Choosing a Credit Counselor

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Maria Enomoto from Consumer Credit Counseling Service and we are going to learn today how to choose for a good credit counselor. First of all, what you need to make sure is check with the Better Business Bureau about the agency that you are going to be working with. The Better Business Bureau collects the information of any complaints or issues that a person might have with a particular business. And credit counselor businesses are included here. And check with the agency that you are decided to work with if they're members of the Better Business Bureau so you know that the information is going to be recorded there. And another thing that you are going to ask before applying for any interview, or if you want to work with them is to check how much fees you're going to be paying. You are going to be paying fees because you are going to have an interview with them, an appointment with them or if you are going to start any kind of program with this particular agency or credit counselor. Usually the fee will tell you if they're profit or non-profit. Usually non-profit agencies will disclose the fee information before any counseling if you request that. Profit agencies sometimes will not disclose the fees unless you schedule an appointment and after the appointment they will tell you how much they will charging you. Another thing that you will need to make sure is that the counselor, that the counselor is spending enough time with you to address your problem. Sometimes they do it in ten minutes just to go straight to the point and the problem but, in order to get you from any financial difficulties, it's more information that really good credit counselor will need to review, such as your income, your expenses and the debt that you have. This is the only way to analyze the whole financial picture and to make sure that all the recommendations are going to be given to you are going to be according to the budget and the financial situation that you are going through. So, usually when you are going to, when you are going to discuss all these information, the appointment, the permit will take more than ten minutes over the phone, usually takes about forty to sixty minutes to address all the problems and make sure that you have all the options with you. Another thing to make sure if you have decided to work with any credit agency, its to make sure that the agency is insured and bonded. This means that if something happens to the company, although you are, the money that you are giving them just to stay out of any debt problems, that they are helping you with any plan will be safe and secured."