Getting out of debt is tough and if you want to make things easier, you have the option to hire a debt relief company to lend their expertise. You can also benefit from the working relationship that they have with the creditors that they will be negotiating with. Their years of experience that they will bring will certainly help you cope and solve your debt situation.
However, you have to take extra care in selecting the company that you will use. There are scammers out there who are preying on desperate people in debt. They charge you high upfront fees and does nothing to make your situation a whole lot better.
And even if you are searching through legitimate ones, you want to know how you can choose the best debt relief companies that can help you achieve a fast and long lasting debt freedom.
Benefits of finding a company to help with debt through organizations
This is where reputable organizations and associations can help you out. If you want to search for a debt relief company that is both reliable and trustworthy, start your search by looking at debt relief organizations that will define who the legitimate companies are from the not. Although searching for reviews on debt relief companies will help you out, you still have to look at their affiliations and the organizations they are a member of. Why not start looking at the right place already?
Here are the benefits of starting your search through these groups.
Higher chance of finding trustworthy companies
No organization will intentionally put a disreputable company in their membership list. They will conduct their own due diligence and ask these companies to submit documents that will prove they are who they say they are. They will also be asked to pay a membership fee and you can expect that scammers will not be willing to pay for this amount.
List of qualifications
These organizations and associations will list in their websites the qualifications of the debt relief companies that they will accept in their group. These qualifications include a particular certification for the debt professionals they employ, list of services, etc. Some organizations will even ask companies to have their employees undergo a special training program with them before accepting them as members. These are all meant to improve the reputation of the organization so that they can attract more debt relief companies to join the group. If you like the qualifications that is written on the manuals of the organization or association that you are looking into, you will know what to expect from their members.
More compliant with the law
Since the organization also has a reputation to take care of, they will not be likely to tolerate companies in violation of the law. They will encourage and mandate that their members strictly follow the Telemarketing Sales Rule – the main law that covers debt relief companies.
There are many organizations that will help you get the list of reliable and trustworthy debt relief companies. These include the American Association for Debt Resolution (AADR) and the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC). You can also look at organizations that their employees are specifically a member of. For instance, debt negotiators should be a member of the International Association of Professional Debt Arbitrators or IAPDA.
If a company is not a member of any organization, you can be sure that there is something fishy about them. But even if the company you are eyeing to hire is a member, you may want to conduct your due diligence still.
Other areas to look into when choosing a debt professional to hire
Most of the time, the organizations are private ones that reputable debt relief companies have created to help build their credibility. Some of them may be endorsed by government agencies and if they are, that will make them even more reliable. For instance, the US Chamber of Commerce also have debt relief companies as their member. In fact, National Debt Relief is a part of this group. If you are looking for credit counselors, you can look into the accredited companies by the US Department of Justice. You can visit the Justice.gov site to view the list of credit counseling agencies that they approve of.
When you find the debt relief company that you wish to perform due diligence on, you may want to visit these other sites too.
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Better Business Bureau – this is the company where consumers file their complaints and they monitor if the company resolved that complaint. It will help you determine how the company deals with any customer dissatisfaction. You can visit BBB.org to search for records about the debt relief company you are looking to hire.
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State Attorney General – every state has an Attorney General where consumers can also file complaints to. If you want to make sure that the company you are going to deal with is indeed reliable, this is another area that you can check out. Go to the NAAG.org to find out the contact details of your State Attorney General. Give them a call to do a background check on the debt relief company you are researching on.
It is very important that you conduct your own background check to ensure that you are putting your trust in the right debt relief company. Here is a video that you can watch to further educate you about finding the right company to help with your debt problems.
