debt settlement posts

You might be surprised by this but people from virtually every walk of life have been known to get credit counseling help.

It seems everyone out there is working to rack their debt up to record levels lately. With that development, we're also starting to see a boom in the number of debt settlement companies hanging out a shingle in an effort to attract new customers.

Those working in credit counselor positions say their service is primarily about financial rehabilitation, not the quick fix being promoted by a lot of new debt settlement companies operating in Canada. In reality, the "solutions" promoted by debt settlement organizations, often require you to push your accounts into default before settling. The process isn't a quick one and, arguably, it isn't much of a fix either.

Liked this article? Don't miss another one. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

On the surface, it seems simple: Pay off your debt and keep it paid off. For anyone mired or wallowing in a debt hole though, such advice sounds trite, almost laughable and easily dismissed.

There are a number of ways people get stuck in this murk. Put aside for a minute that a huge amount of revolving credit is made readily available to virtually every member of society (it's not all that difficult to find stories about companies accidentally issuing platinum credit cards to babies, deceased grandmothers and the family dog). Sometimes it's the simple and unfortunate life events, those which can happen to just about anyone, that drive a lot of people into positions where they need help.

Given how widespread the problem is, it's not all that surprising to see a whole industry of debt settlement specialists springing up online, on the airways and in advertising just about everywhere you turn.

Some of these companies are legit but a lot of them are predatory too, promising to dispense with a would-be clients' debt in a very short time, usually for a fraction of what's owed.

Liked this article? Don't miss another one. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

We all know companies and people the world over are competing for the money in your wallet. Would you believe there's stiff (and growing) competition for your debt too?

Unfortunately you probably shouldn't go running out to jump in with the first company that promises to settle your debt difficulties (were it only so simple!)

Still, if you troll websites like Facebook, if you've ever keyed some debt-related query into Google or if you listen to the radio, you've undoubtedly seen or heard advertising from companies promising relief "if you qualify." (Note: As discussed earlier, any claims that such programs are part of some government-backed initiative are complete balderdash – be careful!)

If the debt-freedom prospect appeals and you are looking at this as one of your options to getting there, one of the first things to know is that there's a difference between companies who negotiate debt settlement deals with your creditors and the more traditional not-for-profit credit counseling organizations.

Liked this article? Don't miss another one. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

So just where does debt settlement fit in the spectrum of solutions for those who find themselves in over their head, financially?

(We've talked about debt settlement before – this is where you hire a third party to negotiate with your creditors on your behalf, in the hopes you'll be able to settle for an amount that's less than you owe.)

In the lineup of options available, outside of the conventional ways people pay off their debts, we have settlement, credit counseling, consumer proposals and bankruptcy. Each has its own set of conditions and repercussions.

Liked this article? Don't miss another one. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

If you're like any number of other people out there (this writer included), you have debt. If you have enough of it you may have noticed the growing number of advertising campaigns out there which have you, my dear target audience, locked squarely in their sights.

It's hard NOT to notice some of these campaigns – they're pretty aggressive. On Facebook: Ads promise to help you get out of debt in 36 months. The radio spots I've heard claim there's a "new government program" (Note: It turns out this is complete balderdash), and even though I'm signed up for the CRTC's Do Not Call list, I've received fair number of automated machine phone calls, again saying there's a new government program to help Canadians get out of debt: "Just press 1 now to be connected to a representative to see if you qualify."

Not only are the ads aggressive, their promise is oddly compelling, even if they do seem too good to be true.

Liked this article? Don't miss another one. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook.