1) "Are you accustomed to being responsible for large amounts of money?" It's an understandable point of confusion about the specific responsibilities of a debt settlement agency, but a good number of even those clients that successfully run through the debt settlement program to culmination still seem a bit hazy about just what the settlement companies actually do with their money.
Although there's always going to be a company that describes itself as a debt settlement agency - one, you'll note, that does not have any certification from the leading industry organizations - yet behaves like a Credit Counseling Company (merely overseeing the dispersal of funds to each lender), a proper debt settlement agency will open up a proxy bank account on the client's behalf and store the monthly payments so that the credit card companies can be paid in full at the end of the settlement proceedings.
It's an unusual arrangement, to say the least, but the separate account is erected primarily for the safety of the consumer, so that one of the creditors doesn't suddenly sell off the rights to their debt to another lender who may have different ideas about negotiation: or even start up a court action aimed at reclamation of funds through seizing bank accounts or garnishing wages.
Still, given the vivid dangers of submitting hundreds of dollars each month to a company to safeguard upon their own discretion, the realities of the situation should demand that anyone shopping for a debt settlement agency be extraordinarily careful about their selection of responsible and trustworthy assistants in this regard.
Further, you should wonder about a settlement professional that does not illustrate this aspect of the process at the forefront to clear up any potential misconceptions.
If it's a pointed lapse, what else would they be hiding? On the other side of the coin, if it's mere sloppiness, do you want them overseeing your finances? 2) "What are your fiduciary requirements?" Unfortunately, much as this would ordinarily be among the first questions asked of any financial professional, the debt settlement agency that you'll want to trust should (with full explanation and no malice aforethought) decline all but the most ambiguous of explanations.
Without a doubt, they should fail to actually offer up anything resembling a cogent good faith estimate of their costs of service before first examining all of the documentation surrounding both your debt load and the earning potential for you and your family over the years in which you'll be expected to compensate the creditors.
Now, it may not be an error to just put forth the topic to see what the counselors have to say, seeing as how any debt settlement agency that immediately responds with a dollar amount during the initial stages of consultation (unless it's purely to say that there will be no up front costs to worry about, which is common enough around the industry) would therefore be subsequently marked off the list of potential candidates from the enlightened debt settlement agency shopper.
However, presuming the company passes this first test, you would have a better idea of their expected pricings by asking about past clients with similar financial constraints.
It's true that most of the debt settlement operations devise their own compensation largely upon a sliding percentage proportional to the total savings that they have obtained through negotiation - as should be wished - but the monthly or annual administrative costs apportioned out over the course of repayment should not change and may therefore prove vital to the preliminary evaluation of any debt settlement agency.
Although there's always going to be a company that describes itself as a debt settlement agency - one, you'll note, that does not have any certification from the leading industry organizations - yet behaves like a Credit Counseling Company (merely overseeing the dispersal of funds to each lender), a proper debt settlement agency will open up a proxy bank account on the client's behalf and store the monthly payments so that the credit card companies can be paid in full at the end of the settlement proceedings.
It's an unusual arrangement, to say the least, but the separate account is erected primarily for the safety of the consumer, so that one of the creditors doesn't suddenly sell off the rights to their debt to another lender who may have different ideas about negotiation: or even start up a court action aimed at reclamation of funds through seizing bank accounts or garnishing wages.
Still, given the vivid dangers of submitting hundreds of dollars each month to a company to safeguard upon their own discretion, the realities of the situation should demand that anyone shopping for a debt settlement agency be extraordinarily careful about their selection of responsible and trustworthy assistants in this regard.
Further, you should wonder about a settlement professional that does not illustrate this aspect of the process at the forefront to clear up any potential misconceptions.
If it's a pointed lapse, what else would they be hiding? On the other side of the coin, if it's mere sloppiness, do you want them overseeing your finances? 2) "What are your fiduciary requirements?" Unfortunately, much as this would ordinarily be among the first questions asked of any financial professional, the debt settlement agency that you'll want to trust should (with full explanation and no malice aforethought) decline all but the most ambiguous of explanations.
Without a doubt, they should fail to actually offer up anything resembling a cogent good faith estimate of their costs of service before first examining all of the documentation surrounding both your debt load and the earning potential for you and your family over the years in which you'll be expected to compensate the creditors.
Now, it may not be an error to just put forth the topic to see what the counselors have to say, seeing as how any debt settlement agency that immediately responds with a dollar amount during the initial stages of consultation (unless it's purely to say that there will be no up front costs to worry about, which is common enough around the industry) would therefore be subsequently marked off the list of potential candidates from the enlightened debt settlement agency shopper.
However, presuming the company passes this first test, you would have a better idea of their expected pricings by asking about past clients with similar financial constraints.
It's true that most of the debt settlement operations devise their own compensation largely upon a sliding percentage proportional to the total savings that they have obtained through negotiation - as should be wished - but the monthly or annual administrative costs apportioned out over the course of repayment should not change and may therefore prove vital to the preliminary evaluation of any debt settlement agency.
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