The first step in bankruptcy is to take the credit counseling class with https://ccadvising.com. You will receive a certificate which is valid for 180 days. This certificate is required to file bankruptcy.

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Credit cards can be a useful financial tool, but if you start taking on credit card debt, it can take control of your life. Learn why your relationship with credit cards is unhealthy and how you can use credit counseling to take a break from credit so you can find your financial independence and break your bad credit habits. Once you’ve found your power, then you can decide if you want to let credit back into your life.
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A counselor is an advisor who has the training and resources to help you achieve your best financial future. For confidential advice from an NFCC trained, certified counselor, call 1-800-388-2227 or visit www.DebtAdvice.org.

Transcription: Agencies like Cambridge speak to thousands of people every month, and one of the most common questions we hear is, “Will credit counseling hurt my credit score?” The short answer is no, but that comes with an explanation. “Credit counseling” is the process by which a certified credit counselor will help you create a workable financial plan that reflects your income, expenses, and goals. Your counselor will review your finances with you, give you personalized advice to help you develop a budget, provide valuable resources you can use in that process, and recommend alternative strategies to manage your situation. This type of free consultation has no impact whatsoever on your credit standing. Now, one of the options a counselor may offer is enrollment in a debt management program, or DMP. A debt management program will impact your credit, but probably not in the way you may be thinking.

Your credit scores, or “FICO scores,” are calculated from the data in your credit report at any given moment. That’s why they often change from month to month, as your creditors report your activity. The data is grouped into five categories: Payment History, which represents 35% of your score; Amounts Owed, which is 30% of your score; Length of Credit History – 15%, New Credit, 10%; and Types of Credit Used, which also accounts for 10% of your FICO score. The importance of any one factor depends on the total amount of information in your credit report at that moment. This means that what impacts your score may not impact another person’s score as heavily. Now, on to the good news.

Fair Isaac and Company, developers of the FICO scoring model, considers debt management enrollment as a neutral mark – neither good nor bad, and it carries no weight when calculating your score. This wasn’t always true. In 1989 debt management was considered a negative notation; however, the formula changed in 1998 because people were enrolling in DMPs as a proactive step. Instead of looking for help after they fell behind on their bills, people were reaching out to credit counseling agencies before things got out of hand. So if the creditors you include on your program note that your account is being repaid through a reduced payment and interest program, you won’t lose any points as a result of that notation. However, each of your prospective lenders has its own policies. One may view debt management as a non-issue, while others may interpret it negatively. There’s simply no way to predict that reaction.

Although participation in a debt management program isn’t a factor in FICO’s formula, the process of enrollment will affect your score. In a DMP, your credit counseling agency pays your bills once each month, and many creditors drastically reduce their interest rates and waive their late and overlimit fees. In return for those benefits, they require that the accounts you include in your plan be closed. That’s reasonable. Now, closing those accounts lowers your score because the amount of available credit is reduced, and that’s a part of the Amounts Owed category. The number of points you lose depends on the other information in your credit profile at that time. If you have a good credit history, with a lot of accounts in good standing, you may lose just a few points. If you only have a few accounts, the impact may be greater.

At the time you enroll, the agency will let your creditors know when your payment will be disbursed; however, as you transition into the program, you could experience a late or missed payment. That would impact your score, but the length of the program, generally 3 to 5 years, gives you more than enough time to make up for that initial event. It’s also important to remember that even though participation in a DMP is a neutral mark, it doesn’t “protect” you from incurring a negative notation, either. Just like when you’re managing your bills on your own, if you miss a payment on one of your accounts, your history will be affected. That’s one of the things you’ll learn while you’re working with an agency. You’re not just a number to us – we want to show you how to earn lower interest rates by developing good credit habits. Making payments on time is one of them.

If you pull your own credit report or review your score through a free website like CreditKarma.com, which I highly recommend, you may discover that you have too much debt. For example, if all of the credit limits on your accounts added up to $10,000, and all of the balances on those accounts added up to $5,000, you’d be using 50% of your available credit. On creditkarma.com, you’d see a note like “proportion of balances to credit limits is too high on revolving bank accounts,” which means that your score has already been impacted negatively.

(Insufficient room. Please email yourmoney2@cambridgecredit.org for complete transcription.)

Using credit counseling to consolidate your bills into one lower monthly payment may be a great way to manage falling behind on finances for some, but others may not qualify or have a steady income to support the payment. Who is CCCS the perfect fit for?

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What is CREDIT COUNSELING? What does CREDIT COUNSELING mean? CREDIT COUNSELING meaning – CREDIT COUNSELING definition – CREDIT COUNSELING explanation.

Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ license.

Credit counseling (known in the United Kingdom as Debt counselling) is commonly a process that is used to help individual debtors with debt settlement through education, budgeting and the use of a variety of tools with the goal to reduce and ultimately eliminate debt. Credit counseling is most often done by Credit counseling agencies that are empowered by contract to act on behalf of the debtor to negotiate with creditors to resolve debt that is beyond a debtor’s ability to pay. Some of the agencies are non-profits that charge at no or non-fee rates, while others can be for-profit and include high fees. Regulations on credit counseling and Credit counseling agencies varies by country and sometimes within regions of the countries themselves. In the United States, individuals filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy are required to receive counseling.

In the United States, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling was established in 1951. The modern practice known as ‘‘credit counseling’’ was initiated by creditor banks and credit card companies during the mid-1960s to address the growing volume of personal bankruptcies.

Although there is variation from country to country and even in regions within country, consumer debt is primarily made up of home loans, credit card debt and car loans. Credit counseling includes an array of services to address consumer debt that is not within the debtor’s ability to pay. In addition to education, a popular credit counseling option is the ‘‘Debt management plan’’ (‘‘DMP’’, known in the United Kingdom as the Individual voluntary arrangement or “IVA”). In order to initiate a DMP, a consumer would authorize the credit counselor to contact each of the consumer’s unsecured creditors and negotiate with each creditor to lower the consumer’s monthly payment amount, to lower the interest rate, and to waive any outstanding late fees. The debt was then ‘‘consolidated’’ into a single payment.

Credit counselors can sometimes negotiate debt relief, where part or whole of an individual debt is forgiven. Another option is Debt consolidation, in which one new loan replaces multiple unsecured credit debts. The Debt-snowball method is a budgeting approach that addresses debt systematically.

Global criticism of credit counseling comes primarily from predatory practices that take advantage of debtors that are already struggling. These practices include failing to meet required standards, charging unlawful or unreasonable fees, failing to provide affordable solutions for consumers, and neglecting to make customers aware of free debt services available elsewhere.

Credit Counseling Services can provide lower monthly payments on credit card debt and other unsecured bills. One phone call can quickly help you learn for yourself if you qualify and understand just how much lower your payments can be.

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Credit Counseling is often referred to as a form of debt consolidation because you combine all of your payments that are in the debt management program into one payment.

LEARN MORE ON CREDIT COUNSELING:

Credit Counseling Services Help Lower Your Monthly Credit Card Payments

5 Ways to Compare Credit Counseling with Debt Settlement

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Michael Bovee started CRN in 2004 with a mission to provide people in need with detailed credit and debt help. The DebtBytes Channel is an extension of the CRN blog, and is dedicated to finding the debt relief option or strategy that works best for you.

Thinking about filing for bankruptcy? Before you can file you are required to take a credit counseling course and submit the certificate of completion along with your petition and schedules. After you file, a second course and certificate are required to qualify for a discharge.

In this video, I explain what is involved with these two mandatory bankruptcy education courses.

Here is a list of approved vendors: http://www.bankruptcyworksheet.com/credit_counseling_vendors.html

Here is a link to my Atlanta bankruptcy web site: http://www.atlanta-bankruptcy-attorney.com.

Jonathan Ginsberg
Atlanta bankruptcy attorney
Ginsberg Law Offices
1854 Independence Square
Atlanta, GA 30338
770-393-4985

Emmy award winning consumer reporter Jeanette Pavini shares vital information on choosing a credit counseling service. Jeanette discusses how to recognize when you may need to seek a credit counselor and shares important tips on how to spot scams. Jeanette also discusses why it’s important to look forward and not feel ashamed or having debt.

Learn More at http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/homeandfamily

Get Credit Counseling Here – http://creditcounseling.debtconsolidation.com

What Is Credit Counseling?

Are you struggling financially and trying to dig out from a mountain of debt? Credit counseling could be just the solution you’re looking for.
Credit counselors work with consumers to educate them about money and debt, and help them develop household budgets a plan to eliminate debt. Credit counseling can offer financial guidance or negotiate with creditors to resolve unsustainable debt. However, counselors cannot offer legal advice. All meetings between a credit counselor and clients are considered confidential.

Accreditation Groups

Credit Counseling agencies typically belong to an accreditation group, such as the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies. These groups develop standards, provide accountability for its member agencies and set suggest fee schedules. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling suggests fees should be no more than $50 for a set-up and $25 monthly thereafter. Members of the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies must agree to cap the initial charge at $75 and the monthly maintenance fees at $50.

The Credit Counseling Plan

When you meet with a credit counselor, having an honest discussion of your finances is paramount. You must be prepared to disclose all aspects of your financial life so the counselor will have a clear and complete financial picture of your income, household expenses, existing debt and spending habits. Copies of financial statements – including the debt accounts — will be needed.
The credit counselor helps develop a unique plan that might include a debt management plan, improved budgeting, bankruptcy, or a combination of these. Financial management and educational tools are provided, as well as materials to help clients develop savings and retirement plans.

Finding A Credit Counselor

Finding a credit counselor in your area has never been easier. Start by making a list of member agencies of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies. Next, contact either your state attorney general local consumer protection office to find out whether there have been any complaints filed. You can find information on your state’s regulations by visiting the state pages on our site.

Most agencies will offer an initial meeting at no charge. This meeting usually lasts about one hour, and gives you the opportunity to find out if the agency will be a good fit.

About Nonprofit Agencies

Many credit counseling agencies are nonprofit and typically derive their funding from fees paid by clients, grants from the credit/lending industry and a percentage of the payments made by debtors. Up to 15 percent of what is collected can be returned to the agency. Under IRS guidelines, a non-profit credit counseling agency can only collect up to 50 percent of its revenue from these payments.