How To Find A Credit Counselor?

The plethora of debt solution companies out there in the US is daunting.
The US consumer currently has $2.
4 trillion in credit card debt so it's no wonder that some Americans are looking for ways to get out from under that mountain of debt.
If you have made the decision to seek professional help in regards to your debt you might have heard of credit counseling and are curious on how to find a proficient credit counselor.
Hopefully this article will give you the basics on credit counseling and more importantly on how to find an excellent credit counselor.
What Exactly Does A Credit Counselor Do? If you are lucky enough to find a highly regarded counselor you will soon find out that they are certified and trained professional.
A counselor from a reputable organization is experts in debt and negotiating with creditors.
One of the main goals of a credit counselor is to educate you on how to avoid future credit card mistakes; they will also analyze your income, expenses and debt amount and advise you on your best course of action.
An additional objective that a credit counselor tries to reach is getting their consumers in a Debt Management Plan.
The DMP is used as a tool to negotiate lower interest rates with your creditors; when creditors see that you are in a DMP they will acquiesce to better terms for your credit cards.
That's one of the main benefits of entering credit counseling is that your credit counselor is going to negotiate lower interest rates for your credit cards, and lower interest rates on your credit cards meansyour overall debt is going to be lowered.
Choosing the Right Counselor If you've made the decision to take control of your financial future and you're ready to seek out professional help for your debt challenges you might need assistance it getting pointed in the right direction.
Counseling is a competitive market and there are hundreds of credit counselors in the market all jockeying for your business.
The first thing you want to do when shopping around for a counselor is to find out if they are non-profit or for-profit.
All counseling agencies charge a nominal fee for their services but for the most part the non-profit credit counseling has a less of a chance to be scam.
Another signal of a good or bad counseling agency is if they start asking for any funds up front without educating you on their services and debt management.
If they start asking for sensitive, financial information without disclosing their fees or giving you info on their services that could also be a red flag that you might want to look out for.
The internet is probably the most important research tool out there and make sure you do your due diligence when looking for a credit counselor.
Check the Better Business Bureau for their rating and check to see if they have some lackluster reviews out there on the web.
Once you whittle down your decision to a few counselors you might want to go with the credit counselor that offers the most references.
If a consumer credit counseling agency does not provide references than you might want to look elsewhere.
Credit counseling may save you from financial disaster or even worse, bankruptcy, so choosing an expert credit counseling agency is a very important.
Like we mentioned earlier there is over 300 credit counseling agencies in the US, and that doesn't include debt settlement organizations so finding the right credit counselor is imperative.