smartashjake

Markca, would you please send me the info on this as well? I would really appreciate it!

Here ya go... http://michigan-state-emergency-relief-ser...ds.aidpage.com/ Pay special attention to the section that says: "Payment in excess of the maximums may be made on an exception basis." You may be able to get the bill PIF, depending on your circumstances, but you need to act NOW before the offices get flooded with phone calls when the weather gets colder in a couple weeks! As far as your concern about not having an emergency need, since you went without gas for 18 months, if you have children/elderly members in your house, that constitutes an emergency, also if you have any medical concerns such as asthma talk to your doctor about getting a letter for your utility co. Good luck!!

Four suggestions- depends on where you live: 1. Get the phone number for the state regulatory agency for utility companies operating in your state (in OH we have PUCO- public utiities comission of Ohio, every state has one and if you live in OH, NY, MI, PA, KY, IN, or IL- I can give you the number) 2. HEAP/LiHEAP- Heat and energy assistance program/Low income heat and energy assistance program. Call your utility company and ask them if they can put you in contact with the office in your state that handles these requests. In all of the above states you can receive $500 towards a shut off bill. After you get in touch with HEAP/LiHEAP, call your LDC (local distribution company/utility company) and tell them... 3. You're receiving funds from HEAP/LiHEAP and you would like to be placed on PIPP (percentage of income payment plan) which bases payment of your account balance and current charges (once your gas is flowing again) on your income, and even if you fall behind, your gas stays on so long as you remit the payment due under your income percentage requirement. 4. In the great state of Ohio (and many others) we have customers who request notes from professionals such as physicians and even dentists (not kidding, I work in the industry) and the gas can't be shut off even if they have an outrageous balance (the highest I've seen was over $90K) so long as that note is sent in every month, they couldn't even shut them off after the weather moratorium passed! As a side note, please don't rack up a 90K balance with your utility company as we all have to pay for the lost revenues of utility companies in our monthly customer charges as they are regulated and permitted to request raises due to problems such as these. I understand that everyone goes through hard times- we all have, but you really can significantly reduce your heating costs with some window plastic, a water heater jacket (if you have a gas water heater and you turn the temp down) and a $20 programmable thermostat, and perhaps never spend anywhere near $1000 on a year's worth of gas!

$130 utility bill in collections in Ohio? This makes absolutely no sense to me (an Ohioan)- utility companies recoup their losses in Ohio (and many other states) via rate hikes at regular intervals, I'm not going to see a reduction in my customer charge on my utility bill if you PFD, so that seems like double dipping. Depending on the utility I can probably help, which company?

Thanks for all of your help guys! I actually spoke with a Senior Account Manager with a clue, it went well, and the dispute has been submitted, I should get confirmation of dispute submission in writing within 14 days!

4 phone pho made yesterday- here were the results: WFNNB-VS: rep did not have the authority to process request, request must be submitted in writing (letter in progress) GEMB/GAP: see above Macy's: see above Capital One: Ugh... phone call was almost an hour long. I discovered after the phone call ended that the account manager I spoke with lied to me. I advised her what I was told when the DMP rep enrolled me in the program- after 3 consecutive payments were made, that the account would be re-aged retroactively from the inception date of the DMP. The account manager told me that Capital One did not offer a re-aging program when I enrolled in my DMP, she stated that the company's re-aging program began in June of 2009 (which is coincidentally three months after I enrolled in the DMP) when I asked her for the inception date of the program, she placed me on hold for 5 minutes and then came back on the line an told me that she could not disclose that information- I would assume this is because she and I both knew that the degree of honesty she was providing me was inversely proportionate to the number of questions I asked. When I asked her how customers became enrolled in their latest and greatest re-aging program, she told me customers had to call in and request it (keep in mind she has already told me I was enrolled in the program as of June 2009). As I was certain that I did not place any phone calls requesting to be enrolled in the 'Capital One re-aging program of June 2009' I asked her how I became enrolled in the program- there was a long pause, and then she said "Thank you for calling capital one..." and acted like she had disconnected the call (from personal experience years ago in the customer service industry, I knew that companies rarely permitted reps to disconnect customer calls that did not involve use of profane language) so after about 10 seconds or so of silence she said "is there something else I can assist you with?". I again told her that I was merely looking for a means to remedy the situation, she provided an address to send my request in writing. Any thoughts on how to handle the Capital One phone call? After rising from the trenches of a CSR position, I made myself a promise that I would always be polite and direct with people I speak with on the phone because I know how it feels to be treated poorly and cursed at by customers, so I am livid about the fact that the rep not only lied to me multiple times, she did so with a reeking undertone of condescension. Sorry if anyone is tired of reading by now Send me a message if you would like the addresses I received from GEMB/GAP, Macy's, or WFNNB/VS.

Thanks Radi8, I am getting ready to make phone calls- I'll post the results!

All of them either sent me a letter and/or included acknowledgment of the plan enrollment in my monthly statement. When I spoke with the woman at CCCS for a 90 day follow-up, she made no mention of any issues regarding creditors not accepting the plan. They also all have reported with the CRAs that the accounts are being managed by a 'financial counseling program'.

Well, according to the woman I have spoken with since enrolling in the plan, they would make monthly payments to all creditors (that's what the paperwork she mailed says too). Interestingly enough... I looked on my Chase account online today and it showed a single payment a couple of months after I enrolled in the program of $300, no payments showed for the months of March-May. I am at a loss as to how I can fix this!

I am hoping someone is able to give me some advice with my current situation. I'm new but I've read a lot- I can't find any remedy to this in any posts. I entered into a DMP (CCCS) and paid my first payment to them in March 2009. I pulled my reports to check progress last week and here is what I am seeing: Cap 1- March 90 days late April 60 days late May 60 days late Chase- March- May 120 days late Macy's- March-June 120 days late GEMB- March-May 60 days late VS- March-June 120 days late Zales/CBSD- Charged off as bad debt What is going on with this plan that is supposed to "help"? I would have rather eaten Top Ramen and just paid at their crappy interest rates rather than take a 200 point reduction in my FICO!! Is anyone able to provide some insight as to how I can get this fixed?

I'm not sure about BOA or Citi, but Juniper (my statement came today and it now says Barclays) does. I did it about 4 months ago, it cut down the payment, my APR is 5.90% for the 12 months they gave me, but after the 12 months on the hardship program, it's back to my old payment and my old rate.

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie looking to learn as much as I can! I'm hoping to qualify for a mortgage at some point in the future but I have a lot of work to do before that happens (any advice you have would be greatly appreciated!).