I would strongly advise someone never to do that.
It's free from CCCS, consumer credit couseling service, but don't just google that, they're are bagillion imitators, I pm'd you a HUD certified couseling link for reverse mortgages, same entity though, that way you can be sure you're actually getting the non-profit version not a scam version.
They don't really consolidate it you just pay one payment to them and they divy it out to the creditors but to the consumer it's identical, just make sure they also know how to manage each creditor so that no creditor goes rouge and wrecks their credit.
Most of the so called cosolidation companies do this exactly the same way for a fee, CCCS gets it's fee from the lenders, it was started actually by lenders and has more clout IMO than other versions of this.
What I would do is manage CCCS myself and what I mean by that is a hyrbid of what Gad is saying along with the clout of CCCS.
Don't just let CCCS take care of everything there are tons of variables and they won't bother with all of them.
I would go to CCCS, then call each creditor myself, with a spreadsheet, mark down who you talked to, when and get whatever they agree to in writing if you possibly can.
Make sure that his credit is categorized properly, make sure the rate is really reduced, make sure that it's showing as included in a debt management program on the credit report and reports as up to date.
All that is key so the credit is not wrecked.
Debt management companies maybe are great at doing that part of it for you, anyone can negotiate lower rates and payements but that is by far not all of it, you also have to manage how damaging it is to your credit, there could be enormous differences in plans that look identical depending on how well they know the credit scoring system and how much they actually care.
I would check out CCCS, it's nationwide I think.
BTW you can combine this with your own negotiations, just work with the counselor, work for yourself, try for reduced balances, but always be aware of how it affects your credit.
Couple of things post starting a plan.
A. periodically pull their own credit to verify things are reporting properly, they'll want all three credit bureaus and a score for each.
B.
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp link to a true free report once a year.
C. Stay involved and work the system, people can save a ton of money without wrecking their credit but it's a hobby and they have to watch the process.
