What are typically debt consolidation fees in Florida state

You might do better to just file bankruptcy. The failure rate of the debt consolidation plans is very high. For less than they would charge you, if you qualify for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, you could discharge (get rid of) the credit card debt.

Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 are very different. In order to qualify for Chapter 7 under current law, normally your household income has to be no greater than the median income for uour state and household size. It is determined by taking your income for the 6 months immediately prior to the month of filing and then multiplying that by two. If the total exceeds the median, there are some special circumstances which can at times be used to back some of it off. That same yardstick is used to determine whether you would be able to do a 3 year plan in Chapter 13 or not.

Assuming you qualify for Chapter 7, the decision then depends on what it is you are trying to accomplish and how your assets would fit into Florida's exemptionsIf you have equity in your home, and if it qualifies for the full homestead exemption, you can exempt that from bankrutpcy no matter how much it is worth. If you have other assets, it is very important that you know whether or not those could be claimed as exempt.

A Chapter 7 is a lquidation. That means that , other than exempt assets, any other assets (if any) go to the bankruptcy trustee to pay your unsecured creditors, and that is all they get. If no assets are non-exempt assets, the unsecured creditors may get nothing. Secured creditors are entitled to recover their collateral (such as cars, homes, etc.), unless you agree to reaffirm those debts. You may reaffirm some and not others. If you reaffirm, the debt survives the bankrptcy, you keep the collateal and continue to pay. If the debt is more than the value of the collateral, your attorney may ask the court to value the asset, and then to strip the lien - this is a "cramdown" - it means the debt is reduced to the value of the collateral. This can be used for vehicles, investment property, everything EXCEPT the first mortgage on your primary residence....! In the recent debate over the bailout bill, there was move to get that changed to include your primary residence, but it didn't happen.

You need a consumer law attorney who is knowledgable in bankruptcy to obtain the best result. The National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) is a non-profit consumer advocacy organization. NACA maintains a web site at www.naca.net where it lists geographically consumer law attorneys all over the US. If you don't already have an attorney, please look there for someone in your area who can help you.

Note that I am not licensed to practice in your state.

I disagree that bankruptcy is the way to go in your situation. Generally (but not legally), you are bankrupt if you owe more than you make in income in 1 year. If you make more than $25K/year than you are not really bankrupt.

I also dislike those consolidation companies because they essentially ruin your credit the way that bankruptcy will affect your credit. If you're going to use the debt consolidation, you would probably be better off filing for bankruptcy (which I do not recommend).

You need to negotiate with the credit card companies for a lower interest rate. If they are unwilling to lower your interest rate, try applying for 0% or low interest rate balance transfer credit cards to transfer some or all of the balance to. This way, you are eliminating your interest payments and just paying on principal.

At the end of the day however, you need to take responsibility for this debt and pay it off. You need to either make more money or spend less if you are not making a dent in the debt.

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. It may likely come back to haunt you.