Choosing the best debt relief company – Important steps to follow
If you’re knee deep in credit card debt and you’re looking for debt relief options that could assist you getting out of debt, you must take cautious steps towards choosing the best debt relief companies. Nothing can be worse than choosing a wrong debt relief company that will take undue advantage of your distressed financial state and squeeze all the money from your wallet. It is not that there are no ways to sew the hole in your wallet. There are some important steps to follow before choosing the best and the most trustworthy debt relief company. Here are some steps that you could follow as a debtor to safeguard your personal finances.
1. Check whether it is registered with the BBB: Before choosing a particular debt relief company, you need to check its authenticity. How would you measure the trustworthiness of a debt relief company? Well, you could check whether or not the company is registered with the BBB or the Better Business Bureau. All reputable companies are usually registered with the BBB and therefore, if you come across a company that is not registered with the BBB, you can certainly shrug off the possibility of using it.
2. Check the customer feedbacks: Another way of determining whether or not the company is worthy of your trust is to check and study the customer feedbacks. Nowadays, almost all debt relief companies operate online and therefore you can easily check the feedbacks of the customers to know how the company has been performing in its own field. You can even ask your family and friends about the company so that you get some trusted feedbacks.
3. Check the advance fees and charges: There are many debt relief companies that charge undue advance fees before reducing a portion of your debts. This has been prohibited by the FTC after the new rules have come into effect. No for profit debt relief company can charge upfront fees before reducing a portion of the principal amount. If you come across any such company, you can file a complaint with the FTC.
4. Check its non profit status: A debt relief company may often pose to have a non profit status in order to lure the customers into accepting their offers. If you want to get help from non profit debt consolidation companies, make sure that you check the non profit status by verifying the certificate given to such companies by the IRS. If the debt consultant is hesitant to show you this certificate, you can be sure that it is a scam company.
While debt relief companies exist to take care of all your debt problems, there are some scam companies too that may prey on your trust. You can easily avoid such companies by considering the above mentioned points before choosing the best debt relief companies. Take an informed and measured decision while dealing with your credit card debts and secure a safe financial future.