Debt consolidation versus debt negotiation are two options that are available to you if you need debt assistance. When your monthly bills become too much for you to handle, it makes sense to use debt consolidation or debt negotiation for solving debt and credit problems.

Debt Consolidation

Debt consolidation services have prearranged debt repayment plans with most credit card and collection companies. When you sign up with a debt consolidation company you are offered a lower overall monthly payment based on a lower interest rate they have arranged with the creditor.

This payment is lower than what the credit card companies offer you, saves you money every month and is often the best way to consolidate debt.

One benefit of a debt consolidation repayment plan is it will stop you from getting harassed by your creditors as long as you make the new, lower monthly payments.

The downside of the debt consolidation repayment plan is that you have to cancel all credit cards that you include in the plan. You are also charged your first payment you make toward the program and an additional monthly administration fee. This administration fee ranges from flat fees of $10-$50, while others charge a $5 fee for each creditor. That means you'll pay about $30 a month that doesn't go to paying off your debts.

The debt consolidation program benefits you if you have high interest rates or have higher credit card bills than you can manage. Some people like to make only one payment to one company for all of their debts.

Debt Negotiation

Debt negotiation is sometimes referred to as debt settlement. This is most often offered to people who can't handle a debt consolidation program. If you can't make the minimum payments of a debt consolidation repayment plan or haven't made payments in the past 3 months, a debt negotiation program is the next step for solving debt and credit problems.

One benefit of a debt negotiation program is you stop making payments to your creditors. The debt negotiation company either takes monthly payments from you and keeps it in an account, or lets you keep the money in your own account.

While you are making these monthly payments to the debt negotiation company, they negotiate with your creditors for a lower payoff of around 40-50% of your total amount of debt. Once the negotiated settlement is agreed upon with your creditors, the debt negotiation company makes a one time payment to them.

A downside of the debt negotiation program is it lowers your credit score for as long as you are in the program. However, most debt negotiation companies require the creditor make the credit report show paid in full so it doesn't show up as a negative on your report once your account is settled.

Some debt negotiation companies include a credit repair service that will remove the negative items caused by the debt negotiation program. You pay for this service as part of their program.

Now that you have an idea what debt consolidation versus debt negotiation is choose which one will work best for solving debt and credit problems for you.

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