"You must have at least $10,000 in credit card debt to qualify"

[PSPS]

I hear these ads incessantly on the radio. Fortunately, I don't need such a service. But apparently you can have your credit card debt "reduced or eliminated" by numerous outfits who know "secrets your credit card company doesn't want you to know."

Since this is the bush economy, where the three codes of business ethics are lie, cheat and steal, I'm trying to figure out how they're fleecing people. I do know that a single short phone call can get a bank to lower your interest rate, perhaps even retroactively. But you can do that yourself.

So what's the scam here? Based on the sheer number of these ads, it must be very lucrative for these companies.

[2Design]

1. they are in the business of making money not helping n/t

[Warpy]

2. They prey on the people who don't know enough

to call the bank/credit card company and offer to work with them in exchange for a lower interest rate.

There are a lot of such people out there. They don't bother to teach this stuff in school, you know.

[bbinacan]

5. 4 1/2 years ago

I tried to negotiate with my credit card companies and they wouldn't budge on the 18-19.8% rate. I went to a debt management non-profit and they got me on a 5 year payment plan at 10%. In 6 months I will have paid off about 40K in debt.

[Warpy]

10. Congratulations!

Well done!

Five years ago, they weren't as willing to negotiate directly with their customers. The credit well looked bottomless and all they cared about was having that monthly minimum roll in on schedule since much of the debt had been paid off, already, just through the monthly service on the card. Things have changed for the worse and a lot of them will work directly with the customer.

Getting out from under that much debt in 5 years is still a major achievement, even at 10% interest. I hope somebody throws you a party when you're done!

[bbinacan]

12. With the loss of that

monthly payment, I'll be able to throw my own party.:party: :toast:

[OwnedByFerrets]

11. Congrats BB

[bbinacan]

13. Thanks. n/t

[ITsec]

14. Similar story with my wife and I...

3 1/2 years ago we had almost $50,000 in credit debt outside of our mortgage. Six credit cards, an equity loan, and the car. We chose to tackle it ourselves, so I put us on a strict budget, laying out the whole sorry mess on an Excel spreadsheet. It was pretty ugly.

Starting with the lowest card debt (less than $100), we paid it off in full the first month. Taking that payment amount, we applied it to the next card along with that monthly payment until it was paid about 3 months later. We continued laddering the payments this way for each card. Before we knew it, cards starting getting paid off in full until we had in the budget to pay a huge chunk every month to the equity loan. When that was paid, we had the car paid off 6 months later.

Other than our house payment, which will be paid in 8 years, we are now debt free.

[bbinacan]

16. Good work

In 6 months, my only debts will be my mortgage and what I owe the IRS. When I'm through with my debt management program, I'll acclerate my payments to the IRS.

[ITsec]

19. I can't describe how good you will feel...

when it's all paid off.

Good job. Keep up the good work.

[bbinacan]

21. I can't wait.

I'm like a kid waiting on Christmas.

[myrna minx]

24. I'm clawing my way out too. I've made such huge strides and it feels wonderful.

Congratulations for to you and yours, I know what a disciplined task it is to undertake. I'm hoping to be debt free in 2-3 years and never looking back. It just means I don't go anywhere or do anything, but I do afford the extravagance of internet and netflix.

Again, congratulations.

[sakura]

15. Please don't say, "They don't bother to teach this stuff in school, you know,"

It implies that it is the teachers' fault. Ask any math teacher if they are in favor of teaching real life skills like balancing a checkbook, making a budget, etc, and I guarantee the answer will be yes. The truth is, thanks to NCLB they aren't allowed to teach it. When I taught in TX, the "math of money" class (where these skills are taught) was only offered to seniors as an elective. Meanwhile, all students, regardless of ability (even special ed kids who weren't ready for the class) were required to take algebra over and over again until they passed. Assuming they did pass, the students had their math requirement out of the way. There was no incentive to take the math of money class. The class died.

[Warpy]

18. No, it's the school board's fault

and the text book author's fault. The teacher has to use the materials and curriculum he/she is handed.

Funny, parents don't teach this stuff, either. Mine sure didn't.

[sakura]

23. I wouldn't even blame the school board.

They don't decide which textbooks are acceptable to use-- the state gives them a list to choose from. The school I'm referring to kept the Math of Money course, at teacher request, for as long as they could. But due to the state mandating "Algebra for All," it had to be a senior elective. With inadequate numbers of students taking it, they had to stop offering it. If the district had true local control, they could have made it a freshman course, and targeted all kids.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

20. How does that blame the teachers?

Unless the teachers are deciding mandatory curriculums, I think it lays the blame squarely at the feet of the people that make those decisions.

David

[sakura]

22. "They don't bother to teach."

Who doesn't "bother"? The administrators? No, it's the teachers who do the teaching, and the post implied that whoever was doing the teaching doesn't "bother" to teach this important information. I'm just asking the poster to identify the correct person here, that's all.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

25. Teacher teach what they are told to, people know that.

[sakura]

26. You might see things a little different if you actually taught.

Teachers get blamed for what's wrong with the education system, and it gets really tiresome. You may say that people know that teachers teach what they are told to, but the reality is somewhat different. I've heard comments that teachers aren't "bothering" to teach x too many times to count. It's disheartening to see comments like that on a message board for democrats. If that's not what was intended by the post, fine. But writing precisely, so that others understand what you mean is important on boards like these. But I guess that's something else that teachers haven't bothered to teach their students.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

27. I do teach.

Anyone who has read this thread understands exactly what I mean.

David

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

28. Since this isn't in the curriculum, teachers don't teach these essential skills.

Is that better?

David

[sakura]

29. Sure.

I didn't expect you to apologize, though-- we're just expressing our opinions here. :)

Teaching has changed a lot in the past 12 years. (As I was in TX we got the precursor to NCLB before the rest of the country.) When I started teaching, I wrote the curriculum for my department-- at that point teachers did have a lot of say in what they taught, and with a PhD in my content area I had the strongest background in what kids needed to know to get a deep understanding of my field. When we wrote curriculum, it had to be aligned to state standards, but we were assumed to be professionals and capable of doing this alignment ourselves and making lessons about how and what to teach. Likewise, we took responsibility for what was and was not taught. So, at one point it would have been fair to say that teachers did or didn't "bother" to teach a specific piece of content. That was why the teachers in my school fought to have a math of money class-- they saw it as a necessity for kids going out into the real world. But with the advent of high stakes testing, professionalism has been eroded. We are no longer responsible for making the decision about what is taught, but we are still getting the blame for what isn't taught. Maybe it's different where you are-- assuming you teach K12-- but in the two states where I've taught, many people are lacking this basic understanding.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

30. When did I apologize?

I don't teach K-12. I teach college and continuing education courses.

David

[sakura]

31. Ooops, apparently I misunderstood.

Carry on.

FWIW, I teach college (undergrad and postgrad) courses, as well, and continuing ed, too. There's a world of difference between those two areas and K12.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

32. Yes there is.

I'm familiar with K-12 also. My wife taught K-12 for years before getting her Phd. I was simply pointing out the fallacy of your presumption.

David

[sakura]

33. What fallacy would that be? That you know something about K12 education because you've taught

continuing ed classes? That would be like saying a school nurse knows a lot about your profession (assuming you are a medic, that is) because she also deals with sick and injured people.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

34. Let me just quote it for you.

You might see things a little different if you actually taught. There you go.

David

[sakura]

36. Excuse me. I should have said K12. I thought that would be obvious, as that was the subject of the

post I responded to. Funny how that works, isn't it? Here you are accusing me of not seeing something "obvious" in another post, and you turn around and do the same thing.

Have a good one, dave.:hi:

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

37. And you accuse me of not being specific enough and there you go and do the same thing.

It is pretty funny though. Take care.

David

[Donnachaidh]

3. the credit card companies pay these folks 40% of the debt owed

So, using their ad math, they don't want to see anyone that cannot provide them with a $4,000 payout.

[OwnedByFerrets]

4. My wife works for one of these companies and

they are a great company helping those who have had some financial difficulties. She also help folks who, because of financial difficulties, have been forced to use payday loan companies. I am very proud of what she does and the people she helps. Its the most rewarding job shes ever had.

[bbinacan]

6. See my post #5

I had a very good experience.

[yellerpup]

7. The take a smaller percentage to collect debts than collection companies do.

But, they get a cut!

[TexasObserver]

8. Some of those firms actually do good work.

I understand some of those are set up by lenders groups, and are designed to keep people from filing bankruptcy, and keep them paying something.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. The good ones are very good and...

do negotiate your debt, set up a budget, and start you on a savings plan. They will even suggest bankruptcty if that's your only way out. You might pay them monthly and they pay off your bills and put some in a savings account. They're nonprofit, but get a small piece to pay their bills.

Others, unfortunately, run with your money-- you pay them just like the good guys, but they keep the money, or the less thieving ones don't renegotiate and you pay forever with the hole getting deeper at a, hopefully, slower pace.

I don't know who is who any more, but the local BBB should be of some help, as should some credible community organizations. Sometimes, the bank itself might recommend a good one.

[pitohui]

17. yeah it's a scam and sometimes a harsh one

unfortunately a friend w. cancer was taken advantage of by these fucktards, in the end he had to declare bankruptcy anyway

once you hire this service your credit is shit anyway so the lie that they preserve your credit is just that -- a cold hearted lie

what makes it worse is that the service my friend used did NOT actually pass on the agreed-upon payments on time, always paying a week or so late to his many creditors, so his debt continued to get worse and to accrue even more fees

and once he signed the agreement he was stuck with going thru them to pay the bills for whatever reason

you could negotiate directly w. your credit card company at least as far back as the 1980s, so the idea of "well these served a purpose until 5 years ago" may be well meaning but is not true

my friend having cancer just wasn't in a mood to also make a zillion phone calls and renegotiate debt -- he thought having it "consolidated" would actually save him time and hassle -- NO -- no business that preys on people in trouble is trying to help you, it's trying to line their own pockets

angry? no kidding i'm angry having seen close-up the evil these businesses do

the employees have to kid themselves that they're helping, after all, they're getting paid a commission to rip off people in serious bad trouble, no offense to the poster with the wife, but this is not a job to be proud of, it's a job that takes advantage of people in bad trouble and sometimes hurts them even more, as it did my friend

supposedly a nonprofit but it was clear they were getting money somehow, perhaps on the float, because of the way they kept delaying paying his bills

[notalemming]

35. I'm wondering who all these hordes of "structured settlement" owners are...

J.G. Wentworth obviously thinks (or knows) there are gaggles of them out there; I seriously doubt they're buying all that commercial TV time for shits & giggles. I just wanna see one where some guy yells "It's MY fucking money and I want it RIGHT FUCKING NOW"

:D
:rofl:

[pitohui]

38. ok my friend w. a structured settlement

you must realize that not everyone is educated or free of addiction or able to handle money well

a friend of mine was a nurse, who unfortunately was also a crackhead married to a crack dealer

she was badly hurt in an accident that severely injured her back, so that she could not work again (the accident may have been her faul,t but there was apparently some evidence that other driver was at fault, we'll never know, it was settled thus didn't go to court)

her attorney somehow figured out (it prob. wasn't real hard) that she was a crackhead and that if she rec'd the money as a lump sum, she would not be able to hold onto it and would not have any way to support herself

so in the settlement he arranged for a house to be bought for her in an inexpensive but safe neighborhood near her mom and he arranged that she would receive a monthly payment for the rest of her life

in less than a year the crack dealer husband, his brain injured by all the crack and no longer able to actually make money with his "deals" had somehow managed to convince her to exchange her lifelong annuity for a one time lump sum of money -- needless to say in a very short period of time the two of them and their crackhead friends had smoked all the money

and with the money gone the crack dealer husband is gone

i don't know or want to know how she has stayed alive these past few years, i know that she seeks out people from the past and presumably puts the touch on them, i just avoid her now, as i will no longer allow crack users into my life

the excuse is always given that if you have the big lump sum you can invest it yourself and make more money this NEVER happens in all the people i know who have received big lump sum settlements, the money somehow just...goes away

if i ever get a settlement i will take the monthly payment and anyone who tries to get me to cash it in will be cut off my cell phone and email list because they don't wish me well -- few things in life can beat a monthly income for no work

as far as i know these kind of settlements come from lawsuits where you are injured or the lottery where you can save on taxes and on attracting false friends by getting a monthly/annual payout instead of a one time sum