Article : Consumer credit counselors – How do they help you?

By Sandy Thomson, your credit counseling news source

Many people don’t know that consumer credit counseling can work as a substitute to filing bankruptcy. Expert credit counselors can educate you on various financial topics and offer debt counseling services after thoroughly assessing your financial condition.

Once you sign up for the services of a consumer credit counseling agency, your debt level would be evaluated by a professional credit counselor. Subsequently, a repayment plan is worked out on the basis of your income and debt level. They would negotiate with your creditors to reduce your interest rates and establish a debt management plan that would help you get out of debt.

How does consumer credit counseling work?

While setting up a debt management plan, your financial situation is comprehensively assessed by the credit counselors. Given below are the factors that are primarily taken into consideration:

• Number of credit accounts you have
• The outstanding balances of those accounts
• The interest rates
• Minimum monthly payments
• Delinquent accounts (if any)

The credit counselor also takes into account how much you earn each month and how much you spend. Taking all these factors into consideration, a debt management plan (DMP) is created to pay off your bills. Every one of your creditors receives this suggested plan for acceptance purposes.

As soon as they agree to the suggested debt management plan, you need to start making payments to the consumer credit counseling agency. As per the DMP, this payment is allocated to your creditors. When you enter a DMP, your credit accounts are usually frozen so that you don’t run up new balances.

Fees of consumer credit counseling services

A host of credit counseling agencies maintain that they’re nonprofit in nature. Even though an agency declares themselves to be nonprofit, you shouldn’t by any means assume that their services are free of cost. More often than not, their services are available to you against a fee. The initial payment made by you might be used to compensate for the fees. On the other hand, some debt management companies might ask for a flat fee which is deducted from your monthly payment. ...

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News : Congressman looks to change student loan bankruptcy, although debt consolidation may help as well

source : debtconsolidationconnection.com
By Angela Hawke on Apr 27th, 2010

Trying to fund higher education is a challenge many people face, as are the effects of not being able to pay off student loans in the long run.
One aspect of student loans that make them even more difficult is the fact that they are difficult to get rid of through bankruptcy. New laws passed in 2005 made all types of student loans harder to erase through filing, although a congressman is looking to change that.
Tennessee Democrat Steve Cohen, along with fellow party member and Illinois Representative Danny Davis, have authored a bill that would bring bankruptcy rules for student loans back to the way they were. In doing so, privately originated student loans would be treated the same as other forms of debt.
Cohen said that people should not be discouraged from getting further education because of the fact that it could lead to financial difficulties, and that his bill helps with that. ...

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more debt consolidation news :
-Free credit score law could help consumers, while debt consolidation can lower credit card bill
-Debt consolidation may be an alternative to questionable interest-rate reduction companies

News : Debt consolidation, consumer credit counseling options for improving finances

source:debtconsolidationconnection.com
By Marvin Milner on Apr 21st, 2010

When facing a troubling debt situation and dwindling finances, people may consider options like debt consolidation or consumer credit counseling.

In a recent piece for her website, personal finance expert Liz Pulliam Weston showcased a letter from a reader whose credit dropped after a foreclosure. Furthermore, the reader faced a reduction in salary after finding a new job and was curious as to how consumers in such a situation can start rebuilding their credit.

Pulliam Weston noted one option for consumers is debt consolidation. Through debt consolidation, people may be able to lower the amount of interest they pay on credit cards, which can help them get out of debt faster. ...

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News : Government programs, debt consolidation may help pay down student loans

source : debtconsolidationconnection.com
By Peggy Stillwell on Apr 11th, 2010

Government programs do exist to help those in financial trouble put food on the table or pay for medical expenses.

However, as the effects of the last recession are still felt, more people may find they have to rely on the assistance provided by Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the latter more commonly known as food stamps.

According to a report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, SNAP saw a 32 percent increase in Georgia from December 2008 to the same month in 2009. During that time, Medicaid recipients also went up by 9 percent. But the paper noted the state is planning on reducing the number of workers who administer the program by 137 people.

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Link to a forum : "Consumer Credit Counseling etc."

Last post: Feb 23 2010
(more than 26 replies)

Opening post of this forum :
"Hi ,

I'm not saying I'm going to do this, but it never hurts to consider options. Does anyone know anything about debt consolidation, consumer credit counseling, bankruptcy, and similar such programs?

DR says they are a bad idea b/c they will destroy your credit. But, I'm starting to wonder if it might be the only realistic option for us. Ironically, one reason we were able to take on so much debt is because of our good credit. Somehow we always manage to make the minimum payments and make them on time. However, if we were to move I doubt if we could get another mortgage or even qualify for a rental property because our debt to income ratio is terrible with a capital T. And I know of others who have declared bankruptcy or done some type of debt consolidation and they survived and were better off in the long run.

If the farm sells the situation will change considerably but who knows when that will happen.

Given the poor economy I don't see our income going up significantly any time in the near future. At the rate we're going we will literally have this consumer debt for the rest of our lives.

Does anyone have any ideas? "

see this forum

Article : The consumer's guide to credit counseling

Credit counselors are falling all over themselves to help you out of debt, but some do more harm than good. Here’s what you need to know, including whether you need it and the red flags for rip-offs.

By Liz Pulliam Weston

Randy is deeply in debt and desperate. He's seen all the television ads from credit counseling services that promise to help him, and he's also been approached by a company that assures him it can painlessly make his debts go away. Is this, he asked me in an e-mail, too good to be true? Often, the answer is yes.

Randy's thinking of entering a world that's fraught with fraud, misrepresentation and controversy. Debt counseling has become a $7 billion industry, but not all the players are legitimate.

The best credit counseling can help people who are behind on their debts get back on their feet. Fly-by-night outfits can disappear with your money, and what remains of your credit rating. In between the two are a whole fleet of operators who may or may not leave you better off than you are now.

read all at msn.com

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.

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

Link to a forum : Bankruptcy? debt consolidation service? Consumer Credit Counceling Serv?

2006
First comment from this forum :

"I'm trying to not file for bankruptcy. Overdraft protection is the only thing keeping me from making late or no payments at all on my bills and that's nearly maxed out. I'm in huge cc debt, apppr 35k, and bankruptcy seems like the easiest way out and to feel like a person again. I want to try and fight my way out of this mess if I can. I would like to see if a service can help me but know there's a lot of scams out there. Is CCCS a debt consolidation service like Debtco or are they two different things? How do I go about finding a fair and reputable service? What types of questions should I ask? I'm near Portland, OR. Anyone have a suggestion of where to find a good service or lawyer (if bnkrp is in the future)?

Also, is a charge off really that much better or different than filing for bankruptcy? What's the difference when it comes to your credit report and how it is viewed by potential lenders?"

see this forum at : http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=1006021704914

Description : Credit counseling

Credit counseling (known in the United Kingdom as debt counselling) is a process offering education to consumers about how to avoid incurring debts that cannot be repaid. This process is actually more debt counseling than a function of credit education.

Credit counseling often involves negotiating with creditors to establish a debt management plan (DMP) for a consumer. A DMP may help the debtor repay his or her debt by working out a repayment plan with the creditor. DMPs, set up by credit counselors, usually offer reduced payments, fees and interest rates to the client. Credit counselors refer to the terms dictated by the creditors to determine payments or interest reductions offered to consumers in a debt management plan.

source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_counseling