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What Is Credit Counseling?
Are you struggling financially and trying to dig out from a mountain of debt? Credit counseling could be just the solution you’re looking for.
Credit counselors work with consumers to educate them about money and debt, and help them develop household budgets a plan to eliminate debt. Credit counseling can offer financial guidance or negotiate with creditors to resolve unsustainable debt. However, counselors cannot offer legal advice. All meetings between a credit counselor and clients are considered confidential.
Accreditation Groups
Credit Counseling agencies typically belong to an accreditation group, such as the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies. These groups develop standards, provide accountability for its member agencies and set suggest fee schedules. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling suggests fees should be no more than $50 for a set-up and $25 monthly thereafter. Members of the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies must agree to cap the initial charge at $75 and the monthly maintenance fees at $50.
The Credit Counseling Plan
When you meet with a credit counselor, having an honest discussion of your finances is paramount. You must be prepared to disclose all aspects of your financial life so the counselor will have a clear and complete financial picture of your income, household expenses, existing debt and spending habits. Copies of financial statements – including the debt accounts — will be needed.
The credit counselor helps develop a unique plan that might include a debt management plan, improved budgeting, bankruptcy, or a combination of these. Financial management and educational tools are provided, as well as materials to help clients develop savings and retirement plans.
Finding A Credit Counselor
Finding a credit counselor in your area has never been easier. Start by making a list of member agencies of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies. Next, contact either your state attorney general local consumer protection office to find out whether there have been any complaints filed. You can find information on your state’s regulations by visiting the state pages on our site.
Most agencies will offer an initial meeting at no charge. This meeting usually lasts about one hour, and gives you the opportunity to find out if the agency will be a good fit.
About Nonprofit Agencies
Many credit counseling agencies are nonprofit and typically derive their funding from fees paid by clients, grants from the credit/lending industry and a percentage of the payments made by debtors. Up to 15 percent of what is collected can be returned to the agency. Under IRS guidelines, a non-profit credit counseling agency can only collect up to 50 percent of its revenue from these payments.
How Debt Mediation Gets You Out Of Debt
Debt mediation is a type of debt relief program that involves negotiating with your creditors and debt collectors. It may or may not involve a debt professional to help out. It is another term for debt settlement or debt negotiation and it is quite helpful for people who are facing lawsuits for defaulting on payments.
When you are in a financial crisis, one of the things that you will have difficulty with is paying off your creditors. So what can you do when you are left unable to keep up with your payments? That is quite simple: you aim for debt reduction. This is when debt mediation comes into play.
If you have begun to default on your payments because you are in a financial crisis, you make it worse by not doing anything. But, instead of leaving your debt and trying to ignore it, you will need to put aside some money to grow as your settlement fund. This is what you will use later on when you try to negotiate with the creditors.
As you go on defaulting on your payments, your creditors will start to call you to persuade you to pay your dues. When you reach 90 to 180 days without sending any payments, the creditor will pass on your account to a collections agency. If the collector is not successful in getting you to pay, the chances of you going to court will be higher than ever. But lawsuits are expensive and debt collectors and creditors usually try to avoid them if possible and that is why there is room to mediate.
You have the option to start negotiating with the collector with the settlement fund that you had been growing on the side. You will tell them that you have money but it is not enough to cover the whole balance. You will tell them that you are willing to pay this lump sum amount but they must agree to have the rest of your debt forgiven. This is risky but you can be assured that neither the creditor nor debt collector will be enthusiastic about going to court.
In some cases, you haven’t offered the settlement fund and the collector suddenly files the lawsuit against you. Do not panic because you have 30 days to send your response. There are also instances wherein the lawyer of your creditor/collector will open the settlement negotiations. Either way, you need to be convincing so your creditor will accept your settlement offer. Just do not promise to pay more than what you can really afford. Also, refrain from sending payments unless you have the signed document from the creditor/collector. This document must show that they will forgive the remainder of your debt as soon as you have paid the settlement amount. Now you know the basics of how debt mediation can help you get out of debt.
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There are advantages to using debt consolidation as a means to managing financial strain, but there are also disadvantages to this debt strategy. We will cover much of that today, so you can better decide whether consolidating your credit card bills into a loan is the best option for you.
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Michael Bovee started CRN in 2004 with a mission to provide people in need with detailed credit and debt help. The DebtBytes Channel is an extension of the CRN blog, and is dedicated to finding the debt relief option or strategy that works best for you.
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