The Ugly Truth About Debt Negotiation Firms

By: Robert Harris

A Huge tip of the hat to attorney David Giacalone for his brutal analysis of the so called debt negotiation industry.  Its a pretty long post, with some great links. But its interesting reading.

The things the debt negotiators won't tell you?

A lot. But here are some of the more important.

• You will have to quit paying your credit cards before the creditors even consider negotiation. So if your goal is to keep your credit scores from being damaged, forget about it.
• You will pay more in fees to debt negotiators than you would to an attorney to file a chapter 13 bankruptcy.
• You can actually negotiate your own debts, sometimes as effectively as the "professional" debt negotiators. You can find out how on several web sites.
• You can still get sued, have your wages garnished, and have your home foreclosed on. And the debt negotiators will do nothing for you.
• These debt negotiation firms may say you are getting the help of a lawyer. But it appears that if there is a lawyer involved, its just as the businessperson running this enterprise.

I actually had a debt negotiation company representative call me and offer to refer all his clients to us for bankruptcy services, if we would refer all our clients who didn't yet qualify for bankruptcy to his business. He told me, and I quote...."We could refer a lot of people because none of our clients actually completes their payment plan."

So he is either lying to me, or to his clients.

Comments

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