Is this on the up & up????
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| Tue, 09-27-2005 - 1:47pm |
Hello everyone,
I will try & keep this as simple as possible to follow & could really use your thoughts. I need to know what you think of my scenario. I am at my wits end! I have been in debt consolidation since June 2004. I did what I had to do after a serious injury & my husband getting laid off. The debt consolidation has done nothing for me but lie & take a $49/mo fee, & taking my 1100.00/mo from my checking & pays the creditors. I did all the work getting everything straight & set up. It was the worst nightmare imaginable. The debt at that time was about 55,000. NOW, my debt is 42,000, which is good! I'm trying to refinance my house(ending a 2 yr arm at 6.6% in Nov) before Dec 1st. At that time my payment will go up 3%, 6 mo later it increases another1 %. So I have been waiting for my score to improve over the last 14 mo to attempt a refinance. I received all 3 credit reports in March 05, everything was pretty accurate as far as the 3 lates that were reported in the beginning(June 04) from my creditors, everything looked pretty good. They started receiving full payments from me in May 04 but the creditors never saw a dime till Aug/Set 04. They just kept telling me it takes time to get it all in place. This program lied to me about this & many other things & that's why I had those lates on all the cards. I am told that my mid score is at 561(equifax) and is sufficient to refinance BUT most of my creditors are reporting me late A LOT he said, and it looks really bad. I was just flabergasted because I know my payment is in my checking every single month on time. So that means the CCCS program is not paying my creditors on time. This is not being reflected on my statements that it's late. So I am taking the necessary steps to find out what is happening with that. In the meantime....this is where I would like everyone's input.
I get this call from "American Debt Arbitration", their web site is www.adatoday.com
& this is what they are telling me.
They basically decrease by debt & payment by arbitration. It's a win win situation. By the time I'm out of the program my credit score will be 750. They told me this is my given right, & is in my agreement for each credit card. Which I don't have any of these agreements to verify.
-it's interest free
-they reduce my debt by arbitration 40% (drops it from 40,000 to 24,000)
-my payment is reduced from $1100 to $940(no fees)
-payment taken right from checking account as with the CCS
-repayment would be only 2 1/2 yrs vs 6 yrs
-1st month payment only 400.00 set up, 950./mo/thereafter
-1st 3 payment towards enrollment(I don't understand what this means)?
-credit score may or may not drop 20 pts
-no payment goes to creditors the 1st 6 months, after that they are paid in full & each creditor has 30 days to list "paid in full" on my credit report. The creditors use this as a write off.
-they open a savings accountat Rocky Mountain savings & that is where my payments go, letting it build up.
-said I would receive thank you letters from the creditors for going with this debt arbitration program.
-creditors can't call me for payment when my payments stop from the debt consolidation
-I can pay the debt off early or make larger payments w/o penalties
-within 1 1/2 yrs my credit score will increase by about 150 pts
-they are not a 3rd party intervention as the CCCS is, and that the CCCS would be burried on my credit report
-allowed 3x a yr for hardships & needing to make a payment late, with no extra fees or penalties
They told me it would be the best thing that I could do for myself & I could not go wrong. Their able to do this because they deal with mass quantities of consumers all at once. My number was given to them by Equifax. They have a ph # on their web site & have a BBB banner, but so does the debt consolidation place that I'm with. What bothers me is she would not send me the information by mail unless I gave her my bank account numers. She said it would cost too much to send the packet out to everyone & they only want the serious minded. When I repeatedly told her no, she said thank you have a nice day & hung up(after a 45 min conversation). She did give me her name & number plus the website. I called back to talk to another person to ask if I joined with them, would I be penalized for paying the balance off early & she said absolutely not.
Has anyone heard of this place??????? You know the old saying "if it seems to good to be true then it probably is." Is it on the up & up or a scam?????????
Any thoughts are appreciated....
~*Roses*~

I don't know anything about them but I saw SEVERAL red flags in your message.
Here is what I'm getting from it - I think what they are going to do is basically hold your payments in some unknown back account, so that your credit account goes delinquent to the point that that credit company may or may not (a big catch) want to settle for less than what you owe.
Becky
CL of 4th, 5th & 6th grade Scoliosis
I think I would be wary of such a thing. I was on another website the other day, and i WISH I could remember which one, because it had a lot of people in situations like ours, and they were all posting things like we do. Many of them had horror stories about collectors, agencies, and DM co's.
Personally, setting up an account with a bank that I have never heard of, that they have access to, scares the bejesus out of me. If I were in your situation, I would be researching this to death on the internet. How can they raise your credit score to such a favorable one so quickly? I think your assessment is correct, that if it seems too good to be true...
I am also concerned about your account with CCCS. They are so highly recommended by everyone I see on TV, and I have dealt with them in the past during a divorce. I would make complaints all over the place, starting with the BBB and your state's atty gen. CCCS, in my experience, had my payments out on time within the first month, was never late, and according to what I have seen on their website (I am in CA, and we have laws about the fee schedule, so check your local area!) but it said that it wasn't more than like $35. Beware, though, because almost two years ago I decided to go back to CCCS, and searched it on the internet. Found what I THOUGHT was a link to CCCS in my area ("the OC"), and it turned out to be a completely different company (Money Management something). I recently found the link to the actual CCCS in my area, but it took some work.
It just doesn't seem fair that your credit rating is suffering when you have been upholding your end of the bargain. Have you called CCCS and spoken to your case manager, or a supervisor and explained the situation? I'd be interested in knowing what they have to say about the whole thing. Is small-claims or litigation of some sort possible? Check your written agreement with the DMP and see what your options are on that.
Best of luck to you, along with best wishes and thoughts...
Kathy
Your both very right, even I saw red flags. I can't just take my creditors back & pay them on my own. Once I do all my interest rates will go from 7-9% all the way up to 21% or higher. I was told that when I entered in the consolidation.
But I am going to call the creditors as well as the CCS person Wed.
Thanks for posting
I noticed they had a "BBB"(Better Business Bureau) logo on their website. I double clicked on it and pulled up their company report. Down near the bottom, it says they have a "satisfactory" rating since their bureau file was opened in June 2004, but it also says the following:
The Bureau processed a total of 11 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total of 11 complaints closed in 36 months, 9 were closed in the last year.
These complaints concerned:
3 Selling Practices,
1 Refund Issues,
2 Customer Service, and
5 Credit and/or Billing Issues.
They were closed as:
10 Resolved, and
1 Although the customer disputed the company's response, based on BBB experience the company properly addressed all the issues of the complaint.
-----------------------
I hope this information can help you.
Pat :-D
Thanks Pat for the information you provided. It was greatly appreciated!
I'm sure it's a scam of some way, shape, or form. I can't afford to have anything else hurt my credit like the CCCS program has. I have every bank statement showing the $1100 in my account when it should be there for my payment to be withdrawn. Some how, some way I WILL get these late payments straightened out with my creditors. I will check into how any of them will work with me if I get out of the program & pay myself...ON TIME. It's a long shot cause they told me my rates will go sky high if I do that. I do not want to provide the CC places with my bank statements though. They are mean & nasty too & god knows what they may take from my account on a wim. I feel caught between a rock & a hard place! I will also turn the CCCS program in to the BBB. I have an appointment with a financial institution today out of town. They want to refinance me, of course because they want my mortgage...lol. They are willing to get involved with no fee to get these late payments straightened out with the proof that I have my payment is paid on time every month for 14 months to CCCS. Plus in 13 yrs....never a late payment on my mortgage. So we will see...
Thanks again
Roses
Wow, this sounds like a real scam. Eleven complaints with the BBB in just over 15 months? Run, run like the wind!
Karen
I didn't have any litigation from any of the creditors thank God. Even though Circuit City would not participate in this CCCS program & turned my account over to a collection agency (actually an attorney firm). Back in July 04 they demanded $357/mo payment! The account was only $3400.00 & I was paying $40/mo before this CCCS program. Also never being late. I told them to go fly a kite & I would send the $71/mo. They said if they weren't getting the full payment then they didn't want any. I have been paying them for the last 15 months through the CCCS program...they take the payments. But they also list it as Profit & Loss on my credit report. all the rest(12 I think) are in the CCCS. Chase & another one that doesn't re-age till 6 mo after they accept you in the program... so there is 6 lates on 2 cards (July 04-Dec-04). Then Circuit city reported me late 9 mo (July 04-Mar 05....then quit doing it). Sears says they don't re-age. I was told it would do me no good to pay the $49 past due in order to not be counted late on my credit report. They said they would still report me late. All the rest it shows late july-sept 04. Even that was the CCCS's fault. They told me accounts had been accepted when they weren't. After I had already spoken to the creditors myself & I had not received documentation it was acccepted. They all lie lie lie....and are in this game together.
Debsucks & Feedom....you both are very fortunate your CCCS worked well for you. Mine has been a total ongoing nightmare! I checked it out thoroughly, their with the BBB & everything....nothing happened as they said it would as I asked the 101 questions before entering.
Yes, I can terminate the contract at any time, BUT....the creditors don't have to join another CCCS program. In fact two creditors say I have to wait 5 yrs for them to join again. I just can't take the chance of any of them trying to take me to court. Yes I have a good payment history with all of them...I have never been late since starting this whole mess. All accounts are re-aged except circuit city & Sears (they say they don't do that). I will pay Sears the $49, & ask them what I have to do for them to take the lates off. They are the only 2 that show a past due (Sears & Circuit city).
Freedom...again you are very fortunate & I am so glad your CCCS was a good one. I had to do all the leg work, phone calls, follow-ups, you name it. Plus was harrassed for 5 months solid! This is 25 yrs worth of debt that got me into this. I sware on God's green earth I will never be in CC debt again...ever. Other than my house & my vehicle it will be cash on the barrell or it won't be bought. There is nothing worth going through what I have & I would not wish it on my worst enemy....not that I have one.........LOL.
Thank you both for responding!
Roses