Credit Counseling Companies in the Hot Seat - Do They Really Help You Repair Your Bad Credit? (cont.)
Contributed by Deborah Zeitler
What you need to be aware of when choosing a credit counseling service to repair bad credit
If your accounts are six months behind or more, they have already been charged off. This means that your creditor has given your account to a third party collection agency, which is then in charge of trying to collect money from you. When this happens, a credit counseling service is no longer in a position to help you with your credit problems - if they tell you that they can, you have probably encountered a bad credit counseling agency. Try to find another one that will give you honest counsel about what your options are at that point.
A few tips on how to know you're choosing the right credit counseling agency
A credit counselor doesn't need to know your individual account numbers in order to give you a quote on how much they'll charge you to repair your credit. Before giving you a quote, all a counselor should ask you for are the names of your creditors, the balances you owe and the interest rate on each account.
If you feel that a credit counselor is asking you for too much personal information before telling you how they would be able to help you, trust your intuition and make an appointment to talk to someone at a different agency. You've already taken the first step in taking back control of your personal finances, and Step #2 should be choosing the credit counseling agency that's right for you!
