A debt consolidation service interviews you, gets all your debt and income information, then comes up with a repayment plan to fit your budget. Once you agree to the repayment plan, they will contact your creditors and negotiate on your behalf. Basically, they are the same as Consumer Credit Counseling.
What They Can Do For You
A reputable service can negotiate a reduction of interest, late charges, penalties, fees, etc. on your account and make it easier for you to repay your creditors.
Consolidation companies have thousands of resources, and creditors, in their program to help you get out of debt fast and reduce your financial stress and anxiety.
Average debt repayment agreements will have you out of debt in about 5 years even with reduced monthly payments. They provide a solid repayment plan, and help your budget get back on track.
What They Cannot Do
There are some debts for which a debt consolidation service cannot reduce payments. These include secured debts such as mortgages, car payments, and may include other types of payments as well.
When you enter into a debt consolidation agreement, you cannot incur additional debt with those creditors. Debt consolidation services don’t usually place the agreement on your credit report. However, your creditors may. This means you may not be able to obtain additional credit from other sources while you are undergoing a debt repayment plan.
Successful Debt Consolidation and Management
To have success with this method of debt reduction, you need to commit to the solution. Keeping your spending under control while making payments on time, and you have a much greater chance for success. Check out what Tamara says:
During my initial consultation, I had to make a list of all my expenses and the counselor helped me to set up a payment plan.
The next step involved the counselor contacting all of my creditors and negotiating lower monthly payments. Fortunately for me, all of my creditors agreed to lower my monthly payment amounts.
As a result of working with a debt consolidation counselor, I have been able to reduce my monthly expenses by almost thirty-five percent. If I continue making my monthly debt consolidation payment on time, I should be able to have all of my bills paid off in just a few more months.
Debt consolidation, in most cases, does not remove the reason you got so deeply in debt in the first place. You need to determine why, then work to fix it. This is the only way you can be sure to maintain control of your finances. It doesn’t matter how you got in over your head, there are many reasons for debt problems. The secret to debt management success is knowing why!
