Consumer Credit Counseling chief elected to nationwide foundation post

Mike Cherry, president and CEO of Consumer Credit Counseling Service in Springfield, was elected vice chairman of the board of directors of The National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Cherry was elected during the foundation's 44th annual Leaders Conference Sept. 14-16 in Washington, D.C.

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling's membership comprises not-for-profit credit counseling agencies serving all 50 states. Cherry said Consumer Credit Counseling Service. 1515 S. Glenstone Ave., joined the foundation in 1988, and he has been a member of the board for four years, and served on the membership committee.

As vice president, he also will serve as chairman of the group's monitor and compliance committee, which is charged with making sure its members meet the group's 20 quality standards.

Cherry said he'll also advocate on behalf of member agencies' clients in his expanded role.

"If somebody comes to us with credit card debt, major creditors will give us (lower) interest rates, they'll waive some of the fees," he said. "Part of the role of the vice chair is actually interacting with the major credit card companies to get concessions for people who are having trouble paying their bills."

Consumer Credit Counseling of Springfield, has been providing credit counseling services and financial education in the Ozarks for 40 years.

Cherry said his office is inundated with calls from consumers who need help managing their debts, and their mortgages in particular. He said the mortgage division has grown to three full-time employees from one person three years ago, as more homeowners seek to avoid foreclosure.

"In 2008, we had 720 people come to see us who were in some stage of foreclosure, and we saved 705 of those from going to foreclosure through some kind of a work-out," he said. "There are a lot of people who don't realize that there is help out there, and it's really easy, when you get into that situation, through embarrassment, that you just kind of bury your head in the sand and hope that it goes away. That does nothing but continue to aggregate the problem until it reaches foreclosure."

The organization also continues its efforts to help consumers deal with other debts. Cherry said most recent changes to credit card rules won't take effect until next year, but he said consumer protections such as advance notice of rate increases - and the ability to opt out of them, freezing the card for payoff at the existing rate - will help when they take effect.

As credit card companies anticipate the changes, however, Cherry acknowledged that it's a common practice for them to go ahead and institute rate hikes, which can make a big difference for some consumers.

He also noted that health care reform - regardless of whether one agrees with options now being discussed - is important.

"In the figures I got (recently) in D.C. at a meeting, better than 65 percent of the people who are filing for bankruptcy have some kind of medical debt," Cherry said. "And there are a number of seniors, and a number of people who have insurance, but just their part of (the bill) puts them into bankruptcy. ... The system's broken, and something needs to be done to fix it."