The One Payment Plan

A free debt assessment, then a written plan

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What we cover

The assessment is a structured look at every debt and every payment, then at the ways the home might change that picture. It is the working version of The One Payment Plan. It is free. It is not a credit card application and it is not a settlement.

We list the mortgage, any line of credit on the house, cards, car loans, second mortgages, private loans, and the odd payment you forgot until it came out on a Thursday. We note which ones are shrinking and which ones are stuck. We note income in the form it actually arrives: a job, a business, a pension, or something unsteady.

Then we put the options on one page. Refinance, blend and extend, line of credit, second mortgage, private bridge, reverse mortgage if age and equity allow, or the rehab program. Doing nothing is on the page too, because sometimes the current payment is the least bad choice for a year.

What to send

A recent mortgage statement. The latest bills for cards and loans. A line of credit statement if you have one. A rough note on income, not a novel. If you have a tax bill, the notice. If you are separated, whatever shows who is on title. Photos of paper are fine.

You do not need a binder with tabs. The Paperwork Concierge is the checklist I use so you are not guessing what a stranger might want. I package the file. You are not auditioning.

If a document is ugly or late, send it anyway and say so. Hidden messes become declined files. Named messes become a plan, or a clear no.

The clock

I call back within one business day of the quiz. That call is the start of the assessment, not a finished plan. The written plan comes within 14 days of the documents. If you send documents on a Friday, count from when I actually have them.

I do not promise same-day miracles and I do not promise a five-minute miracle on the website. Speed matters. Accuracy matters more. Hot files get my attention first inside the workday. Everyone who is a possible fit still gets the one-business-day call-back.

There is no automated sequence of emails nudging you to hurry. If you want a 12-month check-in, we put a date on the calendar when you ask. That is a person, not a robot.

What the plan will not say

It will not say you are approved. It will not name a lender as if the choice were already made. It will not show a teaser payment with the costly part in a footnote you cannot see. It will not tell you a credit score will rise.

It will say which starting point I would use and why the others are weaker for this file. It will repeat the balance line until it is boring, because boring is how you stay out of a bad surprise. A lower payment can cost more interest over time. Equity can fall. A reverse mortgage adds the fact that no regular payment is required while you live there, if you keep the house insured, taxed, and maintained.

If the plan says you are not a fit, it still gives you the rehab steps and the counselling pointer. We look at the payments you already make and the habits that keep balances from dropping. I walk you through your own credit reports in plain words, so you can see what is there. If something looks wrong, I show you how to raise it with the bureau yourself. You pick a date for a personal recheck. There is no automated drip.

What a good plan feels like to read

You should be able to read the plan at the kitchen table without me translating it. It names the payments we counted, the starting point, and the options that lost. It says what would have to change for a losing option to become the starter. It repeats that a lower month can mean more interest over time. If a reverse mortgage is in the mix, it says equity goes down while you stay.

A bad plan is a single payment with a smile and a stack of forms. If you get that from me, send it back. The One Payment Plan is supposed to make the trade-off obvious. The 14 days are there so the plan can be reread, not so it can be rushed into a signature. You can take the plan to a family member. You can take it to a trustee if you want a second kind of professional to react. I would rather you do that than sign in a hurry.

A note on pace

You can book the assessment and still take a week to find a statement. The call-back is one business day. The written plan waits for the papers. Use the gap. Do not invent numbers to look prepared. A blank and a date is more useful than a confident guess that we have to unwind. If a spouse needs to read the plan before you talk again, say that on the first call and I will write the plan so a second reader can follow it without a decoder.

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