Nonprofit Debt Counseling Services

When you’ve got more debt than you can keep up with, and you’re having a hard time making your monthly payments, a debt consolidation program can offer relief.

At Debt Reduction Services, we offer help for people struggling with credit card debt and other financial difficulties so that they can get back in control of their finances. Here you’ll learn about our free debt counseling services, and how we can help you find the best solution for handling your debts.

Debt Counseling with Debt Reduction Services

At Debt Reduction Services, our goal is to provide education and information to help you find the best solution for handling your debts. As a nonprofit organization, we offer credit counseling to help relieve the stress associated with the burden of overwhelming debt. We offer a Debt Management Plan and our consultation is 100% free.

What can you expect during a counseling session with one of our certified counselors at Debt Reduction Services?

The Counseling Session

• Our Services – At DRS, we offer a Debt Management Plan (DMP) which consolidates unsecured debts into one, affordable monthly payment which we then disburse to your creditors. It is not a loan, and you pay back the full amount of the debt through the program. We can also assist with Student Loan Debt, and offer Bankruptcy and Budget Counseling.

• Determination of the Debt – First, we must determine what kind of debt you need help with. Our Debt Management Plan can assist in consolidating credit cards, payday loans, medical debt, collections, or other unsecured accounts. Accounts that are secured by collateral such as cars, boats, or homes are not eligible, and cannot be consolidated through any plan of this type.

• Setting up a File – To make sure we can help, we will need to gather some basic information and set up a file. Name, phone number, and email address are a few basics we will need to make sure we can always stay in touch with you.

• Reviewing Your Budget – The biggest step in determining if a DMP is affordable to you is creating a monthly budget. After listing income versus all expenses, leftover funds could be applied to debts through a DMP. Once your budget has been established, recommendations are given on ways to improve it. In creating the budget, we will go over:

• • Sources and amounts of income
  • Number of household members
  • Assets/Liabilities
  • Student Loan Debt – For which we also offer a program

• Reviewing the Debt – A soft Credit Report pull (no impact to your score) through Transunion will show reported debts such as credit cards, collections, and most loans. Creating a list of your creditors from the report in addition to any that may not be reporting will help in creating the quote for a DMP. We will go over all accounts you wish to include and review:

• • Creditor names
  • Account balances
  • Current interest rates and monthly minimums

• The Estimate and DMP Benefits – Through a Debt Management Plan, we can consolidate your accounts into one monthly payment which we then disburse to your creditors on your behalf. Your new monthly estimate includes: 

• • Lower payments and lower interest rates provided by the creditors through pre-established terms. No negotiation involved.
  • A timeframe that will allow you to be debt free in five years or less.
  • Any fees if applicable (we charge a minimal, state-regulated maintenance fee and a one-time start-up fee to cover costs associated with servicing the account)

• Moving Forward With a DMP – If your new quoted payment is affordable and fits within your budget, a monthly payment date (typically within 21 days) will be chosen and we will discuss any other relevant details of the program. Electronic enrollment forms will then need to be filled out to proceed. Once enrolled, we are ALWAYS available to assist with any questions or concerns and will remain in contact to ensure your satisfaction throughout the program.

• Other Options – At Debt Reduction Services, we make sure to provide you with education on all the options available in handling your debt, even if a DMP is not the right fit for you. We will discuss the pros and cons of the three other options: 

• • Handling the debt on your own
  • Settlement
  • Bankruptcy