If you are considering debt-consolidation options, avoid these misrepresentations: Credit counseling involves helping consumers develop a budget and the discipline to make steady payments to clear their debt loads. "Most of these individuals make a decent living, but at the end of the week don't have enough money and don't understand why," says Joel Greenberg, president of New Jersey-based Novadebt.
The main caveat to student loan refinancing still applies: IF YOU’RE GOING TO GET YOUR LOANS FORGIVEN, DON’T REFINANCE THEM.Basically, the DMP plays policeman, taking your monthly lump-sum payment and distributing it to your creditors until the accounts stand at zero. According to Greenberg, less than 35 percent of the people who call consumer credit counseling agencies truly can benefit from a DMP. This is a numbers fudging claim that holds true only in the narrowest of circumstances.For instance, if you miss two 0 payments on a ,000 balance, the third month's bill will make it 0 that you owe.Third, too few doctors who should refinance their loans have done so.Since I have an affiliate agreement with most of these companies, I know exactly how many readers have refinanced their loans, and it is a tiny fraction of my readers, a large percentage of which should. It can be a big pain to gather up all the paperwork and work through it.