Bill Consolidation Vs. Other Debt Relief Methods
When consumers get themselves into a substantial debt situation, too many times it goes under estimated. And by that I mean proactive steps aren’t taken to relieve the debt. According to a report by the Federal Reserve on January 8th, 2007, consumer debt in the United States has hit almost $2.4 trillion. For this reason, there are a handful of debt relief solutions out there that include bill consolidation, settlement, bankruptcy, loans, and counseling. Some of these solutions will make your debt go away faster than others, but the real question is, by what means?Bankruptcy is a rough debt relief avenue. For most people, your options are chapter 7 or 13. There really isn’t much hope for your credit and future home purchases with bankruptcy. In most cases, you’re much better off finding a legitimate bill consolidation service to push all of your debts into one payment. In fact, recent bankruptcy laws actually require you to enroll in an approved bill consolidation program for at least 180 days in order to be eligible to file. This option should be considered a last resort.Another debt relief method is what’s called debt settlement. This usually consists of negotiating terms with your creditors such as actual debt amount and a pay-off time frame. The biggest drawback to settlement as opposed to bill consolidation is that your settlement company will keep your monthly payments until enough funds have accumulated to completely pay off a single creditor. Throughout this process, you will still get the constant calls from bill collectors until you make enough payments to your settlement company for them to pay off one of your creditors in full. Just imagine if you had 3 or 4 creditors… The other major disadvantage to settlement is that it’s another debt relief method that is harsh on your credit.A bill consolidation loan can be an effective way to save some money on high interest rates. You can transfer the balances on your unsecured bills to a low interest rate loan. Although you’re not entirely solving the problem of being in debt, you now only have one payment to make per month. This solution is the best alternative to bill consolidation. The most efficient way to pay off debt is by using bill consolidation. A good consolidation company will have established relationships with almost every creditor in the book. This usually means that before you even call a bill consolidation company, lower interest rates for your creditors have already been determined. Most of the time this results in a 0 - P decrease in your monthly payments. Your credit score does get to stay in-tact. Also, most bill consolidation companies do not check your credit score before working with you and your financial situation. In short, bill consolidation can effectively pay off debt in a short amount of time (2-5 years) without the negative effects associated with settlement, loans, or bankruptcy.
About the Author
Being in the bill consolidation industry for years has made Tyler Lee and expert in his field. You can find his publications on bill consolidation at http://www.billconsolidationcare.com/.
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