Please help: Could credit card debt counseling and debt consolidation be helpful to me and my situation?

I have about $16,000 of credit card debt on four different cards with APRs ranging from about 11 to 14%. I am not working now but have a job overseas waiting for me starting some time in March. Could one of these credit card debt consolidation companies be useful for me? I’ve seen the advertisements and their claims that monthly payments can be reduced, but would this raise the overall amount I will pay? How could one of these companies be of use to me and how could I go about finding a good one? Any recommendations for a particular company? Thanks in advance.

These companies work by taking your payments, not paying the card issuer, watching your credit get trashed and then offering to settle at a discount. You will not get credit again for a long time and if future employers run a credit check on you, you may well be refused a new job. I would just contact the issuers and see if you can get the interest rates reduced. Then, after setting aside enough for the minimum payments on all the cards, I would pay down the card with the highest balance first, until it was fully paid off. And then I would move on to the next highest card.

If you want help, then the following company seems to be recommended by “experts”:
National Foundation for Credit Counseling
(800) 388-2227
www.nfcc.org
Also known as Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS)

Good luck.

What types of debts can be included in Debt Settlement

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