Our comprehensive programs partner you with a credit counselor you can trust to examine your financial history and your current situation, and then customize an action plan designed to preserve your dignity, protect your security and get you moving down the right financial path.
Because it essential that we create a complete profile of your credit and personal finances, we uphold a strict privacy policy. We do not share your information with anyone, including the credit bureaus.
If needed, our financial counselors serve as your advocate. They can negotiate on your behalf with creditors and lenders for:
- New Payment Terms
- Loan Modifications
- Interest-Rate Reductions, and
- Debt Management Programs.
They also provide useful tools for rebuilding your financial stability and weathering future economic stress. All of our services are available at a nominal cost.
Foreclosure Prevention & Intervention
The economic crisis has made it hard for many responsible homeowners to make ends meet. The good news is many people who were finding it difficult to make their mortgage payment have been able to save their homed. You can, too. Remember: you could lose your home if you ignore the problem and do nothing, so we encourage you to get in touch with one of our qualified, certified housing counselors and your loan servicer today.
Many loan providers are participating in the federal government’s “Making Home Affordable Program,” working with non-profit counseling agencies like Consumer Credit Counseling Service to reduce interest rates and/or modify loan terms. The Making Home Affordable Program is part of the U.S. government’s plan to help families set an affordable mortgage payment. The program lowers borrowers’ housing-related expenses, including principal, interest, taxes, insurance and assessments to 31percent of gross monthly income. The program also will pay you up to $1,000 per year on your principal for five years, if you make your payments on time. To qualify, you must meet certain eligibility criteria, including:
- The home is your primary residence.
- Amount owed on first mortgage for a single family
home is $729,750 or less.
- Mortgage dated before January 1, 2009.
- First mortgage payment* is over 31 percent of gross monthly income.
- You are having financial difficulty making your current monthly payment.
First-time Home Buyer Education
Buying a first house likely represents the greatest financial commitment you have ever made. It is important to fully understand the liability and responsibility of new home ownership to avoid many common pitfalls before and after purchase.
Our first-time home buyer education program provides a well-rounded opportunity for those who have no experience buying a house and those who may be buying a house for the second or third time. It teaches you how to select a new home, how to buy it and the home mortgage loan process to finance it.
With the knowledge base you will gain in our program, your first new home can represent the first of many positive real-estate transactions in your lifetime, as you build confidence and experience.
Click here to ask about our next First-time Home Buyer Education session! Or click here to take the course online.
Pre-Bankruptcy Counseling
To apply for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 in the six months preceding your bankruptcy filing, you must receive credit counseling from an organization like Consumer Credit Counseling Service that is approved by the Department of Justice’s U.S. Trustee Program.
The pre-bankruptcy credit counseling session with the approved credit counseling organization should include:
- an evaluation of your personal financial situation;
- discussion of the alternatives to bankruptcy; and
- a personal budget plan.
By law, before your bankruptcy case can be discharged-which means debts are considered satisfied-you must complete pre-discharge bankruptcy education. The course takes two hours and covers a variety of topics including:
- setting realistic financial goals;
- how to read your credit report;
- obtaining or re-establishing credit; and
- managing budgets.
Once your counseling session is completed, you will receive a certificate as proof of the completion of your counseling.
Post-Bankruptcy Counseling
By law, before your bankruptcy case can be discharged—which means debts are considered satisfied—you must complete pre-discharge bankruptcy education. The course lasts about two hours and covers a variety of topics including:
- setting realistic financial goals;
- how to read your credit report;
- obtaining or re-establishing credit; and
- managing budgets.
While these sessions are typically provided in a face-to-face meeting between the debtor and the credit counselor, they can also be conducted by phone or online. Click here to learn about our online Post-Bankruptcy Education course.
Once your counseling session is completed, you will receive a certificate as proof of the completion of your counseling.
Debt Management
Debt-management counseling allows an opportunity for you and a professional credit counselor to carefully review your spending habits. In the session, our counselors analyze each bill to help you recognize exactly where you are spending and what your limitations are.
With that information, we help you devise a specific action plan that helps adjust your spending behavior to be more-reflective of your income.
Often, our clients find great benefit in coming to us before they ever get into debt trouble. They learn how to better manage finances and plan ahead.
Budeting & Financial Management
Our trained and certified professional credit counselors can help you set — and meet — the financial goals that matter most to you. By learning money management skills, you will be able to achieve your financial milestones, such as saving for a home, planning for retirement, or paying off debt.
