If you’re in doubt, we’ve got you covered. Regardless of your financial situation, legal debt relief options are available.
Served over 500,000 people in debt
If you're in doubt, there is some good news: Regardless of your situation, legal debt relief options are available.
Served over 500,000 people in debt
Get in touch with one of our trusted debt specialists to facilitate your long term financial health. We will present a wide range of our available debt-relief options to you, including student loan consolidation, debt consolidation, debt settlement, and tax debt relief.
Debt settle is a debt relief option that is popular among people who need help from high-balance credit cards (ranging from $20,000 to $125,000 or more). Through debt settlement, our debt specialists will negotiate with creditors on your behalf. With the goal of “settling” your credit card debt, they will come back with an amount that is substantially less than what you currently owe.
Debt consolidation allows individuals to combine or “consolidate” multiple debts stemming from high-interest credit cards and unsecured debts into a single, more affordable monthly payment. These programs are coordinated by debt counselors who create a “debt management plan” which provides customers with a predictable and proven repayment path to financial freedom.
You can reduce monthly payments and extend the lending period by consolidating your student loans. Student loan consolidation helps students reduce their education debts by combining all of their outstanding balances into one.
Federal loan consolidation has no credit requirement. It offers the benefit of a single loan bill and potentially lower repayment terms. However, this is only for federal loans and it won’t reduce your interest rate. Only consider federal consolidation if you:
When you consolidate your federal loans, the government is the one that pays them off. They then replace the loan with a direct consolidation plan. You are eligible for it once you graduate, leave school or drop below half-time enrollment. Federal loan consolidation through the Department of Education is free. It is best to steer clear of companies that charge fees to consolidate them for you.
When you consolidate federal loans, your new fixed interest rate will be the weighted average of your previous rates, rounded up to the next eighth of 1%. For example, if the average interest rate comes to 6.15%, your new interest rate will be 6.25%.
MORE: Find Your Federal Student Loan Consolidation
Additionally, you will get a new loan term ranging from 10 to 30 years. Your repayment term will start within 60 days of when your consolidation loan is first disbursed and will be based on your total student loan balance, among other things.
Debt settle is a debt relief option that is popular among people who need help from high-balance credit cards (ranging from $20,000 to $125,000 or more). Through debt settlement, our debt specialists will negotiate with creditors on your behalf. With the goal of “settling” your credit card debt, they will come back with an amount that is substantially less than what you currently owe.
Pros of Debt Settlement
Cons of Debt Settlement
If you’re going through financial hardship and have one or more high-balance credit cards, your credit card company may agree to settle your debt for much lower than you currently owe.
How does debt settlement work? One of our debt relief specialists will review your current credit card debts and the amount of money you can set aside each month for a “settlement fund.” Debt specialists will then negotiate with creditors on your behalf with the goal of getting a significantly lower balance to pay off.
How much money you can potentially save depends on the amount of credit card debt involved and your current financial situation. It also takes into account the policies of credit card companies.
It’s important to understand that no single debt solution is right for everyone. By getting the professional help of debt specialists, they can provide more details regarding your debt settlement or debt negotiation as part of your free debt relief analysis and savings estimate.
Pros of Debt Consolidation
Cons of Debt Consolidation
If you have multiple outstanding debts ranging from credit cards, medical bills, store cards, and unsecured loans, a debt consolidation program may be the solution for you to pay it off. By coordinating with a debt counselor, you can make monthly payments within your budget in order to become debt-free.
How do debt consolidation programs help you?
Debt consolidation programs are done with the help of debt counselors. They will conduct interviews with you for an overview of your outstanding balances as well as how much you can afford to set aside every month for payments.
New government regulations are in place to help protect consumers in need of debt relief.
Based on this information, your debt specialist will then customize a "debt management plan" for you. Once you approve the plan, letters will be sent on your behalf to each of your creditors requesting the benefits of debt relief – such as lower interest rates, a waiving of late fees and penalties, and generally more favorable repayment terms. Those creditors who accept the proposals are then added to the debt consolidation or debt management program. For those that do not accept debt relief proposals, you are still obligated to live up to the original terms of your cardholder agreement.
For those who do not accept the proposals, you are still obligated to live up to the original terms of your cardholder agreement.
It’s important to understand that no single debt solution is right for everyone. By getting the professional help of debt specialists, they can provide more details regarding your debt settlement or debt negotiation as part of your free debt relief analysis and savings estimate.
The first step is to decide whether to hire a debt settlement company or lawyer to negotiate a settlement. You can always negotiate the settlement yourself. The goal is to reduce significantly the amount you pay. Experience helps, but so does having enough money to make a lumpsum offer. Start saving immediately.
Next, meet with the lender and negotiate for a settlement. If your balance is overdue for more than six months, it likely has been turned over to a collection agency.
It can take years to save enough money to make an initial offer. You normally end monthly payments to your representative to build an account. In the meantime, interest fees on your debt grow and your balance grows with it.
It’s time to make an offer. Be patient. Creditors have no obligation to accept debt settlement offers. This could take months, maybe years. If a creditor accepts, get it in writing. Ask the creditor to send a notice to the major credit bureaus that the debt has been settled.
Keep track of the money you saved. Debt settlement companies can charge 15% of the owed balance or 25% of the money you saved. Lawyers can charge hourly rates or standard fees. You may also owe taxes to the IRS on the amount forgiven.
It’s best to learn to understand personal finance and debt. It’s not easy, but these tools can help you successfully navigate the terms in order to get a grasp on your credit score.
Select your 3-digit score to learn how lenders see your score range and what you can do to improve it.
Having a comprehensive glossary of terms will help you understand more about financial processes.
Read how tracking your spending, paying down credit cards, and consolidating your loans can reduce your debt balances.
