Debt consolidation and mandatory late payments

[gotpigs]

Ok, so I fought with myself about using a debt consolidation company (CuraDebt) to turn my many payments into one. I had never had any late payments since my BK in 2016. Well I was told on signing up that my credit score would lower because of negotiating with the creditors about settlements. It started in February this year and I have cancelled the service as of last month. 

I was literally told (after two months) that I had to purposely miss payments for 6-8 months in order for negotiating to work to show creditors just cause for CuraDebt's services. This is why I cancelled, because I did not want to have late payments on record. (Currently I have 90 day marks on I believe 4 accounts.) I paid off those accounts in full with no settlement and even reinstated one, however my report shows late payments. Then I found out there never were any negotiations because I "didn't put enough money into it to show just cause"! So they took fees for nothing?!?

Does anyone have any idea of how to get those late payments reversed? I already told all of the creditors the reason I fell behind was because CuraDebt told me to not make payments. Can I go after CuraDebt for any fees that I gave to them for not providing any service? They refunded a partial amount of what was in their "holding account".

[Jnbmom]

These companies never help people they only hurt your credit further , unfortunately I don't think you have a case for the lates . Yes they told you not to pay which in very unfortunate, however you did as they said and now have lates because you didn't pay . They will not reverse them because technically you were late , because of bad advice yes but you were late on these accounts .

It is good you are not using them anymore unfortunately some damage has been done .

[pizzadude]

For the late payments I agree that you don't have any recourse, as pointed out the payments were actually late.

Unfortunately many debt settlement companies don't make it clear that by using their services you're guaranteed to wreck your scores as creditors won't negotiate any debts that are paid on time and current. 

[Credit4Growth]

I would still consider negotiating with creditors.  I personally know of two people that have done so with more than just 2 or 3 creditors at the same time.   A few details about those situations for those people it that the had at least 2 decades of a thick credit history with not a single late while some but not all creditors required their account to be closed upon payment arrangement completion or even at the negining.   Low interest rates very close to 0% were granted while some creditors did in fact grant a 0% rate.  

• Their stories sounded amazing to me then I was shown CRA information concerning the account of one of these people while they were in this situation. 
• Their strong convictions along with a lack of detailed credit knowledge they portrayed  to bring such term made such an impression upon me.  - If you do attempt to negotiate on your own make your plans, trust in yourself and follow through with action.

Best wishes to you and remain positive!

[gotpigs]

I am sending out goodwill letters to tomorrow to see what happens with that. You never know. Wish me luck! 🤞

[Credit4Growth]

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@gotpigs wrote:

I am sending out goodwill letters to tomorrow to see what happens with that. You never know. Wish me luck! 🤞

[LakeLife]

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@gotpigs wrote:

Ok, so I fought with myself about using a debt consolidation company (CuraDebt) to turn my many payments into one. I had never had any late payments since my BK in 2016. Well I was told on signing up that my credit score would lower because of negotiating with the creditors about settlements. It started in February this year and I have cancelled the service as of last month. 

I was literally told (after two months) that I had to purposely miss payments for 6-8 months in order for negotiating to work to show creditors just cause for CuraDebt's services. This is why I cancelled, because I did not want to have late payments on record. (Currently I have 90 day marks on I believe 4 accounts.) I paid off those accounts in full with no settlement and even reinstated one, however my report shows late payments. Then I found out there never were any negotiations because I "didn't put enough money into it to show just cause"! So they took fees for nothing?!?

Does anyone have any idea of how to get those late payments reversed? I already told all of the creditors the reason I fell behind was because CuraDebt told me to not make payments. Can I go after CuraDebt for any fees that I gave to them for not providing any service? They refunded a partial amount of what was in their "holding account".

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If nothing else, please take the time to leave negative reviews for them online.  They have pretty much 5 star reviews accross the board on Google which is ridiculous.  

[gotpigs]

Update:

So far, I am getting responses from most of the creditors I sent goodwill letters to. Apparently since it was accurately reported, there is nothing they can do to change it because it "would compromise the integrity of their reporting system". Oh well. Credit One was nice enough to reinstate my account (since I paid it off in full) but couldn't take anything off the report so that's a plus. Affirm was shady. I was told twice after making payoffs to my accounts (there were 5) that I was clear. Well, guess what? I was slapped with a collection notice for $75 because they missed one! Back to the dispute drawing board with Experian *** Mod Cut, Not here please ***😡

[gotpigs]

Update 2: Finally got everything updated on the CR. So would it be worth anything to put a remark in the statement section of negative accounts where I was told to not make payments because of their consolidation rules? Every other account on my CR is 100% on time payments. Does it balance anything out? What is that section good for anyway?

[OmarGB9]

I honestly don't know what that remarks section on our reports is for, but I don't think putting a statement on there would help any, unfortunately. I don't think it would balance anything out either.