Debt Consolidation Settlement

Debt consolidation settlement, also known as debt settlement, debt reduction, and debt negotiation, involves negotiating with creditors to settle their outstanding debts for less than they owe. In some cases, if a program is successfully completed and all the debts are settled, a consumer is able to lower the amount that they owe, while making one affordable payment to the program. For consumers with high credit card debt, it means that they can potentially settle their debt and save money not only off their balances, but also indirectly on interest charges (although interest does accrue until an account is settled) all without using their home as collateral for a loan. Moreover, qualifying for debt settlement consolidation is based mostly on who you owe and what state you live in, it has little to do with your credit history and you do not need a home to get approved.

Many consumers who are seeking debt settlement consolidation are also considering consolidating their debts through a home equity loan. Like most things there are downsides to getting a home equity loan or refinancing your mortgage that must be considered before choosing a solution that's appropriate to your individual situation.  Please keep in mind that the following should not be construed as legal advice.

1. Bear in mind the possibility of foreclosure. If it's even a question whether you'll be able to afford the monthly payment on your debt consolidation loan, then avoid it at all costs. By securing the loan with your property, you could be risking your home when wide array of options are already available to you. On a related note, if your basis for being able to afford the monthly payment rests on things like, "Once I close that big deal at work next month" or "I should get my promotion by then", then you should definitely reconsider. When it comes to debt, remember Murphy's Law: "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." In a debt settlement consolidation, your home is rarely affected, although there are certainly other risks associated with the program.  For more information visit our debt settlement faqs.

2. With a debt consolidation loan it is possible that you are impacting your ability to discharge the debt in a bankruptcy. That is, if something comes up down the road and your income is suddenly reduced, filing bankruptcy may not help since you converted all your unsecured debt into secured debt, and if your mortgage payment is too high as a result of refinancing your former mortgage to pay off credit cards, then in some cases you cannot get relief in bankruptcy and still keep your home (unless it is Chapter 13, in which case you can spread out your missed mortgage payments over the course of the plan, but you must still pay your regular mortgage payment). Moreover, other alternatives like debt settlement and credit counseling will not be available to you. On the other hand, if you had just kept the debt on your credit cards and your income was suddenly reduced, you'd still have bankruptcy, debt settlement, and credit counseling as possible alternatives for reducing the debt and thus been able to protect your home. Once your debt is secured, these other outlets may no longer be available to you.

3. Many consumers that get debt consolidation loans find that several years later they end up in the same situation----buried in high interest credit card debt and only able to afford the minimum payments. The problem lies in the fact that debt consolidation does not address the root of the problem, and therefore, consumers continue to overspend and charge things to their credit cards instead of living on a cash basis. In a lot of cases, debt settlement consolidation helps a consumer to learn to live within their means by forcing them to close all their credit card accounts. If your problems lie mostly from overspending and poor budgeting, then a lot of times our program may be a more appropriate option.

If you would like to learn more, please contact one of our consultants.