Which Credit Counselor Is Right For You

2006-01-19

Ever called a credit counselor, if so beware. The government as now made it law that if you make the decision to file for bankruptcy, it is required that you have credit counseling. The government has come out with its first list of approved counselors. This means more customers and a way to get you to spend money for help to get out of debt. These days all it takes is about $2,500 and in about two weeks and agency can be up and running.

These agencies are getting more and more anciouse to become part of the government’s list of counselors. If you are looking to get out of debt, do not let the list fool you into thinking that it is the perfect way out. As of last year most of these agencies were not so good in the eyes of a senate committee who said that problems with customer service, outrageous fees, and basically leaving the person in more debt than they were before they acquired a counselor. Over $170 Million dollars in fines have been paid by some of the largest credit counseling agencies in the business for basically ripping off customers.

Counselors help people with their debt by charging up to 15% of their payments each month. Credit card companies pay the counselors a fee for doing this. Some would say that this is conflicting because the counselor’s incentive to help you is reduced. An easy way to fix this is just to do it yourself; you can bug the credit card companies just as easy as the counselor can. You can let them know that you are seriously thinking of switching cards could sway them to drop your interest rates a point or so. Make your payments on time and odds are they will drop more.

Plan out your money to make sure that your get out of debt goal is being met every month. If you still want to try a counselor, take advantage of a free consult. You will see that when its over you can gather some good tips without paying a dime for that outrageous debt plan. If you still have a doubt about the way you’re doing it check with the government’s list. You may also want to make sure that the firm you choose at least is accredited in some way. There is also the better business bureau for some good tips. Follow some of these tips and you can be on your way to being debt free.

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