Despite the state’s tourist-friendly weather and dynamic, tech-savvy workforce, California’s economy isn’t doing so well. In fact, things are downright ugly in the Golden State: With an unemployment rate of nearly 10 percent and a poverty rate that’s well above the national average, California has some serious issues.
What’s more, the so-called economic recovery has benefited the sprawling state in an uneven manner. In parts of California’s agriculture-dominated Central Valley, the local unemployment rate is a staggering 25 to 30 percent. Meanwhile, wealthy folks in Hollywood and Silicon Valley continue to go about their business without much concern.
All of this economic turmoil has contributed to a serious personal debt crisis. In the aftermath of a housing bust that left millions of Californian homeowners holding “underwater” mortgages, credit card and business debt has risen at an unprecedented rate.
California Debt Consolidation Programs
If you’re struggling to pay down your mounting consumer debts, you can seek relief in several places. By acting quickly, you might be able to save yourself thousands of dollars in out-year interest charges and avoid foreclosure or bankruptcy.
California Debt Consolidation Loans
If you can’t seem to make headway on your credit card bills or other unsecured debts, a CA debt consolidation loan may be able to help. Issued by a wide variety of mainstream and niche lenders with operational bases in the great state of California, these loans are designed to pay off your outstanding debts and consolidate your obligations into a single easy-to-understand loan.
Once you take out a consolidation loan in California, you’ll be absolved of any future obligations to your former creditors. Instead, you’ll be asked to make a single monthly payment to your debt consolidation lender.
If this sounds convenient, that’s because it is. However, California debt consolidation loans come with a few key drawbacks. For starters, they typically aren’t offered to borrowers who have mediocre or poor credit. They might also carry high interest rates. Worse, a consolidation loan default can wreak havoc on your credit profile.
California Debt Management Plans
Many credit counselors offer focused California debt management plans that have the power to reorder your entire household budget. When you enlist in a debt management program, your credit counselor will review your household budget and draw up a money-saving plan that trims your obligations without sacrificing your quality of life.
Your credit counselor will also negotiate with each of your creditors in an effort to reduce your outstanding interest rates. The exact amount that you’ll save as a result of these negotiations will depend upon your counselor’s persistence as well as your creditors’ willingness to negotiate. However, it’s possible that your California debt management plan will reduce the high interest rates on your existing credit card bills by a substantial margin.
California Debt Settlement
Also known as debt negotiation, debt settlement is widely regarded as the most powerful alternative to bankruptcy. If your debt management program doesn’t produce the results that you desire, a custom-tailored program of California debt settlement might be just what you need.
Debt settlement in California is a several-step process. Once you’ve enrolled in your program, you’ll stop making payments on your unsecured debts and start saving your hard-earned pay. You also won’t have to fend off calls from collections agents at all hours of the day and night.
Meanwhile, a team of debt settlement experts will go to bat for you. They’ll negotiate with your creditors to reduce the principal balances on your loans. Although this process can last for two to four years, it may take less time than debt management in California. In the end, you could see a debt reduction in the thousands of dollars.
Whether you choose to draw up a debt management plan, enroll in a debt settlement program, or simply make some tough budgeting decisions in order to free up much-needed capital, it’s time that you made a clean break with your financial past. With so many different California debt consolidation options, chances are good that you’re ready to face the future with an improved personal balance sheet.