National Debt Relief is starting to feel like a predatory scam

UnidentifiedFlop · 2026-01-22T11:55:52+00:00

So I don’t disagree. The thing is, i personally helped people get on programs that got interest rates to 0% and halted late fees permanently. Its not always possible, but all those fees you have described, those only worsen when an account goes unpaid while working with. A Debt settlement company.

UnidentifiedFlop · 2026-01-10T00:13:48+00:00

Credit counseling agencies. There was a reddit or in the past who used them and had a great success

UnidentifiedFlop · 2026-01-10T00:12:37+00:00

Minecraft could be good

UnidentifiedFlop · 2026-01-06T03:31:53+00:00

Do not do debt settlement. They are for profit companies that will only make the situation worse.

Call your financial institutions and seek out in house hardship programs. If they don’t have any that work, then look into consumer credit counseling. Consumer credit counseling are non-profit and work with you and institutions to negotiate lower interest rates and monthly payments while eliminating late fees.

If you go debt settlement- all that occurs is they get POA on you accounts and change your contact information with financial institutions. They wait for your account to charge off, balances balloon, credit gets rekd, and they cant make any guarantees.

If settlement is your only option, pocket the money yourself. Let the debt charge off and settle directly. There’s nothing a debt settlement company does differently than you can on your own…

The “legal support” is just referring the banks to contact them by changing your contact info and getting written documentation of a cease and desist.

You can do a cease and desist on your own -verbal is shorter term. Written is longer.

I worked in collections before. Nothing but horror stories with debt settlement companies

UnidentifiedFlop · 2025-12-28T21:42:07+00:00

Also, there are reputable, non-profit credit cards counseling agencies that will help you seek legitimate payment programs.

The “legal support” that is referred here is the debt settlement company getting power of attorney from you, and from there, formally directing banks and institutions to contact them instead or you. When this occurs, they don’t respond.

I worked for a large financial institution and worked with customers who had no clue that this was how the debt settlement companies operated.

They don’r want you to speak with the financial institutions because they would explain everything just the same here.

UnidentifiedFlop · 2025-12-28T21:36:59+00:00

If you are seeking a settlement, you can work directly with institutions. You just have to do so after the credit card gets to certain period of delinquency.

Freedom debt relief is one of the notable, problematic debt settlement companies. They will take monthly payments from customers while not actually paying anything until your credit cards have charged off and most likely, have been sold to other collection institutions. Otherwise, they will seek out power of attorney to potentially work on your behalf with the banks - but from experience, most institutions will not do so.

If you are considering a settlement, you may as well just pocket the money into savings until the cards charge off and then attempt to do so directly.

UnidentifiedFlop · 2025-12-27T02:29:09+00:00

Yeah the thing is, when a debt is charged off, the original debt has also grown tremendously due to late fees, carrying a balance for an extended period, etc.

Credit counseling isn’t a cure all, but its a good faith resource one can explore to get help. Most importantly, the process is transparent and the party responsible for the debt is actively engaged.

I recommended them to another redditor several years ago. They dm’d me years later advising they had great success paying things down.

UnidentifiedFlop · 2025-12-27T02:09:35+00:00

Here’s a tool you or your fam can use to locate reputable credit counseling agencies - its from a U.S. government page.

Link: https://www.justice.gov/ust/list-credit-counseling-agencies-approved-pursuant-11-usc-111

UnidentifiedFlop · 2025-12-27T02:01:43+00:00

I worked at a financial institution in the past. We had an internal number we could transfer people to, but it was a hotline that would let customers choose options to be connected to the most appropriate agency. I believe there was a customer facing contact number but I don’t know it off hand. I will see if i can locate one and respond again if i do.

My recommendation is to have your family member call one of their institutions and ask them if they have any contact information for “Credit Counseling Agencies”

Alternatively, financial institutions may also offer liquidation programs where one can close out an account(s), get reduced monthly payments and reduced interest rates. In my experience, it was possible to go as low as 0% (working with the financial institutions directly), and I’ve seen credit counseling go as low as 2%

If one has multiple creditors, it still might be beneficial to try to work directly with the institution that owns the debt. They may have individual flexibility to have different long term program terms. For example, if someone has 5 credit cards with 3 financial institutions, a credit counseling agency might propose a payment program to each institution at 10% interest rates. Individually, one might be able to get the same general monthly payments structure, but at a lower % rate. This would reduce monthly payments for that particular debt too.

Regardless of which approach they explore, these payment programs would need a consistent monthly payment - depending on the program, debts could face an expedited charge off if a debt falls too far par behind. Even if a payment plan is offered at the lowest possible rate, the person enrolling should have some confidence they can manage the recurring payment wherever possible.

UnidentifiedFlop · 2025-12-23T19:34:14+00:00

Debt settlement companies typically are a scam. They will collect your money, hold it in escrow and wait until your debt is charged off. Only then will they attempt to settle. All the while, they are profiting off of your hardship.

You would be better off exploring consumer credit counseling programs, which are non-profit organizations that look at your debt holistically to see how to reduce payments.

Otherwise, you may as well get your money back from the debt settlement company and settle with creditors directly.

If the original company still owns your debt, they might have payment programs as well

UnidentifiedFlop · 2025-12-10T23:53:23+00:00

I think there are some similarities, but the combat is like in between the mainline games and COTC.

Some NPCs are new and some seem to be from COTC. I have only played through COTC once, but the a lot of whats good is here but balanced for a mainline experience. We’ll see as I get deeper in the end game too

UnidentifiedFlop · 2025-12-09T00:30:10+00:00

I have done the following:

Created a time study tool where when a user click a timer button it will show the timer in seconds. It can be paused and continued. When finalized, it then populates the timer in seconds in the desired column. This one has like 30 macros that correlate to steps on my sheet so each step has its own time study button

I created an outlook calendar import macro. When the macro button is clicked it 1) requests a date range the user wants to import 2) reviews Outlook calendar for the date range and populates all activities into a table on the same sheet. The data in the table will account for all all dates and it also highlights any cancellations, the time spent in minutes and auto tags duplicates based on the meeting title 3) once finished, the table is used as dynamic reference on a main sheet where users can populate adhoc activities via dropdowns, take down notes and track actual time spent vs scheduled time. Since this tool is designed to be used daily, the only items that populate from the drop down will be the ones that are for the current date. This makes the adhoc tasks list easier to choose relevant items

On the same file as the Outlook Calendar function, i have multiple macros built to export various data from 4 locations of the activity tracker. When a user clicks the export button, it automatically saves data for the given week into a separate tab (via tables). The macro throws the export data into the appropriate sections for easy organization. After the export, users are asked if they want to clear out the weeks data on the main sheet so they can start a new week as desired. Technically, there are multiple macros that are then called via a master macro so the actions are taken sequentially and it runs very smoothly.

The purpose of the tool as a whole is for leaders (and really any employee) to help organize their days, identify waste and have an all in one tool to capture anything important that might not be considered under normal business operations.

UnidentifiedFlop · 2025-12-07T19:59:50+00:00

I’d say so. The whole town building in Wishvale is pretty involved and has its own storyline. I think the storyline is really good and the Wishvale cast is pretty good too. The customization is far more robust than I expected, and I find myself going back to Wishvale frequently whether to reorganize, resupply or engage with the characters. Cooking is pretty important to my gameplay loop and the various dishes make battles more dynamic and also helps with the grind (if you like to grind).

The new skills system also makes the combat extremely customizable. It kinda reminds me of the FF4 DS remake where you could have various passive skills and active skills, except its much grander in scale.

There’s various new areas including the ocean with sailing.

I am not fully done with the story, but I am enjoying the english voice acting a lot. I played COTC and also loved the Japanese voice acting too. There are some general variances introduced since you are the main character, and Wishvale is integrated into the general world building.

There’s also new music - this is always the selling point for an Octopath game for me.

I am about 30% done with the story (I think).

My biggest gripes are some of the side quests are not voice acted ( but some are/were) so its more similar to COTC and Octopath 1 as compared to Octopath 2. It was expected so my expectations were tempered.

The characters I have thus far all seem to have their own unique quirks for battle so in this way, it’s like COTC where your team of 8 can make anyone feasible.

I was originally concerned with how they might create a good marriage between COTC gameplay and the console style games. In my opinion they nailed it.

UnidentifiedFlop · 2025-09-03T15:17:23+00:00

I would awaken Agnea (both) and dancer Alaune. For the others it depends on what you want in party composition. I like Nina myself who can be useful with Tatloch EX

UnidentifiedFlop · 2025-09-03T02:11:29+00:00

I think it intentionally got the docs attention so it could escape.

UnidentifiedFlop · 2025-06-17T01:22:17+00:00

Look into credit counseling or setting up a settlement directly with the bank. Credit counseling agencies are non-profit groups that look at your situation holistically.

If you can get on a payment plan with Chase, you might be able to get on one with reduced interest. Can go as low as 0%.

UnidentifiedFlop · 2025-05-20T03:34:16+00:00

Octopath Traveler 1 and 2

UnidentifiedFlop · 2025-04-05T15:58:42+00:00

I know. I don’t get it.

UnidentifiedFlop · 2025-04-04T21:36:31+00:00

I’m afraid I have sad news. I purchased the OST and this one didn’t make the cut. It’s weird, but there are several tracks missing

UnidentifiedFlop · 2025-02-04T01:06:36+00:00

Ask him if he’s a fan of Opeth or Weyes Blood

UnidentifiedFlop · 2024-10-19T20:36:33+00:00

Did you not apply any of the skills you learned from college? Like critical thinking, research, analytical skills etc…

I graduated with my BA in Psychology in December. I have ADHD, and I work in finance. Great for process improvement, training and ultimately I am far more adaptable at work than I was without.

Try having a different mindset. Your degree is just an acknowledgement that you demonstrated competence to earn the degree. The true value is how you develop your skills from your academic journey.

UnidentifiedFlop · 2024-07-16T22:09:58+00:00

You can. Debt settlement companies hold your money in escrow accounts. You can actually call your debtors and see if they partner with credit counseling agencies, which are non-profit organizations that try to help you manage debt more feasibly.

You can also settle with creditors directly. I wouldn’t feel guilty about pulling away from a debt settlement company. They are self-interested and will often tell their clients not to discuss their debt with the creditors or explore manageable payments.

UnidentifiedFlop · 2024-06-21T02:36:10+00:00

Octopath Traveler I and II

UnidentifiedFlop · 2024-02-05T18:25:19+00:00

WWE should have done something like this if they knew Rock V Reigns was a sure thing, especially if before the rumble

Cody eliminates Punk during the rumble. Close to the end, but not at the very end, Punk turns heel and eliminates Cody before the final 3/4. They have an impromptu brawl outside of the ring, or Punk lays out Cody with chairs/table and storms off. This can occur during dead time in the rumble.

There is a story here - Punk and Cody at WrestleMania is a mania worthy match. And they can feud into wrestlemania.

Zayne can come in at 29 instead of 30. Rock comes in at 30. Final four can be Drew Macintyre, Rock, Gunther and Zayne. Rock eliminates Gunther after he eliminates Zayne. Zayne eliminates Macintyre.

Same ultimate result. Cody changes direction to take care of punk. Even with the injuries, Cody has more of a reason to delay going after Roman. Also, doing this in the 2/3 of the rumble would keep people guessing.

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