Slipping Down a Mountain of Debt?

Do you feel like you've been sliding down a slippery slope on a mountain of debt for some time, and you may hit bottom pretty soon? You're not by yourself in such a scary predicament these days, but you may have options other than bankruptcy to stop the slide, get traction, and carry on with the business of life.

Overcoming Being Overwhelmed

You may sincerely want to pay your creditors, but the sheer number of bills, soaring interest rates, and the looming threat of penalties have left you financially and emotionally hobbled. You want to honor your obligations, but at the same time you want to avoid the hassle, stigma, and long, dark shadow of personal bankruptcy. The basic options available are either to take out a loan to pay off the entire debt or to enter into negotiations with creditors to restructure the debt and payment schedule.

Secured and Unsecured Loans

If your creditors will not reduce interest rates on your individual accounts, you may be able to negotiate a lower-interest loan to pay off all your current credit accounts. Even though you would then owe a single lender the same total debt, across time you would have to pay less interest. And, so long as you avoid adding to the credit debt and your payment schedule is realistic, you have a chance to pay off the entire debt. It's possible to dodge the bankruptcy bullet and get your finances back on track by submitting an inquiry to consolidate debt online.

A debt consolidation loan may be either secured or unsecured.

A secured loan is backed by real property or other high-value tangible asset, with the understanding that the collateral you put up will be forfeited to the lender if the loan is not paid off as agreed. Typically, secured debt consolidation loans take the form of home equity loans.

An unsecured consolidation loan may be available, but it is a less likely option in today's economic environment than it was before the subprime mortgage crisis. If you can locate an unsecured loan source, such as a payday loan; however, you can expect the interest rates to be higher than if you had a valuable tangible asset to back up your commitment to pay.

If your credit rating has already dipped severely due to factors such as a lower debt-to-income ratio, you may still qualify for a secured or unsecured debt consolidation loan, but you would probably pay a higher rate than borrowers with first-rate credit.

Discover Your Debt Consolidation Options

A convenient and efficient way to see the options available to you is to submit an inquiry form to consolidate debt online. When you request information online, your name and financial situation are delivered to several debt consolidation services that may be able to help. Based on the information you provide, one or more debt consolidation service providers will contact you with information about what they may be able to do to help.