Today, many people hold numerous credit cards and are also taking out other loans like personal loans, home loans and auto loans.
Most times, each one has a different monthly due date which can make managing them all difficult.
This sometimes leads to late or even missed payments, which in turn can affect credit ratings.
If someone finds himself in this type of situation, debt consolidation is an option to get debt back under control and more manageable.
Debt consolidation is when a loan is taken out to pay for two or more other debts.
This type of program benefits those having high interest rates, more credit cards that can be handled, or someone who simplify wants to combine all payments into one.
Benefits of debt consolidation 1.
Reduction of rates.
Interest rates can be reduced on bills and debts.
A debt consolidation company will negotiate with creditors and work to reconstruct payments that are more manageable.
2.
Repayment plan.
A debt repayment plan is set up with creditors or a collection agency.
This plan will typically have a lowered interest rate to reduce payments.
3.
One monthly payment.
A consolidation program requires that you make one payment monthly toward debts and bills.
When working with a consolidation company, this payment is made to the company and then divided and disbursed the money to the creditors.
Multiple payments are not made to different creditors with different interest rates.
4.
Lowered or eliminated late fees.
When a debt account is defaulted on penalty fees, late charges as well as interest begins to add up.
All of these may be reduced or eliminated once negotiated in the program.
5.
Collection calls stop.
When a power of attorney is signed when joining a consolidation company, calls from both creditors and agencies are prohibited.
This stops them from harassing debtors.
6.
Free debt counseling.
Most consolidation companies provide debt counseling for free for those debtors who are consolidating their debts and bills.
Counseling allows someone to analyze his or her situation and discuss options for relief.
There are various reasons as to why many people choose debt consolidation.
One being that the amount of debt is just too high to realistically manage and try to avoid bankruptcy.
A second reason many choose consolidation is because interest rates have increased and the creditor has refused to lower them.
The main reason someone chooses consolidation is the fact of wanting to be debt free and this is his or her number one goal.