Mark Carolin

Archive for the ‘Debt’ Category

While the current economic crisis is still being ironed out, the situation is likely not going to get any better until at least a few more years so being smart with your finances is crucial. Chances are that you probably have a good deal of debt either from student loans, credit cards or medical bills. Owing a ton of money can cause a great deal of anxiety so paying them off will help to relieve the financial burden.

Consolidating all your loans using some of the available free government debt relief programs will really help you to manage and keep track of your finances. Each year, billions of dollars go unclaimed simply because many individuals do not know that such programs exist. The benefits of doing so are tremendous as these programs can help to lower your monthly payments and reduce interest rates.

If you think about it, it makes sense that the government would offer debt relief to struggling individuals as there will be serious economic consequences if millions of loans are defaulted. In addition to these services, there are also programs offered by lending institutions that help with debt consolidation. However, they tend to charge a fee depending on your needs and how long you use them for.

One of the downsides to using such paid services is that they will typically require some type of collateral. The best part about free government debt consolidation loans is that there are no strings attached so be sure to do a search online for local service representatives in your area. Then schedule a free consultation so they can better determine the best plan of action for you to eliminate your debt.

These government debt relief programs work on your behalf to consolidate your loans by contacting your creditors to negotiate better terms for you. If such programs are not readily available, then you definitely need to consider consulting with a credit counseling agency. Even if you have to pay a fee, they are usually worth it as they typically outline a specific plan that will help you towards a debt free future.

Are you happy living a stressful life, in which every month you have a huge amount of bills coming at your doorstep? If yes then there is some relief for you as in present scenario the financial market is providing a many debt solution. Debt consolidators fund you money to say goodbye to your burden. The non profit debt relief companies also aid you out of financial crisis. Some of them are :

* Debt consolidation loan

* Debt consolidation mortgage

* Debt consolidation remortgage

Consolidation program is to be reviewed before working it out. Negotiation is very important in consolidation because company act as facilitators to take you out of the trap by making the monthly outflow very low, which gives a positive outlook of life and raises the confidence level.

The most important thing is that how you spend your money whether the thing you are buying required urgently or you can wait some time. Debt consolidators offer you 2 options. You can have a service in which it provides a loan that let’s you recover all your past loans and pay for the single debt. The interest rates are very high in this case and unmanageable. The other type is where the company pays all your existing loans and you have to pay for the single loan of that company against a property. In this case, the interest rates are lower and manageable. There are some points to remember while taking these program. Choosing a free consolidation program rather than a paid one. Because paid one will be quite expensive and secondly a reputed program is always better than unknown one.

The debt consolidation loan is the best option out of three in which they will pay all your loans and you have to pay only one loan with low interest rate. There are many advantages like you will not be harassed by the bill collectors on phone, your credit FICO score will improve as credit card company will see that you are making payments on time. You will pay less as compared to your previous situation because of the bounced checks, unpaid bills and maxed out credit cards. You have to beware of the fraud companies on the net that will take your money for consolidation and can take some vital information from you and might misuse it. They give free counseling sessions which can be useful to you.

“Be debt free by next January” is a common New Year’s Resolution. Thousands of people have accumulated debt. Some of it has been by necessity. Mortgages, car payments, student loans… all of these are things many find necessary for day-to-day living. Add credit card debt to the mix and there is a recipe for money problems. People who once lived above their means are now looking for a way to be debt free.

If you are struggling just to meet the minimum payments on your accumulated debt, you are in a crisis. This means that you are not paying enough in principal to get your debt paid off. You may not even be able to meet the minimum requirements. This is even scarier because as the months go by, the interest accumulates. Debt goes higher at a faster rate. Soon, you are screening your phone calls because you don’t know what you can possibly do to make your creditors happy.

First of all, to be debt free, you must talk to your creditors. Get a copy of your credit report from all three credit reporting agencies and gather all of your bills together. Your first priority is to take care of the reported debt on your reports and pay off the debt that has the highest interest rates. Stop using credit cards and try to negotiate with creditors.

If you are unable to solve your problem by talking to creditors yourself, your next step should be to talk to a debt consolidation service. If the consolidation service is able to offer you a good deal by reducing your overall debt and charging a lower rate of interest, debt consolidation may be the answer to your problem. Be sure to research carefully and choose the company that can offer you the best deal.

From there, you might find your only option is to file for bankruptcy, so make your decision very carefully. Whatever you do, do not apply for new lines of credit and do not use your credit cards until you are able to settle the debt you have. Being debt free includes not accumulating more debt, even if you are able to settle your debt yourself or get it settled through consolidation.

One of the few hidden financial secrets is that the government offers free grants to pay off debt. Ever since the federal government started bailing out people from foreclosure, people are finally realizing that these programs really do exist.

It makes good sense that the government offers debt grants and free money to avoid bankruptcy. For one, it is a defensive move to protect the economy. Statistically, people with high levels of debt run a greater chance of having their homes foreclosed, filing for personal bankruptcy, and not having the ability to pay their bills.

All of those things are detrimental to the American economy, and the government is willing to do whatever it takes to avoid big problems. Which is why every year, the government budgets billions of dollars in debt grants.

These grants are nothing more than free money from the government to be used to pay off your bills. There is no credit check, no collateral, and no repayment. When you apply and qualify for these programs, you simply receive a check in the mail and you’ll never be asked to pay the money back. It doesn’t even go on your credit report, so there is no trace of the fact that you received federal assistance.

Once you apply, you can receive these funds in as little as 7 days, at which point you can go to the bank and cash the check to pay off your debt. As a result you’ll have piece of mind knowing you are completely debt free in a fraction of the time it would take you to pay the balances off on your own.

What is Debt Settlement all about?

Within the past few year Americans all across the country are being affected by the poor economic conditions. Millions of people have lost their jobs and are on unemployment. Many more have been fortunate enough to keep their jobs, however, they have been forced to accept reduced wages or their hours have been cut. These difficult conditions combined with high interest payments on credit cards has forced many people into a negative cash flow position with everyone asking themselves how do I get rid of my credit card debt and get back to positive cash flow? The answer for most people is debt settlement.

Debt Settlement is the choice/ realization by a person with credit card debt that they can no longer afford their monthly payments to their credit card companies and they choose to save those monthly payments so they can settle with their creditors for less than the full amount owed at some point in the future.

Why use a Debt Settlement company? It is important to use a debt settlement company for many reasons. The most important is the combined power or pooling your debt with other peoples debt to be able to make the offer attractive to a credit card company. For example, if you have a $10,000 debt with Creditor A, and you offered that creditor $4,000 to settle that debt, the creditor may accept the offer, however, your level of importance within Creditor A’s financial portfolio of $10 Billion dollars of debt is so insignificant to measure.

Now imagine you saved that same $4,000 with a debt settlement company and now when the debt settlement company negotiates with Creditor A, they are not just offering the creditor $4,000 but all the other clients working with the debt settlement company. So in this example imagine the bargaining power the debt settlement company has when they go to bank with $400,000 to settle debt. The bank sees this money as a cash flow and not only are the accounts given priority, they are also subject to better settlements than an individual going to the bank on their own.

How to choose a Debt Settlement Company?

It is extremely difficult for an outsider to make a sound decision when considering a debt settlement company. Do you sign up with a company that advertises on TV? How about one on the radio? Did you just receive a letter in the mail asking you to call some number regarding your VISA or Master Card account? There are plenty of ways debt settlement companies try to gain clients, but all of these ways don’t provide a consumer with valuable information to compare different debt settlement companies to be able to select the best one. By reading this article, you will have done much more research due diligence that a busy consumer doesn’t have the time or industry knowledge to do.

Our research staff has over 40 years of combined consumer finance, consumer credit counseling, debt management, debt consolidation, and other financial services experience, enabling us to cut through the smoke and mirrors many debt settlement sales people erect and determine if we would recommend the company to a family member. If we wouldn’t send a member of our family there, we wouldn’t recommend the company to anyone else.

What do we look for before we recommend the best debt settlement companies?

We compile debt settlement reviews on companies as we become aware of them so they can be rated and determine if they are worth working with. Some of the items we look for are Full disclosure and compliance with Federal Trade Commission. We check the compliance by asking these 14 standard questions and we rate each company based on their response.

12 questions we ask when we review a debt settlement company:

1. Are you a member of USOBA, TASC, or NADRC?

Membership in USOBA, the United States Organization of Bankruptcy Alternatives, TASC, The Association of Settlement Companies, or NADRC, National Association of Debt Relief Companies is a must for any debt settlement company. These are the trade organizations that monitor the debt settlement industry and membership into these companies requires compliance to strict industry standards.

2. What are your fees?

A company should charge a fee based on your debt amount paid over a reasonable time. We don’t recommend working with companies that collect all their fees before you are able to save money for settlements.

3. Are you paid on commission?

When someone is paid on commission, the salesperson may tell you anything they want to push you into signing up. We recommend working with a company that pays its employees commission.

4. Do you have a money back guarantee if I change my mind?

We recommend at least a 30 day money back guarantee. If a company isn’t willing to do this, don’t be willing to sign up with them.

5. How long have you been in business?

Most settlement programs go from two to four years, so it is important to work with a company that has been doing business for at least four years. This means they have clients that have gone all the way through the program and describe the full experience of working with the company.

6. Will my creditors keep calling me?

No one can stop creditors from calling. It may be possible to redirect the calls with new devices, but the phone will still ring.

7. Will you be making monthly payments to my creditors?

Debt Settlement companies do not make payments to creditors. They don’t reduce your interest rate or combine your debts into a new loan.

8. Can I get sued?

Yes. A good debt settlement company can help avoid lawsuits, and will settle judgments.

9. What will happen to my credit score?

It will go down, and be considered bad credit. In a debt settlement program, your creditors are not receiving payments, so they report you as late, which makes your score drop. Getting rid of the debt and making on time payments on other accounts (home and car loans) will help the score go back up over time.

10. When can I expect my first settlement?

It will depend on how quickly you can get money into your savings account and depending on the size of your creditor accounts, but most people receive settlement offers within the first six months.

11. Are there tax consequences on forgiven debt?

It is possible to have to pay taxes on the forgiven debt. It can be avoided in many situations, however the possibility does exist.

12. Where is my money going when I make my payments?Your money needs to go to a FDIC insured special purpose account by a third party. No funds should be sent directly to a debt settlement company.

Depending on how a company answers these questions will determine how we rate each company. We do continual reviews and updates checking the companies and seeing if they are in compliance with regulations and/or if they have come under scrutiny of an attorney general.

Finding a company that answers these questions correctly is just a part of the selection process. There are many more items that need to be reviewed before signing up with a company. If you would like more information please contact me.

A tax audit can be both frustrating and intimidating. If you are faced with a tax dispute or problem, it is best that you have an advocate with you who can help you navigate through the system and fix your tax problem. The audit is just the beginning. When the IRS finds that you owe back taxes, you would need a qualified representative to help you fix any errors, and eliminate or reduce the amount of taxes that you owe. For this reason, it is not enough to go with just anybody you find. Choosing the best IRS tax attorney will make a big difference on the outcome and the whole experience.

Ask for referrals

If you know people who have gone through a dispute with the IRS or have worked with an IRS tax attorney, ask them about their experience and their feedback on the lawyer that they know. Being friends with a tax attorney should not count as a qualification as this is not the right time to risk your family’s finances. Before you commit to any IRS tax attorney, be sure to conduct a short interview so that you will have a good knowledge about the lawyer’s background and qualifications.

Contact at least three IRS tax attorneys. You want to get the best attorney so that your tax problem can be processed in a timely manner and that damage to your finances can be minimized. In choosing, you need to consider if whether or not you want an individual who specializes in tax laws and disputes or you want to hire a firm who has the manpower to research your case and can pool their resources and experience to better handle your situation.

Evaluate qualifications

Since your tax attorney is going to deal with the IRS, you want to make sure that they are a member of the American Bar Association and that they are a member of the bar association in your state. Know and weigh your tax attorney’s qualifications. You want to know how long they have been working with tax law and what their experiences are in working with the IRS in the past. Although it is not necessary that you get an IRS tax attorney who used to work with the IRS, a tax attorney with a significant amount of experience in dealing with the IRS will already know the ins and outs of the system. They will also be able to help you negotiate for a fair arrangement.

Form an agreement

When you find a lawyer that can handle your case, be sure to get the terms straight before you sign any contract. You want to make sure that you clearly understand how the lawyer would bill you. This is very important especially if you are on a tight budget as attorney fees and all the other fees can cost you hundreds to even thousands of dollars. If the lawyer bills you at an hourly rate, ask for an estimate of how many hours you will be charged and if there are any other fees that you need to pay in the future.