You are here: Home Finances Credit: Score, ... Credit Counseling ... Summary
Information about all aspects of finances affected by a serious health condition. Includes income sources such as work, investments, and private and government disability programs, and expenses such as medical bills, and how to deal with financial problems.
Information about all aspects of health care from choosing a doctor and treatment, staying safe in a hospital, to end of life care. Includes how to obtain, choose and maximize health insurance policies.
Answers to your practical questions such as how to travel safely despite your health condition, how to avoid getting infected by a pet, and what to say or not say to an insurance company.

Credit Counseling Service 101

Summary

Next »

1/6

Credit counseling services are agencies that will help solve your financial problems. Many of them work for free or for very low cost.

Be careful in picking which company to use. There are unscrupulous credit counseling services that charge high fees and are interested only in taking as much of your money as possible. At least one agency with high fees tries to lure customers by advertising as a "non-profit," as if the fact they are a non-profit organization will get you to ignore how much they charge you.  

Before agreeing to anything in writing, do your homework about a service. 

Keep in mind that if you settle a debt for less than the amount owed, the transaction becomes a negative on your credit score and stays on your credit report for seven years. You may also owe income tax on the amount forgiven in a settlement. To learn more about the tax situation, see IRS Publication 4681 which is available at: www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4681.pdf  offsite link or speak with your accountant.

NOTEPrior to using a credit counseling service, consider negotiating with creditors on your own. Also consider whether or not bankruptcy might be better for you. Since credit counselors receive their funds from your creditors and sometimes from fees they charge you (often on a monthly basis), they generally won't recommend bankruptcy -- even if it's your best option.

NOTE: Credit counseling services are not credit repair services. Credit repair services promise to repair your credit for a fee. In reality they cannot do anything about your credit that you cannot do on your own.

To Learn More


Please share how this information is useful to you. 0 Comments

 

Post a Comment Have something to add to this topic? Contact Us.

Characters remaining:

  • Allowed markup: <a> <i> <b> <em> <u> <s> <strong> <code> <pre> <p>
    All other tags will be stripped.