Question by mikeatx79: Are there really government assisted debt consolidation services available to the public?
My step-mother is a disabled vet, with a massive amount of credit card debt left over from my father passing away. She’s simply doesn’t have enough income from VA disability to pay for all the debt and has been waiting for almost 2 years to get her first Social Security hearing, which still isn’t until next month.

She doesn’t want to claim bankruptcy, she simply wants to consolidate a few credit cards and a small home equity loan into a single low interest account she can make large payments on. I believe in total, she has about 20k dollars worth of debt between all the accounts and is paying just over the minimum payments about $ 800 a month. She’s not really making progress with the current state of things.

Most of the debt consolidation sites seem to simply be bankruptcy attorneys, which is obviously not what she’s looking for.

We are in the Texas, so any state programs, federal programs or anything the VA might offer would be great. I’m looking for a non-profit or social service that can assist her, not just an attorney out to make some money off people who are already struggling.

Best answer:

Answer by Cold
There is an organization (non-profit) out there to help her at no charge.
NFCC.org
National Foundation for Credit Councelling.
She calls the 800 numbers and makes an appointment at a local office.

They are not a loan service. They just know how to deal with creditors.
They can work things out with them for lower payments, lower interest rates, etc.

They have a DMP program – cost about $ 30 a month.
Debt Management Program.
Reviews call them angels from above.
I first heard about NFCC.org on the Clark Howard Show (the cnn guy) years ago.
Amazing what NFCC.org seems to do for people in trouble…

Add your own answer in the comments!

My husband and I are literally drowning in debt. There’s no way we can file bankruptcy or do any of that consolidation stuff. He has a federal job and would pretty much lose his job immediately. We have found relief from his student loans by filling out a form and getting his payments cut in half for a year. Are there any sort of programs in existence that will help out with credit card debt? We have Discover, Chase, Citi, and Bank of America accounts. We have already cut up the cards and do not plan on using them ever again. We tried to get a loan to consolidate the debt into one payment and our credit isn’t good enough to do that either. Any suggestions?
Yes, my husband has to maintain a very high security clearance. This is why he can’t let his credit go bad.

I have 2 VISAs and a personal loan I want to consolidate into 1 payment. I don’t really want to lose one of the VISAs b/c it is in connection with my bank and tied to my checking. Also the personal loan is from a company that I am in very good standings with. Is there a way I can consolidate without losing the one VISA and reputation w/ the loan company?

i am mortgage loan officer and have a client who needs to take out a loan/refinance for debt consolidation and home improvements. he only owes a little over $20,000.00 on his home and it appraised at $220,000.00. he wants to borrow $100,000.00, so there would still be $120,000.00 of equity left. his credit is poor, thus the need for debt consolidation. and he is disabled with a minimal monthly disabilty check. ofcourse, his wife is on title aswell, but her credit is worse, but she does have a monthly income of a very modest amount. the fact that he recieves disability does show up on his credit report, however, the dollar amount does not. what can be done for this family? are there any mortgage lenders out there that have “stated disability” a program? please respond if you are a lender that can help,or have information on the subject that could help. thank you so much.

I owe some people some money and I need a personal loan for $5000. I have a tutoring job that gives me about $200 extra a month to pay for the loan. I’m not looking for a debt consolidation company. I just want to find a bank that will give me the loan.

Do you know of any reputable debt consolidation companies? I have 2 credit cards and 1 personal loan, for about 20k, that I would like to consolidate into one bill. Any options or suggestions no how to do this?

I have debt that I want to consolidate into a home purchase, since I found a home that is priced well below appraised value. Since there is already equity is there a lender that will do a first mortgage and second at the same time? This would reduce my debt to income and put me into a better financial situation since I would only have one payment would be lower.

With the many different kinds of debt consolidation companies offering various debt consolidation programs that are intended to eliminate debt, people realize that these modern times, they are presented with these many options to relieve them of their debt than when the situation was in the earlier  days.

There are many means by which you can obtain free information and channel that will help in debt reduction. The Internet is one of the more common and even popular ways by which you can get sound debt relief advices and professional help on what steps to take on once you find yourself trapped in great debt.

And if you are able to carefully plan you’re every move towards debt relief, then it is possible that stress-free, debt-free days are just around the corner. It is so unlike in the early days when you are unable to pay your monthly installments, your only solution that you can think of is to declare bankruptcy. It seems people saddled with so much debt have very little option then. Now it is not the same anymore as even for those with huge and seemingly debilitating debt burden has debt consolidation program to count on.

Advantages of Debt Consolidation Program

A sound debt consolidation program offers you numerous financial advantages over bankruptcy. You must realize that even if your debt woes seem endless, declaring bankrupt will not be the right solution to your problem as it proves to be just a temporary answer.

You will find yourself having obligations to pay up certain types of debts such as state taxes even when you have declared bankruptcy. It is the exact opposite of debt consolidation program as with this type of program, you are able to enjoy permanent relief. More so, if you decide on getting debt consolidation, you are sure to be able to minimize all your debts to about 50 to 60 percent. Clearly this means an efficient debt consolidation program can help you cut all your debt on half.

Debt Consolidation Program and Your Lifestyle

Another important benefit of debt consolidation program is that it gives you the chance to continue living and enjoying the kind of lifestyle that you are used to; there is no need for you to make any major drastic changes in the way you live. The only change you have to contend with is the ability to easily pay back all your existing debts to your lenders in very light monthly payments.

If you are very carefully in choosing the right debt consolidation program for you, it will certainly create a stress-free atmosphere of good credit that you can enjoy, with all your lenders and associates happy for your actions and appreciating all your efforts to make better your financial situation.

The most important of getting a debt consolidation program to the elimination of debt which in turn allows you to enjoy full freedom from your lenders. How? You turn over all the debt responsibility to your debt consolidation company as the latter now deals with the creditors, performing the payment responsibility that you once were burdened with. With debt consolidation, you now have a stress free life, no more harassment on the phone and mails. With this type of loan, you can actually witness all your financial woes disappear away.

As regards to debt reduction there are many terms that can easily confuse those who are not used to them: Debt relief, debt negotiation, debt settlement, debt consolidation, debt consolidation loans. All this concepts, though related, are different and each one has serious implications in your finances both advantageous and not.

Whenever someone accumulates too much debt and finds it too difficult to repay, resorting to some kind of debt elimination program is the smart way to go. Each one has different success rates that can sometimes achieve up to a 70% debt reduction helping the debtor in the process of becoming debt free.

Debt Relief

”Debt relief” just like “debt elimination” are concepts that refer to a wide range of services. Most companies who advertise themselves as debt relief providers actually offer a debt consolidation service, a debt negotiation service, debt consolidation loans, debt settlements or a combination of two or more of them.

Should you want to hire their services, make sure to know beforehand what is exactly what they do. Otherwise you may be letting them to dispose of your finances and they may affect your credit score negatively providing little help to your debt problem.

Debt Negotiation

Debt negotiation implies agreeing with the debtor’s creditors new repayment programs with debt reductions, interest rate reductions and extensions on the repayment schedules so as to ease the situation of the debtor by providing lower monthly payments he will be able to afford.

Debt negotiation can be done by an individual (even yourself) or a debt negotiation company. These companies have expert negotiators that can obtain the creditor commitment of showing the debt fully paid after negotiation so your credit report will not be affected negatively. However, during the process your credit score may be affected.

Debt Settlement

Debt settlement has two possible meanings: It can refer, as debt negotiation, to the process of agreeing with creditors new repayment programs or it can imply some sort of legal settlement. This means that if to some extent your debt problem has become a legal problem, a debt settlement company (usually a law firm or a company with expert lawyers) will be able to reach an agreement with the creditors and take your debt problem out of courts.

Debt Consolidation And Debt Consolidation Loans

Debt consolidation agencies also negotiate with your creditors but generally have agreements made with credit card providers and loan lenders, so the process is a lot simpler. Once you contact a debt consolidation agency, just by seeing who you owe money to, they can tell you to what extent your debt can be reduced. Usually, in order for the lenders and financial institutions to agree to debt reductions, they commit to take care of payments themselves. So, each month you will pay a lump sum to the debt consolidation agency and they will take care of the rest.

Sometimes, in order to provide you with this single monthly payment, you are approved for a debt consolidation loan with a lower interest rate than the average of your debt’s rates and a longer repayment schedule too. This kind of loan can also be requested directly to some lenders but approval is easier if the lender knows for sure you will use it only to cancel debt and that can only be done through a debt consolidation company.