Do You Need a Credit Counselor or a Debt Negotiator?

San Diego, CA.

The growing number of credit and debt counselors, both non-for-profit and for profit groups, encouraging consumers to use their services, in a variety of medias and formats, is an alarming indicator of the great amount of short term debt Americans have accumulated.

Indebted consumers are having to choose between competing groups of counselors offering a variety of counseling options from a face-to-face encounter, or telephone and internet counseling services. Now they must decide whether or not they should use an accredited, nonprofit consumer credit counselor or a debt negotiator.

The more established consumer credit counselors, funded in part by the creditors, encourage consumers to make every effort to pay their debts. With the help of a certified counselor, who seeks reductions in interest charges and payments as part of an overall plan to pay off the debt, consumers avoid bankruptcy and certain ruin of one's credit standing for the next ten years.

Debt negotiators, on the other hand, promote their services to reduce, sometimes by up to 70 percent, a consumer's debts and pay them off. The latter approach, while avoiding bankruptcy, will leave many charge-off's on one's credit file, which, to other creditors, and future potential lenders, looks just as bad as a bankruptcy.

Also, in order to take advantage of debt negotiation, consumers must have the cash on hand to pay off the reduced debt and pay the hefty fees for the negotiation services. Debt amounts written off may also cause problems for consumers with the Internal Revenue Service, because the amount of debt that is forgiven may be viewed as income to the borrower.

The following 20 signs indicate that you might need the help of a certified credit counselor and not a debt-negotiator.

1. "I don't know the total amount of my debts and obligations"
2. "It is very difficult for me to save any money at all."
3. "It seems to be a paycheck to paycheck life-style."
4. "There have been occasions when I have paid late charges on a loan."
5. "I have paid only the minimum on revolving charge accounts."
6. "I have used (or plan to use) a consolidation loan to pay my bills."
7. "I have argued with a spouse over finances."
8. "An increased percentage of my income is being used to pay my bills."
9. "I have approached or about to reach my credit limits."
10. "I have received calls from a collection agency at both work and home.
11. "I have been threatened with repossession of my car or credit cards."
12. "I have put off medical or dental visits for financial reasons."
13. "I have reached a point where I would be in immediate financial difficulty should I have an interruption in or suspension of my income."
14. "I am not properly insured with my motor vehicle because of financial troubles."
15. "I am behind on my child support other court ordered payments."
16. "I am afraid to add up my debts."
17. "I have had a financial institution close my checking account because of too many non-sufficient funds checks were presented."
18. "I have lost check writing privileges at some merchants I shop with, because of non-sufficient funds checks."
19. "I am unable to obtain needed credit due to my credit report."
20. "I have been turned down for an apartment or home mortgage based on my finances."

If you have answered "yes" for any of these twenty statements, you may need to visit with a certified credit counselor with a bona fide, nonprofit, accredited, consumer credit counseling service.

©  Paul Richard, RFC and the Institute for Consumer Financial Education. All rights reserved.