1099-C — Taxes on my credit card debt settlement!!

I received a 1099-C form in the mail, actually two of them. First time for me. They’re both Cancellations of Debt. One was from an old debt I had long forgot about. I guess the company has forgiven the debt and now has to report it to the IRS. The other one was from a payday loan company. I had enlisted the services of a debt consolidation company to help tackle some outstanding debt, which sounded great on paper. But now I don’t know… So the debt consolidation company “settled” for a lesser amount with the companies but… still charged me a fee per company. Sometimes their fee was equal to the difference of the balance that wasn’t “settled.” In essence I was paying the same amount, albeit at a more manageable amount and pace, with no interest. Anyway, this payday loan company I guess reported the difference in the settlement vs. the balance to the IRS.

My question is, will these be counted as income on my tax return? And if so, is there a way to write them off or balance them out – probably by itemizing, since I had to basically the same amount to another company. I mean it’s not like this was money in my pocket. This was a debt accrued mostly from interest. Like I said it’s the first time for me. Not sure how this is going to pan out. I guess a debt forgiven is not completely forgiven.

Thanks in advance!!!