Michigan Credit And Debt Counseling

If you have thousands of dollars in credit card debt, like many North Americans you are probably paying a very high interest rate just to stay even and pay those "minimum payments". A good option in many cases is to avoid filing bankruptcy and consolidate your debt. If you have $15,000 dollars on your credit cards right now, you may be paying as much as 20% interest per year. That is close to $300 dollars per month and you are not even paying off your debt. You are just maintaining... If you consolidate your debt into one, low monthly payment, you can probably trim that down to $100 dollars per month, or even less. In other words, you can become debt free faster. (Or, if you want you can buy more stuff, but I would not recommend that. )

Credit reports often have incorrect items on them. A credit repair company can help fix these items so you get the loans you want without paying higher interest rates reserved for those with low FICO. You can also do it yourself with a credit repair kit, or a simple letter to the credit bureaus. However, doing it yourself takes a lot of time, so you must decide how much your time is worth and do a cost-benefit analysis. If it takes you 10 hours to fix your credit report, and a law firm charges you 40 dollars to do the same thing, it might be worth it. The only way to know for sure is to investigate your options.

If you do decide that debt consolidation is a good option, the FTC recommends you look for an nonprofit organization that offers many different of services, including budget counseling, and savings and debt management help. They suggest you stay away from companies that only have a debt management plan, at least before they spend a real time analyzing your personal debt situation. They also suggest you stay away from companies that charge you just for information and they suggest you get everything in writing. Visit the FTC site for more advice: Choosing a Credit Counselor.