Over the past couple of years the recession has wreaked havoc across the United States, leaving millions of people in financial ruin. One state that has been hit rather hard from all of this economic turmoil is Ohio. Many consumers in Ohio felt the full power of the recession; and many of these same people had to turn to the use of credit cards just to get by and pay monthly living expenses. Now one of the major dilemmas many of these folks are facing is a serious credit card debt problem.
If you live in Ohio and are in need of help with your debt situation than you have come to the right place. We are dedicated to helping the consumers of Ohio find a debt relief plan that will help them to get out of this mess and see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Among the more popular choices for debt relief is Ohio debt settlement. A lot of folks have found themselves to be stuck in a very tough spot with their credit card bills; to the point where they can no longer afford the monthly minimums and would like to avoid the disaster that is bankruptcy. These such people are the perfect candidates for a debt settlement program.
There is however a problem and that was that the debt settlement industry was riddled with companies that were nothing short of scams and only had making their wallets fatter on their mind, not helping the overextended consumer. Throughout the years the debt settlement industry has gained quite a reputation, leaving many people weary about signing up with any of these companies to help settle their debts.
So why was this the case? And what has been done about it to benefit the consumer and not the greedy company? Read on to find out…
The main problem with the debt settlement industry:
The major issue that caused these debt settlement companies to get such a bad rap was a single word….GREED! The industry as a whole used to be able to charge their settlement fees in advance of ever actually settling their clients’ accounts.
The upfront fee model for a debt settlement program is what caused these companies to over promise and under deliver. The ability for companies to sign people up and start collecting fees right away prompted many companies to go all out and sign up as many people as they could; regardless of whether this was truly the best option for that particular person .
Many of these companies also enrolled so many clients that they simply did not have the manpower to handle that many. This resulted in a lot of consumers paying fees and never actually getting their accounts settled, thus leaving them in a much worse financial position than they were previously in.
The solution to this problem and the death of the debt settlement industry as we knew it:
After many years of getting bombarded with complaints concerning the debt settlement industry the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) finally stepped in and took some major action. The FTC made some strict guidelines that must be met for a company to legally conduct business and operate as a debt settlement company.
The first major change was to ban all upfront fee models! No longer are companies allowed to charge their fees prior to actually negotiating a settlement for their client. This one change alone is of great benefit to the American consumer, and conversely sent most of the debt settlement industry into the hole.
This is great for the consumer for two reasons. Most importantly consumers will have the peace of mind that when enrolling into a debt settlement program that they are not risking losing their money to paying fees upfront, to then find out the job was never done. The second benefit is that this one act alone will drastically clean up an industry desperately in need of cleansing; therefore weeding out all the “scam” companies who are only concerned with making a lot of money and not helping the client.
The other significant change made by the FTC is that debt settlement companies must offer “full disclosure” to their prospective clients. Full disclosure is when a company must go over and review all of the other debt relief options available other than just debt settlement; plus the company must fully disclose all of the aspects of debt settlement, both positive and negative.
The only companies that are left and that survived these major changes to the industry are the ones who will abide by the FTC’s rulings. The scam companies will drop off, in their eyes there is no more money to be made in this industry and to many regulations they must abide by. This however is amazing for the ailing American consumer stuck in debt, but wants a solution to their problem without having to go down the route of bankruptcy.
If you are living in Ohio and would like to find out more about a company that can help you to settle your debt and that does not charge any upfront fees then click the link below. Prestige Financial Solutions has a great BBB rating and has been using the Pay As You Settle model for over 2 years now.
CLICK HERE for an Ohio Debt Settlement Program