The best way is to look for a reputable organization that is an approved nonprofit organization. You can check with the IRS to ensure that the organization is tax-exempt. Otherwise, any Debt Consolidation Company can try to sell you on a consolidation option that could make your situation even worse.

No harm looking for a company that is BBB registered.

Look for unresolved complaints in the company's name.

Search the internet for the complaints that company has.

You can look up rippoffreport or search for the company name + complaints/ scam/ review/ feedback.

All these things will always help you make a decision.

Ask the companies to provide some referrences of customers who are already enrolled into the program.

Do not forget to ask the Debt Consolidation company about the drawbacks of the programs.

READ THE AGREEMENTS THEY SEND. The entire world knows that Americans dont read agreements. It is high time we stop trusting what is told to us over the phone. Start reading the agreements and make sure that what ever was told on phone, is that true or not.

And never forget to compare multiple options. There is no harm comparing. It is better to spend more time researching initially than regretting later.

2

You can choose the companies that provide you the consolidation services from some information like consolidation services can help people in debt by either repackaging their debts into one lower-interest loan or by actually reducing the total amount of debt a person owes through negotiating with that person's lenders.

3

You should search first the reviews of debt consolidation loans company to make sure that they were not scam.

4

You should look for a debt consolidation company which is registered with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has a good rating. The best rating is A+. Check the BBB to see if there any complaints registered against the company and if there are, whether these issues have been resolved amicably. You should also view the history of a debt consolidation company. If the company is more than 3 years with good standing, it should be a safe bet. You should check with as many companies as you can and see which one can help you settle your debt the quickest, as that would be to your best advantage.

5

Aside from checking its legality, services and capacity You could always check its company background, costumers testimonials, records and current progress. You can also crossed check it compare prices and accuracy, with other companies. If still your not satisfied you can always ask for a free demo from them and see it fits in your needs.

Here are more opinions and answers from other FAQ Farmers:

• Although there are a lot of scam artists out there peddling credit repair services, some are legit. Of course using a credit repair company is totally up to you. Just keep in mind that the credit repair company shouldn't charge you any money up front until they have performed the services that they agreed to perform - it's the law. Also, you must be fully involved in the credit repair process; no credit doctor or company can successfully restore your credit history without your participation. You should also read and completely understand your contract and be able to get out of it at anytime you choose to without penalty or obligation. Last but not least, you should understand that there is nothing a credit repair company can do that you can't do for yourself.

• A credit repair company can do nothing an individual can do. So the only reason for one to use a credit repair company would be for help. If the individual can't or doesn't want to learn the credit system.

Also consider finding a consultant that is a member of a trade association that is regulated by the credit service industry. Credit Consultants Association is such an organization.

Yes, you can make payment arrangements with almost anyone to whom you owe money. In fact, they would probably prefer that to the giant pain in the ass garnishing wages can be. Companies, health care professionals and even the IRS are willing to set up a payment arrangement with you. However, to be sure you don't miss a payment and force the creditor to "call" the whole amount (try to force you to pay in full), they may ask for checking account information so they can take it out on the day of the month you tell them is best.

1. All creditors/ collectors will threaten to sue you and garnish your paychecks. I would suggest, first look up you r state laws and a little bit of common sense before getting afraid. For example, no one can garnish your disability allowance, Social security Income, no one can garnish you if you are self employed or un employed.

2. More and more banks try to settle matters out of the court, as they also know that jobs are unstable and property is losing value these days, so things like garnishment or lien on mortgage doesn't help them much.

Don't feel that you have to agree to all they say. Go ahead and negotiate, they will agree to it. I recently had a friend who was in a similar situation. He had a debt of some $20000 with a Credit card. He was being garnished, the bank gave him an offer to settle out of bank. They finally agreed on the following terms. $50 a month for next 5 years. THATZ IT. So, the point here is, if you are being garnished, dont let your chances of negotiations go by.

If you are living paycheck to paycheck, worried about debt collectors, or can't seem to develop a workable budget, you may be considering a consumer credit counseling service. Your creditors may be willing to accept reduced payments if you enter a debt repayment plan with a reputable credit counseling service. Choosing whether or not to use one of these services and choosing which agency to work with can be difficult, so here are some tips on how to approach this decision.

If you want to work with a credit counseling agency, interview several. Here are some good questions to ask:

• What services do you offer?
• Do you have educational materials? If so, will you send them to me? Are they free?
• Can I access them on the Internet?
• In addition to helping me solve my immediate problem, will you help me develop a plan for avoiding problems in the future?
• What are your fees? Do I have to pay anything before you can help me? Are there monthly fees? What's the basis for the fees?
• What is the source of your funding?
• Will I have a formal written agreement or contract with you?
• How soon can you take my case?
• Who regulates, oversees and/or licenses your agency? Is your agency audited?
• Will I work with one counselor or several?
• What are the qualifications of your counselors? Are they accredited or certified? If not, how are they trained?
• What assurance do I have that information about me (including my address and phone number) will be kept confidential?
• How much do I have to owe to use your services?
• How do you determine the amount of my payment? What happens if this is more than I can afford?
• How does your debt repayment plan work? How will I know my creditors have received payments? Is client money put in a separate account from operating funds? How often can I get status reports on my accounts? Can I get access to my accounts online or by phone?
• Can you get my creditors to lower or eliminate interest and finance charges or waive late fees?
• Is a debt repayment plan my only option?
• What if I can't maintain the agreed-upon plan?
• What debts will be excluded from the debt repayment plan?
• Will you help me plan for payment of these debts?
• Who will help me if I have problems with my accounts or creditors?
• How secure is the information I provide to you?

You might wish to check with your state Attorney General, local consumer protection agency, and the Better Business Bureau to find out if consumers have filed complaints about the provider you are considering. Any reputable credit counseling agency should send you free information about itself and the services it provides without requiring you to provide any details about your situation. If not, consider that a red flag and go elsewhere for help.

Be careful before choosing Consumer Credit Counseling. Research this option using the internet and verify everything. CCC companies have gotten a very bad name in recent years based on changes in their industry. Credit counseling was originally started by the credit card companies themselves as an alternative means for collecting their debt from consumers. These companies typically never reduce the amount owed to their participants, sometimes renegotiating late fees and over-the-limit charges. This is the "savings" that they advertise. According to NationalDebtRelief, "the success rate of debt management plans is about 20% to 26%." They also go on to recommend considering debt consolidation loans and Chapter 7 bankruptcies, citing their "better completion rates."

It is also important to note that when filing for bankruptcy, whether Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, that you are required to provide a certificate showing that you received credit counseling from an agency approved by the U.S. Trustee's office within the 180-day period before you file for bankruptcy.

Be cautious of credit card consolidation and other debt consolidation plans. These plans are not always the best option for your overall financial health. The consolidators may promise to lower your monthly payments; however, this action will extend the length of time it will take to pay off all your debts and ultimately you may pay more in finance charges.

You may wish to consult a debt counseling service. Note that the use of debt counseling may appear on your credit report. Some creditors consider this activity negatively; some may consider it as a positive step.

2: There are some situations in which a credit card consolidation is not necessary; and others where it can work to your advantage. I would suggest you study this subject a bit further, especially in reference to your own personal financial situation. You can check the link below to get more information.

A collection agency cannot sue without the approval of the original creditor. Actually they can't sue at all. And if they tell you they can, they are violating FDCL. They refer the account back to the original debtor, who decides whether or not to sue and then forwards it to attorneys who specialize in this type of litigation.

Here are more opinions and answers from other FAQ Farmers:

• Yes, at least in my case where your identity has been stolen/used by your (ex) husband. And you will need to be able to prove credit card fraud (which takes years from your life "in more ways then one" to accomplish). The important laws/discoveries are being only discussed/implemented as we type. We are the guinea pigs. Be dilligent, you can't waste a minute in proving the flaws, in the laws that create a cause for us to have to fight them.

• Only the original creditor can sue you for a defaulted loan, unless the collection agency has a lawyer who is acting on behalf of the original creditor. The collection agency will harrass you and threaten that you may be sued (but not by them).

• Any company that writes off your credit card debt goes through the legal department and they can not come back on you and sue you and the other posters were correct in saying that a collection agency can't come after you for that debt.

• Once a company writes off your debt they turn it over to attorneys who will start the process of legal action or Garnishment of wages. They will get back what you owe minus the attorny fees. They have sued clients of mine for balances as small as $320.

Collection agencies often buy defaulted debts from creditors for pennies on the dollar. They will then pursue collection action in whatever means are allowed under the FDCPA and/or state laws where the debtor resides.

Third party collectors do have the legal right to file suit against a debtor without the necessity of consent from the original creditor.

A vast misconception concerning credit card debt is that said debt is "unsecured" and therefore not collectible. What the term actually means is, there is no specific property attached to the debt as collateral. That being the case, the third party collector or original creditor can and does sue defaulted debtors to recover money owed. Once a judgment is granted the judgment creditor can execute it against any property owned by the debtor that is not exempted under federal or state law. The preferred method of recovery is wage garnishment or bank account levy.

NO!!! It is a scam do not fall for it.

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Ok, so I get this voicemail message from a guy who is speaking in a thick, broken Indian Accent (Obviously disguising his voice). He claims to be Ronnie Cooper from Affidavit Consolidation Services. A complete transcript of his message follows:

- Note- the # symbol is in place of my name "This message is for #### ####. this is Ronnie Cooper from ACS. #### The reason of my call to make you aware of a very serious matter. This is to notify you that a serious issue pressed against your name. Very serious allegation on your social security number. While ####, I can't discuss much about this voicemail, please make sure you return this call on my direct desk number. My direct desk number is 347-342-0492. I repeat 347-342-0492. So ####, get back to me on my direct desk number. My message where I told you but uh ##### should you fail to do so, I will contact your employ place and I will inform them that you are ???? with the finance company, so beware and get back to us on my direct desk number Goodbye and have a blessed day." So I call the number and someone with a fake sounding English accent answers. I ask for Ronnie Cooper and another voice "appears" this time a broken Indian accent and verifies my telephone number. He proceeds to tell me that the following day (which would have been a Saturday) ACS was going to file a lawsuit against me on behalf of their client, an online Payday loan company called Cash Advance USA, for failing to pay on a $350 payday loan that I was supposed to have gotten online back in January. He says that with all the interest charges and late fees, his firm would be seeking over $2000. He reads off a few bits of personal information, my address, date of birth, and phone number and tells me that this is going to go on my credit and will be very difficult to clean up. He offers to settle out of court if I will agree too pay him over the phone.

I tell this person that I never got a payday loan and I would not be paying for a payday loan that I never received. That was when I asked for information about the loan company. He tells me that he is representing Cash Advance USA, an online payday loan company. He gives 516-833-3191 as the number for that company so after telling the guy that I guess we'll have to deal with this in court, he hung up on me.

Then I called Cash Advance USA. The person who answered the phone (no pbx system) once again in a broken, barely recognizable fake Indian accent answers, "Can I help you"? I say, "I'm sorry, is this ACS?" he says "no, this is the finance company", I say "Oh, you mean Cash Advance USA?", "uh yeah, Cash Advance". I give him my first and last name only, and he puts me on hold so he can look up my account. "Uh yes, it seems you have an open account of $350." he says. I tell him that I never opened an account and if any such account has been opened in my name, then my identity has been stolen. He says, "Well, what would you like to do?" I said that I want to follow whatever procedure his company had in place for disputed account resolution and to attempt to find out who did this and make sure that they are punished so they will think twice before they try it with anyone else." He says, "Ok, well you do what you need to do, and we'll do what we need to do" and hung up on me. When I called the "finance company" back, there was no answer. hum..... imagine that!

So, today is the day after. I check my bank account online and low and behold, over $300 worth of check card transactions have been made in Tuscon AZ. I've never been to Tuscon AZ! Now I know that they have my debit card number too, so I called the bank and canceled my card.

After contemplating this situation, I think I know what is going on here. This ring of con-artists operate an online store front that appears to be legitimate and offer great deals on popular items. The unsuspecting victim purchases an item from there web shop and provides the necessary billing information (Name, address, telephone, credit card number, exp date and security code. This information is all they need to spend your money. They can use magnetic strip coders, like the ones hotels use, to imprint the credit card number on any magnetic card. Then they can use your credit/debit card anywhere.

Apparently, they also attempt to use this information to scare their victims into sending them additional money as well. When they call you making threats of lawsuits and credit reports could definitely scare naive or unsaavy victims into sending them money just to prevent the hassle they are threatening. From my inquiries online, I have also discovered that they sometimes attempt to phish for additional information on the phone, like attempting to get someone to "verify" their account by giving their social security.

1. This is a scam. You don't have to worry about them suing you or reporting you to the credit agencies.
2. If you have been called by them, then your personal information has already been compromised. They acquired information about you that they can use to attack you by accessing your accounts or, even worse, they could open up new accounts in your name. You may not even notice your identity has been stolen until you are turned down for credit or until REAL debt collectors start hunting you down.
3. Be Warned the calls may be the least of your worries.

1. keep a close eye on your credit and debit accounts, especially the ones you use to buy online. If you see any items you don't recognize, call the bank or lender immediately and report this identity theft
2. go to www.transunion.com or any of the other credit agencies' sites and order a credit report. Everyone is entitled to one free report per year. Better yet, for about $25 a month, you can monitor your credit 24/7 at www.TransUnion.com this will let you update your report daily to detect if someone is attempting to open new accounts in your name.
3. Take this as a lesson to only shop online at reputable vendors that you know are legit. Don't be the sucker for the amazing online deal. If it sounds too good to be true, it is!

Depending on what this question is really asking, one obvious possible answer:

• Make more money through your business!

And one less-obvious possible answer:

• Negotiate with the debtors for an advanced repayment schedule, so you can repay the debts faster.