Choosing the Right Credit Counselor

If you believe that you are not disciplined enough to create a workable budget and stick to it, try working out a repayment plan with your creditors, or find alternate and innovative methods to keep track of mounting bills, such as contacting a credit counseling organization for help. Numerous credit counseling organizations are non-profit seeking and work with you purely to solve your financial problems, not looking to gain anything monetarily in the process. However, not all are reputable and hence you need to choose these organizations prudently. For example, just because an organization says it is a 'non-profit' one, there is no guarantee that its services are free, affordable, or even legitimate in the context of the law of the land. In reality it has been noticed that certain credit counseling organizations charge abnormally high fees, or else hide their fees by pressuring consumers to make 'voluntary' contributions or donations that only cause more debt apart from not solving the original problem.

Most credit counselors offer their services through local offices, the internet, or over the telephone. As far as possible, it is best advised to find an organization that offers counseling in-person. Several credit unions, universities, branches of the U.S. Cooperative Extension Service, military bases, housing authorities, and others operate and offer non-profit credit counseling programs. Apart from these, your financial institution, local consumer protection agency, or even friends and family may be good sources of information and referrals for this purpose.

In case you are considering filing for bankruptcy, you need to be aware of one major change to the bankruptcy laws which came into effect as of October 17, 2005. According to this, you need to get credit counseling from a government-approved organization within six months before you file for bankruptcy relief. For this purpose, you can find a state-wise list of government-approved organizations at the website www.usdoj.gov/ust. This is the official website of the United States Trustee Program, which is the organization within the United States Department of Justice that supervises cases relating to bankruptcy and trustees.

Reputed credit counseling organizations usually advise you on managing your money and debts, help you develop a budget, and offer free educational materials and workshops which will help you emerge from the predicament you usually are in at the time you approach them for help. Their counselors are certified and exclusively trained in the areas of consumer credit, money and debt management, as well as budgeting. Counselors generally discuss your entire financial situation with you, and help you develop a personalized plan to solve your money problems working in a phased manner. An initial counseling session typically lasts an hour, with an offer of follow-up sessions as the case may be.