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| The National Foundation For Consumer Credit (NFCC) |
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For help with getting debt under control, you may want to enlist the aid of a local
branch of the nonprofit National Foundation for Consumer Credit (NFCC). The NFCC
offers free or low-cost debt counseling, financial education, budgeting assistance,
and other financial services for consumers. To locate an office nearby, you can
check the NFCC web site at http://www.nfcc.org or call toll-free 1-800-388-2227 for
24-hour automated office listings.
The NFCC also offers Debt Management Plans that can sometimes lower your payments,
fines, or interest. A Debt Management Plan offers a systematic way to pay down
outstanding debt. You would deposit your debt repayment funds with the agency each
month and the NFCC would disperse the funds to your creditors according to repayment
plans it negotiated with them. The NFCC can often negotiate reduced or waived
finance charges and fewer collection calls, so you might be able to bring your
debt under control more quickly.
Remember, though, that if you embark upon a negotiated repayment plan of this type,
your creditors may report your accounts as "settled" or paid in a manner other than
originally agreed--a notation that can be damaging to your credit if it is otherwise
in good shape. It's better to have such a notation than many delinquencies,
charge-offs and collections, or a bankruptcy, but keep in mind that negotiated
repayment is meant as a way to cope with a serious problem. If you can manage to
repay as agreed, that's a better option for your credit rating.
For more information on debt management, you may wish to visit our web site at
www.creditmatters.com/channels/debt_management.asp.
Copyright © 2000, CreditMatters.com
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