NYPIRG
9 Murray Street, 3rd Flr
New York, NY 10007
212-349-6460
Get Street Smart about Debt Scams
Too-good-to-be-true offers are always a sure sign of a scam. Here are claims that a legitimate credit counselor would never make:
Ten minute over the phone consultations:
Real credit counselors have to comb through your monthly bills and expenses, ask difficult questions, guide you through painful choices and help you map out a budget - all that takes time.
Total debt elimination:
The only ways to get rid of debt are to pay it off or file for bankruptcy, and after recent changes in the law most people filing bankruptcy usually end up with a negotiated payment plan. There are state-by-state statutes of limitations after which you can't be sued for outstanding debts. However, even after the statute of limitations runs out, creditors still have the right to try to collect.
Your debt is illegal:
Don't believe claims that consumer debt is illegal or that U.S. banks don't have the authority to require you to repay it - they're bunk based on circular reasoning and legal mumbo-jumbo.
You can stop making payments:
Keep making payments is the first advice any legitimate credit counselor will give you. You're dealing with a con if you hear this line.
Erasing bad marks from your credit report:
Negative information is removed from your credit reports after seven years. Contested false information can be removed, if it's proven inaccurate. Services that claim to remove every blemish from your credit history will take your money and run, or take your money, waste your time submitting bogus challenges to proper listings on your credit report, then run.
