How to Get Consumer Credit Card Counseling

Getting credit card debt help can be hard. You want to find a reliable, honest credit card counseling service and avoid the credit card counseling services that are just out to take your money. Here are some tips for getting consumer credit card counseling from a reliable and save credit card debt counseling company.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Credit card debt

1. Find a list of credit card counseling services in your area certified by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling is a large not-for-profit organization that provides accreditation for credit card counseling services. They can provide you with a list of licensed credit counselors in your area.

2. Contact one or two credit card counseling services. Make appointments to speak with a credit card counselor who can give you more advice on the type of credit card debt help available. Go to these meetings prepared with a list of your debt and a list of questions to ask about the consumer credit card counseling that they provide. Do not commit immediately to working with the credit card counseling service.

3. Ask for proof that the service is 403(b) certified. You should first ensure that the credit card debt counseling service is a not-for-profit organization; if they are, they will have this 403(b) certification. This alone is not sufficient to ensure that the credit card debt counseling service is reliable, but if the credit card counseling services do not have not-for-profit certification, you need to find credit card debt help elsewhere because the credit card debt counseling service is most likely a scam.

4. Make sure the credit card debt counselor that will be working on your case is accredited. Just because the company or firm is accredited does not guarantee the counselor assigned to your case will be. Ask to see proof that they are a Certified Credit Counselor before agreeing to work with them.

5. Ask for a complete breakdown of the fees in writing. Some unscrupulous credit card counseling services will take your first months "payment" as a fee. This is unreasonable and is not proper practice in the consumer credit card counseling service industry. It is also not customary for legitimate consumer credit card counselors to charge a fee for creating a Debt Management Plan (which is a payment plan with your creditors). If the consumer credit card counseling service charges either of these fees, find a different credit counselor to provide you with credit card debt help.

Tips & Warnings

• Watch out for promises that sound too good to be true. Credit card counseling services can't erase your credit card debt. They can help you get your payments and debt under control, so you can have manageable monthly payments and begin to break the debt cycle.

Resources

• How to Make a Get Out of Debt Plan
• How to Negotiate Credit Card Debt For Less
• How to Write a Debt Settlement Letter

[tshved]

on 10/2/2009 Good article.

[seabound]

on 9/27/2009 Good info and article 5*