free credit counseling

Learn about free credit counseling

In some cases, you can negotiate with creditors on your own to arrange payment or have positive information reported to a credit bureau. However, to get the benefits of lowered monthly payments, lower interest rates, stopped late charges, and waived over the limit fees, you need Debt Wave’s free credit counseling and counselors. As a non-profit organization, Debt Wave’s free credit counseling and counselors can secure you these benefits not usually available to credit consumers. Most of the free credit counseling sites provide debt help information and some even provide a debt calculator for you to calculate your debt payments.

Debt management is an opportunity to pay your bills while getting the "breathing room" from your creditors to establish a budget that you can live with. Debt management plans can reduce your payments, re-age your obligations to improve your credit standing and even reduce or eliminate the interest on your debts.

Debt management is a great alternative to bankruptcy. In bankruptcy you may have to go to court, have your personal property taken or sold and it will follow you on your credit report for up to ten years. Debt management allows you to repay your debts in a reasonable period of time with payments that you can afford.

Credit counselors work with creditors across the nation to make a win-win situation. In a debt management program, you "win" because you get a new payment schedule that you can afford on your budget and the creditor "wins" too because they get repaid. When your creditors agree to change the terms of your original credit agreement through a debt management program, they know that you have had a professional budget review and are committed to making the new payment schedule work.

Some consumers find that they are so deep in debt that not even a debt management program can help. Bankruptcy should only be considered as an absolute last resort! If you have questions about whether or not to file bankruptcy, be sure to consult with a credit counselor to determine if you can qualify for special bankruptcy-prevention programs.

"Non-profit" and "not-for-profit" both have the same meaning. A "non-profit" or "not-for-profit" organization has been certified by the Internal Revenue Service as performing a public service function by helping individuals and families control their debt, keeping them out of bankruptcy and creating workable budgets. A "non-profit" or "not-for-profit" organization does not have owners and does not provide profits to shareholders like corporations.