If you’re just wallowing in credit card debt, you should be happy to learn there are such things as debt reduction companies – often called debt settlement companies.
The stress of debt
If you’re carrying a heavy load of debt, you can be experiencing a great deal of stress. And stress causes both physical and emotional problems. We probably don’t have to tell you about the emotional part of stress but have you thought about what it can do to you physically? For one thing, it can cause digestive disorders such as upset stomachs, ulcers and diarrhea and compromise your immune system. Worse yet, it can cause chest pains and even a heart attack. In other words, stress kills.
Credit debt relief is available
There are several ways you can get relief from your debts. For example, you could get a debt consolidation loan. However, this won’t get you out of debt as you’re just substituting one form of unsecured debt such as medical bills or credit card debts for secured debt, which is debt that’s secured by an asset such as your house. You will end up with a lower monthly payment but it could take you many more years to pay off the loan.
Credit counseling companies represent another way to get debt relief. In this case, a counselor works with you to develop a plan for repaying your creditors. The counseling company negotiates with your creditors to implement the plan. You then send one check each month to the counseling company, which, in turn, pays your creditors.
Debt reduction companies
The downside to both debt consolidation loans and credit counseling is that neither does anything to reduce your outstanding balance. You either exchange one kind of debt for another or you end up paying off your debt over a longer period of time. However, you do get to eliminate the stress of having to deal with your creditors.
This is why many people have turned to debt reduction companies–or debt settlement companies–as a better solution. You get debt relief without bankruptcy.
The goal of debt reduction
The goal of debt reduction is to get your creditors to agree to settle your debt for less than the amount you actually owe. For example, if you were to owe a credit card company $30,000, the goal of debt reduction companies would be to reduce that to, say, $15,000 or less.
The advantage is that these companies are skilled and experienced in negotiating with creditors to get you the best possible settlement. In most cases, they can get your debt reduced by as much as 50% to 60%. At the same time, they will negotiate a repayment plan so that you can be completely debt free in as few as 24 to 48 months.
When to turn to a debt reduction company
None of the debt reduction companies will tell you this, but debt reduction or settlement doesn’t work until you have stopped making your payments for at least three months. The reason for this is because your creditors have no interest in negotiating a settlement until they believe it’s a better alternative than seeing you file for bankruptcy, in which case they would have to write off your entire debt. In other words your creditors have to be convinced that debt settlement is the best solution.
Be careful of scam artists
Unfortunately, there are debt reduction or settlement companies whose goal it is to scam you. They will promise you the moon, charge high fees upfront, and then fail to deliver. If you choose one of these companies, you’re likely to end up in even worse shape than before.
There are sites on the Internet that rank the best debt reduction companies. One such company that almost always ranks in the top three is National Debt Relief (www.nationaldebtrelief.com). It has a solid reputation for delivering on its promises and does not charge any upfront fees. Instead, it is paid only when it delivers results. On the average, National Debt Relief saves its customers about 50% on their outstanding debts.
You can get a free debt reduction analysis by filling out the debt analysis form above. It will take only a few minutes and could save you months of worrying and stress. Make sure you check out the guarantee.