I was not terribly in debt, but was frustrated with only being able to make minimum payment on my credit card accounts. My balances were going up even though i made payments due to my sky-high interest rates. I called kcc in 2003 to see if they could assist in lowering my interest rates (so i could pay down my debt in less than 20 years). They informed me that if i went into debt consolidation with them, my debt would be paid off in 4 years. This sounded great so i joined. I paid them admin fees (amounted to 35% of my total monthly debt payment) each month along with payments to my creditor.
Once i enrolled, i stopped receiving statements from my creditor. I contacted kcc & they said not to worry, sometimes creditors do that. I did not worry and made the huge mistake of not running a credit report for 2 years (while in this program). Before entering this debt repayment plan, i had no late payments or charge-offs on my credit. I entered the program because i could not significantly reduce my debt b/c of interest rates (& creditor refused to negotiate lower rates with me).
In april of my credit report showed half of my payments were 30-60 days late. I called kcc in a panic and was instructed to fax my credit report to them. Kcc's response was that they made all of the payments on time except for one last year. I asked them why they skipped a payment and did not inform me. They said because i submitted that month's payment too early and it threw off the cycle. That is fine and dandy but why did 6 months pass before i was told about it? I wanted to argue to find out where this missing payment went to but i just paid the creditor an extra payment. I asked kcc how they could pay one creditor that month, but not the other. The only answer they could give me was that i messed up the cycle and to never send payments early or late. Figure that one out!
I also asked them how to prove that they made timely payments to my creditors so i could clean up my credit errors (which only begun after i enrolled). They mailed me a non-descript print-out showing when they received my payments and when they sent off my payment to the creditor (no payment numbers, no details). They instructed me to write a letter to the credit reporting agencies and my creditors requesting this (erroneous) negative information be removed from my credit report.
I wrote to all 3 cra's and my creditors via certified letters, enclosing the document kcc sent me & copies of the money orders & debt repayment contract. Per all 3 cra's those documents are not sufficient. Apparently my creditors have to send official notice that these are errors. Well, guess what? Providian finanical will not respond to my certified mail letters. 3 months have passed since first writing them and nada. I tried to reach them via phone-no luck-you can only write to their credit dispute bureau (see where this is going?).
Now i am frustrated to the max & have no idea what to do-i call kcc again. The advice i get from kcc is to keep writing. That is great, certified letters are not free. How much should i spend on that? How do i know it will ever be resolved? The two years i have been enrolled in this program, i have never once had an account review, never been informed of the status (e.G. What my interest rates were lowered to, the due dates, etc).
I take part of the blame in that i trusted a company to receive my money and timely pay my creditors. I should have grilled them about what was going on. I also made the mistake of not pulling my credit report for two years. I ignorantly thought everything was ok b/c i never heard from my creditors or received late notices. I should have checked behind them.
I did research online extensively when joining and found nothing on them so i felt all was ok. Kcc claims this is all because of my creditor. Providian does have a track history with false late payments, but my question is why did this start when i enrolled with kcc? Why wouldn't i have had late payments before? My complaint is because i should have received true credit counseling from kcc & instead i had to spend hours searching the internet to find how to resolve.
Recently while researching what i can do to fix this mess i am in, i discovered it was illegal to charge admin fees for debt repayment plans in my state. I did receive a refund from kcc, but that extra 35% a month could have paid down my debt further. Yes i have my admin fees back, but no refund on the extra interest/finance charges i have paid on the higher balance for the past 2 years (which would have been lower if all my payments went to the debt).
I am also frustrated because when i complained about my admin fees, i also asked for an account review. All kcc will give me is a verbal statement "yeah, you will finish your debt plan on time". I believe they should offer more than that. Kcc, i ask you, why won't you be more forthcoming with your customers?
I have never been argumentative with you yet i am always met with resistance when i ask questions. I ask questions so i can understand what is occurring-not blaming anyone. My credit is my problem, but credit counselors should help consumers & be honest and forthcoming. I should never have had to make a formal complaint to get my admin fees back. I feel as though i will never receive an account review or written statement of when the program will complete. I would like something saying if you make timely payments of this amount, you will complete your program by this date. Is that too much to ask?
I want to warn anyone who may be in my same situation, use caution. I work a full time job and it is very difficult to make time to fix credit errors. I have no idea what to do at this point. I am exhausted and wondering if i should just take on a second job to pay off my debt. I have no interest in sending endless certified mail documents, so my next step is to file a complaint against providian. I have given up on kcc. I don't know if it is better to stay with them to receive lower interest rates (& risk endless late payments on my credit) or withdraw.
ASKING TOO MUCH?
, North Carolina
U.S.A.
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