Stumble it!

Consumer Credit Counseling – A Perfect Solution

CCCS has an organization in every state, and we found ours for New Hampshire and Vermont. Their website is http://www.cccsnh-vt.org/

On their website, they show that they help with:

- Free credit counseling for residents of New Hampshire and Vermont
- Low-cost debt repayment plans
- Federally-approved bankruptcy briefing & counseling
- Financial education program

Not knowing what to expect, I called the general information line at 1-800-327-6778. After being forwarded to the New Hampshire offices, they scheduled an appointment with me for later in the day.

In the afternoon, I finally ended up on the phone with a very pleasant lady. She was very professional, and didn’t judge us at all for the situation that we find ourselves in. During the course of the phone call, she asked me:

- An overview of our current budget, including bills and expenses.
- A list of all of our debt including credit cards and loans
- Our current income

Finally, after talking for just over an hour, she had arranged to call every creditor and negotiate a lower minimum payment, and all late fees and charges waived. The one catch was that she said she would be sending us an agreement contract which Cindy and I will need to sign to agree that we will not sign up or use any more credit.

That’s fine with me! The only difficulty will be getting oil for heating the house, I think, but we’ll find a way.

Responding to the Mortgage Company

This weekend, I went to www.invisible-inc-writers.com and submitted a request for a letter to be written in response to the letter I received from our mortgage company. I know I need a good letter written, but when it comes to writing powerful and professional letters, I’m not the greatest. In less than a day, I received a response – the letter would only cost $15 via Paypal, and would only take a day to write. If the letter helps us to save us in this situation with the mortgage company, it would be well worth it.

I sent the payment and waited, and by morning, I’d received the following letter:

****
“I am writing today regarding my mortgage with you and recent hardships that we are suffering from which make it impossible for us to maintain the currently monthly payment. We are currently going through some extenuating circumstances – including the fact that one of us no longer works, which has dramatically reduced our income since we first obtained our mortgage. The only option that I can see in the near future is bankruptcy, and that is an option that I want to avoid at all cost. I believe strongly in honoring all agreements and I am confident that I can meet these obligations with your support.

I would like to request revised mortgage terms that I can afford. We could afford a 30 year fixed rate loan at current market interest rates, but right now the variable portion of our mortgage adds over $300 to the monthly payment.

I am working two jobs at the moment in order to meet all of my obligations, but I realize that I can not maintain these payments. I would like to do everything in my power to avoid having to file for bankruptcy. I believe we can come to terms that would be beneficial for both of us, but I need both your understanding and cooperation.

I have been a loyal customer and I trust that you will be willing to work with us during this difficult time. Again, my extenuating circumstances have made it impossible for us to meet these obligations recently, however we are making a concerted effort to meet these obligations, and we are asking for your assistance and cooperation with this.

We are working to responsibly avoid bankruptcy, which is the only step available to me if debtors won’t cooperate. I’m very confident however, provided your company’s excellent record and stellar reputation for customer focus and support that we will be able to work through this cooperatively. Once I am through this difficult time in my life, I will remember this, and will look forward to doing a great deal of business with your company in the future.

Because I can not currently meet current payment, I find this matter to be of an urgent nature and I hope that you can respond promptly and positively. In your response, please include the name and phone number of whom I can call to discuss the matter in more detail.

I am confident that we will be able to work out a payment plan that both allows me to meet my debt obligations, and allows this debt to be satisfied in full as is surely preferred by your company.

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon”
****

To say the least, I was impressed. With a few minor tweaks, I’ll be sending this off to the mortgage company in the morning….and we’ll see if it buys us a little bit of time so that we can pull the money together to save our house. Maybe they will even be willing to work with us to cut down our monthly payment – who knows?

The saga of Jack’s family  ( to be continued)