Caraballo & Associates

Now that we know what these programs are, let’s get into the deeper, scarier issues.



The first real issue I have found with these types of companies is an issue of responsibility. You are giving money to a third party on a monthly basis in order for that third party to make your (hopefully adjusted) credit cards payments.



Allow me to give you an example. Have you ever allowed one of your children or a family member to make a purchase with one of your credit cards? They come to you with there trusting eyes, nice smile and that sad puppy face. Many times what happens after that is that the family member tells you to give them the monthly statement and that they will make the payments for you until they pay off what they purchased, correct?



Unfortunately, many times (because of this verbal contract) we blindly give the statement to the family member, trusting that they will make the payment on time and not really pay much mind to the issue.
Now what happens if this family member forgets? runs into money issues? disappears? worse yet what happens if they are embarrassed to tell you and decide just to make a payment “when they get the money”. Possibly one, two or three months later. Your credit is being ruined month after month because of there…err irresponsibility.



Well in the case of working with a Credit Counseling Agency, one must pay attention to the very same thing. How responsible is this company with distributing my payments to creditors? How can I make sure that these payments will go out at all?



Quality is a major factor in deciding which one of these companies to use. Unfortunately we are not totally in control of our money once we send in the payments. There is however, good solid research we can do about the company before we sign on the dotted line.



Here are a few resources for you to find out what kind of company you are really dealing with.

• Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies
• The National Foundation for Credit Counseling
• The Better Business Bureau
• The Federal Trade Commission

You should be able to find some pretty good information and/or feedback about specific companies. Whether or not they have lawsuits pending, if they have ever been sued and why. This will give you at least some indication of whether the company is legit or just out to collect your payments and run.



As you can see there is much more that goes into making the decision to work with one of these companies than someone simply calling and signing you up over the phone. One of the issues is that there has been many more of these types of companies opening up because of the economic downturn that it makes it that much more difficult to make an educated decision.

These are issues of major potential impact on our financial futures and these decisions should not be taken lightly.

Again, I am not saying that this won’t work for you, I am simply trying to educate you to the fact that these decisions are not to be taken lightly because they can potentially have some very long-term adverse affects if one does not pay attention.

I hope you find this information useful and that this information has prepared you to make better decisions when choosing a company to work with that can possibly have your financial future in their hands.

If you like what you have read, please share it with your friends and continue to visit, I will share more information on this subject soon.

To Your Financial Success!

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