Credit.org
Credit.org has excellent customer education, and has over 40 years of industry experience.
Credit.org is a Debt Consolidation company new on the market. They are a subsidiary of Springboard Nonprofit Consumer Management, Inc., a conglomerate of many well known and respected credit repair agencies. With Credit.org being backed by Springboard, consumers can feel confident in the products and services provided. With over 40 years of industry-specific experience, Credit.org, through Springboard, can provide its clients with a myriad of useful services geared toward getting the average American in good financial shape.
The Good
- Accreditations including NFCC, and AICCA
- Educational resources
- Certified personal financial counselor
Free Consultation
The company does well to promote a free consultation with a Certified Personal Financial Counselor. Each and every debt counselor has successfully completed a course of education to become certified. In the consultation phone call, consumers will be asked a slew of personal questions. This is an attempt to gather all the required information to help decide which programs or services (if any) would be best for their unique circumstances. By analyzing each and every creditor account opened, the counselor will advise each consumer with the best approach to getting out of debt. This plan may not go any further than the free credit counseling services. In some instances, a CPFC will advise consumers to enroll in a debt management plan to consolidate unsecured debt into one payment.
Debt Management Plan
If the CPFC determines the financial situation qualifies for a debt management plan, clients will be walked through every step of the process. The debt management plan is the actual consolidation plan, and once structured, will be both a long and short-term strategy to help clients stay focused along the way. Fees assessed under the debt management plan are one-time enrollment fee of up to $35 with a monthly service charge up to $20. Fees vary by state and by individual circumstances.
The Bad
- No ISO accreditation
- High up-front fees
- Time-consuming
Time Consuming
Even though Credit.org does have reams of useful strategies for financial freedom, it’s not without some flaws. This can be a time-consuming process. A 30-45 minute phone call may not sound terrible but adding in the time it will take you to gather all your financial documents and you may have a real time commitment on your hands. If you and your spouse both have income, you own your house and/or cars and have more than one credit card account, it will take you quite some time to find or print out the necessary documents in order to be helped by Credit.org’s counselors.
Drawbacks
The debt consolidation program also has an “enrollment fee” based on the amount of debt you need consolidated. There is a small monthly fee to use the Debt Management (consolidation) program. Your counselor and the company will then divide your payment and send out funds to your creditors without your involvement. This can be a scary proposition for people who are used to being in control. When working closely with a consolidation counselor there is a small chance that you may not see eye-to-eye. If, say, you’ve read elsewhere that paying off your highest interest rate accounts first is the way to go, and your counselor disagrees for instance. The way this business model is set up, your counselor decides the appropriation of funds, not you.
The Bottom Line
We believe that Credit.org is a safe option to help get you out of the financial ruins you’ve been faced with. Give yourself the necessary time to gather the bank statements, credit card balances, mortgage information and any other financial documents you know of in order to provide the most accurate information to your counselor at the time of your call.
While nobody wants to admit that they have gotten themselves in over their head, we are quite confident that the experience and patience displayed by the professional counselors at Credit.org will help put your mind at ease and get your finances in order. If credit consolidation seems like a mystery to you, give Credit.org a call or log on to the website to shed some light on the subject.
About Credit.org
Credit.org is a non-profit agency that is focused on improving the lives and financial well being of individuals. Credit.org offers credit counseling and debt management as their two main services to help individuals become financially stable. Within the industry, Credit.org is an actual consolidation company with their debt management plan that allows customers to consolidate their debt into one affordable monthly payment and negotiates for lower interest rates. Credit.org also offers several free financial resources like various events and seminars, free online courses, financial and budgeting guides, video gallery, financial calculators, and live assistance.
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Blog Post
- Takes your existing debt and try to settle with your creditors for a lower amount. If you pay off the settled amount, your debt will be considered paid in full.
- Negotiates with your creditors on your behalf.
- Fee based on a percentage of your total starting debt or a percentage of the debt they save you.
- Most settlement companies have you create a separate "escrow" account where you will make monthly contributions over a certain amount of time to contribute to your settlement. Once there is a substantial amount of funds to show your creditors, the settlement company will try to negotiate a lower amount of debt.
- Combines all your debts and creditors into one monthly payment.
- Allows you to pay one monthly payment to the consolidation company, instead of multiple payments to different creditors.
- You no longer owe your original creditors; instead you pay one monthly payment to your consolidation company.
- Consolidation companies can help negotiate lower interest rates on your debts and help lower your total debt payment in the long run. A lower interest rate will lower the amount you owe in the end.
- Allows you to consolidate all your different debts into one personal loan that can be paid off over time.
- Can offer borrowers a lower interest rate with a longer payback term (compared to high-interest credit cards or medical bills). This will lower the amount of money required to pay off the loan over time.
- Personal loan debt consolidation can be an effective way to raise your credit score quickly (within 3-6 months).
- Borrowers can receive funds from their loan within only a few days.
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