Student sets up debt consolidation company

A Farmington sophomore has set up a debt consolidation program Web site for CMU students because of his concern about rising debt.

Jenkins Ebiware said he started the program in response to a Sept. 27 article about rising student debt in Central Michigan Life.

“I’ve been running a debt consolidation company for a year and a half and the article in the paper made a light bulb go off in my head when I heard of CMU students in debt,” the Farmington sophomore said. “I decided to make a section of my company for CMU students.”

The Web site, http://www.jene-c.com/cmu, is set up for CMU students to help reduce their monthly payments, avoid bankruptcy and consolidate bills.

“I take all their information and contact them to set up an appointment to help explain things in further detail and that’s when they can decide if the program’s right for them or not,” he said.

Midland senior Christopher Thibodeaux was one of the first students to set up an appointment with Ebiware. He said he found out about the program through a flyer in Pearce Hall and values the service because he knows the pitfalls of credit cards the hard way.

Thibodeaux said he owes credit card companies $4,500 and wants to take away sound finical advice from his meeting with Ebiware.

Thibodeaux said he wishes he would have known how to calculate the length of time it would take for him to pay off his debt.

“As I was using my credit cards, I realized I had a high balance and didn’t realize how long it would take to pay it off and now I realize it will take upwards of 20 years to pay it off using the minimum payment and I need to figure out a different strategy,” he said.

Ebiware said debt consolidation involves gathering up all of someone’s debts — whether it be credit card or cell phone debt that equals more than $100 a month — and devise a solution for paying it off in a set amount of time.

“Debt consolidation will first of all get rid of all current bills they have and being in the program also allows them to lower their interest rates and past due bills on their credit cards. It will also improve their credit score from consolidating all their debt,” he said.

A $25 start-up and a $10 monthly service and maintenance fee will be assessed to all participants. Students can decide how many months they want to be in the program but Ebiware recommends students stay in the program for at least three months.

Ebiware said he started his program more than a year ago and has helped more than 200 people consolidate their debt.

Ebiware said he got into credit card debt as a freshman in college and it took him more than a year to pay it off.