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How
do I make my payment to CC&BC?
ACH (Automated Clearing House):
Consumer Credit and Budget Counseling, Inc. will, at your request,
debit your checking account every month! No checks to write, nothing
to send! Just sign the Automated Clearing House Authorization
Agreement and return to CC&BC with a VOIDED check prior to
the tenth of the month you wish to begin. The Authorization Form
is on the reverse side. Your regular scheduled payment will be
debited from your checking account 5 business days prior to the
scheduled disbursement for that month. Written notification is
required to terminate the authorization and must be received 4
business days prior to the date of the debit.
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How
will Credit Counseling effect my credit?
A Debt
Management Program is a Hardship Program.
According
to the Federal Trade Commission, “. . . A debt repayment plan
does not erase your credit history. Under the Fair Credit Reporting
Act, accurate information about your accounts can stay on your credit
report for up to seven years. In addition, your creditors will continue
to report information about accounts that are handled through a debt
repayment plan. For example, creditors may report that an account
is in financial counseling, that payments may have been late or missed
altogether, or that there are write-offs or other concessions.”
The FTC
concludes by saying that “A demonstrated pattern of timely payments
(through a debt repayment program) will help you obtain credit in
the future.”
In fact,
debt restructuring is often viewed positively by lenders when consumers
continue to pay on time. It is essential to understand that credit
reports are not, by design, good or bad, but open to interpretation.
Each new lender you apply to interprets credit report under their
own guidelines, which also takes into account income, length of employment,
time at residence, etc. It is important to note that no one can guarantee
that you will get credit except the lender themselves.
While
enrolled in a Debt Management Program, most creditors will continue
to report your account positively to the credit bureaus. On the other
hand some may move your account from a positive to a neutral status.
About 2% or 3% will report that you are in credit counseling, or that
you’re not abiding by the terms of your original agreement.
If you
have a good credit history, as was noted earlier you should be aware
that your credit report may state that you are working through a debt
management program. As for how this may effect your credit, no one
can guarantee how future creditors will interpret this information,
but we believe that it shows you are trying to get help. Your credit
report probably states that you’ve been carrying balances, made
late payments in the past 7 years, or even missed payments, so it
may not be as perfect a credit history as you think.
On the
other hand, if your credit history has not been good, then a debt
management program can only help you. If you make your payments in
full and on time through Consumer Credit and Budget Counseling, then
many of your creditors will “re-age” your account. This
means they will show your accounts as current after several payments.
In general, if you are paying off debt, that can only revitalize an
unfavorable credit report.
Finally,
it is important to note that while on our program, consumers are welcome
to apply for and obtain forms of secured credit, like homes and cars.
In fact, many mortgage lenders have told us that they welcome mortgage
applicants who are on or have completed our debt restructuring program.
It has been our experience that today’s lenders are more understanding
about credit problems. In fact, the FHA has informed its approved
lenders that they may allow a borrower that has completed 50% of his
or her payments through a Debt Management Program to obtain a mortgage
at conforming credit rates.
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What
to Expect: After you have signed your Authorization & Agreement
After
you have signed your Authorization & Agreement you became a client
of Consumer Credit & Budget Counseling. As a client of CC&BC,
should you receive any calls from your creditors we advise you to
handle the call the following way:
1.
Tell them you are a client of Consumer Credit & Budget Counseling.
2.
Please give them your account number at CC&BC.
3.
Please give them our telephone number (609) 390-9652. We request that
you not give them our toll free number (Let them spend their money,
they can afford it!)
4. We
also ask that you tell them that you have been advised to direct all
calls concerning any of your accounts enrolled in your Debt Management
Program to Consumer Credit and Budget Counseling
You have
Authorized CC&BC to negotiate with your creditors on your behalf
and we are more than happy to field these calls. If the creditor refuses,
get a name and a phone number and we will call the creditor.
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What
to Expect: The first month of the program
It is
important to remember that although you signed the program to begin
payments on the 20th, your payment is not disbursed to creditors until
the regular disbursement on the 30th of the month. It is essentially
for the following month’s billing cycle. CC&BC advises you
to make the minimum payments on your accounts, which are due prior
to the 30th to avoid late fees for this first month.
The benefits outlined in your Debt Management Program do not happen
overnight. The first month of the program CC&BC sends written proposals
to all of your creditors. It generally takes at least thirty days for
creditors to respond to these proposals. Some creditors take even longer.
Once the proposals get accepted and your creditor receives payment of
these acceptable amounts, then you will see the benefits of our program
reflected in your monthly statements from your creditors.
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What
to Expect: The second & third months of the program
The second
and third month of the program is a very critical time. We ask that
you be patient through this period, as CC&BC is doing everything
possible to get your account set up in your creditors systems. It
is important to review your statements. Please check statement-closing
dates. This is the date the statement was generated. We ask that you
be cognizant of when the statement was generated and when our payment
was disbursed to your creditor.
Consumer
Credit and Budget Counseling, Inc. disburses payments to your creditors
on the 30th of the month. Some creditors adjust (reage) your cycle
due dates on your accounts to coincide with our monthly disbursements
while others do not. Please check your cycle due dates on your accounts
enrolled in your Debt Management Program.
If the
due date is not mid month we ask that you call the customer service
departments of your credit card companies and ask that your cycle
due date be changed to around the 10th to the 15th of the month. This
change in cycle due date will allow ample time for our payments to
post to your accounts and thus avoid late fees. This applies for credit
card accounts and personal loans. It does not apply for collection
accounts, hospital bills, etc.
You
can make this request after your second payment. If a creditor is unwilling
to adjust your cycle due date please contact our office immediately
so that we can make other arrangements. If you have any questions please
call our Customer Service Department at 1-888-738-8233 extension 204.
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What
to Expect: After the third month in our program
HASSLE
FREE SAVINGS!
It
is important to continually check your monthly statements from your
creditors to make sure those balances are moving in the right direction.
Please notify our office of any discrepancies.
Be aware
that Credit Card Banks are merging their Credit Card Portfolios at
an alarming rate. Consumer Credit and Budget Counseling is diligently
trying to keep up with these rapid changes. However, from time to
time these Credit Card Banks do not inform us of their changes as
promptly as we would like.
Consumer
Credit and Budget Counseling needs your help in monitoring these changes
to your accounts. Please review the monthly statements you receive
from you creditors. In particular, check to see if there are any changes
such as new account numbers or a change in the bank name (this often
results in a change in address for your payment). In addition, during
these conversions many of the concessions that you currently enjoy
may be dropped inadvertently.
We need
to know of any changes you may find, so that we can get the situation
corrected. If you find anything out of the ordinary, or you have any
questions about your statement, please contact our Customer Service
Department immediately, at 1-888-738-8233 extension 204.
If for
whatever reason you cannot make your payment on time, Consumer Credit
and Budget Counseling offers a Second Chance Disbursement. This second
disbursement is scheduled for the week following the regular disbursement.
Unfortunately, CC&BC cannot guarantee that there will be no late
charges or other actions taken by your creditor as a result of this
later payment. If you cannot make a payment at all, call our office
immediately. We will notify your creditors that there was an emergency
and payment will either resume or be made up in the months that follow,
(creditors are expecting for the payment to be made up within the
next two to three months).
On the
other hand, if you have additional funds to direct to your accounts,
do not pay the creditors directly. They can sometimes interpret this
action as your ability to pay the accounts on your own and may drop
you from the program. Please forward any additional funds for your
creditors to your account at Consumer Credit and Budget Counseling,
(there is no additional charge to pay the creditor extra money). We
will apply any additional funds to the creditor charging you the highest
interest rate, unless you direct otherwise. If you would like to pay
off any, or all of your accounts in full, please call CC&BC in
advance so that we can get accurate balances. This will insure that
the accounts are correctly paid, your creditor’s file reflects
the paid status and your account is reported to the Credit Reporting
Agencies as “paid in full”.
Back
to Top
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What
date do you send my payments to my creditors?
Your
payments are mailed to your creditors within 5 days of receiving good funds.
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Will
the amount of my payment ever go down?
No. The
program is designed to roll the money over to the next creditor in
line when one creditor is paid off. We apply it to the creditor with
the highest interest so that more of your payment goes to principle
each month.
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Can
I send in more than my scheduled monthly payment?
Yes.
We will apply it to the creditor who is charging you the highest interest
rate so that more of your payment is applied to principle, unless
you direct us otherwise.
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My
payment was late this month. What will happen?
Call us
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What
if I miss a payment?
Creditors
are looking for consistent ontime payments. If you miss a payment
you may get charged late fees, your interest rate may be raised, or
you may be dropped from the program. Please call us before you miss
a payment so that we may stand between you and your creditor. You
can make up a missed payment by doubling the amount for the next month.
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I
signed up to start the program this month, what do I do with the bills
due this month?
Although
you signed up with our Debt Management Program to start for this month,
your payment is for next month’s billing cycle. To avoid any
late fees please make the minimum payments due on your accounts this
month.
