You might be one of the 44 million people with student debt you haven't had to make a payment since the pandemic began. But all of that is ending. Interest is starting to accrue again as of Friday and payments resume in October. Now, it might be tempting to go to a debt relief company for help but stop before you do and listen to this warning from the Better Business Bureau.
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00:00 You, like me, might be one of the 44 million people
00:03 with student debt that you haven't had to make a payment on
00:06 since the pandemic began, but all of that is ending.
00:09 Interest is starting to accrue again as of Friday
00:12 and payments resume in October.
00:14 Now it might be tempting to go
00:16 to a debt relief company for help,
00:18 but stop before you do and listen to this warning
00:21 from the Better Business Bureau.
00:22 What people need to be careful of
00:25 is because they're promising you all this
00:27 and it seems like a good way out
00:30 and a way to help build your credit back.
00:33 What we have found is a lot of people spent a lot of money
00:36 and they still were stuck with a bunch of debt,
00:39 but they had paid these outrageous fees.
00:42 The BBB says between 2020 and 2023,
00:45 it received 12,700 complaints
00:47 and people lost $2.4 million
00:50 to predatory and unethical debt relief companies.
00:53 The Federal Trade Commission received
00:54 more than 80,000 complaints during that time period.
00:57 So the BBB's advice,
00:59 if a company asks for a fee to be paid upfront,
01:02 that's a red flag.
01:03 If someone promises a quick fix to your credit score,
01:05 et cetera, they're likely misleading you.
01:08 Also, do not stop making your monthly payments
01:11 while you work with that company.
01:12 That can make things worse and could land you in court.
01:15 And just remember, these companies cannot do anything
01:18 that you can't do yourself.