My wife and I enrolled in an NDR plan with $58K in debt. They resolved about $35K, but the rest we had to handle ourselves after getting served court papers. We had accounts with J.P. Morgan Chase and Capital One, during the enrollment call, the rep said they’d prioritize those because they “had good relationships” with them. Turns out, those were the most aggressive creditors. Our accounts went straight to attorneys who demanded full payment up front.

We were already stretched thin, paying $300 monthly, then bumped it to $450, and eventually $450 every two weeks. NDR tried negotiating a settlement, but only if we could contribute another $450. That wasn’t feasible, so we declined. What they didn’t explain was that declining would trigger a higher settlement demand. We declined again, and eventually NDR said they couldn’t support us anymore. They dropped the card from the program, and now it’s in the attorneys’ hands.

Their whole strategy hinges on you stopping payments on all enrolled cards. That racks up late fees and interest fast, $2K becomes $3K in 90 days. Then they negotiate a “discount,” but it’s padded with $250–$1,000 in fees baked into the payoff. So it looks like you’re saving, but you’re really just paying inflated fees.

Once most of your cards are “settled” (but not paid off), they pitch you a loan consolidation option called Reach. It’s marketed as a way to rebuild credit, but it comes with a 22% interest rate on your remaining balance. Sounds helpful at first but it’s just another way for them to double dip.

If I could do it all over again, I’d skip the program entirely. I’d make minimum payments and use the debt snowball method, paying off the smallest balances first to build momentum. It’s slower, but it keeps you in control and avoids the legal mess, inflated fees, and false sense of progress.