Living with a large amount of credit card debt or personal loans can be incredibly stressful. From trying to keep up with payments to never knowing when you’ll have financial stability, too much debt can make life miserable. Fortunately, debt relief consolidation services offer a solution for getting out of debt.
Debt Relief Consolidation And Eliminating Debt
In debt relief consolidation, you work with a debt management company to combine all the money you owe into a single lump sum. This allows you to make one payment per month instead of many payments to multiple creditors. A debt management company may also be able to work with creditors to reduce the amount you owe or the interest rates on loans and credit cards.
The debt relief consolidation plans at ACCC are designed to address the needs of your specific financial situation. Here’s how it works:
- First, we’ll perform a detailed evaluation of your finances, including your debts, expenses and income.
- Then we’ll help you create a workable budget to pay off your debts, usually within five years.
- Next, in the debt relief consolidation phase, we’ll pool all of your debts, consolidating credit cards, personal loans, and other unsecured debts. You can make one payment to us each month. ACCC will disburse payments to creditors on your behalf.
- We’ll also communicate with your creditors and work for a possible reduction in interest rates on your loans and credit cards, elimination of late fees and over-limit charges, and a reduction in the amount of time it will take to pay off your debts.
Additionally, ACCC offers a broad range of educational resources on our website and through newsletters and self-directed studies. You can learn more about credit card debt consolidation loans, creating budgets, credit scores and more.
Not all debt relief programs are created equally.
There are many companies out there that call themselves “debt relief” or “debt settlement” companies that will tell you they can consolidate your debt. This may sound similar to ACCC, but their methods will hurt your finances in the long-run. Whereas ACCC and other reputable credit counseling agencies have non-profit status, debt settlement companies are for profit companies. Their fees are often higher than nonprofit credit counseling agencies, and settling debt for less than the principal amount you owe will cause your credit score to drop. Additionally, whatever amount of the debt you don’t pay through settling can be considered income by the IRS, and you can be taxed on it.
Before you start a debt relief consolidation program, do your research on the company first! Making sure the company is a reputable nonprofit credit counseling agency could mean the difference between successfully paying off your debt and digging yourself into a deeper hole.
If you’re struggling to pay off debt, ACCC can help. Schedule a free credit counseling session with us today.