Millions of Americans are facing the challenge of sorting through a myriad of variations of debt settlement and negotiation services. To make things more difficult, there are hundreds of companies nationwide that offer similar services.

Just like the automobile industry, there are no two settlement companies that are perfect twins. Here, we’ve compiled an effective, proven checklist to use while searching for the debt settlement company to work on your behalf.

Company Credentials:
Are they a member of a national industry trade association or other accreditation agency?
This information is paramount. Credentials ensure your settlement will be negotiated under a set of standards adopted by the industry to protect consumers. Since many states have few guidelines for settlement companies to follow, many companies today operate without any system of checks and balances.

Insurance and Bonds:
Is the company insured and bonded?
This check off the list is to protect you from identity and financial theft. In common debt settlement negotiations privileged information, such as credit account numbers and social security number, are shared between negotiating clients. It is important to make sure your company is bonded and insured to guarantee this information is safe.

Holding Accounts:
Does the debt settlement company hold client settlement monies?
You can and should always be in control of your money. Some debt settlement companies offer to put your money in a trust account. Monies used in debt negotiations should either be secured in your own private savings account or in a third party bank, FDIC insured account.

Contracts:
In the end, are you going to be paying less than you would to your creditors? Will the settlement company provide a full-list of disclosures in your contract?
Debt settlement companies are required to deliver a written contract describing the services they will perform and a best estimate of costs. The contract should be easy to follow, and include a complete list of disclosures listed at the end of this document. You (the client) should never pay more than 100% of what you owed to creditors.

Customer Service:
What can you tell me about the quality of your customer service?
Clear communications with the debt settlement company on the front end of the process will make a huge difference on the home stretch. The settlement process can take between two to four years to complete. This is a trying period, especially for a consumer faced with aggressive creditors. A debt settlement company should be able to prove that they will be able to get creditors to hold back during the negotiating process. Ask the company if they have won any awards or affiliations relating to customer service.

Access to your Account:
How does the company let me know about the status of my account?
Legitimate Debt Settlement companies have real-time data bases online from which their customers can view their updated statements 24-hours a day.

Full Service Company:
What is the best indicator of a legitimate debt settlement company?
The company should have some affiliation in the city they reside in either through the chamber of commerce or any other professional organization. This shows the company is willing to some level of public scrutiny.

Creditor Management:
What settlement companies can do to quiet aggressive creditors?
Debt Negotiators can use a “cease and desist” letter or offer a creditor harassment service to end threatening phone calls from creditors during the process. This should be noted in your contract.

Consumer Education
Do you provide any educational services or materials?
Debt Negotiation is not just about saving money and becoming debt free. It is about altering your approach to financial management. Debt Settlement Companies should offer financial education services either through online education, print or in class training. This training should be geared to help you to become a savvier financial manager in the future.

At Turning Point Debt Settlement, you can rest assured that we meet an exceed each of the checks listed in this article.

For information about our company, simply give us a call at 1-888-900-9925 and we will be happy to answer any questions you have.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 25th, 2008 at 1:35 am and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.