Consumer Debt Consolidation

A look into Credit Card Debt Reduction Companies

Hi my name is Stephen Bis and I have been working in the charge card account debt reduction industry for over 10 years now and have been in the financial industry for over 20 years. The reason for me putting up this hub is to give American consumers a heads up on charge card debt reduction companies also known as debt settlement or debt negotiation companies. I will give you the advantages and drawbacks of this process and what to look out for when speaking with a corporation to assist you in getting out of debt. Before I go any further I would like to let you know this will be a pretty long article and by the end of it my goal is to have you completely comprehend how the debt negotiation/settlement method works in case you don’t already know and I would like you to know the tactics of companies out there that don’t truly have your best interest in mind.

For starters I would like to state that the procedure of debt negotiation as your means of credit card debt reduction isn’t for all, some folks are more qualified for bankruptcy and others simply don’t have the right mindset to go forward with this process.

I would like you to first understand what debt negotiation is and how it works. The ultimate goal of a debt negotiator is to obtain a debt settlement for the client on the current debt amount owed to the creditor. So for example you may owe one particular creditor $20,000 so the goal of the negotiator would be to have you end up paying back at most around $12,000. The two primary benefits of going through this process are to save money on what you currently owe the credit card account companies and to save time. By merely paying the minimum payment with even a moderate APR you will be looking at thirty or more years to get out of debt, with a manageable debt negotiation program you will be out of charge card account debt within three years or sooner depending on your current financial situation and how fast you can accumulate the funds to do so.

Now you must realize these are tremendous financial advantages but as with everything in life there are a few downsides, nothing is perfect and this charge card account debt reduction procedure is certainly no different. First off your creditors will not be in a position to negotiate a debt settlement at all if you are current and on time with your minimum payments. They would love for you to stay running on their credit treadmill for the next three decades and pay them back over five times the balance in interest alone. So to be clear the account must be into default first in order to begin the process of negotiations with the charge card account companies. I’m not advocating someone who is perfectly capable of paying to quit paying their bills. This process is really for someone who is already in default or realizes that it’s only a matter of time before they will default.

So naturally for many people the beginning of this procedure will have an adverse effect on their credit rating. For the consumers who are already in a default status then the negative effect will be no different than it already is. It’s sad to say but for some people this will be the one factor that holds them back from going into debt settlement making them a slave to their creditors for the at least the next three decades. But there is good news, this negative effect does not last forever, in fact once the settlements get paid off your credit score will begin to recover and shoot back up. The reason is because over 30% of your credit rating according to Fair Isaac’s MyFICO is based on how much debt you owe. So if you are trapped in a bad debt situation even if you are up to date with your payments your score is more than likely not all that great in the first place; and besides when stuck deep in debt your number one priority should be on how to get out of charge card account debt as soon as you can, not on your ability to accrue future debt.

Now by falling behind on your payments you must realize that these creditors are just not going to leave you alone, they will be calling to attempt to collect the debt. For some people this is not an issue at all, for others it is, that is why I mentioned above this process is not for everybody and the consumer must be in the right mind set. From all my years of helping American consumers there is no rhyme or reason to how many collection calls you will receive, some clients of mine rarely get calls while others get them on a daily basis. Something to keep in mind too is that no organization has the power to legally stop the calls, so any company that tells you they can is flat out lying. Some companies may be able to cut back some of the calls but no one can guarantee them all stopping. As you can see like I said earlier there are advantages and drawbacks, but if you are willing to accept the drawbacks you will be quickly on the road to debt freedom and will save a ton of money in the process. Now to get to why I named this article “charge card debt reduction scams”.

We living in the United States over the last few years have been going through a very bad downswing in our economy. Thus forcing many consumers into compromising positions financially, leaving large sums of Americans riddled with credit card account debt. So understandably this opened up a much bigger marketplace for debt reduction. Many fly by night organizations have been shooting up all over our nation, many of which are ex mortgage lenders who sold people sketchy loans and helped them get into this messy position to begin with. Now I use the word “scam” which can take on a couple of different meanings, while sure there are some companies out there that are flat out scams and have no real intent on doing any work for you at all, most of the times that is not the case. Instead a lot of companies simply don’t offer people all the truths on how debt negotiation works nor do they honestly put them on a plan to succeed, which I will explain more in depth momentarily.

One common problem that many folks have with debt settlement companies is they do not fully disclose to them about how the process is going to work, instead they sugar coat everything and go on about the wonderful benefits. I have spoken with numerous amounts of people who have enrolled with a company and were under the impression that they were going to stay current and be on time with their creditors and will never receive any collection calls. So without needing to mention this became a big problem once they began the program.

Another big problem a lot of these companies have is misleading people into the type of savings they will be receiving on their debts. Some companies will say they can save you 70% of what you currently owe. Now while they may achieve getting settlements that low what their opting not to tell you is how much you will be saving after you have A) paid their service fees, and B) paid back your creditors. Truthful companies will tell you what your true savings will be. If you will save somewhere between 40-50% of what you owe including their fees and paying the creditors than that is pretty darn sweet of a deal. In addition most of these companies will try and guarantee a certain percentage of savings, if you hear this run for the hills. NO one in this industry can guarantee a certain amount that is why it is called DEBT NEGOTIATION! They are negotiating to get a settlement for as low as they can get. With that being said right now some companies are achieving amazing results because of how badly the creditors need cash due to this bad economy. There has never been such an opportune time for consumers who are struggling badly with debt to take advantage of the great savings they could realize from debt settlement. Perhaps being one of the only benefits of this horrible recession.

Then there are the companies who will let you pay whatever you can afford to sign up with their program. These are the most evil because they do not actually have your interest at heart and know they are putting you on a program to fail and not succeed. You must realize to achieve the sort of savings I stated above this process should take no more than three years, preferably two or less, in some rare cases it can be extended to four. And the bottom line is some people realistically cannot afford to get it done in that time schedule and should realistically be looking into a bankruptcy proceeding. What these unprincipled credit card debt reduction companies will do is place you onto a program for 4 or more years and basically take whatever payment you will give them. Knowing full well you are not going to be saving much of any real amount of cash and will more than likely flunk off the program, all they are concerned with is getting the fees and that is it. A sincere company will thoroughly review your finances with you and make sure this is something that you can budget, as well as fully clarify to you both the benefits and drawbacks of doing this. And let you make the conscience choice as to whether this is the best charge card account debt reduction method for your state of affairs.

Another extremely effective way to evaluate a company is to make sure they are registered with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and that they are in good standings with a very little amount of complaints. And if there are complaints make sure they were resolved to the clients liking.

If you do not want to use a financial help company, you can always call your bank. The best credit card companies to deal with in financial hardship situations are Discover cards and Chase credit cards.

The abundance of credit provided to individuals in the 1990’s has created a climate of borrowers present day that are overleveraged, without proper cash flow and sinking jobs and careers.

There are many ways being advertised to get credit card account debt help and relief, but many of them do not work or they provide temporary benefits, but long-term problems.

In the economic climate of today, there are many companies primarily debt consolidation firms that claim to provide services to aid their clients in charge card account debt relief. Here’s how debt consolidation works:

Debt consolidation agencies require clients to go 6-12 months without making payment on their debt. After this time period has elapsed, the agency will contact your creditors and negotiate your debt at a reduced rate. After a settlement has been negotiated, the client is required to make monthly payments to the debt consolidation agency. The amount you pay is based on your new negotiated debt, and is supposed to be less than the amount you would have been paying had you continued paying your monthly credit bills without the debt consolidation plan.

Here’s the problem with debt consolidation agencies:

In order for them to negotiate the lower rates, the debt consolidation agency requires you stop payments in order to leverage their ability to get you a reduced rate. Your creditors are willing to reduce the rate at this point because they are distressed in their attempt to collect your debt, and would much prefer to get something than nothing. The problem with this course of action is that during those 6-12 months you’re not paying your bills, your credit suffers. This can cause APRs on your home and auto loans to increase, as well as auto insurance premium increases.

Debt consolidation is amongst the most popular route many people are mistakenly taking to fix their credit. As stated above the long-term negatives do not outweigh the short-term positives.

If you really want to get credit card account debt help, you need to do one or all of the following:

Negotiate a lower interest rate:

Negotiating a lower interest is one of the easiest and most over-looked options to charge card debt help and relief. If you’ve been responsible about making your monthly payments and have consistently been paying at least double or more of the minimum payment your charge card company will more than likely be willing to negotiate a lower annual percentage rate. There are many agencies that sell this service such as debt consolidation agencies, but they don’t tell you that you can do it on your own.

The primary benefit of a lower APR is that more of your monthly payment is applied to your principle balance as opposed to interest payments therefore allowing you to pay of your credit card account debt faster. If you have charge card account debt in excess of $5,000, negotiating your APR is great because the savings in interest payment will become visible a lot faster due to the amount of your balance.

Balance transfer:

A balance transfer is not an option that is the most responsible, because your essentially “robbing Peter to pay Paul,” however it’s all about numbers. If your credit card account debt is high but your credit score is in the mid to upper 600’s you should be able to obtain more charge card accounts. If this is the case, a balance transfer is a great option for credit cards with high interest rates.

For example, if you have a current charge card with a 23% APR and you can get approved for a credit card with a 10% fixed rate or 0% introductory rate, you could then do a balance transfer and transfer your high interest charge card debt to your new low interest credit card account. You will see your principle balance drastically drop since more of your monthly payment is being applied to the principle.

Non-profit agency representation:

Non-profit agency representation is for individuals in circumstances who were legitimately taken advantage of by a creditor and they can provide proof in the terms and services of the creditors’ statements. This is a far stretch for most people and non-profits are very picky about who they represent since many of these cases do not get awarded in the debtors favor.

Michael Price has gone through the struggles of personal finance and has discovered solutions to many of the biggest problems that cause financial instability. Michael has published a guide to credit card debt help and personal finance. Checkout the guide at: chaoticonformity.com to get information and solutions to your financial wows.

Also, you can try talking to your bank. The best charge card companies to deal with in financial hardship situations are Discover credit cards and Chase credit cards.