Debt Settlement Blog

Most debt consolidation loans rarely solve the problem of getting out of debt. Typically and individual will contact a bank or a unsecured credit company of sorts and they will request a loan for an amount high enough to pay off smaller accounts. The consumer hopes to achieve the security of one monthly payment and that is the only benefit they will receive.

Consumers often impatient will not seek out the best finance company for their loan and rather act on impulse. When a bank looks at offering you a loan to pay off other accounts they are technically assuming the debt for you. They evaluate the risk and 90% of the time the interest rate on the new loan will be the same or higher than what the present rates are on the existing accounts. The bank issues loans to make money not to give indebted consumers an interest free route out of debt.

0% offers are a great example. Banks data mine the credit bureau’s in order to find the consumers with debt that they can entice to transfer balances to these 0% accounts. On average less than 1% of balances that are transferred for 0% financing offers are ever paid off within the allotted period of time. The banks count on that for future earnings. For the banks its almost like shooting fish in a barrel. It may take them a year before you pay a penny in interest but when you pay your debt for the next 20 years they will make a fortune.

The FTC defines Debt Consolidation as: “you may be able to lower your cost of credit by consolidating your debt through a second mortgage or a home equity line of credit. Remember that these loans require you to put your home as collateral”. When a lender loans money to pay off all your credit cards and other debt, you have one monthly bill which is paid to the lender. Often these loans do not have a lower APR, and can be as high as APR’s of 24%. Even if you do get a decent APR, you are still in debt. The big mistake which the debt management industries have seen is people giving up unsecured debt for secured debt.

Many consumers nowadays are turning to the ever popular debt settlement programs that are readily available by a variety of companies and law firms. These types of programs provide one lower monthly payment unlike a typical loan where because the amount of debt does not change so a payment reduction is not possible. Debt settlement programs negotiate with your creditors to reduce the amount of debt that you owe.

Always consult a banker or other official before looking into potentially costly consolidation loans that could potentially have you paying your debt years after you would have initially liked to.