Credit Counseling Agencies – How a Credit Counseling Agency Can Lower Your Monthly Payments

When you’re trying to pay down your debt sometimes going to the right high caliber outside agency will actually lower your debt and lower your monthly payments. Nowadays many people go to a credit counseling service for this help. A credit counseling agency can help you if you have a large amount of outstanding debts.But you must do a thorough check on any agency you are considering because unfortunately a lot of unscrupulous agencies have sprung up whose sole business purpose is to take advantage of people in need. There are a number of ways to find legitimate credit counseling agencies.The first thing would be to go on the Internet to the National Foundation For Credit. Pick one of their member agencies. They’re certified by the NFCC and they’re non-profit. Being a non-profit credit counseling agency does not necessarily guarantee that they are legitimate, but it’s a good place to begin. When you get in touch with a credit counseling agency they’ll make an appointment for you to bring in lists of your income (if any), assets, and expenses along with any letters you have from all the people you owe money to.The goal of a legitimate agency is to negotiate lower interest rates as well as lower you monthly payments. The goal of a bogus agency is to separate you from your money. Legitimate credit counseling agencies might be able to negotiate lump sum payoffs that are less than the total that you owe. Keep in mind that if you go this route it will be noted on your credit report – and that will lower your credit score.However, at this point in time your credit is probably challenged anyway. So doing this can make life easier for you and ultimately put you back on the road to a better credit rating.How It WorksYou’ll pay the credit counseling agency a small monthly setup fee and perhaps an additional fee for each account that you owe money to. In return they will contact your creditors and negotiate lower monthly payments. For example, if you’re paying off five bills and they charge $5 each, that comes to $25 per day. You would give a check to the agency and they will pay these creditors.The Advantages of Using A Credit Counseling AgencyYour major advantage is that they can often negotiate lower interest rates and lower fees than you’d be able to on your own. That doesn’t mean that you should blindly accept their advice. Look carefully at the plan they are proposing. See if it makes sense. If their plan doesn’t look like it will save you money or help you to pay off your debt sooner don’t feel pressured to do it.Also, because there are so many bogus credit counseling agencies, most people do considerably more research into a company’s background before they sign an agreement with the one they want to represent them.

» Tags:

Comments are closed.