HELL NO! BANKRUPTCY, DEBT CONSOLIDATION OR DEBT SETTLEMENT, ARE NOT THE ONLY SOURCE FOR DEBT RELIEF SOLUTIONS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO A DEBTOR!

If you are, perhaps, chronically up to your eyeballs in debt today and are looking for a way to get out of debt, you might be inclined to think that your only options for debt relief are just limited basically to two, maybe three, main options – some variation of debt settlement with your creditors, a debt consolidation arrangement, and declaring bankruptcy.

This general notion is largely because many Americans still see many “traditional” ways for how to get out of debt, especially filing for bankruptcy, as a negative step and are repeatedly told in the media that it carries with it a stigma that can negatively affect their ability to reestablish good credit in the future. Television, radio and Internet advertisers, constantly promise financial relief through debt consolidation. They prey, in essence, upon the largely established myth that bankruptcy is a bad thing while they claim to offer an alternative to bankruptcy by way of debt settlement or consolidation.

In truth, however, there are in fact broadly a complete SEVEN major debt solutions options that a consumer may use in getting out of debt, from which you may choose to address your debt problem. And, as in everything else in life, each remedy option has its own advantages as well as drawbacks.

The following are those SEVEN basic debt relief options available to you

1. BANKRUPTCY

Filing bankruptcy is one option you may use, if suitable for you – protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code or law. Filing for bankruptcy is just ONE option, however, among many. In deed, bankruptcy should really be considered only as a last resort.

How do you get out of debt through bankruptcy? Basically, one of the treasured and most immediate beneficial reliefs of filing for bankruptcy for you as a debtor, is that upon your filing, you IMMEDIATELY get what is called the “Automatic Stay” protection, meaning a standing court order that immediately stops most creditors from contacting you and trying to collect on your debts, or slapping garnishment, lawsuits, and repossession (including foreclosure) on you, etc. The automatic stay will continue to apply to your creditors – UNTIL the bankruptcy court looks into your case and gives a final order on your bankruptcy petition about discharging your debts.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Filing bankruptcy will, for the most part (except in very, very rare cases, actually), “discharge” most of your debts (except, really, for any non dischargeable ones you may have, if any), thus having you get out of debt. That is, you will be free of those debts and would cease to owe them any more legally.

2. DEBT SETTLEMENT

This method is, in fact, the fastest and, in some respects, the least expensive way used by consumers to get out of debt today. The method, often referred to also as DEBT NEGOTIATION, is simply a direct and ambitious approach to debt reduction, involving a personalized plan that effectively enables a debt settlement negotiator to negotiate a compromise with creditors to settle mostly your UNSECURED types of debt.

Debt settlement has become a viable debt relief alternative for thousands of consumers across the country. Successfully conducted debt settlement negotiations, when undertaken by the right company and professionals, and with the right programs, have been known to eliminate up to 60% to 70% of a borrower’s total balance on the debt, and often paying off the debt in its totality in less than three years. In deed, one company known by this writer to have been reviewed recently by an organization and was designated to be the best of them, has recorded nearly 90% savings for its debtor clients. However, this method will work for you mostly when your debt is of UNSECURED type (credit card debts, hospital bills, rents, utility bills, and the like).

BOTTOM LINE: A good debt settlement agency (and its personnel), is a professional negotiator that can help you arrange directly with your creditors, through its wealth of skill, experience and connections, for a much better and more livable deal for your debt (whether unsecured loans, medical expenses, charge cards, or traditional credit accounts) with your creditors, which could result in a drastic debt reduction or elimination for you, with you almost completely getting out of debt. It could be beat down in value  債務重組失敗 even to the point that what you’ll have to pay back will amount to merely some 30% or less of what you actually owe!

3. LOAN MODIFICATION PROGRAMS

Loan modification is a relief method of getting out of debt which involves the restructuring makeover of your current loan to re-establish your mortgage and create a monthly mortgage payment that will work for you or be more manageable within your budget. Do you completely get out of or get rid of debt with this option? No. Loan modification is not a refinance of your mortgage; it is merely an ENHANCEMENT of your current mortgage loan to create a payment that you can better afford. A loan modification, when successfully made, will usually result in saving you thousands of dollars over the life of your mortgage loan.

4. DEBT CONSOLIDATION.

Debt Consolidation, also called CONSOLIDATION LOAN, simply means a way to pay off debt by replacing a debtor’s MULTIPLE LOANS with one SINGLE loan, often attaching to it a new and reduced lower monthly payment and a longer repayment period so as to make it more manageable for the debtor to repay the debt owed on a monthly basis. Typically, the type of debts for which most consolidation arrangements are made, almost exclusively involve home equity and home mortgage loans. Essentially, in such arrangements a lending institution will provide a homeowner with a home equity loan that will help “consolidate” his or her outstanding debts into one monthly payment. Because of this aspect, many critics of the consolidation loan method of getting out of debt, have condemned that method, likening it to borrowing money to pay off borrowed money and saying that such an arrangement just doesn’t add up for the debtor’s benefit.

5. CONSUMER CREDIT COUNSELING.

Credit counseling is considered an important aspect of how to get rid of debt within the debt relief or management solution industry. In this case, you use a Consumer Credit Counseling service or company (CCC), which is usually a nonprofit organization, to approach your creditors and try to work out with them on your behalf a more manageable payment plan. Typically, they will charge a fee for their services; and their job is to attempt to negotiate with your creditors, try to work out with them a plan for reduced minimum monthly payments for you on your debt amount, reduced interest rates, and a generally more lenient payment terms.