We feel an 'account closed by consumer' indication on your credit does not bear the same stigma as an account marked 'closed by credit grantor'. No Consumer credit counseling has been around for over a decade. Many people have not heard of it until recently because many of the agency's providing these services are not for profit corporations with limited budgets for advertising. Recently legislation was introduced that if passed would require a consumer to go through credit counseling as a pre-requisite to filing bankruptcy. This has caused an upsurge of consumer awareness of this service.
Many creditors provide incentives for their clients to use our plans.
Lowered or waived interest and finance charges, for example. Some will even re-age the accounts if the clients have fallen past due in their payments. Other creditor's may waive previously incurred late charges and fee's. While benefit amounts vary by who your creditors are, most customers lower payments, save a significant amount of money in total payments, and get a shorter term. Customers who are currently behind and unable to catch up on a normal payment plan may also save significant late charges, and over limit penalties.