any couples have been the degree of pain and deep
merrily breezing along divisiveness that a credit
then, IT happened. There challenged family will undergo.
was not enough money to meet all Many a credit crisis ended in
the monthly obligations. Living divorce and even a loss of their
in the suburbs, a two-paycheck home and much of their
family with 2 children with self-respect. It has been found
soccer, little league baseball, anyone going through this
golf and club memberships, spas credit-challenged period may
all sandwiched and woven into the suffer mental depression, which
tapestry of the McDonald family. can magnify health issues.
Steve and Karen had considered Masking with alcohol abuse or
themselves, being well educated worse just prolongs the
and well read, above the fray of inevitable. This ongoing program
the struggles of the other had some success with several
“Jones”. There was no reward couples. Testimonials touted the
unworthy of their attention. change in enrollees credit
situations over time. Early on it
Suddenly the kitchen table, with was noted that a blue print could
a stack of unpaid bills, became be provided and worked out, but
the center of their universe. the parties have to repair their
Steve and Karen came to a quick credit themselves. It was a
conclusion, that they now had a Do-It-Yourself Credit Repair
severe financial problem. Denial program. The helping hand was
was no longer an option. right at the end of the elbows of
Previously, Steve and Karen had each couple.
noted in the church bulletin
announcing an ongoing class in The meetings turned out to be on
credit counseling. Churches and a Monday evening. Because this
other non-profits became aware of was a family based program
focused on getting every member shame and embarrassment of a
of the family on board; the couple finding themselves in this
children were in attendance with situation. With ready credit
childcare provided on site. being offered with each delivery
Depending on the ages of the of mail, all you have to do is
children, there was a segment sign your name and you got some
allocated to exactly what was plastic money. Like drugs, “Just
going on with the whole family Say No”.
involved with individual family
break out sessions. Later on, it With the credit reports in hand
would make for short family and each outstanding bill with
discussions of why this or that account numbers and contact phone
activity or entertainment needed numbers carefully categorized on
to be changed or cut back. At a summary sheet together with a
this break out session, a family priority selection of secured
consensus was necessary on a debt and unsecured debt the
course of action to proceed to process began. Secured debt would
the next step. Each enrolled be a house payment, car, etc. If
couple needed to pay for a credit one does not pay these secured
report from each of the three debts they foreclose on the house
main credit bureaus. This or repossess the car. Unsecured
generally ran $10-$12 per credit debt is the credit cards. Armed
reporting agency or a little over with income, tax with holding,
$30. You can get a free credit history of income tax refunds and
report from the bureaus, but it such a budget was roughed out for
does not have the credit scores, each family. At this point,
which will serve as a ready decisions on the order of
benchmark for progress in the importance of the debts would be
program. The first order of hashed out and decided. The key
business was to deal with the to a proper work out is to start
the communication process with That has consequences, however.
creditors immediately and include
them in your plan to rebuild your There are really only three
credit. things that can be done in this
situation. Increase income,
The counselor went over their reduce expenses, or do both. In
situation and a plan was this case, Steve got a part time
developed and agreed to. For now, job. Unnecessary expenses were
the McDonalds needed to focus on eliminated. Both cars were upside
paying 100% of the secured debt. down, meaning they owed more than
So the house and car payments they were worth. Nine months of
(for now) would be paid on time over payments got the car loan
and as agreed. The unsecured below book value and they were
debt, such as all the credit sold. Two good used ones were
cards, would need to be worked bought. Deals on every credit
out with a reduced payment plan. card were worked out at lower
The counselor shared that this payments. Every card except one
would not be the first time that was cut up. Club memberships were
anyone had contacted them with a terminated-no contracts. Golf was
work out plan. In no case, should in the park shagging balls and
any work out plan with a credit the kids kept the soccer and
card company be worked out that little league play going. In 18
cannot be maintained. If nothing months the McDonalds had cash
else, go for severely reduced flow help through credit repair.
payment plan or share that the
alternative would be nothing.
About the Author:
Dale Rogers is a thirty-year mortgage veteran and frequent contributor to the Broken Credit Blog The BCB is a free website created to assist the general public with information about credit repair and responsible mortgage lending.
http://www.BrokenCredit.com
Read more articles by:
Dale Rogers
Article Source: www.iSnare.com 
