Are credit counselors really able to reduce credit card balances?
First you do not want to get involved with any Debt SETTLEMENT company that promises to reduce your credit card balance. These will do more harm than good in the long run. Without going into all of the details they have you stop paying on your cards and once delinquent try and negotiate with your creditors. The problem is that the creditors are under no obligation to negotiate and several are now filing suits once they find out you are on a settlement program. There are Debt MANAGEMENT Programs(DMP) that work with your creditors. These are very different than a settlement program. They do not reduce your balance. What they do is work with the creditors to reduce the interest rate. This in effect lowers your payments and gets the debt paid off quicker. But you still owe the entire balance of the card. Generally a DMP requires you to put all of your cards in the program. They then work with all of the creditors to lower your rates. Generally creditors will not negotiate with an individua
