Credit Card Debt Relief Programs - How To Capitalize On New Federal Debt Relief Laws
Credit card debt relief programs have been around for over 10 years but up until this past year they were probably not in your best interest. Now when you enter a debt relief program, you will not have to pay a dime until your debts are settled.
Online, January 17, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Credit card debt relief programs have been around for over 10 years but up until this past year they were probably not in your best interest. On October 27th 2010, however new federal laws were passed by the federal trade commission that make these programs much more financially attractive for consumers and small businesses in need of debt relief.
Now when you enter a credit card debt relief program, you will not have to pay a dime until your debts are settled for an acceptable percentage. The minimum performance standard now used by debt settlement companies is 35%. This means that they must be able to completely eliminate at least 35% of your overall balance in order to collect a fee. So if you have a $20,000 credit card balance, the settlement company must eliminate at least $7,000 of that balance in order to collect a fee. If they don't perform, you don't pay.
These new debt relief laws go a long way in making debt settlement a more legitimate and financially attractive option for consumers. Before these laws were passed consumers had to pay their fees upfront and had no guarantee of the debts settling. If they didn't settle consumers were simply out of luck and did not get their fees refunded. That's all changed now.
These laws have put all of the shady debt relief companies out of business. The companies that made a killing off collecting upfront fees know they cannot not survive with these new laws in place. However, the legitimate debt settlement companies that have a proven track record of negotiating successful settlement deals will ultimately benefit from this legislation. They will have enough confidence to collect their fees on the back end after they negotiate a successful deal.
Credit card debt relief programs do work when done by the right company. The best companies have established relationships with all the major creditors and can typically get a better settlement deal than consumers can by themselves. If you have over $10,000 in unsecured debt and are experiencing a legitimate financial hardship then a debt settlement can make financial sense. While you can expect to have your credit negatively effected in the short run, this is a trade off to be able to have 40-60% of your unsecured debts eliminated.
Check out the following link to find legitimate credit card debt relief programs in your area:
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