If you are in a tight situation with tons of unbearable debt, you should go to a debt settlement company that could reduce the debt settlement amount. According to the blogs written on financial sites like that of John Abio, the following are the factors to look at while choosing a debt settlement company.
Referrals
Although you could not find so many people who have experience working with a debt settlement company, it will be helpful if you know someone. If so, he could suggest you the same company if his settlement was smooth because of them. It is always better to go with suggestions and opinions from previously experienced people in your circle. Their bitter experiences can let you stay away from a bad debt settlement company.
Financial review forums
If you do not know anyone who could help you with these settlement companies, you can go online and observe the opinions of random people. For instance, you can find thousands of forums and communities where people talk about various things in the finance niche. You can find reviews of popular debt settlement companies on these forums. You can consider their suggestions as reviews and can decide on proceeding with a reputable company.
Complaint analysis
You can stay away from an entity on which several complaints have been raised by their customers. For instance, you can check for complaints against the debt settlement companies in the Consumer financial protection bureau. If any of the past clients have raised a complaint, you can get alerted and stay away from it. Likewise, you can check on various financial bureau websites for customers’ queries against the company. If there are no such complaints, you can proceed with it. You can even contact your state attorney general to look for complaints against the company.
Services offered
Debt settlement companies should offer settlement activities as primary offerings. Apart from these activities, they will also offer credit management and monitoring services at times. Some companies will provide access to various financial tools that would help you keep track of your credits and other cash flow factors. Also, some companies will take care of your collection calls that may continue even after your debt settlement program is done. You can check for all these services if you wish while choosing a debt settlement entity.
Fee structure
The fee structure of every debt settlement company will be different. Some companies will never ask you for a fee without settling the debt entirely, while some companies will ask you to pay a monthly charge every month from the beginning itself. You would also have to pay for some unsettled debts also in some companies. So, you should know the fee structure.
Faster turnaround time
You should choose a company that completes the settlement process as soon as possible. Although the majority of these companies would require at least a year for the settlement, you can find some experienced agencies settling the debt in a shorter span.
