Eliminate Debt Central

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, or unless you simply tune out everything you hear that is debt related, you have undoubtedly seen, read, and/or heard advertisements promising you seemingly great, easy ways to eliminate your debt.

Those of you who are pretty cynical probably think that most of these ads promising to eliminate debt are too good to be true and are likely out right scams.  Still others of you, particularly those who are struggling with debt and desperate for a little help, are probably filled with curiousity or optimism upon hearing these ads.

Unfortunately for most of us, the “debt help” industry has exploded in recent years into a huge and very profitable market for companies offering up debt “solutions.”  Please note the quotes around the terms debt help and solutions, they are there for a reason.

The truth is that there are legitimate companies that can and will help consumers to get out of debt faster and for less money than they could on their own.  However, these days it seems these companies are few and far between, often lost in the barrage of advertisements from companies profiting from the exploitation of these consumers.

We will be posting about legitimate programs and services for people in need of debt help soon.  But for today, we will be focusing on companies and programs who will scam you while promising to eliminate your debt.

Debt Elimination, Novation, Illegal Debt, Etc.

Many programs or companies have sprung up recently, particularly online, promising to wipe out and eliminate your debt completely.  Sounds great doesn’t it?

These companies (or people) usually claim that your debt is not a legal debt, so you do not legally have to pay.  There are tons of variations on this theme as well.  Some even claim that the entire banking system is fraudulent, often including some convoluted conspiracy theories regarding the Federal Reserve bank and/or the U.S. Treasury.

These claims often mix in small amounts of truth with blatant lies and generalizations to sound convincing.  The truth, of course, is that, whether or not the banking system is a “fraud,” your debt IS a legal debt 99.9999 percent of the time.  The methods that these people describe will not get you out of paying your debt,  and not paying your bills for these reasons will only get you into deeper financial trouble.

Do not EVER send money to anyone claiming to be able to give you information on completely eliminating your debt.

Debt Settlement Scams

Debt settlement seems to be the new trend in the debt help market these days.  Settlement companies are springing up left and right and advertising everywhere.

Settlement companies promise to get you great benefits such as: saving you 50%-70% off of the principal you owe, drastically lowering your monthly payments, and keeping or getting your credit in great shape.

These companies solicit customers in many different ways and many use high pressured sales tactics to enroll new consumers.  The sales rep will often gloss over any drawbacks, mislead the customer, and will usually not inform  you onw what your getting in to.

Some of these companies may be outright scams that will dissappear with your money, while others will at least attempt to provide some of the services promised.  Debt settlement companies usually charge very high upfront fees, which makes every new consumer that signs up very profitable for the company.

Due to this business model, the settlement company has huge incentive to sign up new customers, and little incentive to deliver on the promised benefits.  In fact, it is rare for a settlement company to totally deliver on all of the promised benefits for a consumer.  It’s no wonder that most debt settlement companies have poor records with the BBB, or that their are constantly “new” companies springing up (that simply changed names after due to the tarnished reputation of the old brand).

The unfortunate fact is that millions of people who are currently in debt are constantly inundated with ads from debt settlement companies touting these extraordinary benefits.  Many of us cannot help but to believe that, with the claims being spoken of everywhere so often, there must be some truth to these claims.

If you sign up with a debt settlement company, the odds are that you will be left in worse shape than you were before signing up, and the thousands you paid as a fee will be long gone.

It is time we help spread the truth and educate consumers about what they are getting into.  If you have had a run in with a debt settlement company, please feel free to tell your story.  And since our aim here is truth and not censorship, feel free to tell your story if you have had a positive experience with debt settlement or debt elimination as well.

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