so don’t be afraid to ask any questions you can think of. So make sure you do everything in your power to research any credit card debt settlement companies and credit counseling companies with the BBB (Better Business Bureau).

Another thing about 70% or more of the companies you see on TV, the internet or hear on the radio most likely will not the debt settlement company you will be working with. They are lead brokers that sell all of your info to 3 or more other companies and if you have filled out a lot of applications online then you have probably had it happen to you.  Just make sure to read all of the information on their site to prevent this from happening.