Debt Consolidation and Bankruptcy

When faced with a crisis, it is easy to throw in the towel and run away. The true test of character comes when you withstand the hardship and seek to resolve the issues rather than taking an escapist approach. Similarly, mounting debt and other burdens may be sapping you mentally, but instead of opting for bankruptcy and trying to be escapist, you must look for other options that can get you out of the mess.

This is important because what appears as a solution to your problems may be worse than the problem, in this case filing for bankruptcy will come back to haunt you in the future through bad credit rating and the fact that no creditor will advance any loan for the next 2 years is another negative. Hence bankruptcy should be the very last option and you must actively look at everything else to arrive at a solution.

Debt Consolidation Agency

That solution could be in the form of a debt consolidation body that can help you decrease your burden and get you out of the bankruptcy mode. The agency will allot you a counselor who has many years of experience in dealing with creditors. He will first discuss with you and get an idea of your assets and liabilities apart from details of your occupation. You will be required to submit proofs to support these facts.

He will now suggest a program which would be tailored to take care of your debt and if suitable to you would set up a meeting with your creditors to work out the new repayment schedule. The debt consolidation person will be able to reduce the interest rate as well as the monthly payment through extending the payment tenure. In some cases, borrowers have benefited by up to 70%.

Debt Repayment

After getting the creditors sanction on the new repayment schedule, you will be required to adhere to the schedule. This is a function of the terms the counselor has been able to negotiate with the creditors. Sometimes you may be required to make an application for a loan and this would be used to clear the existing debt. In future, you only need to start repaying this loan. You may also get this facility from the agency itself and they would then start collecting this repayment on a monthly basis from you. Your single point of contact will henceforth be the agency. You must however take care that you do not default on any payment that is due every month.

As you can see, all is not lost and you need not consider bankruptcy when you have an option like debt consolidation at your behest. It will certainly help you come out of the problem and is a far better option than filing for bankruptcy.