Article : Debt Consolidation and Consumer Credit Counseling

By Marjorie Salada

source : http://ezinearticles.com/?Debt-Consolidation-and-Consumer-Credit-Counseling&id=1289132

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Debt consolidation and consumer credit counseling are both ways of eliminating your debt. Consumer credit counseling is actually a form of debt consolidation, but it does not involve a loan. Sometimes the term debt consolidation can also refer to a home equity loan that is used to pay off debt. Debt consolidation refers to a solution that consolidates your debts and allows you to make one monthly payment to cover all your debts.

A debt consolidation loan is a viable means of paying off your debt, but I do not recommend it. If you have credit card debt or are enrolled in credit counseling and do nothing, your creditors can report you to the credit bureau and make numerous collection calls, but that is about it. However, if you have a debt consolidation loan and cannot make the payments, the consequences are much more severe. Your creditor can start foreclosure proceedings on your home. Many people have debt consolidation loans, but there are better ways.

Consumer credit counseling is a form of debt consolidation, but it does not require a loan. Debt counseling is a way for people to get out of debt without incurring additional debt. A debt management agency can help you get on a plan that will help you have your unsecured debts paid off in five years or less. If it takes longer than five years, you may want to consider other debt relief options.

Your credit counselor will interact with you lenders and they will no longer be allowed to make collections calls to you as long as you follow the terms of the plan. There are many benefits to debt consolidation with a debt service. Here are just a few of the benefits you will see by consolidating with a credit counseling agency:

*Reduced and possibly eliminated interest rates
*One convenient payment each month
*No more collection calls
*No more fees
*Budgeting and financial education resources

The biggest part of being successful with a debt management plan is not getting into something that you don't think you can manage. If you are given a quote that you don't think you can handle, you are setting yourself up for failure if you accept the proposal.

Debt relief is something you need to go into with an open mind and the attitude that you are going to do what it takes to become debt free. The most difficult part of getting out of debt is recognizing that there is a problem and asking for the necessary debt help.

Article : Is a Credit Counseling Service a Good Option to Get Out of Debt?

By Miriam Caldwell, About.com

If you are working towards getting out of debt you may be considering using a credit counseling service to help you reach your goal. You need to be wary of credit counseling services. They may seem an easy way to solve all of your debt problems, but often they are too good to be true.

1. What Will a Credit Counseling Service Do?

When you visit a credit counseling service, a counselor will sit down with you and help you set up a budget. This will require that you cut your expenses. Next they will determine a set amount that you will pay them every month. Often they will do this with an automatic payment. After you pay this amount they will then pay each of your debts individually. ...

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Article : Consumer Credit Counseling Services

By Neil D'silva

What are the functions of Consumer Credit Counseling Services?

Contrary to what most people think, or want to think, about consumer credit counseling services, these services are not just about mere counseling for your financial credit problems. They are much more than that. The following is a list of all the services that the consumer credit counselors will provide to you:-

• Of course, the first service is counseling itself. They will listen to your financial problem carefully. When you are speaking all these things out, you are yourself realizing the extent of the problem you are in. Anyways, the credit counseling services will try their best to counsel you verbally about your financial problems at the outset.
• The next step is to train you in financial management. The credit counseling services will sit with you and discuss how you can better manage your finances. They will prepare a budget for you and your family so that you can make the best use o the income you are getting and efficiently manage the payments you need to make.
• Most importantly, they will tell you of schemes in detail, such as the debt consolidating and debt refinancing plans by which you can solve all your credit problems. Debt consolidation means clumping all your individuals into a single loan which you can pay with greater ease. While, debt refinancing means getting your existing loan renewed through another lender at a cheaper rate of interest. The consumer credit counseling service will coach you in these plans, and will help you implement them too.

Why choose Consumer Credit Counseling Services?

It is very difficult for people who are deep in debt to manage their finances properly. Sometimes, these people might have the financial capacity to come out of their debts, but because they are not managing their loans properly, they are not able to solve the situation. This is where the consumer credit counseling services help. They will actually sit and discuss the problem with you and will tell you of ways by which you can be debt-free.

Most people when they approach consumer credit counseling services, they do not even know what debt consolidation or debt refinancing means. Even if they know about them, they have most likely a very hazy idea about it. It is the job of the counselor to make people aware of these viable solutions to their problems.

Credit counselors also become important when a person is to file for bankruptcy. In fact, the American law has made it compulsory for people to enroll into the programs of the credit counselors before their bankruptcy so that they can seek knowledge of how to avoid this sticky scenario the next time round.

Thus the consumer credit counseling services are not all out there to make a fast buck. Most of them have genuine intentions and a noble way of doing business.

Which Consumer Credit Counseling Services to avoid?

Many credit counseling services are nothing but scams, and you need to avoid them like the plague. Avoid all companies that are not registered with the government. Their programs have no value at all in the courts. Do not go for any consumer credit counseling services who want to push a particular policy of theirs. You must make sure that they are understanding your problem first, and working with you to find a solution for it.

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source : http://ezinearticles.com/?Consumer-Credit-Counseling-Services&id=1009856

Article : Avoid Credit Counseling Scams

Avoid getting caught in Credit Counseling Scams! Yes, hundreds of consumers a year get sucked into these counseling scams for improving your credit. But watch out for them. Not all of them are really going to help you. Most just want your money. There are several ways you can be sure that it's the real thing and not a scam....

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News : Consumer Credit Counseling Service: Atlantans hammered by rising gas costs

Thursday, February 14, 2008
Atlanta Business Chronicle

Customers of Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of Greater Atlanta spent 9 percent more on gas and food in January 2008, the nonprofit credit counseling agency reported Thursday.

Metro Atlantans spent an average of $531 on gas and food in January, compared with an average of $486 in January 2007. The $531 accounted for about 30 percent of their monthly living expenses of $1,774, CCCS said. ...read all...

News : CSC Teams With HOPE NOW Alliance Members to Provide Consumer Credit Counseling Portal

February 14, 2008 9:00 AM ET

Extension to CSC's EarlyResolution Software as a Service Aims to Reduce Mortgage Foreclosures

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Feb. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Computer Sciences Corporation CSC today announced that it has teamed with HOPE NOW Alliance members Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Bank of America, PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. and Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of Greater Atlanta Inc., to develop CSC's EarlyResolution Counseling Portal (ERCP), a national technology service designed to help nonprofit credit counselors reduce mortgage foreclosures. In January, CSC delivered ERCP to Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Countrywide and CCCS for pilot testing. The service will be generally available later this month. ...read all...

Article : Powerful debt pay-down strategies

Friday February 29, 6:00 am ET
Jennifer Maciejewski

Is debt overwhelming your finances? If you have nightmarish visions of being surrounded by creditors, it's time to put down all credit cards, tighten the proverbial belt and start living not only within your means, but under them until you've paid back what you owe. ...read all...