If you're in debt over your head, you are not alone, so don't despair. Many people have much more debt than they can realistically expect to pay off or even effectively manage these days. Calls from bill collectors, juggling bills to pay the most pressing, worrying that you can't afford the house, car and other material goods you've acquired, is an all-too-common experience these days. So if you can't face struggling to pay your bills another month, before you head for a bankruptcy attorney's office, consider consolidating your debts instead.
Sacramento Bankruptcy Lawyer, Bankruptcy Lawyers In Cleveland Ohio, Mesa Bankruptcy Lawyer,
There are several ways to consolidate debts, and several good reasons for doing so. Because most people's major debt problems are paying off their credit card bills, the first reason for consolidating debt is that consolidation allows you to pay every bill you owe now, thus potentially saving you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in interest that paying your interest carrying bills would cost you over the months or years you would spend paying the balances down to zero. Be aware, though, that unless you change your buying behavior, consolidation is only a short-term solution. Statistics show that within two years of borrowing against the equity in their homes, nearly 70% of Americans who borrow to pay off credit cards end up with a debt load just as high or higher than the one they borrowed the money to pay off within two years.
These figures illustrate a major problem with debt consolidation, which is that it does nothing to change the behaviors that got you in debt over your head in the first place--and by consolidating, you take on yet another creditor. And if you've taken on so much debt that looking for more seems like a solution, you may well not qualify for those lovely, very low interest rates you see advertised usually reserved for people with stellar credit ratings.
If you are truly determined to change your spending ways, debt consolidation is clearly a better option than bankruptcy for cleaning up your credit report. For one thing, consolidating debt and being careful not to incur new ones to replace the old means stopping the flow of negative information that late payments feed to your credit report. And while bankruptcy remains in your credit file for 10 years, paying off your bills and demonstrating increased fiscal restraint can improve your credit in a year or two. Also, bankruptcy laws have recently changed in ways that make using bankruptcy to discharge debt more difficult than it used to be.
If after considering all the pros and cons, you decide that debt consolidation is the road for you to travel, several vehicles can take you there. The first is the above-mentioned route of borrowing money against the equity in your home. This works well when real estate values are stable, but don't assume it's okay to tap all your equity in a rising market; if the market drops, you could find yourself in a real bind.
You can also explore the options of zero-interest credit cards and bank loans. However, credit cards don't offer zero-interest forever. If you can't pay off your zero-interest card by the time the interest rises, you can be stuck paying a lot more in interest than you'd like.
Bank and credit union loans are other ways to get the cash you need to consolidate your debt. There again, bankers traditionally love lending money to people who don't need to borrow any. Credit unions tend to be more forgiving.
Is Bankruptcy Right For You? Talk to Bankruptcy Attorneys Free and Confidential. Licensed bankruptcy attorneys are available. Attorneys will call you to discuss your case for free. Find out if bankruptcy is right for your situation.
Rating of Bankruptcy San Diego
Get Online Application at online Bankruptcy Lawyer.
0 comments:
Post a Comment