Consumer credit counseling or credit counseling is a booming business but you do not need expensive advice from a stranger to tell you what your problems are.
You already know you are a victim of a depression and out of money! It doesn't take a genius, certified counselor to tell you you're the victim of a "pink slip hurricane" produced by a depression which was initiated by greedy big banking schemes and other big money institutions that rewarded top executives millions in bonuses for devising their worthless schemes.
Some high paid counselor is going to tell you they will provide high quality, certified help to design a debt management program that will lower payments, percentage rates, provide financial education and here is the best part of all, find you a debt consolidation loan! In simplified terms they are going to ask you to "rob Peter to pay Paul" or to just keep paying "Paul" by sending them the money, adding their 15% handling fee and they will send your money in for you to make sure you are doing it.
Wow! The "can of worms" they're trying to sell you is way out of date.
Everybody knows you cannot borrow yourself out of debt.
You cannot make the payments now so how are you going to make them when they add their 15% fee to the debt they've negotiated down to 60% for you? Stop paying your credit card debt and stop worrying about it! You'll have six months with a few late payment reminders before the bank is required to "write off" your account.
Use those months to familiarize yourself with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
The FDCPA is Uncle Sam's consumer credit counseling manual available totally "for free" on the Internet.
The manual will tell you what you "can do" and what debt collectors "cannot" do.
There are two main points to memorize to become your own credit counselor.
The first is "never give a debt collector any information over the phone" and accomplish that task by telling the collector to "communicate with me in writing only" and hang up the phone.
The only way a collector can coerce money from you is by your "admission" that you actually owe him money and you do not! The second thing you absolutely must do is to answer any collection letters.
You must "demand proof" from the collector that you owe him anything.
Send a copy of his letter with your demand by registered mail with return receipt and keep a record of that communication.
When you do not answer a debt collector's letter by demanding proof that you owe him money, the "wording" in his letter is legally designed so that you "admit" you owe him money if "you do not answer" his letter and his recorded phone communication is designed to get your "verbal" admission.
There are two other interesting things you may not have realized that you've learned.
You'll probably have enough knowledge to pass the "certification" test to become a consumer credit counselor if you like being nice to people and putting them into programs with a 90% failure rate.
The second thing you will have learned is how to become a debt collector, that is if you enjoy being mean to people on the phone and harassing them constantly but as Forest Gump says "that's all I got to say about that.
" The important thing is that you know how to get out debt.