Over the past couple of weeks there has been a great deal of talk around the office about Debt Consultants and their tricks.
You may have heard them on the radio but not even realize, they often advertise that they can cut your debt down by 70% and work for you and not your creditors. They may have even called your house to offer you this service as well. They are aggressive with their advertising tactics and offer too good to be true promises. The problem with debt consultants is they require an up front fee or hundreds or even thousands of dollars before they help you with your debts. There is no guarantee that your debts will be taken care of and often you will end up referred to a trustee anyway. So it seems a bit pointless to pay a debt consultant a fee when you can come see a Trustee (like Hoyes Michalos) who is licensed by the federal government.
A few weeks ago I met with Morgan (not her real name) in my Cambridge office. When she came to see me she was extremely stressed. For the past year she had been involved in a program with a debt consultant who she thought was paying down her debts. However she continued to receive phone calls from her creditors, and some even advised her that they would not deal with the Debt Consultant agency. She was back at square one. All they did for her was take her money and then refer her to a trustee. She could have done that on her own from the start-for free. I explained to Morgan that we do not charge any up front fees, we are licensed by the federal government (debt consultants are not) and we are actually trained for what we do. By the end of my meeting with Morgan we had made a plan together to deal with her debt load, and she was feeling more confident about her financial future.
For more information on Debt Consultants and their tricks check out this blog written by Doug Hoyes who also works in our Cambridge and Brantford offices.
If you are finding yourself in a financial crunch and are not sure who to turn to, give me a call and I would be happy to help you figure out a plan to get you back on track with your finances.
About