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Debt Consolidation -- Choose Your Credit Counselor Carefully
Recently passed by Congress, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 will require people who are filing for bankruptcy to first undergo mandatory credit counseling. This is probably not a bad idea; after all, many people...
Finding The Right Answer For Your Debt Problems
As credit card bills begin to stuff our mailboxes, many consumers are faced with the hard reality that they went overboard with their holiday shopping. And for those who don’t pay the balance due in full, you’ll also wind up paying interest...
How to Rapidly Eliminate Debt
How to Rapidly Eliminate Debt by Alan Tutt bttp://www.KeysToPowerProsperity.com Here is a formula for quickly getting out of debt that I've seen from a couple of different sources. It takes a little discipline to follow to the end, but it's well...
It Only Takes a Few Simple Steps To Avoid Student Loan Debt
Student loan debt is a problem that affects many former students. It is a long and difficult process to pay off a student loan. Undoubtedly, it is much easier to avoid student loan debt in the first place. There are a few simple steps that can...
What you need to know about debt negotiation on credit cards
Debt negotiation on credit cards is often referred to as credit card debt settlement. Whenever you make a credit card payment- or even pay your utility bills- it usually gets reported to one- or all- of the three main credit agencies. This...
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What You Must Know Before Attepting Debt Negotiation
Debt negotiation should be viewed as a last-resort measure
before filing bankruptcy. A lender has little motivation to
accept a pay off for less than the full amount unless the debtor
is already months behind on bills. Debt negotiation, also
sometimes called debt settlement or debt arbitration, is best
reserved for use when debt is seriously delinquent. If you're
considering debt negotiation, it's important to be informed
about all the options available to help you deal with your debt.
Contact your creditors, negotiate payment arrangements, ask
permission to skip a payment, or ask for a lower interest rate.
These are simple measures you can take as a first step to manage
your debt. Try these options first before you attempt any other
course of action.
If you have a large amount of debt, a qualified credit
counseling service may be able to help you reduce payments and
prevent further damage to your credit report. Although credit
counseling can provide consumers with valuable assistance, some
firms exist only to cheat their unknowing clients. These
companies use their non-profit status to attract customers who
are then scamed into paying large upfront fees. Those fees are
then sometimes funneled to for-profit companies. Recently, the
FTC and IRS issued the following tips for choosing a credit
counseling organization.
* Pay very careful attention to the fees you are being charged,
the nature of the services the agency offers, and the terms of
the contract. * Check to make sure that your creditors are
willing to work with the agency the you plan to choose *
Consider using agencies that offer actual counseling and
education, instead of simply enrolling all clients in a debt
management
program
Another option for consumers overwhelmed by debt is to
consolidate debt by establishing a new loan (debt consolidation
loan) with lower monthly payments. A debt consolidation loan
helps manage your debt because the loan is usually over a longer
period of time and possibly at a lower interest rate than your
existing debt. Consolidation should be used when debts are
mostly current.
While there are many options to help you cope with unmanageable
debt, sometimes debt negotiation may be the only appropriate
course of action remaining. For example, debt negotiation would
be a good course of action if a long-forgotten debt is the only
bad entry on your credit report. However, keep in mind, you may
owe income tax on the debt owed. Any forgiven debts of $600 or
more are considered income to the consumer. If you do negotate a
debt down, the creditor will send you and the IRS a Form 1099-C
at the end of the tax year.
As a general safety precaution, anyone who plans on using a
third party to handle their finances should remember to check
them out with the Better Business Bureau and State Attorney
General's Office of Consumer Protection. These agencies keep
records of credit repair services that have mislead their
customers about the impact the service would have on their
credit rating, the fees involved, and the possibility of legal
action from the creditors.
About the author:
If you would like to get more credit information you can visit
our website which contains many credit resources.
http://www.my-credit-report.info This article is copyright
2005, but can be freely reprinted, as long as no changes are
made, including hyperlinks.
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| Advertisements Promising Debt Relief May Be Offering Bankruptcy |
| Cautions consumers about ads in newspaper, magazine and telephone directories that offer quick fixes for debt problems. |
| www.ftc.gov |
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| Welcome to Debt Relief International |
| Welcome to the web site of Debt Relief International. |
| www.dri.org.uk |
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| Debt relief steps, your free guide to debt help. |
| Articles on debt relief, and credit management and repair. |
| www.debtsteps.com |
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| Factsheet - Debt Relief Under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries ... |
| The HIPC Initiative is a comprehensive approach to debt reduction for heavily indebted poor countries pursuing IMF- and World Bank-supported adjustment and ... |
| www.imf.org |
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| Special report: debt relief | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited |
| February 6: A year ago the Guardian set out to track the west's promises of action for Africa on aid, trade, health and debt relief. As G8 finance ministers ... |
| www.guardian.co.uk |
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| Debt Relief Options - Findlaw for the Public - |
| Welcome to Debt Relief Options. This section contains information about the ... To begin, select one of the Debt Relief Options topics from the list below ... |
| bankruptcy.findlaw.com |
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| William Brewer |
| The Brewer Law Firm. William E. Brewer, Jr., Attorney at Law Board Certified Consumer Bankruptcy Specialist. 619 N. Person Street Raleigh, NC 27604 ... |
| www.debtrelief.com |
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| Debt Relief - InCharge Debt Solutions |
| There are many ways to get out of debt, for good, and it may be easier than you think. The first step is knowing your options, the second step is taking ... |
| www.incharge.org |
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| Economic Policy and Debt |
| May 2006, IMF And World Bank Support Cameroon’s Completion Point Under The Enhanced HIPC Initiative And The IMF Immediately Grants 100 Percent Debt Relief ... |
| www.worldbank.org |
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| Economic Policy and Debt - The Enhanced HIPC Initiative |
| The Initiative’s debt-burden thresholds were adjusted downward, which enabled a broader group of countries to qualify for larger volumes of debt relief. ... |
| www.worldbank.org |
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| Debt relief - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Debt relief is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Debt Analyzer, Debt Reduction Software, Home Page |
| Debt Elimination at its best! Potential savings of hundreds or thousands of dollars! Build debt reduction, timed elimination or consolidation schedules. |
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| Superior Debt Relief |
| We help you get rid of credit card debt much faster than you may believe possible with credit card debt settlement and negotiation tactics, providing debt ... |
| www.superiordebtrelief.com |
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| Debt Relief - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum |
| Aid Inflows, Debt Relief Yet to Translate into Reduced Poverty (March 20, 2006) ... Fearing that the IMF could tie debt relief to economic benchmarks, ... |
| www.globalpolicy.org |
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| Debt Relief - Global Policy Forum - Social and Economic Policy |
| Debt Relief - Global Policy Forum - Social and Economic Policy. The Debt Relief Page Has Been Moved to: ... |
| www.globalpolicy.org |
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| BBC NEWS | Business | Q&A: African debt relief |
| BBC News looks at the progress of international debt reduction efforts, and the sticking points which continue to hamper the process. |
| news.bbc.co.uk |
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| Debt Relief Australia - Start Reducing Debt Today! |
| Debt Relief offers Australians in debt assistance with finding the most appropriate debt relief solution. |
| www.debtrelief.com.au |
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| Debt Consolidation Australia, Debt Relief & Bankruptcy Information |
| Specialising in debt agreements, mortgage refinancing and bankruptcy. Company profile, calculators, solutions, media releases, testimonials and existing ... |
| www.foxsymes.com.au |
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| Oxfam - Debt and Aid - Debt Relief for Nicaragua: breaking out of ... |
| Oxfam policy paper on relationship between international debt servicing and poverty. Linked to table of contents and also zipped for download. |
| www.oxfam.org.uk |
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| What debt relief means for Africa | csmonitor.com |
| This weekend's $40 billion debt cancellation deal could spark major improvements in the lives of the world's poorest people. |
| www.csmonitor.com |
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