Debt Counseling / Debt Management
Unlike Debt Negotiation or Debt Settlement this program will allow you to stay current on your payments and should not affect your credit history.
A Debt Free Avenue, Inc. Certified Enrollment Agent will go over in detail your financial situation. The Certified Enrollment Agent will be able to assist you in:
- Setting up a realistic household budget.
- One monthly payment
- Create a financial action plan.
- Learn to take control of and reduce debt.
- Find ways to save money every day.
- Alleviate stress associated with overwhelming debt.
Once a full analysis has been completed, with the assistance of our Certified Enrollment Agent you will be creating a spending plan and set up a payment schedule that you can afford. Once enrolled, an individual counselor will be assigned to you. The counselor assigned to your file will be working with you from start to finish, they will negotiate with the creditors to get them to reduce your interest rates and waive late fees to shorten your time in debt. The counselor may also arrange with creditors to "re-age" your account — that is, report past due amounts as current.
How come credit counselors have so much clout? Most creditors are glad to see you enrolling in a repayment program, agreeing to pay a little at a time, rather than heading for bankruptcy court or a debt settlement program. If those same creditors were to enlist the services of a collection agency, the agency would take perhaps half of whatever it recovered. So, it's a better deal for your creditors if you voluntarily repay, even if it takes several years.
What's more, because our cooperatives and affiliate organizations have existing relationships with creditors, they already know what that creditor has arranged for other clients in the past (nothing beats experience). Yes you could try to negotiate on your own, but chances are you wouldn't be as successful.
