Financial debt is one of those topics a lot of people don’t want to talk about.
At the end of last year, Americans carried more than $1.2 trillion in credit card debt, according to the financial group Lending Tree. At that time, credit card holders in Illinois carried, on average, more than $8,000 in debt. In Indiana, that number was just over $6,000 in credit card debt per person, according to an analysis from Lending Tree.
Those are just averages. Many people carry balances that are much higher.
Naya Franklin said her debt ballooned out of control when she purchased a home several years ago.
Looking for a solution, Franklin went online looking for debt consolidation help. That’s when she came across the non-profit group Money Management International.
She told NBC 5 Responds she paid a small fee, about $50, and a counselor helped her consolidate her debt and reduced her interest rates to 5%. She’s now on track to pay off $80,000 worth of debt in five years.
The counselors negotiate with creditors for a partial repayment of your debts. The non-profit said it’s helped more than 2.5 million people pay off over $10 billion in debt.
But while MMI has been vetted by NBC 5 Responds, not all debt relief companies are created equal.
The Better Business Bureau warns that many companies “frequently promise – and charge for – impossible services.”
Here’s what they recommend for avoiding scams when it comes to debt relief:
Advance fees are a concern. Not all businesses promising to help you repair bad credit are scams, but if you are asked to pay in advance, that’s a big red flag. In both the U.S. and Canada, credit repair and debt relief companies can only collect their fee after they perform the services promised. Do not believe guarantees. Nobody can guarantee to make debt go away or improve your credit score. In fact, they can’t promise you anything before they have even reviewed your personal financial situation. Beware of the big promise. Other red flags are big promises, such as removing negative information from your credit report, or urging you to get a new identity or apply for an Employer Identification Number to use instead of your Social Security number (that’s a crime, by the way). No contract or one that is vague is another warning sign.Hence then, the article about digging out of debt in a matter of months tips and what to look for was published today ( ) and is available on NBC Chicago ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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