Experiences With AmeriDebt
By Susan Sanders-Kinzel|
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She was also told that she should put all of her bills on the program including her student loans. They were told that the creditors would call but just ignore them or tell them it was all being taken care of.
She made her first payment of $750 then her second. Unknown to her, the total first payment went to AmeriDebt for their "voluntary donation" and none of that money reached the creditors.
If she had left her student loans off the contract she would have only been charged $350 because that is more than half of her debt. By including them, even though AmeriDebt have no authority to deal with the student loan people, it costs her an extra $400 a month and a $400 "voluntary donation."
When she called AmeriDebt about this, they said she signed the contract and that she agreed to it. They said that the "voluntary donation" was in the contract and they had a legal right to take the money out up front. She could not talk to her original "counselor", it took her hours on hold to talk to anyone about it. They disavowed that the donation could be waived.
She called one of her credit card companies and they said that they had their own "hardship" program where they would lower the interest and make it easier to pay off.
Please, check out other options before you use a credit counseling agency. Although they can make arrangements with your creditors, many of your creditors would also make the same generous arrangements with you.
This is just a warning about my daughter's experience. I feel that these agencies are an elaborate scam preying on those in trouble.
If you have feedback on these agencies, feel free to add it below or send it to clipper@thriftyfun.com.
About The Author:
A good link for information on repairing your credit is:
Credit Info Center.
From the looks of the message boards the credit counseling agencies all work the same way. There are many other "horror" stories with these lovely "non-profit" agencies listed there.
Feedback About This Post:
RE: Experiences With AmeriDebt
Update: About 2 years after this post, an attorney from AmeriDebt called and asked me to have my daughter call him. They had read this article. They worked with her on the original charges. She is still working with their program and paying off the original debts.
Although credit counseling agencies may be necessary, be very careful with your original agreements with them and also see what you can do on your own before calling one. Many creditors are happy to work with you rather than having you declare bankruptcy and lose the entire debt.
One friend of mine had a daughter that was fighting cancer and she didn't have the money to pay some of her bills. Some of the debts were forgiven when the creditor heard of her problems. It never hurts to talk to your creditors.
Susan
Post by ThriftyFun
RE: Experiences With AmeriDebt
i am sorry to hear about the bad luck with ameridebt, i have had nothing but good luck with my experiences, i get monthly bills from people i owe (at my request) and the balances are always going down. I am truly sorry to hear about the bad luck, it bothers me to know that things like that happen in this world, best of luck to your daughter and I hope things get lined out soon for them.
Post By melissa (Guest Post)
RE: Experiences With AmeriDebt
Hi, I had really good luck with Consumer Credit Counseling they only charged us 4.50 I think per month until our dept was paid off. Then they made you take a 1 night counseling course to try and crub your spending habits. Thank You
Post by jknight60
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