Protect yourself from the scams of Debt Settlement Companies

Protect yourself from the scams of Debt Settlement Companies

Debt settlement has recently come up as the best option for debt relief, but very few among us are able to gauge the genuine debt settlement company from among the many in the market. A fraud set-up can make your financial conditions worse but there is no need to hit the roof as yet! The new guidelines from The Federal Trade Commission provide a more secured program for settling consumer debts. A majority of the debt problems have surfaced due to recession, followed by job layoffs and unemployment. Credit card have come up as the only option of an average consumer to survive the financial drought and to combat the surging costs as a result of which, more people have sunk in deep debts and for each and all of them, getting rid of those dreadly debts have become the principle goal. But often these companies are more famous for shams and scams rather than debt relief. However, with the advent of these new rules more Americans will finally breathe a sigh of relief.

According to the new guidelines of FTC, it is mandatory for all debt settlement companies to disclose certain necessary details to the consumers like:

• The realistic time frame within which they will achieve the debt free status,
• The fees required to be paid,
• Implications of debt settlement on their credit charts,
• Clarity on the settlement fund,
• Advance fees charged, and
• Success rate should be disclosed.

Further to this, the debt settlement companies would be liable to face serious consequences if falsified information is given pertaining to their actual services or terms or any other manipulation, which could in any way deviate the consumer’s attention from these wrong deeds. However, the ban on charging upfront fees will come into effect starting October 27^th, 2010. But on the flip side, these new regulations are applicable to firms and agencies which are rendering their debt relief services through telephone and not to those which deal with the consumers in person or, for online debt settlement services. The Federal Trade Commission is hopeful enough of covering the entire debt settlement industry under these regulations as consumer is more prone to calling these agencies initially through the media advertisements. But it is definitely on the part of consumers to contact these agencies to ensure about the legitimacy and the validity of their services and to get a breather from their debts.

Don’t Let These Crooks Steal Your Identity

The term ‘Identity Theft’ may not sound that familiar to many of us, but ignorance toward this cannot protect you from this fast spreading and vicious crime. The first step towards protection from its malicious claws would be gaining knowledge and information about its manipulations and implications. Various online reports on the internet, journals and newspapers do hold witnesses of events wherein people are victimized by this malicious crime. 

Identity theft is a fraud where the swindler falsely claims to be someone else by assuming that person’s identity, in order to access credit or obtain resources and other benefits by faking to be that person. The identity thief steals, obtains or hack key pieces of personal information such as credit card number, name and address, social security number, date of birth, bank account number, driver’s license number etc for the purpose of impersonating as someone else. The information is then misused to gain false credentials, credit, merchandise and other services on victim’s name and identity numbers. Apart from facing dire consequences where the victim is held responsible for the crook’s actions, one can even face worse conditions where the imposter provides the victim’s identification to the police and gets him/her trapped in false and negative police records or even in outstanding arrest warrants. The crook may also carry on several illegal and criminal actions under the identity of the victim. 

An identity thief may misuse one’s identity information from unsecured databases, internet, pick-pocketing, bribing a third person to hand over information and through various other unfair means. Financial transactions through internet have made their job easier because of the absence of physical interaction and lack of legal paperwork.

In order to protect your important information from being stolen, one has to stay alert and careful about it and its value. One should regularly check one’s credit reports with major credit bureaus and should make sure that the bills come in time. Unwanted credit applications should be destroyed. Never divulge the personal information in response to redundant e-mails. Your safety is in your hands.

Debt Negotiation Versus Debt Consolidation:Know It Before You Use It

The people of America have got familiar with all the debt settlement options due to recession, resulting in massive debts. Many of them have tried to settle their debts themselves but have failed miserably. Seeking professional help is a more viable option, for majority of the people who have incurred debts amounting to 10,000$. Debt negotiation and debt consolidation involve several methodologies to resolve debt issues which are complicated and require a vast knowledge and expertise, but the objectives of both remains the same, to get you rid off debts. Almost all the professional debt settlement companies are known to offer these services for the purpose of giving relief to many debt stricken people but before availing these services one needs to be aware of the pros and cons associated with these debt relief options. Let us have a quick peek at these in a little detail.

In a debt consolidation service all your credit card debts are merged together to a single consolidated amount with lowered rates of interest to ease off the consumers’ debt troubles.  In other words, instead of staggered payments the consumer has an option of an integrated repayment option. A professional debt consolidation program can help you by directly dealing with the creditor to offer you with an unified payment structure. One is largely benefited with this program if he has high debt amounts with higher interest rates. But then all good options come with a twist, so on availing this program one might have to give up on his credit card especially those that are already included in this plan; however debt consolidation is preferred by those who would want to settle out their debts through a single payment for all the debts. In debt negotiation which is more popularly known as debt settlement the experts try to make a deal with the creditors, whereby they would agree to give up or give a waiver of a large portion of the indebted amount, but then you have to keep on saving some money in your account on a regular basis to create a settlement fund.  The professional experts on the other hand would try to convince the creditors for a lowered payment. Once the settlement is reached between the creditors and the debt settlement company, the company officials would make a payment to the creditors. This option might look very attractive to pay off the high debts but can sometimes cause a lot of damage to our credit charts, as long as we are using this program, which appears as a negative indication for future creditors. However with all its pros and cons one should have a thorough knowledge of the working methods of these services to make the best use of it.

Cherish Your Money, Don’t Degrade It

Money, money and more money is all that we want and need, then why can’t we keep it! It seems like a wild goose, whom we keep chasing all our life to madness. Money or Financial independence plays the most significant and dominating role in our physical and mental well being, apart from determining our social identity, status and individuality. And that’s why words like debt, bankruptcy, recession and deficits sound poisonous to our ears. No doubt that the various debt relief options like debt settlement and debt consolidation are abound in market but it always brings in an uncomfortable feeling and sense of insecurity to discuss your money matters with strangers. Well, the only key to all these doubtful locks lies in our own hands; it lies in the magic and art of tackling our finances and taking care of our cash-flow. It is an old but wise saying that ‘unless the wealth is gone, we fail to understand it’s worth’ and thus keep repeating the financial blunders like unnecessary overspending and extravagances, misuse of credit card and equity loans etc. In a way, in spite of cherishing our hard earned money, we end up degrading it and taking it for granted to fulfill our hollow and temporary wants! True that money can’t buy us real happiness and all those intangible satisfactions like peace and true love. But if we delve deeper into this argument, we will discover that money can actually buy all the tangible happiness and ecstasies that substantiate those abstract elations. 

For example, can you think of a day without a single penny to spend on anything, not even your food and all inevitable needs! You might think that you can, if you have the company of your loved ones and their care, but practically speaking, the very state of emptiness will irk you to the core, however you falsely console yourself with pretences! The fact is that money is the most vital part and parcel of our mental and emotional bliss and balance.

The big question but still remains! How to not let your finances go for a toss! Well, one should know all the arts of cherishing his/her own money (let your pals scream and call you a miser! Don’t pay a heed to them). Stick with your money and bond wit it like never before! Pull up the strings of your purse tight to so that none can undo it! Save and hide at least 30% of your monthly income at such a place that would be difficult for you to remember! Last but not the least; believe in the saying ‘Simple Living and High Thinking’.

Manage Your Finances Smartly: Avoid Debts

To manage your money wisely you have to avoid being a spendthrift and try to omit your rising expenses as much as possible especially when jobs are getting trimmed and salary reductions are on a high. Some of us are often on a shopping or travelling spree no matter what time demands and end up acquiring maximum debts on credit cards for which repayment is not really our cup of tea, but the sooner that we realize these facts the better for us, more so when we are using credit cards to meet our needs because the hidden costs of a credit card never surfaces till we are in a genuinely troubling situation. A lot of people through their unruly spending habits go to the extent of filing bankruptcy in their lifetime and it is always in our best interest to remain away from these. Now let us have a brief look at how we can avoid incurring debts somehow:
     The first thing to seriously consider is to organise our payments in a way so as to clear off those debts on which there could be additional interests which can become huge in no time and is extremely difficult to manage.
     The next important idea is to try and abstain from credit card usage and keep it at hand only for emergencies ;credit card usage should be an absolute no as far as paying for utilities are concerned and try not to get carried away by the attractive offers of credit card companies.
     Next is to avoid ignoring your monthly payments and ward off all the accumulated debts.Timely payment of debts is a must to fall into the ditch of debts.
     Last but not the least you must always remember to shape your finances within your means for if you are lulled away by influences there is every likelihood that your will begin to invite trouble for yourself.
Therefore all your expenditure will speak volumes about your incurring debts as too much of them will not only snatch away your peace of mind but take you to such hassles of debt consultations with debt settlement lawyers or debt settlement companies and it is high time you realize that no debt problems are resolved without harassments and inconvenience.

Secured And Unsecured Debts: Eliminate Your Myths

In order to overcome  the crude obstinacy of overburdening debts one needs to have a proper understanding of what secured and unsecured debts are all about, which will also would help you to settle your debt related issues in a faster and more economical way. A secured debt is one where your property or assets are pledged against the loan amount. In this type of debt the lender or the authorities have a right to confiscate your property if you fail on your payments. Furthermore missing of payments may be dealt with in more stringent ways as the lender may even sell your assets and if the selling price of the assets do not comfortably make up for the loan amount the collection agency may call on you to settle the issue. The most commonly available example of secured debt is the home mortgage loan in which your house is pledged to the money lenders and an auto loan which keeps your car as a security and failure of payment can lead to its seizure. On the contrary in an unsecured debt, the money lenders will not be able to seize any of your assets as a security but if you fail to pay these debts the collection agencies may apply various coercive techniques to get their dues which are often termed as creditor harassments or other consequences such as wage garnishment. A common example of these debts would be credit card debts. At times medical bills are also part of this debt however there are hardly any loans taken for medical emergencies.

While filing for Bankruptcy secured and unsecured debts have to be mentioned separately. To mention in brief, if you are intending to file for Bankruptcy chapter7, it liquidates all your assets but with exemptions. If you desire to keep a few of your assets, you must make regular payments but here the advantage lies in total elimination of all your unsecured debts whereas in Bankruptcy chapter 13 which is primarily a reorganization of your debts, some of your secured debts may be kept in certain cases within the payment structure to allow you to stop the unnecessary stretching of your payment plan. However do not forget to consider debt settlement as an option before opting for bankruptcy and also try to educate yourself on various aspects of debt before deciding on ways to settle them in case you acquire too much.