Personal Debt is defined as
“good” or “bad.” It is also differentiated from
expenses such as normal recurring bills.
Generally speaking, debt is any bill where the consumer is
charged interest
but may also include medical bills, auto repairs, home
renovations where
materials are charged or a contractor is owed.
- Good Debt:
Mortgage and student loans
- Bad Debt: Any
debt with interest (with exception of the above) such
as credit cards, auto loans, personal loans, charge
accounts,
payday loans, etc.
Robbing Peter to Pay Paul
is a method of stalling that usually involves
intentionally being late on some payments in order to be
able to pay
another payment. The idea is that next month something
good will happen
and life will get easier. But this rarely is the case.
In reality monthly financial struggles can and often do
turn into years of
hardship that ultimately takes a heavy toll on the
family. Many try creative
ways such as refinancing or taking out a second mortgage
to funnel in new
monies and keep things going for as long as possible.
There are only so many
creative ways to manipulate personal debt, but in
the end, debt owed cannot be avoided.
Personal debt consolidation does work for most but there
are some
variables to consider before lumping all your debts into
one payment.
See our reports on
Debt Consolidation for
details about the program.
The financial industry wants
consumers in debt. Banks, finance
institutions, credit card issuers, personal account
granters, auto lenders
etc, all want you in debt and it’s not even the principal
they are most
interested, it’s the interest!
Think of it this way; if you were lent $10,000 today and
paid back
$10,000 next week how does that profit a lender? It doesn’t.
But if the
lender can get you to make the bare minimum monthly payments
while
charging you a high interest rate then they are going to
profit from you a
lot more then they hope you will ever know. It’s all
mathematics with
some statistics thrown in.
The money will always increase for the lender and
statistically if the
consumer can be enticed into enough debt then the consumer
will
traditionally become a slave to the lending industry.
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DEBT CONSOLIDATION PROGRAM |
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Personal debt consolidation program can
help you:
- Reduce your
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monthly payment
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- Path to becoming
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Fighting Back
Debt education includes
knowing what your rights are. Say for example you
get a bill in the mail claiming you owe ‘x’ amount of
dollars to company
XYZ. The problem though is that you never heard of company
XYZ and
therefore do not believe you are indebted to them. What
should you do?
You might try calling, but in today’s age of computers and
many
companies existing as branches or subsidiaries of larger
companies,
often have poor internal communications within
organizations. And having
to talk to a customer representative that you can hardly
understand,
using the phone may be more work than paying the debt
itself.
Instead, simply send a debt dispute letter and let them do
all the work.
Using the phone means you must try to remember when you
called, who
you talked with, and what was said. Even then you have no
way of knowing
if the person on the other end is actually going to take the
time and
resources needed to resolve your issue.
With a debt dispute letter you have everything right from
the start
documented, it is your protection and lays the burden of
proof back on the
company demanding payment (just remember to keep a copy of
all
correspondence for your records). Here is an example of such
a letter you
can print off the Internet for free.
Debt
Collection Dispute Letter
Today's Date
Your Name
Your Address
Collector's Name
Collector's Address
Dear Collector,
I am writing in response to
your (letter or phone call) dated {insert date},
(copy enclosed) because I do not believe that I owe what you
say I owe.
This is the first I've heard
from you, or any other company on this matter
therefore, in accordance with Section 809 - Validating Debts
of the
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, I respectfully request
that you provide
me, in writing, the following:
- What the money you say I
owe is for;
- Explain and show me how
you calculated what you say I owe;
- Provide me with copies
of any papers that show I agreed to pay
what you say I owe;
- Provide a verification
or copy of any judgment (if applicable);
- Identify the original
creditor;
- Show me that you are
licensed in my state, and provide me with
your license numbers (if applicable).
If you have reported me to
any credit reporting agency, then I insist that
you inform them that I have placed this debt in dispute and
provide me
with proof that you have done so. I also demand that you
immediately
send a copy of this dispute letter to the company (creditor)
that you say
I owe money so they are aware of my dispute with this debt.
Finally, in accordance with
section 805(c) - Ceasing Collections, of the
Fair Debt Collection Act, do not contact me about this or
any other matter,
except by official mail and then only to advise me that your
debt collection
efforts are being terminated or that you are taking specific
actions allowed
by law.
Signature
Printed Name
A note from the
author:
Sometimes the most
difficult step in eliminating debt is to actually speak to an
advisor about your debt problems.
Consumers need to realize that obtaining professional
advice may be their first
and most important step towards being
debt free.
E. Michael Gelman
Senior Debt Advisor