The dangers of debt settlement services.
You’ve probably seen the ads for debt settlement services that promise to help you get out of debt by paying only a fraction of what you owe. When you’re so deep in debt that you can’t see any way out and you’ve got debt recovery agents breathing down your neck, these kinds of debt settlement services sound pretty appealing.
But debt settlement services can be a nightmare if you don’t know what to look for in a debt settlement program. You can actually end up with more debt – including bills to the IRS – and a credit rating that’s completely trashed.
Before entering an agreement for debt settlement services, it’s important to get solid debt settlement advice from a professional credit counselor. For access to free credit counseling from a non-profit agency, contact American Consumer Credit Counseling (ACCC).
Learn more about debt settlement services with ACCC.
At ACCC, we’re dedicated to helping consumers pay off debts and stay out of debt for good. In addition to free credit counseling, we offer low-cost debt management services and a wealth of educational resources to help you take control of your finances and manage your money more effectively.
What is credit counseling with ACCC like? During your free counseling session, our highly trained and certified credit counselors will analyze your finances and present you with a complete evaluation of your situation. We’ll go over all the options for paying down your debt – from debt settlement services to debt consolidation arrangements to bankruptcy and more – and we’ll help you choose the right strategy based on your needs and financial goals. Most importantly, we’ll work with you and support you every step of the way on your journey out of debt.
Debt management: an alternative to debt settlement services.
For clients who are interested in getting out of debt fast, we often recommend a debt management plan over debt settlement services. Most of our clients that use a debt management plan have been able to achieve unsecured debt relief within five years.
It’s a simple proposition: we consolidate all the payments you make each month to your creditors – on credit cards, loans, and other unsecured debt – and you make one payment to us instead. We in turn pay each of your creditors for you. We make sure that payments are on time, and we work to get reductions in interest rates and finance charges, and to stop late payment fees and over-limit fees. This way, we help reduce the total amount you have to pay to get out of debt, while preserving your credit rating and avoiding IRS bills. It’s a strategy that has helped thousands of our clients become debt free.
