Credit Counseling

[Anonymous]

My bills were piling up and I did not want to file bankruptcy because I was paying all my bill on time, but I had more bills than money and I began to feel like I was drowning.  A friend told me about a CCS and I called them, I included all my cards a personal loan that was robbing me with an astronomical interest rate.  The CCS was able to get most of the interest rates reduced.  As the months progress I still check my credit cards but I began to notice that the monthly payments on a few of the cards was not enough to cover the interest each month so the balances are minimally increasing.  I began making extra payments in order to get the balances paid off, and on my loan, since they are making payments towards the end of the month, predominantly most of the money is going to interest.  These cards have been closed due to my entering an agreement with the CCS which is something that I am worried about.  How is the CCS going to effect my credit now?  Two days ago I ordered my credit score with equifax and it is now a 560 down from a 690 before entering the CCS.  Can anyone give me some advice on what to do next, how to recover from this?

[RobertEG]

Credit counseling services have benefit, in my opinion, only for those who have no understandiing of credit reproting, and are just hoping for immacualte relief, without any real understanding of what that relief might be, or what they are payiing the counseling service to deliver.

You can secure interest rate and payment term reductions, and probably more favorable, by making those calls on your own.

If their couseling was for a payment option was a new loan through or with them, at a higher interest rate, it looks like a step backward of only delay, with even higher debt.

In my opinion, this site offers the most objectkve and knowledgable free advice that you could ever receive.  So, my advice,  post your details, and let the objective experts on this site help you.  No one reponding to you has their hand in your wallet.