In May my wife and I sought help in managing our debt. We chose to go with NCRC (National Consumer Resource Center) because they gave us the better deal. They created a payment plan and gave our account to DCG (Debt Consolidation Group). With the plan they worked out we would have our debts paid off in 5 years. We had a total debt of nearly $44,000.
To begin the plan we had to double up payments in the first month. They required the first monthly payment as a deposit to be used for administration fees. However in their service agreement (line item six) it states that this deposit will be returned to me after I completed the program. After all of the creditors have been paid that first monthly payment would be returned to me. My monthly payments were $1,100 so in the first month I paid them two of these checks, a total of $2,200. Needless to say for the next couple of months my family ate a lot of soup. It was a severe blow to the household budget. But we were willing to make the sacrifices in order to become debt free. We adhered to the program religiously. Never late on a payment.
On June 13th of 2007 I received a letter from NCRC informing me that they would no longer be able to service my account. They had given my account to Consolidated Credit Counseling Services, Inc. With an urgent request to sign the papers so that my creditors would not miss a payment. I had less than two weeks. I felt like I was being railroaded. I was given no choice. I signed the new agreement with Consolidated assuming that when they took over my account the reserve money would still be there. I am now at the end of the program. My last payment will be at the end of this month (March'08).
I contacted Consolidated to work out the final details of payment and mentioned the deposit of $1,100 that I was expecting to be returned. They said they had no knowledge of this deposit. I then tried to reach NCRC or DCG and voice my concern. Neither of these two agencies are still in business and their telephone numbers have been disconnected. It was at this point I knew I was being cheated.
Both NCRC and DCG claimed to be a non profit organization. What a lie! Someone walked away with a load of cash. $1,100 of it was mine and I want it back.
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