The information is for people who have trouble paying their bills on time, making the minimum debt payments or having skyrocketing interest rates on credit cards. In other words no matter what they have done they still cannot make a dent in paying their debt. This is the time to get some professional help from reputable non profit credit counseling service. The point here is finding not only reputable non profit credit counseling service but one who is also “trustworthy and provides honesty”. Let us take a look at what organizations or counselors can do to help individuals with overwhelming debt problems. This information is only about non profit credit counseling not about for-profit debt settlements companies.
Finding Nonprofit Debt Consumer Websites
This is important in finding a company who is highly regarded with educated and licensed staff that deals with individual’s owing a considerable amount of money. The company also needs to have a joint membership with companies that deal with debt problems. As well as having staff that can refer people to a debt specialist who can work with them from their local area in person, online at their website or by phone.
When people are considering a debt specialist it is vital to compare each company before making any commitment. The websites below can help them make an intelligent choice.
*The websites are accredited by the (BBB) / Better Business Bureau and have listed for individual’s to use toll free phone numbers.
Free Debt Counseling Session
The non profit credit counseling analyst will work with the individual for at least an hour to an hour –in-a-half so they can review the overall financial status for free. Unfortunately in life nothing is totally free. There may be a small upfront fee by the company and it is usually less than $100.The debt specialist may ask several personal questions about the amount of debt to open up the meeting as a way to break the ice and understand the person’s financial situation. They will most likely ask the person this question, “What brings you to our nonprofit business today?” Once the initial session starts the counselor will look at the financial records including what they earn and their expenses. The next step is to see how much debt they may have along with the interest rate, wasting money in late fees and over-the-limit fees. A first rate debt counselor will look where their money is being spent, make recommendations as well as evaluate to see if they can possibly get out of debt. The specialist will show them how put a debt management plan into place, where they need to cut back and finally learn to save money within their spending means.
- Debt Management Plan (DMP) is a payment plan which is negotiated by the credit card companies along with the non profit credit counseling service to get the person on the right track with getting the client out of the debt cycle. The D.M.P. is there to do the following for a client:
- Provide a five-year plan to get the debt paid off completely.
- It will lower the interest rate on credit cards or unsecured debt that is less than 10%. In many cases, credit card companies will lower the rate to a 0 percent interest that is if the bills are paid on time.
- It ends the over-the-limit fees and annual credit cards fees
- It may waive any late fees on credit cards.
- The nonprofit organization then pays the bills once they have the money. As a result of payment, they will show proof of the debt being paid to their client and that as a result their debt is going in a downward status.
- They may be asked to sign a D.M.P. agreement to make the plan binding and terms official. In any case it is important to read all the information in detail, ask any questions and make sure that everything is understood before signing it.
- The credit card company may or may not report that the account is on a D.M.P. to the necessary credit bureaus which in the long term will affect the overall credit score.
A First Rate Nonprofit Credit Service Will Not Do
It is important to note that any nonprofit counseling service company is there to help and hopefully not confuse the client. Below are the following services that they will not do if they are legitimate nonprofit debt companies.
- They will not pressure the client to sign up
- There should not be a huge sign up fee. On the average the sign-up cost for a nonprofit credit organization is $75 or less.
- They will not recommend a D.M.P. first before they look over the client’s complete financial history.
- There will be no huge fee charged on a monthly basis for the nonprofit consumer counselor service. The cost for this service is approximately $50 or less.
- They will not tell the client that they will sue any of the credit card companies on the client’s behalf.
- They will not tell the client’s at any time to stop paying on their credit card debt or other debt where the counselor can negotiate a better deal for them.
There are two forms of debt that people need to know the difference about; they are secured debit and unsecured debt, in other words credit card debt.