Credit Debt

It’s easy to see credit and debt as two sides of the same coin or different ways of looking at one of the fundamental necessities of western civilization: without credit or debt, after all, even the earliest societies wouldn’t have properly been able to expand beyond hunter gatherer subsistence. If anything, most Americans probably consider credit the prettier terminology regarding debt (or, conversely, debt the uglier version of credit), and, since modern society so prizes credit and credit reports, they would quite reasonably learn to accept debt as simply the price of living an ordinary existence in the United States. Again, it’s quite tempting to conflate credit and debt and confuse the two, but it’s not quite an accurate assessment. Indeed, bunching together credit and debt has arguably led most borrowers in this country to threaten their household’s financial security by overestimating the importance of credit and, more to the point, underestimating the very real damages that debt could impose upon the healthiest domestic budgets.

When examining credit and debt, it would be more instructive to consider debt as the consequence of credit mishandled. Credit, after all, needn’t necessarily be used by any consumer – credit needn’t become debt, in other words – and, for our forefathers, the mark of good credit was an avoidance of debt. Just two or three generations ago, Americans would proudly boast that, no matter the amount of credit at their disposal, they’d lived a long and happy life without ever once being in debt. Changes in technology and urban environment and the wholesale economic swing brought on by the industrial revolution of the late nineteenth century slowly infected the notion of credit, however, and, as cars became necessary and homes became more affordable for young couples, debt itself became far more effortless to justify.

With the rise of credit card debt and unsecured debt accounts, the transformation of American opinion about credit and debt shifted into overdrive. Our youngest consumers have basically been taught since birth that their future success depends upon credit reports and credit ratings whose numerical scores could only be improved by taking on unsecured debt loans and slowly paying them back. The newly open credit route toward the seamless accumulation of tens or even hundred of thousands of dollars of debt has helped some citizens start businesses and provide shelter for their households, to be sure, but the easy acceptance of credit and debt as essential facets of our culture has hurt the financial foundations of far more Americans. Even the push to help every family own their own home – seemingly the best sort of debt and the reason commercial credit lenders exist – has back fired dramatically as mortgage debts given without oversight to consumers with bad credit have defaulted so consistently that the entire economy is at risk.

With real estate markets tanking around the nation and the banking industry freezing credit, there’s not much that home owners can do to help mortgage debts once the loans have become delinquent and the reduced equity effectively eliminates the potential for refinancing. At the same time, however, debt relief techniques developed to turn around unsecured credit accounts have demonstrated tangible success in liquidating borrowers’ debt without harming their credit. Debt settlement negotiation programs only affect the balances of credit cards and other unsecured credit accounts that could be resolved through bankruptcy, but, through adroit exploitation of the debt mongers and credit providers, the settlement companies could potentially reduce borrowers overall debt loads by a great deal absent the consequences to credit ratings marked by Chapter 7 debt elimination bankruptcy. Sadly, credit reports and consumer debt shall likely continue to be a part of American lives, but, through solutions like debt settlement, borrowers’ credit availability could once again surpass their debt obligations.

The decision to reach out for help with your debt is not one that's easy to make. You were raised to "do the right thing", but now it’s nearly unbearable. You struggle along while your creditors are turning up the heat. And now you’re at the point where the late fees, penalties and interest expense make it impossible to keep your head above water.

Ask yourself this. If you could eliminate your debt without permanently damaging your credit, why wouldn't you?

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Bankruptcy is not your only option! Our goal is to help you determine the right course of action for you to take. We will connect you with a debt settlement company today that will help you avoid filing for bankruptcy protection.

Are your finances spiraling out of control? Get the information you need today to stop harassing creditor’s phone calls. Total Debt Relief provides a matching service to connect you with pre-screened Debt Settlement Professionals. These debt management pros will educate you on all of the options available to you to get out of debt. Total Debt Relief helps you make the most informed decision possible so that you can get your financial life back on track.