Considering debt settlement solutions? Do your homework first.
When you owe a lot of money on your credit cards, debt settlement solutions can seem pretty attractive. You may have seen advertisements about debt settlement services that promise to pay off your debt for pennies on the dollar. But before you sign up with a debt settlement solutions company, it’s good to dig a little deeper and understand exactly how debt settlement solutions work – and what the risks are for you.
Debt settlement solutions can pay off for some consumers. But for many others, debt settlement can mean more debt, big tax bills, and credit problems that can take years to resolve. Before committing to a debt settlement program, talk to the professional credit counselors at American Consumer Credit Counseling (ACCC) about your situation, and about all the options you have for reducing credit card debt.
Get free advice on debt settlement solutions.
ACCC is a non-profit organization – our mission is to help consumers take control of their finances, pay off their credit cards, and learn to live life free of debt. To that end, we offer free credit counseling sessions and low-cost debt management services, helping you make a debt reduction plan for paying off credit card debt and getting out of debt once and for all.
In your free credit counseling sessions, our certified credit counselors will analyze your income, expenses, savings, and debt to get a clear picture of where you stand financially. Then they’ll lay out all of the debt solutions available to you. They’ll offer debt settlement advice, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of credit card consolidation plans, and help you select the right strategy for paying down your debt, according to your financial goals.
Debt management vs. debt settlement solutions.
Many of our clients who initially consider debt settlement solutions decide to go with a debt management plan instead. In a debt management plan, you consolidate all your debt payments and make just one payment each month to us. We’re responsible then for making payments to your creditors on time. We also contact your creditors to seek reductions in interest rates and finance charges, and late fees and over-limit fees.
Opposed to debt settlement solutions, your creditors will continue to get paid. And because we’re a non-profit company, we charge very little for our services – unlike the for-profit debt settlement solutions companies. Many of our clients have been able to pay off their debt within five years using our debt management solutions.
