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A Free Debt Help Community Does Exist Among a Sea of Pretenders
A Free Debt Help Community Does Exist Among a Sea of Pretenders
By
Kenneth Long
on December 15, 2010
A recent search for free debt help providers directed me to several companies that claim to provide debt relief. I recognized many of the listings to be for companies pretending to provide what I was looking for.
Many of the listings were for debt settlement companies. Some were simply websites that sell leads to debt settlement companies. Financial experts and government regulators nearly unanimously view
debt settlement companies
as rogue companies that strip the last remaining dollars from unsuspecting debtors who desperately seek assistance with their debt. TheFTC's
Telemarketing Sales Rule change
that went into effect October 27, 2010 stopped much of this chicanery by debt settlement companies.
I recognized a couple of legitimate sources of free information also. Both Dave Ramsey and Steve Rhode are popular financial personalities that have proven their commitment to putting your needs before their profits.
Credit counseling agencies are usually the best source of free debt help and information. Unfortunately, the credit counseling providers that were prominently listed were not your typical nonprofit charities. It is true that some of them were previously classified as tax-exempt charities. Most of the national credit counseling agencies that were at the top of the list were either for-profit debt management agencies, or organizations that were technically still classified as tax-exempt organizations while their proposed revocation of tax-exempt status has been under appeal for the past 4 years.
Of course, the IRS does not publicize proposed revocations. New rules allow for revocations to be publicly announced, but that would only occur once a long, drawn out and possibly forgotten appeal process is concluded in favor of the IRS.
Now that you recognize the challenges to getting free debt help, here is how to actually find it. See which organizations provide more than just debt management services. Free classes and additional community programs are prominent signs that the organization can back up their free debt help claims.
Your counseling session should be precisely that. Your counselor should care about your needs and provide you with feedback on all of your options, not just the ones that their organization also provides. They should be willing to spend time with you. Twenty minutes does not resolve five years of financial problems.
Finally, look to see what opportunities they offer for giving you information outside of a structured counseling session. Do they offer
forums to share information
with other debtors? Do they publish frequent warnings about
debt relief scams
that might entrap you? Even online
financial calculators
can be a useful tool for self evaluation. Finally, do they employ commissioned sales agents or do they match you with
Accredited Financial Counselors
to provide free evaluations?
Debtors Unite provides information about personal finance so that you can be empowered to make good decisions on your own that are in your best interests. You need objective and complete information to make a good decision, and it is our hope that we have provided this opportunity for you. Please feel free to visit us often and we hope you will bookmark our free
debt help community
for future visits. Additionally, we would like to hear from you if you have experiences to share in our
debtors forum
.
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