Unlike other debt relief programs in the US, most credit counseling agencies are non-profit and they don’t rely on the fees paid by the debtors as their only source of revenue. According to the AICCA or the Association of Independent Credit Counseling Agencies, the credit counselor can charge a fee that is below $50 and in lieu of this fee; they can give you an array of options that can assist you in getting out of debt. When a consumer is struggling with his debt burden, he usually rushes to a credit counseling agency so as to get back a firm grip on his financial condition. If you’re still not aware of the benefits of credit counseling agencies, here’s help for you. Check out the most common benefits of the credit counseling firms.

• The credit counselor analyzes your credit situation: Unlike the debt consolidation and the debt settlement companies, the credit counselor will first check your financial situation so that he can advise you effectively regarding your debt situation. As per the recent research by the National Federation of Credit Counselors, it has been seen that most consumers who sacrifice their life for repaying their debt obligations backslide to their past financial habits soon as they become debt free. This is the reason why the credit counselors check the bad financial habits before letting you take any further step.
• They make a proper list of all documents: Before the creditors discuss any kind of modification to your debt agreements, they will ask for a detailed list of the financial statement that lists your income, assets and expenses. The credit counselor will understand which information should be included and how to present it in order to modify your proposal by the creditors.
• They give you a personalized solution: When you approach a credit counselor, you will get personalized help from them that can help you deal with your personal debt problems. If you’re going through a job change or an educational training, you’ll need a different kind of financial help that a normal debt consolidation agent will not be able to give. This is possible with a credit counseling agent as he is trained to help you with any kind of financial bind.
• They will help you protect your credit score: You should be aware of the fact that repaying your debts in a manner that is not mentioned in your credit card agreement will always hurt your credit score. However, if you work with a credit counseling agency, it is most likely that the credit counselor will advise you certain ways adopting which you can protect your credit score from being hurt.
• They will negotiate with your creditors: When the credit counselor sees that you can’t manage your debts on your own, they will enroll you into a debt management program so that you can repay the debt in small and affordable monthly payments. You can stop making any further payment to the creditors as the credit counselor will negotiate with them in order to make them agree to a lower interest rate that ensures affordable monthly payments.
• They will stop collection calls: The credit counselor will speak to your creditors so as to tell them that you’re repaying through the DMP or the debt management program. As the debt collectors come to know that you’re paying through a DMP, they’ll stop calling you further.

Therefore, when you’re worried about eliminating your debt burden, you can certainly take help from a credit counseling agency and reap the multiple benefits. Instead of filing bankruptcy, this can be a better option to remove your debts from your life.

I have recently researched information on repairing bad credit after bankruptcy, etc. It appears that items, whether true or false can legally be disputed from yourself as frequent as every 30 days. And, unless the credit bureau agencies can provide valid proof (from the original creditors) within a 30 day period, they must remove the derogatory credit from your file. Although it can take 2 – 3 times of writing dispute letters to actually get a response, this seems very interesting. It also appears that the FCRA is really in the consumers favor, but not really advertised to us because the 3 major bureaus profit from our credit history. Any experience/advice on someone cleaning up their own bad credit (not through credit repair scams)? How To Rebuild Credit?