Credit counseling - Get in line now and avoid the bankruptcy rush

[ Bookmark this page! ] [ get HTML Version ]

Credit counseling services are opening up at a rapid rate. Credit counselors can help you avoid bankruptcy. They can look at your debt levels, understand your debt concerns and provide debt relief as they have done for hundreds of their clients. With the new bankruptcy law, credit counseling is now made mandatory. Yes, mandatory! However, credit counseling has its own set of advantages. For one, a credit counselor will work with you and educate you about budgeting, money management and managing your finances. Credit counseling companies hire credit counselors who work for you, the client, in providing credit counseling services you have been looking for. So if debt has you worried, take help and advise from a good credit counselor in your neighborhood.



Bad credit debt consolidation - Your options to reduce debt with poor credit
To reduce your debt with a poor credit history, you have several options. While none will solve your credit problems overnight, they can help you get on better financial ground. A debt consolidation loan can help you reduce your monthly payments, while lowering interest rates. A debt consolidation program services your debt and negotiates lower interest rates. The final option of debt settlement o... Read debt consolidation article



Credit counseling - Get in line now and avoid the bankruptcy rush
Credit counseling is a valuable service for consumers who have trouble managing their finances. A distinctly different service from debt consolidation, credit counseling assists consumers with problem debt by educating them about the basics of money management. Americans really don't get the education they need about how to manage bank accounts, balance checkbooks, or pay bills on time, and credit counseling can provide these services as well as others. By educating consumers, counselors hope to reduce the number of debtors who are forced to file for bankruptcy. Anyone whose financial situation is such that they would benefit from credit counseling may wish to seek it out in a hurry, however. A number of different factors are coming together in such a way that the counseling industry may soon be completely swamped with more clients than it can handle.
v Recently passed bankruptcy legislation, designed to reduce the number of consumer bankruptcy filings, will now make credit counseling mandatory as a prerequisite for a bankruptcy petition. Anyone who wishes to file for bankruptcy relief must first demonstrate that he or she has undergone credit counseling during the past six months. By requiring counseling as a condition of debt relief, Congress hopes to reduce or eliminate repeat filers. The counseling industry is preparing for the additional customers now, as the new law is set to take effect in October 2005.

Other factors will weigh heavily on the counseling industry, however. A 2003 law passed by Congress requires credit card companies to raise their minimum payments so that their customers can repay their balances more quickly. This has resulted in the near-doubling of minimum payments, and the average American household, which has a credit card balance of $10,000, will see their minimum monthly payment rise from $200 to $400. Since many households can only afford the minimum payment now, the hike in the minimum due may drive more Americans into counseling and bankruptcy.

The increased reliance upon interest-only mortgages and low-interest adjustable rate mortgages could be a factor, too, if home prices either fall or fail to increase as they have. The sky-high prices in many markets have led homebuyers to purchase more homes than they can really afford, often using mortgages that are themselves riskier than the traditional 30-year loan. Should interest rates rise or housing prices fall, tens of thousands of homeowners will find themselves with loans that either exceed the value of the home or are unaffordable.

Those in the credit counseling industry say that this is a critical time, and the combination of new laws, fragile markets, and credit card industry overhaul could push a number of consumers towards bankruptcy and mandatory counseling. Anyone with problem debt who might benefit from counseling should consider doing so sooner, rather than later, as qualified credit counselors may be quite busy this fall.

©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing.

Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including End-Your-Debt.com, a site devoted to personal bankruptcy, debt consolidation and credit counseling, and HomeEquityHelp.com, a site devoted to information regarding mortgages and home equity loans.

What do you want to do?
Bookmark this page before you lose it
Search this site for FREE information
Help spread the word. E-mail this page to a friend

Debt consolidation - Tips for trading in your car

The automobile has long been recognized as the classic American status symbol. America's millions of miles of roads and overall lack of long-distance mass transit leave the automobile as the primary method of transportation for most Americans. Because so many people spend so much time in their cars, they often use them to make a personality statement. The car is an extension of the driver. Unfortunately, the debt incurred to pay a car is also often an extension of the driver's own financial problems.

Recent statistics show that the average auto loan is issued for 101% of the purchase price. How can that be? It turns out that many Americans, in their desire to maintain status, usually trade their cars in for a new one while they still owe money on it. The high rate of depreciation on new cars means that consumers often owe more money on their auto loans than their cars are worth, and they make the situation worse by trading in that car on a new one while still owing money on the old one. They simply consolidate the balance of the old loan with the principal of the new loan.

Auto manufacturers hit us with a constant barrage of advertising for the latest and greatest models of cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles, along with their latest sales techniques of rebates, discounts and add-ons. Consumers often trade keep their cars only until the desire for another one comes along and then head out to the dealership to trade the old one in. This is usually done without any regard for how much money is owed on the existing vehicle, leading to the consolidation loan that adds the unpaid balance from the old loan to the new one.

It isn't smart to owe more money on a car than it is worth. Cars are generally insured for the replacement value of the vehicle. If you purchase a car and roll $5000 of debt from the previous vehicle into the new loan, you are now driving a car that is not only worth less than you owe, but is also insured for less than you owe. Should you find yourself in an accident, you'll have a wrecked car and a heavy debt, which is not a good combination.

Here are some tips for avoiding this scenario:

Keep your loan term short. If you have to finance that BMW for eight years in order to keep the payments affordable, you should probably be shopping for a Dodge instead. Auto loans that exceed five years are generally unwise unless you're sure that you'll keep the car for at least that long.

Make a larger down payment when you buy. The less you borrow, the less you'll owe several years down the road.

Keep your car until it has been paid off. This one is obvious, but few people actually do it. The least expensive way to own a car is to simply keep it until it won't run anymore. If you keep the car longer than the loan period, put the amount of your payment aside each month to save as a down payment for the next one.

When you make a decision to purchase a car, consider the length of the loan carefully. Most cars lose more than half of their value in five years or less. Try to keep your loan duration as short as possible. An automobile is a valuable tool to own, but it shouldn't own you.

©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing.

Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including End-Your-Debt.com, a site devoted to personal bankruptcy, debt consolidation and credit counseling, and HomeEquityHelp.com, a site devoted to information regarding mortgages and home equity loans.


Top rated articles for debt consolidation

1. Debt and Bankruptcy - Credit card payments almost doubled
As we move closer and closer to the final implementation of the Bankruptcy Reform Act, many US citizens are making a mad dash to their local attorney's office. Rightfully so, as the Bankruptcy Reform ... Read debt consolidation article

2. How to get rid of your credit card debt
Did you get an easy credit card in college? Or, are you someone who got one for the convenience of being able to pay without cash? Not aware of other easy ways to borrow money? Millions of ... Read debt consolidation article

3. Different ways to repair bad credit
If you are looking for ways to repair bad credit you are like thousands of people in America that want a solution to bad credit problems. The good news is you can repair bad credit yourself and raise ... Read debt consolidation article

4. Debt Reduction - Radical Solutions
Are you in debt? Have you run out of options? There are solutions out there, some radical, but one or more may be what you need to help you get out of debt.

1. Bankruptcy. Yes, bankruptcy i... Read debt consolidation article

5. Get Out of Debt - A Teacher Takes Responsibility
I teach second grade. I wouldn't trade this job in for the world. As a kid when I read the book a Wrinkle In Time I couldn't believe by reading I could travel through time and be transplanted somewher... Read debt consolidation article

6. Unsecured Consolidation Loans - A Dependable Option
Are you stuck in debts that have outgrown your financial capacity? Then it is time for consolidation of loans. If you are not likely to offer security for consolidation loans then your search should s... Read debt consolidation article

7. Debt - Take control of your finances
Financial worries can add to the stress levels of individuals. For many families it can become one of the biggest sources of disagreements and tension. The most common financial concern is that the mo... Read debt consolidation article

8. Should You Pay Off Your Debt
You've made a commitment to change your spending habits. You have a budget and you are working on getting out of debt and building up some savings. You just received a bonus at work. What do you do wi... Read debt consolidation article

9. Get out of debt secrets
Many people dread the task of building a budget because they view it as overwhelming and frustrating. But it will make the job easier if you look at it in another way; the only way to financial freedo... Read debt consolidation article

10. Change jars - A novel way to get rid of debt
Many people have trouble budgeting - they get into debt, and they just can't find a place that they can cut out the spending. If you're having trouble doing this yourself, consider a "change jar." Get... Read debt consolidation article

1. Reduce debt consolidation loan into one monthly payment
2. What is a stafford loan consolidation
3. Debt Consolidation Lenders to Reduce Debts
4. Decrease Debt - Top 10 Ways
5. When Debt Collectors Keep Calling
6. Credit Card Debt Management
7. Debt Counseling - Clearing Debt Load
8. Debt consolidation - How to REVERSE Your Debts
9. Consolidation loans - How to get a debt consolidation loan
10. Get out of Credit Card Debt Using Self Help Techniques

Debt consolidation, debt counseling and debt management in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi,



Credit counseling - Get in line now and avoid the bankruptcy rush
Debt consolidation, debt counseling and debt management services in Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania,

Debt management, debt counseling and debt consolidation in Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.