My husband and I went thru a debt consolidator program that ripped us off, we are now dealing with the debt collectors ourselves

I am sorry to hear about your problems with debt consolidation. No creditor is required to accept a monthly amount, but you should continue to offer the amount that you can pay, and see whether a supervisor will accept it. If the company eventually sues you, you may also be able to settle the suit at a lower amount. There are various federal and state laws regarding proper collection techniques, you can check these at www.ftc.gov.

Consider filing a complaint with the FTC. (See link below)

You can probably do anything a debt settlement company could do for you at far less cost and less risk.

Debt settlement firms charge substantial fees up front and do not distribute any money to your creditors until after they receive their front end fees.

At least one major credit card issuer will sue you IMMEDIATELY if they receive a letter from a debt settlement company.

If a creditor does not participate in the debt settlement scheme, you will still have to deal with them often years later after the debt has accumlated substantial interest.

If you need this sort of service, consider going to a legitimate (local / United Way) consumer credit counselling agency. Although these agencies receive money from creditors to meet a substantial portion of their budget and take directions from the creditors, consumers are probably far worse off with a "debt settlement company". Under most of the scoring models in common use, the adverse impact of a completed consumer credit counselling plan is the same as a completed Chapter 13.

Debt settlement may (or may not) create substantial tax consequences. Take the money you saved by doing it yourself and spend some of it on a consultation with an experienced CPA or tax attorney. (Tax law is not an area to attempt DIY unless that is your profession.)

If your debts were charged off some time ago and collectors are contacting you, I would also consult with an experienced consumer lawyer (who regularly represents consumers in cases under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act and defends consumer collection cases) before you make any payments. Proceeding with a debt settlement program may unknowingly cause you to lose a statute of limitations defense.

I represent central Florida consumers in actions under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act and represented consumers in bankruptcy for approximately 15 years. Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 might be a viable alternative but I believe that bankruptcy is over used as a default option by unsophisticated consumers and the bankruptcy bar.

State attorney generals and the Federal Trade Commission are continuing to bring actions against
debt settlement firms. But, the government has only limited resources and debt settlement scams sprout like mushrooms after a rainstorm. Examples of FTC enforcement actions against other debt settlement companies include : http://ftcsearch.ftc.gov/search?q=Debt+Settlement&btnG=Search&entqr=0&ud=1&output=xml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-8&client=ftc_consumer&proxystylesheet=ftc_consumer&filter=0&site=default_collection

If you are a consumer who needs to file a complaint against a debt settlement company, the link to the
FTC's complaint form is : https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

There are other scams that prey upon gullible consumers.

First, there are the "debt protesters". These predators convince people into believing the strangest things : (1) only we know the secrets, don't believe those hippy consumer lawyers...; (2) money is not "legal tender" so you don't really owe the debt; (3) the fractional banking system (or the Federal Reserve) is unconstitutional so you don't really owe the debt.

There are also many fake arbitration services that charge consumers several thousand dollars to "arbtitrate" debts in their "forum" so the consumer is all but guaranteed to receive an "arbitration award". After the consumer spends thousands of dollars to obtain this "Award", the scammers instruct the consumer to contact a consumer lawyer who can "easily" confirm the fraudulent award. The federal government and state AG's finally pursued these scammers so they are now less prevalent than the debt settlement and credit repair scams.

Finally, the credit repairs scam seem to rise from the grave like zombies. Don't make frivolous credit disputes.