Consumer Credit Counseling
When deciding on what strategy to follow in eliminating your debt, inevitably you must consider consumer credit counseling agencies.
These credit counseling agencies are overwhelmingly the most popular choice amongst people in trouble with credit card debt.
These agencies generally are structured as non-profit organizations, and they do often arrange for consolidated payment plans with creditors.
However, before you sign up with one of these agencies, there are several factors that you must consider:
- There is a very high failure rate amongst consumer credit counseling agencies, sometimes approaching 60-75%.
- These programs are growing increasingly expensive, as credit card companies lower the levels of financial support offered to them.
- Most of these agencies claim to be non-profit, yet many are under investigation by the I.R.S. for violations of their non-profit status.
It is true that most debt management counseling agencies were established by the credit card companies themselves, and most still receive some level of financial support from the credit card companies.
We do not see this as some sort of sinister conspiracy, as some might have you believe. Most consumer credit counseling agencies operate independently of credit card companies.
In fact, the problem in recent times has been more one of DECLINING support from credit card companies, which has lead to increasing fees charged by these agencies.
However, there are still certain problems inherent with these consumer credit counseling agencies that lead to the high failure rate of these programs.
While there might well be good reason to be somewhat cautious when considering consumer credit and debt counseling agencies, there is no denying that many people have found debt relief through these programs.
These consumer credit counseling agencies tend to be beneficial if you are in debt due to short-term circumstances, such as a sudden layoff or medical condition.
Again, before you decide on a method to get out of debt, continue reading and learn about all the methods available to you.
Click here to read about DEBT CONSOLIDATION.