Many consumers are turning to credit counseling for financial solace. Credit counseling has helped many consumers become debt free. Of late, credit counseling has earned a bit of negative publicity. However, one cannot come to a conclusion by seeing irregularities in just a couple of credit counseling companies. There are genuine credit counselors too. The article below highlights certain aspects of the same.
Credit counseling is the process by which consumers are made aware of the consequences that they may face should they mismanage their finances. The main objective of credit counseling is to help out consumers get out of debt through reduced rate of interest and careful budgeting. Rate of interest is reduced by negotiating with the creditors.
Credit counseling is offered by companies as an efficient tool for financial planning. An efficient credit counselor will assess the current financial situation of a debtor and work out for the best possible solution for debt reduction.
The following instances may drive you to opt for credit counseling-
It has been observed in majority of the cases that under the following circumstances, consumers choose a credit counseling session.
Fees charged for credit counseling-
Usually, the fees charged by a credit counseling company depend mainly on the income of the consumer. Fees comprise a monthly fees as well as a start up fees. As per industry standards, the fees charged by a credit counseling company cannot exceed 20% of the monthly income of the consumer.
The credit counseling industry is booming-
The credit counseling industry is currently a USD$7 billion industry. Over the years, the industry has grown by leaps and bounds. Earlier, there used to be very few credit counseling companies offering quality services to the people. With increase in the number of the credit counselors, fraudulent activities have also become rampant.
Credit counseling has earned some unfavorable judgment-
Reports have suggested that there are many companies who “fly-by-night” and leave individuals lamenting. In fact, the FTC or the Federal Trade Commission has received innumerable complaints against such fraudulent companies. These may be regarded as some of the reasons why not all consumers rely on credit counseling. There have been many instances when consumers either had to drop out of credit counseling sessions or were cheated off their money.
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