ComputerHunter.org

 

Credit Counseling ? Get in Line Now to Avoid the Upcoming Rush


Credit counseling is a valuable service for consumers who have trouble managing their finances. A distinctly different service from debt consolidation, credit counseling assists consumers with problem debt by educating them about the basics of money management. Americans really don't get the education they need about how to manage bank accounts, balance checkbooks, or pay bills on time, and credit counseling can provide these services as well as others. By educating consumers, counselors hope to reduce the number of debtors who are forced to file for bankruptcy. Anyone whose financial situation is such that they would benefit from credit counseling may wish to seek it out in a hurry, however. A number of different factors are coming together in such a way that the counseling industry may soon be completely swamped with more clients than it can handle.

Recently passed bankruptcy legislation, designed to reduce the number of consumer bankruptcy filings, will now make credit counseling mandatory as a prerequisite for a bankruptcy petition. Anyone who wishes to file for bankruptcy relief must first demonstrate that he or she has undergone credit counseling during the past six months. By requiring counseling as a condition of debt relief, Congress hopes to reduce or eliminate repeat filers. The counseling industry is preparing for the additional customers now, as the new law is set to take effect in October 2005.

Other factors will weigh heavily on the counseling industry, however. A 2003 law passed by Congress requires credit card companies to raise their minimum payments so that their customers can repay their balances more quickly. This has resulted in the near-doubling of minimum payments, and the average American household, which has a credit card balance of $10,000, will see their minimum monthly payment rise from $200 to $400. Since many households can only afford the minimum payment now, the hike in the minimum due may drive more Americans into counseling and bankruptcy.

The increased reliance upon interest-only mortgages and low-interest adjustable rate mortgages could be a factor, too, if home prices either fall or fail to increase as they have. The sky-high prices in many markets have led homebuyers to purchase more homes than they can really afford, often using mortgages that are themselves riskier than the traditional 30-year loan. Should interest rates rise or housing prices fall, tens of thousands of homeowners will find themselves with loans that either exceed the value of the home or are unaffordable.

Those in the credit counseling industry say that this is a critical time, and the combination of new laws, fragile markets, and credit card industry overhaul could push a number of consumers towards bankruptcy and mandatory counseling. Anyone with problem debt who might benefit from counseling should consider doing so sooner, rather than later, as qualified credit counselors may be quite busy this fall.

©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing.

Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including End-Your-Debt.com, a site devoted to personal bankruptcy, debt consolidation and credit counseling, and HomeEquityHelp.com, a site devoted to information regarding mortgages and home equity loans.







Google News - Top Stories

BBC News

With appointments, Obama moves on from the campaign
International Herald Tribune - 1 hour ago
By Peter Baker CHICAGO: President-elect Barack Obama put the rancor and even some of the rhetoric of the presidential campaign behind him on Monday as he welcomed his chief Democratic adversary into his cabinet and signaled flexibility in his plans to ...
Video: Obama Picks Gates, Clinton for Foreign Policy AssociatedPress
The TV Watch A Concession Wrapped in an Acceptance New York Times
Reuters - The Associated Press - CBS News - The Miami Herald
all 4,623 news articles


Make Plaxico Burress poster boy - for hard time
New York Daily News - 50 minutes ago
Plaxico Burress was accorded his own cell instead of being locked in a pen like the other prisoners awaiting arraignment at Manhattan Criminal Court.
Video: Bloomberg Urges Full Prosecution of Burress AssociatedPress
Burress appears in court, has bail set at $100000 The Associated Press
New York Times - SI.com - Connecticut Post - SportingNews.com
all 2,572 news articles


ABC News

Palin makes a Peach State sweep for GOP senator
CNN - 51 minutes ago
By Paul Steinhauser The Alaska governor and former Republican vice presidential nominee was back on the campaign trail Monday, teaming up with Sen. Saxby Chambliss at four campaign events in Georgia, the last full day of campaigning before Tuesday's ...
Video: Ga. Senate Race Last Big Contest of 2008 AssociatedPress
Who elected Barack Obama? Washington Times
The Associated Press - New York Times - guardian.co.uk - The Miami Herald
all 1,163 news articles


AFP

Obama, Blair laud Bush's AIDS work in Africa
CNN - 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama doesn't often offer praise for President George W. Bush's foreign policy, but on Monday he offered the outgoing head of state accolades for battling AIDS in Africa.
Bush uses final 50 days in office to tout legacy The Associated Press
Bush reaffirms US commitment to fight AIDS AFP
MarketWatch - Catholic News Agency - USA Today - FOXNews
all 664 news articles


AFP

Schwarzenegger calls new special budget session
Reuters - 1 hour ago
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency on Monday to call lawmakers into a special session to focus on a swelling state budget gap just days after another special session failed to close the shortfall ...
Details of plans to tackle Calif's budget deficit San Jose Mercury News
Schwarzenegger Declares Fiscal Emergency in California Wall Street Journal
Los Angeles Times - Bloomberg - abc7news.com - AFP
all 249 news articles

Google
 

Copyright © 2006 Computer Hunter - A Division of Arthur´s Job Base