Three Tips for Receiving the Best Debt Counseling
Once the decision has been made to pursue debt counseling, the next step is choosing an agency to help you become debt free. It is important to understand that all debt counseling agencies are NOT created equally.
While some truly to have the best interest of their clients in mind, others are out solely to make money, and often do so at the expense of further damage to the credit scores of the people who looked to them for help.
Below are three tips for receiving the best debt counseling possible.
Meet In Person
Many people receive calls from debt counseling services that claim to want to help you with your debt. They say that you can provide all of your information over the phone and can be put on a plan without ever leaving the comfort of your home. Don’t do it.
You need to meet the counselor that you will be working with in person. There are simply too many scams that use promises of debt counseling to gain access to your information. Often, they will take your money and never pay a dime to any of your creditors. By the time you realize what is happening, it’s too late. They have taken your money and disappeared.
That is not to say that if you meet in person that it is guaranteed to be legitimate, but the odds are, at least, more in your favor.
When you meet, you should pay attention to how you are being treated. If you are being pressured to sign up, it might be time to look elsewhere. Debt counselors who have your best interest in mind will understand what a big decision you are making, and will want you to take time to think about it if you are not 100% sure that this is what you want to do.
Rather than talking only about the plus side of going through debt counselor, a reputable agency will also point out the possible negative aspects, such as being unable to obtain new credit and taking a big hit on your credit score.
Check the Better Business Bureau
If there is even one substantiated complaint against the debt counseling agency that you are considering, run the other way. This is just too important to take chances, and if they had a problem with someone else, they could easily have a problem with you.
If an agency is a member of the Better Business Bureau, that is even better.
In addition to checking the Better Business Bureau, you should also check ask for references of past clients. Call them and ask if all of the promises that were made were kept.
Type the name of the agency into a popular search engine to see if you get any hits. Often, if an agency fails to please its clients, forums will pop up on which the former clients will vent their frustration. If you find anything like that online, you should take it seriously. Do not allow a counselor to explain it away. If ten people are online saying there is a problem, there is a good chance that there really is a problem
Be Honest
When you go through debt counseling, you will have to agree to stop using all of the credit cards that you include in the program. Some people try to beat the system by hanging on to one or two credit cards. Doing this defeats the whole purpose of going to debt counseling, and it shows that the client is not really serious about getting out of debt.
If you are not ready to be completely honest, then you probably are not ready for debt counseling .To receive the best debt counseling – and the best results from that counseling – you must include all of your credit cards in the program.
Also, a good agency is going to provide tips and advice about your budget in general. While it is certainly your choice, to make the most of the debt counseling, it is a good idea to heed that advice.
Remember, the counselor is there to help you, and is trained in helping people get out of debt. If you went to debt counseling it is because you felt like you were trouble, so let them help you.
Use the above tips to make sure that the debt counseling service that you choose will help you rather than making your situation even worse.
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