Debt reduction organizations assist individuals and small businesses with unsecured debt problems.
If you’re having trouble paying your bills and feel like you’ll never be able to repay your obligations without support, several firms can help.
Entire industries and financial solutions have sprung up to assist consumers with debt consolidation or settling for less.
Debt settlement is to reach an agreement with your creditors to restructure your debt, which may hurt your Credit.
Debt management programs, which non-profit credit counseling organizations generally give and orchestrate, are another prevalent sort of debt relief.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), you should contact your state Attorney General and your local consumer protection agency before proceeding with any debt relief firm.
You can find consumer complaints about firms you’re considering on either site and any licensing requirements that may apply.
Remember that debt settlement does not ensure that your creditors agree to a payment.
Furthermore, because debt settlement might harm your Credit, you should carefully assess if it is the best option.
This article will make a debt relief review methodology, talk about what you should look for when choosing a debt relief company, and compare some companies with different methods.
Key Takeaways
- Debt relief firms have only been in business for a year or less.
- A company having a clean history makes it way easier to determine its pattern and to predict and trust it.
- A company’s fees, services, transparency, history, etc., play a very important role in reviewing them.
Methodology
Debt relief is a complicated sector since so many firms provide debt relief services, but they don’t all provide the same level of assistance.
You must split down your process into numerous functioning sections, which you can find below, to ensure that your debt relief evaluation is fair and balanced.
Stability
In contrast to other businesses, such as insurance, where companies have worked for over a century, debt relief is relatively young.
When you start weighing your alternatives, you’ll see that some debt relief firms have only been in business for a year or less.
To do so, seek experience in the industry and membership in the American Fair Credit Council (AFCC).
Customer Experience
Customers can receive important information from a company’s website before signing up for debt relief services.
As a result, the examination looks at each provider’s website usability in our customer experience section.
You must be able to monitor your account and track your progress toward your debt reduction plan’s objective once you’ve signed up for services.
This idea aims to see if you could do this online through a client portal. Companies that provide a client portal can have the best rating, while those that do not have the lowest.
We also looked at whether each supplier had a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page for this category on their website. These pages can provide helpful information.
Services
Debt relief is a broad word that refers to various tactics employed by businesses to assist consumers in repaying their debts.
The top debt relief firms, on the other hand, tend to provide a variety of tactics and features that result in relatively high success rates.
As a result, the review should focus on the services that each debt relief firm provides.
The main focus is on the sorts of debt that each firm takes, whether you require a certain amount of debt to qualify and whether the company regularly gives credit counseling recommendations.
Debt settlement companies, as a whole, only work with unsecured debt (e.g., credit cards, medical bills, or personal loans).
This is because creditors are less likely to agree to settle debt secured by collateral since they may be able to recuperate part of their losses by foreclosing or repossessing the asset underlying the loan if you don’t pay as you promise.
Debt reduction companies frequently need you to have a certain amount of debt to qualify for their services.
Companies that need a minimum amount of debt or do not disclose if this is required earned the lowest scores in this category.
Debt relief firms with no minimums, on the other hand, are the easiest to work with.
Fees
It’s critical to acquire the details of your debt reduction plan in writing before working with a debt relief firm. This includes any upfront plan fees, continuing service fees, the term of your program as offered, and the cancellation policy you’ll be subject to.
Surprisingly, many debt relief organizations do not reveal their price structures upfront and will only do so after you have endured a free consultation.
In addition, businesses may or may not provide a money-back guarantee or a clear cancellation policy.
A money-back guarantee with explicit terms and conditions is a primary point of advertisement by several debt relief firms.
On the other hand, others do not provide such a guarantee, leaving potential customers wondering whether they can get their money back or quickly cancel their plan if it isn’t working out.
ACCORDING TO THE FTC, the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule forbids organizations selling debt settlement and other debt-relief services over the phone from “charging a charge before they settle or decrease your debt,” according to the FTC.
However, some less-than-trustworthy businesses continue to attempt.
Finally, some businesses allow clients to quit their debt relief plans at any moment without incurring expenses.
Some companies boldly display their cancellation policies, while others do not.
Transparency
Nothing looks more alluring than a company that is transparent about its policies, prices, etc., and does not leave you in the lurch.
So many companies don’t reveal their fees and only after you give a portion of your time, do you realize that you either cannot afford it or it’s just not worth it.
And we find this really annoying because it will be much more convenient to know at least the basic things about the company’s services, policies, etc.
This is the reason why transparency plays a very important role in reviewing a service.
Company History
It is essential to know a company’s history, including any controversies, any cases filed, previous complaints, and performance, among many other things.
A company having a clean history makes it way easier to determine its pattern and to predict and trust its competence in the future.
So company history is really important, and we make sure to analyze it before reviewing any service.
Results
Everything else makes no point if the service that we want to choose does not deliver results. It might have a good background, it might be transparent, and it might even be affordable.
But, if it cannot deliver the results we’re hoping to get, then there is no point in choosing that company.
Hence, we make it a point that, above all else, the company delivers results and stands up to its promises and values.
The Verdict
Debt relief is a complicated matter, and you have to have the right person next to you when you are dealing with settling your debts with other people without having to go to court.
Therefore, it is essential to check the debt relief companies beforehand and make sure that you know everything and if they are doing a good job.
However, it is not easy to eliminate the bad ones and find the good ones since debt relief companies are pretty new to the market.
We created a methodology that could make your research easier on the topic and find the right company in the shortest amount of time possible with good information about debt relief.
Traci is a highly experienced debt resolution expert with over 8 years of expertise in helping people become debt-free through various debt relief programs. As a former employee of a well-known debt relief company, she possesses exceptional knowledge and skills to take care of debt-related issues.
When not writing about debt, Traci can be found conducting in-depth research on the latest developments in the industry to ensure that she stays up-to-date with the latest trends and strategies.