Why am I never getting charged interest on my credit cards?

Does getting credit counseling hurt your credit rating??? The places where they lower your interest ..ETC...?

• Does getting credit counseling hurt your credit rating??? The places where they lower your interest ..ETC... I am in debt and I am sick of it. I have not gotten anywhere the last few years with my debt the way Im paying them. I also do not want to go bankrupt. I want to be responsible and pay what I owe them. Most of my cards are very high interest in the 20's percentile. So I have heard a lot about credit counseling and how they lower your interest, cut your debt by quite a bit and then turn into one low payment a month......instead of having the 20 payments I make now. The question is does this hurt your credit to go through these agencies if so...how bad does this hurt your credit and for how long?? I want to have good credit and thats why Bankruptcy was a big no, no. Or are there better options out there? No one at the moment will let me borrow more $$$ to consolidate..... anything else I can try??? IM SICK OF DEBT!! Please help!!!

• Answer:

  A friend of mine did this. He thought it was great because his payments went down. Then he found out how much he would have to pay for financing on a car because of his bad credit. He checked his credit report and found out that the credit cards had put him on a "hardship plan". This negotiated rate means that they promise not to sue you as long as you keep paying the new rate. It doesn't mean that they're happy. You are still considered to have broken your original contract and are not paying as originally agreed.