Shadekitty's progress in CCCS

[shadekitty]

Well. It's been a year since I enrolled in CCCS. i have to admit , it's been nice to just make one payment instead of chasing down 22 different card payments a month. I pay $35.00 a month in fees to the CCCS for doing this.

 

However, my credit is trashed and I can't apply for anything even if I wanted to. I show numerous 30 day lates, even though I started the CCCS account and was not late with anything. Still trying to get that straightened out.

 

My scores are now in the low 500's in comparison to the 650+ it used to be.

 

I still have 1 year 10 months left to go in CCCS to pay down 60k in CC debt.

 

I have had 2 cards paid off in the past year.

 

I'm starting to actually see the principal balances drop on my largest cards now. I feel productive finally.

 

The CCCS sends statements monthly to me showing what they paid and to which card.

 

So far the CCCS agents are great to work with and are somewhat knowledgeable. I think they secretly hang out on CB.

 

Most of my cards are still open. A few closed. All of my cards are marked that they are in CCCS.

 

I tried to refinance my Jeep loan (it is still at 15% with 6K owed on it) and I was denied, denied, denied through a local bank. Lesson learned - make sure when you are in CCCS that you have a backup for finances in case something goes wrong. Although people say that CCCS doesn't ruin your credit, it sure does rough it up while you are in it. Just hoping we can get through another year and a half at least without any major disasters.

Edited October 19, 2009 by shadekitty

[gdtobefree]

We could have told you that they were going to trash your credit!

 

After your plan is over who do you think is going to have to clean it up YOU not CCCS!!!!!!

[improper_validation]

Inside the DMP it will say that a creditor can report you as late or even CO if they wish.

 

Can't hurt to call the issuer and ask when the payment was due and when it was received.

[sfbehr]

Can't hurt to call the issuer and ask when the payment was due and when it was received.

 

People who are in a DMP still receive statements from their creditors, which should have this information.

 

shadekitty, have you called your agency to ask about the lates? I would have them research this for you. Also, make sure your due dates line up as much as possible...most CCCS send out payments once a month, so the existing due dates may not fit with that schedule.

[shadekitty]

Trust me, after being on CB for this long, I knew what I was getting into with CCCS. I knew it was going to drop my scores and such, but the lates I certainly was NOT expecting to show as 30 day lates when the accounts are NOT over 30 days late.

 

I've already contacted my creditors and according to my payment dates, they should not be reported 30 days late. They aren't 30 days late. They sometimes are posted a few days after due date, late fees are removed if that happens.

 

I have proof on the dates of payment versus what my statements show the due dates are - so I'm going head to head with 22 different accounts. Not all are reporting this way, but it's enough that it's tanking me pretty good.

 

I wanted to wait a while to see what happened on the accounts listing, problem is life got in the way and I waited too long to keep up with the accounts. I'm back on a monthly account monitoring program for all 3 CRA's and will start hassling them more often now so I don't wait until the end to have to clean this all up.

[ts8586]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. It's greatly appreciated.

[Imanevilpoptart]

I've been with a company and have ZERO LATES on my report. I finally paid off two of the cards, $1900 more to go. My scores have gone up almost 200 points. I did have one late with BofA, that was really my fault from the month before I made my first payment. They worked hard with BofA and it was removed. I pay $15.00 monthly, auto deduction + $1.50 as a fee to that company.

 

Not all CCCS are equal.

[PennyPinching]

Here's my proposals from two companies:

MMI = $459.00/mo $50 setup fee and $50/mo

CCCC = $473.50/mo $20 setup fee and $40/mo

 

Total $42k debt over 11 accounts

Saving about $200 per month

 

Any thoughts on either company?

[crispychris]

Emtownsend if you do not mind me asking but how was your monthly payment so low with dmp. I contacted MMI with $32000 in credit card debt and they quoted me $940 monthly including fee... Which is roughly what I am paying now...

[fireman44]

Shadekitty,

 

Isn't this type of thing (challenging lates, etc.) what you're paying the extra fee for to the CCCS? It seems they should be doing this, as they had to deal with the CCs in the first place. But anyway, good luck on getting it straightened out.

[Txgirl]

Here's my proposals from two companies:

MMI = $459.00/mo $50 setup fee and $50/mo

CCCC = $473.50/mo $20 setup fee and $40/mo

 

Total $42k debt over 11 accounts

Saving about $200 per month

 

Any thoughts on either company?

 

I agree. I am with MMI as well and we pay roughly $900 monthly for about $34K

[Judes]

Hi,

We too, used a credit counseling service back years ago and we stayed on that program for 3 years and paid off every last dime! Very proud moment in time, however, we found out almost immediately that even though the creditors agree to the payment arrangements of these companies, they still get to report to the credit bureaus that you are late each and every month up to the max of 120 days late! Imagine our surprise when we are finally able to breathe and are making only one payment to this company thinking that we have done the right thing and when we eventually applied for a house, it was all over. Every account that was part of that re-payment was reported as 120 days late (when NONE of them actually were late at all) Apparently their logic is that your original agreed payment with them was let's say ($60.00) per month. Through the repayment program it gets reduced to $35.00 per month. The balance unpaid per the original agreement is what allows them to report as late because the $35.00 never equals the $60.00 per month as agreed. I hope this helps because I can't imagine much has changed over the years. Best of luck to all

[cyglet]

Hi,

We too, used a credit counseling service back years ago and we stayed on that program for 3 years and paid off every last dime! Very proud moment in time, however, we found out almost immediately that even though the creditors agree to the payment arrangements of these companies, they still get to report to the credit bureaus that you are late each and every month up to the max of 120 days late! Imagine our surprise when we are finally able to breathe and are making only one payment to this company thinking that we have done the right thing and when we eventually applied for a house, it was all over. Every account that was part of that re-payment was reported as 120 days late (when NONE of them actually were late at all) Apparently their logic is that your original agreed payment with them was let's say ($60.00) per month. Through the repayment program it gets reduced to $35.00 per month. The balance unpaid per the original agreement is what allows them to report as late because the $35.00 never equals the $60.00 per month as agreed. I hope this helps because I can't imagine much has changed over the years. Best of luck to all

 

Mine never reduced the payments. They asked me what the minimums were on each account before the DMP started and they pay at least that each month, with the reduced interest rates it's getting paid off. I have zero lates on my report. So the methodology may be different now....

[shadekitty]

Judes - that is exactly it. Not all CCCS's do it the same way. Some of my accounts weren't getting the minimum payment required, but the late fees were waved - but they reported late each month, and still are!

 

I don't care at this point really. I've got other stresses in my life (my dad was diagnosed with cancer, my inlaws just filed bankruptcy, my parents lost their house due to foreclosure). I'll eventually get around to cleaning up credit up again like I did before, but I'm going to wait a bit and get other things straightened out.

 

The CCCS agency said they shouldn't be reporting lates, but when we looked at the account, that is what was discovered.

 

It's too late now, I can't back out since I won;t get back in a CCCS again. We have less than a year left in the program. We pay 1,650.00 a month to pay down over 60k in CC debit. Plan timeframe was supposed to be 2 years, 9 months for full payoff.