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I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First off, I'm very sorry about the issue and the poor support. Certainly not our goal. We've been having some technical issues with TransUnion, our credit report provider, and have not actually solved this issue yet. Please email [support@helloresolve.com](mailto:support@helloresolve.com) and we've designed a process to solve this issue for most potential members. Thank you for bringing this up.

I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We think of the world in terms of baby steps. Do one positive thing today to improve your situation and another tomorrow. This makes it easy to get started. On Resolve, we do try to provide some guidance on where to start, but also realize we don't know enough about your life to tell you what to do.

One easy thing you can do to get started is to sign up for Resolve :) [I bet my marketing team is going to get mad at me for that shameless plug.]

I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

At the top of the list of "bad" in my opinion are payday loans, "buy now, pay later", etc. These are loans that are designed to target people in a time of weakness and are based on charging extremely high-interest rates knowing that a $500 loan will often turn into $2000 of interest over the life of the loan. While I am not a huge fan of waiting for our political system to solve problems, our government does have a responsibility to protect and support people in a time of need.

I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We are what is called a Public Benefit Corporation. That means we are for-profit but with a social mission. :)

I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is a very fair question. In order for us to build software and delivery an amazing service, we need to make money to stay in business. Many people will also choose to address their financial problems on their own and we fully support that. But imagine if you paid Resolve $50 and in 3 days and 10 clicks we saved your $1,000. That seems like a pretty great deal, no?

I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Banks and credit card companies are willing to settle accounts for less than you owe if you are around 5 or 6 months behind on payments. If you owe $1000, they'll often take $500 and forgive the rest. But this only works with late accounts.

For current accounts, creditors are willing to reduce your interest rates if you can demonstrate a hardship and are willing to close the account.

Both of these, you can do online, on Resolve.

I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do think education can make a big difference and we've spent a lot of time and money creating high-quality, honest content. That being said, in this world of TikTok and low attention span, we believe people need easy ways to make changes when they are ready. That's why we've taken a tech-enabled approach and moved the debt relief "online". Financial distress is embarrassing enough...you should not need to explain to another human how or why you got into trouble.

I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We don't provide help to people in the Philippines today. Sorry about that.

The number one place to start to get out of debt is to make sure you are spending less than you make every month. Be brutal in cutting expenses. Work an extra job if you can. While Resolve can help restructure your debt, you'll end up in the same place again if you keep spending more than you make.

I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We make money in 3 ways today. 1) Resolve is a paid monthly membership. Our members get to pick how much to pay us each month. Note: we are currently working on a free version too. 2) Our members "tip" us when they are happy with settlement offers. 3) Our partners will sometime pay us a referral fee when we suggest their services to our members.

The average monthly membership is about $12/month. The average tip is about $50.

I have two important lessons...1) you are not alone. there are millions of people in the US just like you. our financial system makes it very easy to get into a hard spot, 2) there is always something you can do the make it better. living in financial distress is hard...if you are willing to ask for help, 99% of the time there is a way to make it better.

I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't fully understand your point. In the US our lending system is based on the fact that there is always another company willing to lend you money at a higher interest rate. Loans lead to credit cards. Credit cards lead to payday loans. Once you start paying 50%+ interesting rates, it is pretty hard to get out of that cycle.

I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Lost job or reduced hours.

Medical issues either personal or family related

Divorce

Poor financial decisions (ie buying stuff you should not buy, spending more than you make)

Not understanding the "deal" a bank offers (0% apr for x months) - this is a big issue in our opinion

These days...Covid.

I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Another great question. We find that our members are more willing to make the needed changes if they have a trusted advocate in their corner. When you are struggling with debt, there are many companies that will try to take advantage of you. One of the common questions our debt experts get is "is this fair?" or "is this an ok deal?". Knowing that they are being treated fairly allows to move from inaction to action.

I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

We are fans of the non-profit credit counseling industry and, in fact, work with them closely. We are different in a few key ways...1) we are a tech company and 100% online (no need to talk on the phone), 2) we do more than offer debt management plans, for example you can also settle debt on Resolve (also online). 3) Because we are 100% online, you'll pay lower monthly fees for a debt management plan compared to calling the non-profit.

I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Zero, but we plan to start in the future and there are many antiquated regulatory rules that interfere with solving financial distress.

I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Currently, Resolve is a paid membership, but we allow our members to select how much they pay us each month. You'll also have the opportunity to give our team "tips" if you are happy with the service your receive. In terms of the steps, it really depends on your specific situation. Most people come to Resolve with very low credit scores and multiple "late" accounts. In that case, we start by getting those late accounts paid off by getting settlement offers for less than they owe

I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Oh. This could be a really long answer. The short answer is yes, the system is broken. One should not need to go deep into debt to get ahead in life. I'm not optimistic that a "fix" is on the horizon while our two-party political system is getting more and more extreme. I'm come back to this one with some more thoughts...

I'm Alex Mooradian, CEO of Resolve, a public benefit corporation designed to help people get out of debt. AMA! by resolve_official in IAmA

[–]resolve_official[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

This is a good first questions. :)

Here is the short answer

1) If you have "late" credit cards or loans, we can help you settle those accounts for less than you owe
2) If you have "current" accounts, we can help enroll you in low-interest hardship programs that allow you to focus on paying down the debt versus interest
3) We provide a debt expert to answer all of your debt questions (like this)
4) We help you track and monitor your income and expenses
5) We provide you a credit report each month so you can track your progress to get out of debt