Ohio Debt Consolidation and Counseling Services
When dealing with debt, you have choices on how to proceed. The stronger your financial situation, the more attractive your options. Some Ohio debt consolidation lenders offer products to combine your debts into one balance with one payment. If you cannot meet their underwriting requirements, then financial counseling may still provide a method for consolidating your payments into one
debt management program.
Great Credit and Income
When you have maintained good credit and have a modest monthly budget surplus, you may be able to obtain a debt consolidation loan. Ohio debt consolidation lenders vary from large corporate banks to community banks and credit unions. While lending criteria do change, you can generally expect to meet some debt consolidation loan qualifications if you have at least a 660 credit score and a modest
debt-to-income ratio. This can be feasible for relatively small debt loads.
Strained Credit and Budget
Since your credit score can suffer from
high debt balances,
high credit utilization rates and
late payments, you may want to reconsider debt consolidation loans. Most consumers who consolidate debt but are still experiencing cash flow problems end up in worse debt within 1-2 years. Instead, it might be time to talk to a financial and credit counselor.
The debt management programs that are administered by credit counseling agencies allow you to consolidate your payments into one payment
without taking on new debt. Considering that participating creditors frequently offer substantial
interest rate reductions and
lower payments, you might be able to better manage and eliminate your debt through a lower consolidated payment that fits in your budget.
Ruined Credit, Chronic Income Loss and/or Major Charge-offs
There are some situations in which financial problems have advanced so far that legal protection may be needed. When you are so far in the hole and your phone is ringing from collection agencies, many products or programs will not work. While
debt settlement companies used to profit handily from these types of situations prior to the new law banning advance charges, they rarely did anything to earn their substantial fees.
While it may be true that smaller defaults may never do more than damage your credit, larger defaults could spell financial disaster if legal action is pursued. When you are faced with multiple
debt collection judgments, you may need protection from creditors that a bankruptcy filing can bring. In this scenario, you are strongly encouraged to contact an Ohio bankruptcy attorney who is experienced in such filings.
Ohio debt consolidation and counseling services are available to all Ohio residents, even if debts were obtained while living in another state. Lenders and bankruptcy attorneys are for-profit companies. We do recommend Vision Credit Education as a nonprofit charity that can assist with financial counseling and credit education. For more information on their counseling services call 1-800-379-4720, access their
online counseling or visit their website at
visioncredit.org.