Credit Counseling and Debt Settlement:
Both programs offer consumers a way to repay unsecured debts.
Apply for both, review both plans and make a decision based on your needs.
Credit Counseling is often called debt counseling or debt management. With credit counseling, you have the opportunity to improve credit
if you stay with the program. The fact that a person is in credit counseling may be reported to the credit bureaus and listed on the credit report. Credit Counseling is more preferred by creditors than debt settlement as it can help improve the damage to your credit score.
With debts out of control, options are to seek credit counseling. Debts are combined into one lower monthly payment to make it easier to meet financial obligations. A process where a third party negotiates with creditors and establishes a payment plan on behalf of the debtor.
What happens to your credit during debt counseling can depend on how lenders report your account to the credit bureaus. Being reported as late or delinquent will certainly hurt your credit score. A simple notation that you are in debt counseling probably won't. The credit score formula used by most lenders, known as FICO, now ignores any reference to debt counseling that may be in your file, according to a spokesman for FICO creator Fair Isaac & Co.
Debt settlement is also called debt negotiation. Debt settlement may affect your credit but if your credit is already bad then it may be a good option. The principal balance of debts are negotiated to reduce the balance owed so you can get out of debt faster. It is the act of contacting creditors and negotiating for a reduced payoff for debts.
It is not uncommon to pay 50% or less of the principal on debts as settlement in full. This will save more money in interest and principal payments than any debt relief program outside of bankruptcy. You should keep in mind, however, that some creditors will likely report your settlement to the major credit bureaus.
As you can see, there are no easy answers for people who get in trouble with credit. It comes down to a personal decision; how badly do you need help, how badly has your credit already been affected,
and how much worse would your credit rating become if you did not enroll in debt counseling.
Even some lenders that were traditionally suspicious of debt counseling have loosened their stance. More mortgage lenders are willing to lend to people who have successfully completed repayment plans.
Some lenders say they even view debt counseling as an encouraging sign that a customer is getting debts under control.
