If you're having trouble making your payments, we encourage you to reach out to us before enrolling with a debt settlement company. One of our experienced team members is here to answer your questions and discuss your options at no additional cost to you. Contact us at payments@happen.com, or call us at 888-596-4478.
What should I think about before hiring a debt settlement company?
Debt settlement companies often claim they can negotiate with your creditors to reduce the amount you owe, but working with a debt settlement company doesn't necessarily mean that your loan will settle. Your loan will continue to accumulate interest, penalties, or fees until it is charged off. Before working with a debt settlement company, you should remember:
Debt settlement companies often charge expensive fees.
Debt settlement companies typically encourage you to stop making your credit card or Happen Bank payments. If you stop paying your bills, you may incur late fees, penalty interest, and other charges, and creditors will likely step up their collection efforts against you.
Unless the debt settlement company settles all or most of your debts, the built-up penalties and fees on the unsettled debts may wipe out any savings the debt settlement company achieves on the debts it settles.
Using debt settlement services can have a negative impact on your credit and your ability to get credit in the future.
There is no guarantee that we will be able to negotiate a settlement with your debt settlement company. Your loan will continue to accumulate interest and any applicable penalties or fees until charge-off.
Find out more about debt settlement companies from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
We don't partner with debt settlement companies, but we can process payments we receive from a debt settlement company acting on your behalf. If you're already enrolled or plan to work with a debt settlement company, please email us your authorization to release information at payments@happen.com.
We must receive your contractual payment on its due date every month to keep your account in good standing. If your debt settlement company mails us a payment that’s less than the full settlement amount, we’ll apply the payment directly to your principal balance—not to your monthly payment. We won't treat this payment as a final settlement.
Reporting late payments to credit bureaus
We're required by law to accurately report all account experiences—positive and negative—to one or more of the credit bureaus. What's reported to credit bureaus doesn't change if you're working with a debt settlement company, and we still must follow our policy on good faith updates. Lastly, we will still follow our charge-off policy if your loan becomes 120+ days past due.
