Oh Goodness Gracious. now I have read your advice, I am so upset. Today I posted all our information to CCCS to consolidate our credit card debts since my husband, who is self-employed has not been able to get the usual amount of work, and I have a $21.000.00 hospital bill to repay. It has not been easy working with them as they have given me quite a high figure to pay back each month and now I am worried that we might even have trouble with that high figure. I am even more worried about what it will do to my credit report. Oh! Dear! I feel so hopeless. I begged my husband to let us declare Chapter 13 bankruptcy but he dead set against it. He refuses to even discuss the possibility. I cannot force him, and now I am so worried that I did the wrong thing by going to CCCS. I only went there after I read about them on another forum. Our mortgage payments are also one month behind and the company is refusing to discuss a loan modification for a couple of years until we get back on our feet. Do you think that I should consult with a lawyer on my own and get some advice on what would be the results if we declared Chapter 13? Please help me, I am so worried.

If you are concerned about being able to meet the required payment for CCCS, I would definitely talk to a good bk attorney - fast. Missing a payment to CCCS will do much more damage to your situation than a bk. I would think a responsible CCCS would give you payments you can meet, not overextend your situation again.

There are good credit counseling services, and there are some that take out huge fees and let your credit cards fall behind. It's important to make sure the service you use is not one of the bad ones.

I agree on both points. Dropping out of a DMP because you can't make the payments will make an enormous mess. At that point a CH7/13 may be cleaner, and almost certainly less costly.

Also agree that the better Counselors won't set you up on a plan if you can't afford it. They should be doing a budget with you to make sure the plan will work long-term. There are also shysters out there who don't care about affordability, happy to just take your money until the day comes until you drop out.


Does the medical provider offer any sort of hardship plans that you might qualify for?

What state are you in? Some states have hardship programs for medical bills. That would be helpful to know so we can point you in the right direction.

And I agree with the others on their advice. Welcome to CB!

I live in New York State. When I ask the Counselor at CCCS if she could not negotiate a lower monthly payment, she told me no, that I have to abide by the laws of New York State and insisted that the law demands that all consolidated credit payments should be paid off within in five years. I have not spoken to the Hospital as yet, I hope I can work out an affordable payment with them. My husband is a small contractor, self-employed and the NYS have rules for all contractors large and small. My husband has to pay for Contractors' Liability Insurance and Workers Compensation Insurance. Since the number of injuries on the job of contracting work sites are so high his monthly premium is $1,650.00, and he usually has to pay a down payment of over $2,000.00 up front and the remaining $1,650 take about ten months. The Contractors Liability Insurance is also high, he had to pay up a down payment of nearly $4,000.00 up front and $800.00 per month for the next six months. My husband does not do roofing of any kind, if he did his Contractor" Liability and Workers' Compensation premiums would be much higher. In NYS you have to be licensed with the Town in order to work as a Contractor in that town. Different Towns have different requirements but one common requirement that they all share is that you cannot have an up to date Contractors Liability and Workers Compensation Insurance before you are granted a license. In NYS if you ever try working without Workers' Compensation Insurance, e.g. if you let your Policy lapse, the insurance company notifies the New York Workers' Compensation Board and you are immediately heavily fined. Small contractors have it really tough in NYS, the only people making the big money are the big Contractors - whose names I cannot mention - who work with big builders. These big Contractors have their own small Contractors that work exclusively for them. So a small Contractor is unable to bid on a job unless he works with a builder. That builder bids on the job, he in turn hires the small Contractor. In many cases that small Contractor has to pay the builder a certain percentage out of his first check that he receives from that job. Is anyone following me here? Or am I confusing anyone? We both work, I had to stop for a while since I was in hospital, where I am working does not provide health insurance coverage so we pay our own health insurance - then that is a whole other subject. Just wanted to say thanks very much for the warm welcome. I am so happy I found this Board, especially this forum and thanks for the advice. I most certainly will be speaking to an attorney. Once more thanks.