Bad Credit Agency

Friend is in a bind, wants to know if credit counseling is a good idea?

She has several credit cards, all but one in default for more than 90 days. They have all gone to collections. She also has a large amount of student loans and is current on these. No other debt - she rents and doesn't have a car. She has a job but is currently completely broke due to reasons I won't divulge (same reasons that led to her credit cards being in default), but should have money to pay bills within a month or so. So what can she do? If she calls a collection agency, can she say "look, I can pay this much a month" and then pay it and they will accept that? Obviously there is no way she can afford to pay what is past due. Is it better to go through a credit counselling agency? Don't they just do the same thing but charge for it? And what about the likelihood of getting reductions in interest rates? She doesn't really care about effects on her credit score because at this point her credit is completely messed up anyway. Thank you very much for any advice.

Public Comments

1. Ok, Listen up....credit is already screwd right. Well wait until the end of the month at about 3:30 or 4:00 then call the agency and tell them you have a check for 40% of what you owe. They will take it because those people are paid by commision and the end of the month is there and they want to either hit thier quota or get some extra cash. Tell them your dead broke about to file for bankrupcy. If you have tell them you can give them a check routing number right then and there they will go for it.
2. Anytime you make any attempt to pay a bill, is much better than totally ignoring it. I would call the companies and try to work a payment arrangement, but at this point i don't know if they would be willing and don't know the credit laws in your state. But, it certainly will never hurt to call them, and send a payment if thats what you promise to do. Good Luck, and I hope she learns from her mistake.
3. I would not go through an agency- there are a few legit ones, but most are a fraud. She should sit down and figure what she owes and what her income is, then decide *realistically* what she can guarantee each card provider each month. Armed with that info, call each one up and tell them that you cannot pay the minimum each month, but you will pay "X" amount each month. Have all the credit cards closed down and asked for a reduced interest rate with the guaranteed payment each month.
4. Since her credit is trashed already and they are in collections already there is no point in paying them now.Keep paying student loan,but when the collections mail comes wright return to sender and put in mail.Do not open mail.
5. hey, first of all i know exactly what your friend is going through i have applied for loans to pay them all off and got refused so i looked into credit counseling and i found a great company in the UK (where i am from) not sure if your in the UK or not so don't know if this is any help but the company went through were called release finance but have changed their name to debt release direct they were so nice and really friendly and have now reduced my payment to 1 monthly payment of £150 instead of £400 a month, i really hope you find this useful and i sincerely hope your friend gets it sorted good luck xx