Debt Management Plans - A Way To Survive The Debt And Come On
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Debt Management Plans
Debt Management Plans (DMP) is placed one step beyond credit
counseling and a stone's throw short of bankruptcy. If you are
too deep into debt and unable to pay them, a credit counseling
agency may recommend Debt Management Plans. This is a serious
step that should be considered carefully along with better money
management skills and budgeting disciplines.
Similar to prescription medication that you would only take
after consulting a licensed physician, Debt Management Plans
should start only after you have talked it over with a certified
credit counselor. Your certified credit counselor spends the
time to review your financial situation, consider alternatives,
and help you learn to handle money better. You want to stay out
of debt after you get out of it.
What is Debt Management Plans?
In simple terms, your credit counseling organization begins to
manage your debts on your behalf through direct interaction with
your creditors. They come between you and most of your unsecured
creditors, negotiate lower interest rates, eliminate certain
fees, arrange payment amounts and prioritize which creditors
gets paid first. In short, almost everything that could be done
to get you out of debt fast. These plans cover most unsecured
debts, like credit card bills, student loans, and medical bills.
But secured debts such as real estate loans fall outside of
these plans.
Before signing up with a credit counseling organization for a
DMP, verify any concessions your particular creditors offer to
that organization. All these concessions from your creditors
amount to one thing: Lower your monthly payment and still get
out of debt faster. In some cases, you will be able to pay you
debts, years earlier. Ask your credit counselor how much earlier
you will get out of debt if you stayed on course.
When DMP starts, you agree to send one monthly payment to the
credit counseling organization and they in turn make all the
payments to your creditors for you. In the meantime, you may
have to agree not to use or apply for credit while you are
participating in the plan.
Is a Debt Management Plan Right For You?
Cover the following with your credit counselor before you decide
to participate in a Debt Management Plan.
Find out if there are other options besides the DMP available to
you. Is your DMP handled by the same organization that also
provides you assistance with money and budget management during
and after DMP? If a Debt Management Plan is handled by one
organization and another handles your ongoing credit counseling,
how will you coordinate the two? Remember you want to stay out
debt later.
Find out how enrolling in a Debt Management Plan impacts your
credit and your credit score. Negative and accurate information
on your credit record is not easy to remove despite any promises
made.
Confirm what your monthly payment amount is and if you can
afford it. Do not commit to something you cannot follow through.
Credit counseling organization promises concessions they can get
from your creditors, such as lowering or eliminating interest
charges and late fees. Confirm these with your creditors and see
if there is a waiting period before these concessions kick in or
do they start as soon as you enroll in a DMP.
Verify that your creditors are paid within the correct billing
cycles and before their required payment due date.
Clarify the steps involved in getting status reports on your
account from your credit counseling organization. How often? How
detailed? Is it accessible by phone? Any hesitancy on behalf of
the credit counseling organization to let you verify your
account status is a big red flag that means you need to find
another organization to help you.
Find out if your creditors are willing to reset the clock on
your past-due accounts, wiping out the record of missed and late
payments if you sign up with a Debt Management Plan. This
process is called re-aging your account. How many payments
should you make before your creditors are willing to do this?
What to do after Debt Management Plan starts?
Once you sign up with a Debt Management Plan continue to be
active with the process, even though emotionally, you may want
to wash your hands away and stay away. DMP does not relieve you
of your responsibilities; it only helps you manage it better.
Keep in touch with your creditors and pay your bills until the
DMP goes into effect. If you haven't had any negative entries in
your credit report by now, any late payments, late and penalties
can still be entered into your credit report.
Contact your creditors and confirm that they have accepted the
proposed Debt Management Plan before you send any payments to
the credit counseling organization for your DMP.
Call each of your creditors on the first of every month to make
sure the agency has paid them on time and verify this by
checking your monthly statements. Your monthly statement should
also reflect any changes in your interest rates, waiving of the
late fees and any other concessions you were expecting.
May you be granted freedom from debts both physical and
Spiritually.