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Consumer
Credit Counseling Services
Living from payday to payday can be extremely difficult.
Whether it’s because of outstanding credit card
debt, student loans, automobile notes, or tons of other
reasons. In these situations it can be extremely hard
to set up and maintain a working budget. Ideally, non-profit
consumer credit counseling organizations are there to
help out in times of need. Realistically, in addition
to the legitimate organizations, there are a lot of
fraudulent companies offering to help consumers out
through credit counseling. In these cases just because
an organization claims to be non-profit, that does not
guarantee it offers free services. Most of the time
these services can be extremely expensive and can even
sue the consumer or take leans out on their homes if
payments are not given.
There are a few simple tips to keep in
mind when looking for a legitimate consumer credit counseling
service. First, always try to go through local services.
While most companies only offer phone and internet advisors,
there are some who use local universities, military
bases, and credit unions for local advisors. Inquiring
about organizations legitimacy can also be done through
your financial institution, friends and family. Secondly,
always keep in mind that reputable organizations staff
certified counselors that offer you free information,
advise on how to manage dept, and help to set up a maintainable
working budget. These legitimate institutions will help
you develop a personal plan to solve you financial crisis.
Most first sessions last a little over one hour, offering
follow up consultations. Most importantly, a reputable
service will send you free information about their organization.
They should also not ask you to disclose any personal
information in the first session.
Here are some additional tips to avoiding
illegitimate consumer credit counseling services (CCCS).
• Check to see if the company offers a wide range
of services and solutions. Also, ask for free information
on the organization and its services. All legitimate
companies will have these things available.
• Make sure that the organization in question
is authorized to operate in your home state. You can
do this by calling your state attorney generals office
or the local consumer protection agency.
• Inquire as to whether or not the company will
help you set up a financial plan to avoid future problems
in addition to solving the current situation.
• What are the organizations fees? Always ask
this question in addition to checking if there is set-up
or monthly fees charged to the consumer.
• You must always have a formal written agreement
with the company. This is something you should read
over very carefully because you can often recognize
illegitimate operations from the contracts they send
out.
There can be a light at the end of the tunnel. Legitimate
operations help working people out of financial depression
everyday. These consumer counseling services can work
for you as well, as long as you take the time to research
and check up on all possible services.
Quick Reference Note: Comsumer Credit Counseling Services
is also known as CCCS.
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