How to Beat Debt Relief Obstacles

Seeking the best way to erase all debts can cause great mental or emotional distress. Couples, families, and individuals may not even know where to start finding relief. Part of the problem is that some creditors use legal, yet seemingly unfair or unethical, practices to keep people trapped. In fact, a favorite tactic of some companies is to force people to take out a loan to consolidate. They do this because they know debtors are more likely to be unable to seek relief via bankruptcy in the future. This may seem like a good thing but for debtors who have no other option, bankruptcy won’t even be able to help them now. Instead, they find themselves in a situation where they will continue to pay lower monthly payments, but for longer periods of time. Therefore, even though consolidated payments may be more affordable, they are actually paying out quite a bit more money.

Another way that companies might trap people is with the supposed "universal default clause." This is a practice by which creditors are legally able to raise interest rates if a person misses a payment. This unfortunate practice is enforced all too well by financial institutions only interested in making the next buck. They apply this principle not only when applying for a credit card but also after the application is approved. For instance, some people end up having to pay more interest on all their cards simply because they may have missed one payment. This is true even if that person was faithful in making payments on multiple cards for a long period of time.

This fact is even more compounded by the fact that people with poor credit are assigned such astronomical interest rates. These expenses fluctuate between 22 and 33 percent, which is often about as much as gambling loan sharks make! Whether or not this is fair is up for debate. However, the point of all this is that the use of the credit card is a great cause of financial stress for people and debt consolidation may not be able to fix it. Instead, a person may need in-depth credit and budget counseling. This is a process by which a person’s total living expenses plus past debts are calculated. Adjustments in spending habits are then applied to help people allocate enough money to repay balances owed in a reasonable amount of time.

However, sometimes this will not even help. Some people need the power of a swift negotiator. Therefore, they may turn to a debt settlement counselor who can talk down creditors by 40 to 50 percent. This is a substantial savings that will help debtors squash debt without filing for bankruptcy. Of course, debt settlement may not work for everyone. In the worse case scenario, they may file for bankruptcy after all. However, in most cases people do not want to file bankruptcy because it can take longer to repair one's credit afterwards. Therefore, whenever possible they choose other debt relief options. For many people a peace of mind may come though enrollment in debt settlement programs. Whatever the case, it is crucial to take action and search for options to beat debt before the debt beats you. In order to find out more about credit card debt settlement, you can visit our site www.debt-settlement411.com.