If you are experiencing any one of the situations below, you may need a Debt Management Program:
You are having difficulty making payments on your own
You can barely afford to make the minimum payments
You are suffering from high interest rates
You have been late with one or more payments in the last 3 months
You are not seeing your balances go down after you make your monthly payment
You have high balances on your credit cards
How much will it cost me to be on the Debt Management Program?
The consultation we provide you is FREE. If you decide to enroll with the Debt Management Program that we propose, we do charge a minimal start up fee along with a monthly service fee. These fees vary by the state you reside in.
How do I know if a company is a legitimate Credit Counseling Agency?
When selecting a credit counseling agency, we strongly recommend that you take the following action:
Make sure that the company is a member of the Better Business Bureau and has a satisfactory record with them
Make sure all fees are disclosed upfront
Make sure they are a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization
Make sure they offer Free Financial Education Services
Make sure that you're being offering a Debt Management Program and not Debt Settlement or Negotiation.
Make sure the counselor you speak with is certified.
Make sure the agency is ISO certified.
What’s the difference between Credit Counseling (Debt Management Program) and Debt Settlement (Debt Negotiation)?
There’s a big difference between the two services. On a Debt Management Program you will pay 100% of your debt back plus interest. Each time you make a payment, your Credit Counseling Agency will disburse those funds to your creditors. You will still receive statements from your creditors showing when your payment posts, your reduced finance charges and your updated balances. With Debt Settlement, you will pay back 40-60% (typically) of what you owe. In order for the creditors to accept this drastic reduction, your accounts need to become delinquent. Therefore, when you make a payment each month to your Debt Settlement Company, the payment is not disbursed to your creditors. Instead, the funds are held in a trust fund until you reach 40-60% of what you owe. Then, the Debt Settlement Company will attempt to make a settlement with your creditor.
How do I know my creditors will be paid on time?
Once you sign up for our Debt Management Program, we will assign you a due date. We will then request that you change your due dates with your creditors to 15 days after this date. As long as your due dates have been changed with your creditors and you make your payment on time with us, your accounts will be paid on time.
What are the forms of payment DebtWave accepts?
We accept various forms of payment at DebtWave. You can pay each month by Automatic Debit (Free), Check by phone ($8.00), Money Gram (usually $6-$8), Western Union (Usually $12-$15), Money Order (50 cents to $2.00), or Cashier’s Check ($1.00 - $5.00). No personal checks or Cash! We always recommend paying via Automatic Debit because of three main reasons: 1. It’s free (no postage or fee from outside company). 2. It requires no action each month by you. 3. It’s one of the quickest ways to get money to us.
Can I send in more money once I have a better cash flow?
Absolutely, you can always increase your monthly payment. The more you pay, the faster your accounts will be paid off. We do provide an estimated pay off time at the time of the consultation which is based on just making the minimum payment each month. And if you decide to pay more then your time frame will be shortened. Once you are on the program and you want to pay more, just let us know which creditors to send the extra funds to.
Should I pay my bills in the time before I send you my first payment?
We always recommend that you do if you can, because there is a brief negotiation period. Paying your creditors on your own would assure after we receive your first payment, when we make arrangements for future payments with your creditors. If you miss due dates for accounts in the meantime, you are risking penalty fees and negative information being reported to the credit bureaus.
Will I still be able to use my credit cards that I put on the program?
All accounts placed onto a Debt Management Program will be closed. When you enroll onto our program, we advise you to contact your creditors and close these accounts on your own. The only true way to get out of debt is to stop charging on the accounts. A quote from the book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad explains it best: “More money seldom solves someone's money problems. Intelligence solves problems. There is a saying a friend of mine says over and over to people in debt. 'If you find you have dug yourself into a hole... stop digging.'"
Most creditors will allow you to keep one or two accounts of the program for emergency use only.
